We've been busy, battening down the hatches, as it were on the home front in preparation for winter's arrival. And judging by the weather we've been plunged into the last week that won't be far from reality. Most of our yardwork is now completed. It takes a great deal of determination and energy, tiring work that should be done before ground frost sets in. Some people prefer doing garden clean-up in the spring, but we do it all in the fall, then relax when spring arrives, until planting time.

In the forest the trails, so short a time ago muddy as a result of the nighttime freeze, daytime thaw, are now distinctly hard, frozen solid. The fallen foliage once so bright in their yellow-orange-red kaleidoscope of brilliant colour are now turning that sad crisp grey-brown. The poplar leaves in particular turn a dark, miserable grey colour serving as warning that they'll soon be covered with a layer of white. And we won't mind.

With the foliage gone, leaving bare branches, sightlines through the forest are uninterrupted but for the green spaces where evergreens grow to relieve the dismal greys and blacks of the late fall landscape. We're not deterred from our daily rambles in the woods despite that, since there's always things to see and to marvel at; in any of nature's seasons there are remarkable little vignettes that draw our attention.

The squirrels have been busy, storing away the surfeit of pine and spruce cones that have resulted from this year's growth cycle. And Jackie and Jillie, snug in their cold-weather jackets, love to race after them. They've grown to recognize surprisingly swiftly our exclamations of "squirrel", as their vocabulary grows apace. The squirrels' antics always leave them puzzled, standing at the base of trees, wondering where the little creatures have disappeared to. The squirrels, for their part, seem to enjoy switching their tails with grand impudence at the creatures below incapable of mounting tree trunks.

We recently came across someone we'd never seen before, walking a four-week-old pitbull mix. A sweet looking little puppy, new to the world and eager to make its acquaintance. It hesitated, sitting docilely beside the woman walking with it, as our two approached in their usual storm-front manner, barking furiously. But sensing they meant no harm, the little fellow became animated in no time at all, taking to chasing Jackie and Jillie, giving them a good run, and teaching them how enthusiastically energetic and muscular little dogs destined to grow into big dogs can be.