Engaging with the surface of the street in front of our house and throughout its length has become an exercise in carefully negotiating each square foot of the road to mitigate against a slide and a fall. I had one of those a few months back and it isn't pleasant, nor the outcome to be eagerly anticipated once fallen. The road is slathered thick in glacial ice. Little wonder given the all-day rain event of two days back and the subsequent re-entry since, of Arctic cold.

When we ventured out yesterday afternoon with Jackie and Jillie bundled in their winter coats for a walk on the forest trails, the wind was at our backs and more or less unceremoniously shoved us along. To secure footing, even with our cleat-strapped boots meant that we looked for places where the ice had protrusions and ridges and even some slight bits of snow to ensure our feet didn't slip beyond our control, but we managed to make it up the street to the entrance to the ravine without making violent contact with the icy road.

Once in the ravine the footing improved substantially. Though the trails were somewhat icy, given rain-on-snowpack, and there were ample places where the trodden trail was uneven, we felt far more confidence in our ability to remain upright and to be able to stride briskly along because there was fair purchase on the surface of the trails. The rain of the day before kept us from our usual daily ravine ramble and we were determined despite the continuation of the high winds, to get Jackie and Jillie out for their daily walk in natural surroundings.

It hardly appeared as though the rain had reduced the snowpack noticeably, though there was a slick of ice over the forest floor atop the mounded snow. The sun was out, and it glanced brightly off the ice-slicked hills while above the forest canopy wild wind raged. Looking up at the canopy whenever the sound of the wind increased in a gust of extreme violence, the masts of the trees swayed.

In such conditions it is probably wiser to avoid walking in a forested area. We didn't see much damage other than the collapse of an already-dead tree close to one of the trails, and plenty of woody detritus forced down from above to litter the forest floor. At the time we were out the temperature had risen to -7C, but the ferocity of the wind made it mandatory that we take measures to dress accordingly since such strong winds penetrate winter garments without fail, so underneath layers help immeasurably to stay comfortable.

Halfway through our shortened walk we came across a feisty little Husky, quite in his element, and enjoying both the landscape and its atmosphere. Its joy in being out and its happily boisterous run-abouts were a treat to watch. We've seen him and his companion on several previous occasions, a very social young man who clearly takes great pleasure in his pet's glee at exposure to his breed's natural background in nature.

The sun beaming through the house windows on our return created a warm and comfortable aura. The large windows of this house become an absolute positive during the winter season, inviting and absorbing the sun, in the process warming the house interior. It's a different story at night when high winds prevail and the second story of the house reflects the icy presence of wind on a frigid night. No complaints; it makes for good sleeping.

I had made a small beef roast for dinner, and a Yorkshire pudding, that prince of puddings, along with a mixture of spinach and arugula, with blueberries and sliced peaches for dessert, to help bolster our internal resources with a hot meal of comfort food.