I'm a creature of habit. Actually, most people are. Particularly as they gain maturity. It's what makes certain people efficient. And I'm one of them. One becomes accustomed to doing certain things at certain times. It guarantees efficiency, actually. So when I had an appointment on Monday for an echogram that kind of threw my usual Monday preoccupation off kilter. In large cities any time of day is 'rush hour'. Traffic is constant, rushed and crowded. Finding a parking spot at a major hospital is an exercise in extreme frustration.

So instead of doing my usual Monday housecleaning on the day set aside for it, yesterday claimed the privilege. Lots to be done cleaning a house, top-to-bottom. Even if some things like deep-cleaning the kitchen and the bathrooms are left to another day set aside for that in particular. I really don't at all mind cleaning, there's a certain satisfaction in getting it done, just as there is in food preparation. But it was three in the afternoon by the time I was finished; washing the floors is the last thing. And then ... freedom!

Off we went to the ravine with Jackie and Jillie. It had snowed all morning and well into the afternoon but this was a modestly mild day with a high of 2C, so the snow was wet and sloppy. We'd thought the trails as they often are after a snowfall (we'd had 7 cm) would be difficult to traverse but they weren't. The cleats over our boots kept slipping and sliding to a minimum. Planning for a shorter circuit, we decided to elongate and tramped instead further along accessing additional trails for a longer circuit. And coming across others doing the same thing, which explains the good condition of the trails.

Stopping to talk with ravine-hiking friends, seeing others we hadn't come across in ages. And Jackie and Jillie were in a constant state of excitement, barking in greeting at all their familiar friends; the canine equivalent of just what we were doing. Everyone remarked on the swiftly gathering dusk. It had been close to twilight when we entered the ravine and by the time we exited dusk had just about completed its blanketing of the forest. We haven't many daylight hours in these shorter winter days.

We arrived back home by half-past four, and I still had dinner to prepare, but I'd planned it out; a noodle/cheese/salmon casserole. I cooked the noodles, prepared a white sauce, melted a mixture of sharp cheddar, mozzarella and Romano into the sauce, added frozen green peas and sliced green onions, added the drained noodles to the mixture, then layered it into a casserole scattering the salmon between the two layers and topping it with Panko and additional cheese. We had baby spinach as a side dish and leftover mixed-berry pie for dessert.

A busy day.