It had started snowing when we went up to bed last night. By morning we'd received about 22 cm. Our neighbours shovelled out our porch and walkways by the time we came down for breakfast.  Looks like we cannot persuade them otherwise. So be it. Good souls that they are.

Meanwhile, as soon as Irving took Jackie and Jillie out while I was setting the table for breakfast, he set about shovelling the pathways in the backyard for them. When they came back after their initial foray out-of-doors they were well drenched in snow. The snow was in fact still coming down while they were out. They enjoyed a good rub-down and settled in to await breakfast.

Their kibble would be augmented by part of the Cornish Game Hen Irving and I shared for dinner last night. It certainly encouraged their appetite. Also last night Irving made an attempt to resuscitate his mini-laptop, an Acer that was only about six years old. He looked on line for hints on trouble-shooting, discussed it by telephone with one of our sons. This will be the third mini-laptop he's had over the past 20 years and enjoyed not very good service from them.

So when we came back from our foray into the ravine this afternoon he went off to Best Buy to pick up a Lenovo laptop and hope for better luck with it. Guess who will be setting it up? Oddly enough the man who has patience I could never muster, who is able to do anything at all he turns his hand to, from painting to stained glass work, furniture construction to electrical and plumbing work, excavation and landscape design, just hasn't the interest in being comfortable around computers.

Its use for him is strictly utilitarian; an entertainment venue to pick up old dramas, detective or mystery television series. British preferably, but German and Swedish will also do. I'm far from being comfortable as in knowing what to do, much less knowing what I'm doing around computers, but I get by. So we'll give this another try...

Funnily enough, this is the very day that commercial enterprises are permitted to open in Ontario, a loosening of the lockdown and stay-at-home orders from the province. Because of that and that we expected supermarkets and everything else to be packed with shoppers we opted to forego our food shopping this early morning and tackle it tomorrow. Given the weather and driving conditions, just as well. By the time Irving had gone out to pick up the computer traffic was horrendous and the wind had picked up considerably.

The municipality had plowed out our road just after noon, and our driveway was done soon afterward. So we set off with Jackie and Jillie in -8C cold, fast falling to -9C, hoping that enough people would have been through the trails to begin tamping them down somewhat. We soon discovered 'somewhat' to be the operative word here. It was tough, tough going, slogging through the new snow. We rested often from the sheer exertion required to get through the trails. 

Jackie was ecstatic, he wanted to rush about everywhere. Their little rubber boots keep their tiny feet from freezing, and he was overjoyed with all the snow; Jillie is more laconic in nature, the only thing that excites her enough to turn circles of anticipation is food. The presence of the snow thickly slathered on the trails may have been an impediment to smooth sailing for us, but not to them. Jackie marched smartly along, veering off in one tangential swoop after another, left to right, right to left. Jillie steers straight ahead, for the most part.

The view of the landscape was exhilarating, exquisitely beautiful, everything lathered in bright white icing. Gusts of wind up to 30kmh blew the tops of the forest trees, but made little inroad at our level. The wind that did come through, however, was piercing enough given the cold atmosphere. The energy we expended tramping through the snow kept us warmer than we'd feel under less strenuous conditions, that was clear. Stray gusts of wind whipped the fresh snow off laden branches.

Making our way uphill in these conditions, the snow thick and slippery, was quite the feat; we slid back often enough, but managed finally to crest each hill. Slithering downhill was easier, but really challenged our balance. And we saw few other people out. Everything combined, the arduous trek through new snow, the colder temperature augmented by wind for extra discomfort, allied with the fact of commercial opening on this day likely kept most people away. Those few we did see happily grunted their opinion of the laboriously slow going and carried on.

Soup tonight! The temperature will keep dropping until it reaches -22C. We'll sleep well and comfortably. I'm preparing a French onion soup. Kind of a power dinner, come to think of it, because I'm also preparing a side dish of spinach and a big bowl for each of us of sweet and juicy clementines for dessert.