Yesterday's weather presented a challenge, nature's way of introducing us to the inevitability of winter onset. We knew that today would be even icier, and the wind would be fiercer. So before going up to bed I rummaged about in the pantry for a container of white pea beans, rinsed a cup of them, and poured four cups of cold water over the beans. Then, up we went to bed.

I'm not making much headway on my reading of Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum, it's densely allusive and though playful, slow going. It was lights-out a half-hour later, and before I knew it my husband was fully dressed and urging me to do the same. We had a schedule to keep. Early morning shopping for our weekly groceries, after settling Jackie and Jillie in to the morning. Hearing their mournful baying as we left the house on a cold but bright morning.

An hour and a half later we were home again; no concerns over sharing a large floor space of shelves and refrigerated units packed with food items with a horde of shoppers. There were more store employees by far packing the half-empty shelves than customers. The young male cashier whom we've seen for several weeks running is efficient and sweet-tempered, given to small-talk socializing with us while keeping himself and us in a safe zone.

Traffic wasn't at all heavy, though steady. There was still some remnants of the snow that had fallen overnight on the ground; more of it remained up on rooftops -- as though we needed reminding that winter is nigh. Frantic greetings on our return home; Jackie and Jillie dividing their joy and anxious leaps and bounds between us and the food collected in the four large plastic carriers deposited from car trunk to kitchen floor.

Breakfast a happy, relaxed affair after another trip outdoors where the sun has long since departed for the day. And then, time out for a round of the forest trails was in order. Consultations over which of their little coats would keep them warmest on this coldest-to-date of mid-November days. Finally we're all ready to go, puppies excited and leaping at the mudroom door leading to the garage. We leave the laundry sink filled with soapy water for paw-laving on our return.

One of those days when people prefer to remain at home rather than venture out onto the forest trails, so we have our circuit pretty well undisturbed by anyone else's presence. Despite which Jackie and Jillie detect the past-presence of others either from the days previous or hours prior to our arriving in the ravine this day.

Our pace today is much faster than has been usual in less inclement weather. The wind rips through our thick mittens, freezing our hands. Jackie and Jillie seem not to be the least bothered by either cold or wind, their little coats providing them with ample comfort. Although the ground is well penetrated by frost now, the topmost layer of the forest floor on the trails is sloppy with muck, and the puppies take care to avoid the mid-section of the trail, and we follow them to the still-leaf-covered sides, side-stepping the thick-oozing wet areas.

At one juncture up on the ridge forming the main trail through the forest, they stop and begin growling, alert to the slope on the left and another trail down below. We are able to see no one there moving around, no people, no dogs, but they continue their alert stance and their growling. It's a safe enough assumption that they sense or smell the presence of a creature they fail to approve of; possibly a coyote.

Yesterday we had come across an acquaintance while out with our puppies who informed us that earlier in the week when he had been out in the early morning he had encountered a coyote. His dog, a large Lab, is capable of defending herself, but it's highly unlikely a coyote would be interested in attacking a large dog, though rumour has it that they sometimes use pack strategies with a sole dog, and other people have told us that the coyotes tend to be more playful in attitude than threatening and we find that version more credible.

Later, back at home, I dice up a garlic clove, an onion, and four tomatoes, stirring them into the beans that I had earlier cooked to soften for an hour. In went salt and pepper, molasses, maple syrup, tomato paste and half a chicken soup cube; my version of stove-top 'baked beans'. Which will warm us up nicely at dinnertime on this quasi-winter day.