It seems so long ago that we could casually and with a certain amount of spontaneity decide to leave everything and just decamp for a leisurely, enjoyable stroll through the woods, without having to pull together sweaters, jackets, mittens, toques and boots with crampons firmly attached before heading out of the house. But this is winter and as it dallies and tries our almost limitless patience, all those preparations are an absolute requirement.

Jackie and Jillie look really shaggy. Their haircoats have grown in with a vengeance. It's been far too long since they were groomed. And though it's fine in this weather that they wear that very personal garment of theirs over which we pull a sweater and then a winter jacket, and cannot forget their boots, it's just as well that they aren't cursed with a sense of vanity.

By the end of the month, however, that'll change. They'll be taken to the groomers and will once again look like svelte little poodles. On the downside, it will still be winter, still be cold, we'll still have snowstorms and they'll be somewhat less snug in their shorn natural haircoat. They will be visually presentable, however. At the present time their paws are overgrown with hair, and so are their faces, with their little topknots dangling over their eyes, despite our occasional snips to free their sightlines.

Another cold day today, with the afternoon high at -6C, but thank heavens, the wind has subsided from the roaring tempest it has been the last few days. So, off we set adequately geared, knowing that since today is also a holiday for those in the workforce, we would come across a few more people out enjoying the winter landscape than might otherwise be expected.

And we weren't wrong, although there weren't a great many people and their dogs, just a handful. And as it happened, no one that we know. Enough strangers out enjoying the day to ensure that Jackie and Jillie behaved as badly as they tend to do when coming across people and dogs they aren't familiar with. They're curious about people, and functionally hostile to strange dogs and there doesn't seem to be anything we can do about it.

It seems an inbred characteristic of toy poodles. Button, our miniature poodle, was nothing like that; bright, intelligent and friendly. Her companion, Riley, a toy poodle, behaved just the same way that Jackie and Jillie do. We know from our interaction with standard poodles that they tend to be quiet, not barkers like our two, and well behaved. An attribute that could never be applied to Jackie and Jillie.

Our two little sprites are just as they are and though they're beyond irritating at times in their mannerisms and breed-specific quirks they make up for it by having personalities that define them for who they are as our companions. In many ways they're predictable, and in others they continue to surprise us by their antics and mode of communication with us.

As for today's ramble through the forest trails, it was extremely pleasant. Nature went out of her way today to gift us with a clear sky and the presence of sun so bright it hurt one's eyes. The forest was fully illuminated, fingers of bright probing sunlight streaming through the trees to spill onto the forest floor, an almost ethereal vision of a landscape.

In the near distance we could hear a pileated woodpecker splintering a tree trunk somewhere in the forest. Chickadees and nuthatches have been busy lately. This morning when my husband went out early with Jackie and Jillie in the backyard, he heard returning goldfinches, though it seems awfully early for them.