There's a fairly light wind right now, and the clouds that darkened yesterday's sky have departed. In their place the sun is shining in a blue winter sky, illuminating even further the brilliant white cloaking the entire landscape. There were a few brief light flurries when we went out into the ravine to access the forest trails yesterday afternoon, and they weren't able to do much to lighten the twilight aspect of the forest interior. Today that'll be a different story.

When I went out around eleven last night before bedtime, snow was falling in thick clusters and already there was a substantial snowpack accumulated, with far more to come, since snow only stopped around 6:00 a.m. this morning. Often, we don't experience really low temperatures during a snowfall, but yesterday night the thermometer fell to -10C and when we awoke this morning to a blanket of snow, it had risen to only -7C, though the high for today is supposed to be -6C.

At that temperature, and with freshly-fallen snow, Jackie and Jillie need boots on their tiny feet to keep them from freezing. Early this morning while they were still asleep my husband went out to the backyard to shovel snow off the walkways so our little dogs could be free to wander about there as usual. When we did take them out they were like transformed little puppies, absolutely delighted with the snow, leaping and bounding about everywhere, with Jackie challenging me repeatedly to a run-about. And finally assenting to do his business in the backyard instead of having to be taken into the ravine where he had decided he would eliminate his waste; a very awkward situation to say the least.

Yesterday afternoon before the snow started seriously tumbling out of the sky there was a rush to conclude last-minute preparations, like covering the air conditioner and the barbecue to secure them with tarpaulins and bungee cords, hauling the last of the outdoor furniture off the deck and into the larger of our two garden sheds for winter storage. And bringing up from basement storage the large sized rubberized-bottom carpeting that we place at the back door, side door and garage door to receive the ice, snow and salty slush that we will inevitably track in with us.

And then, in the early evening, the snow began to cover the landscape. There had been nothing left from our previous, much lighter snowfall a week ago on the forest floor. The ground was frozen solid and we managed a fairly medium-length circuit with Jackie and Jillie, both still recovering from their illness. So strange that both would be assailed by a bout of ill health, though each of them had vastly different problems.

Jillie, we know, will gain a complete recovery from the burst, infected abscess, but we still don't know what had caused Jackie's extreme discomfort in his hind end leading to his really peculiar behaviour. His appetite, at the best of times picky, has been uncharacteristically robust during this period, one thing we were thankful for. But he seems more comfortable now, and is beginning to regain normalcy;  his old energy levels returning. His upcoming veterinarian appointment will likely call for tests of one kind or another.

We were able to enjoy being out in the ravine watching them sniffing and snuffling about, running ahead with their usual sense of curiosity, Jackie returning to lifting his leg rather than squatting to urinate. They're playing more energetically together than they have the last several weeks, and taking to grooming one another as well. Early this afternoon they've an appointment at the groomer's next door and associated with the veterinarian clinic we take them to. And they're badly in need of  a grooming.