Back to Saskatchewan to end this diary year. I did a wild day of packing and cleaning on Wednesday, getting the house ready for a cat sitter, before flying off to Regina first thing Thursday morning.
It was warm and hazy in Regina. I could see the smoke haze from the fires up north, but folks in the city had gotten used to it and, in fairness, it was pretty mild. A heavy thunderstorm in the afternoon helped clear the air by Thursday night.
The weekend was all about the funeral for Cindy's dad. Lots of driving about, visiting with family and making sure Cin's mom was OK. From a nature perspective, it was about what I could see from the window -- grackles and squirrels in the front yard scaring away the songbirds, passing white pelicans on Wascana Lake while we drove to the cemetery, a magpie on a signpost, a large hawk soaring beside us as we drove to Moose Jaw to visit my dad on Sunday. Then we flew back to Victoria on Monday afternoon.
We came home to hot weather, a clean apartment and a lovely garden. The peas are ready to eat, sweet peas are blooming, and there are two tomatoes on the vines.
The warm weather means my lettuce has bolted, so I pulled it up and will decide what to do with the bed in July. More lettuce, maybe flowers, or maybe I'll try seeding cucamelons again. It's time to let the garlic dry out now so I can pull all the bulbs. But overall, the garden is exceptional.