There, Jackie and Jillie have had their afternoon salad bowls, I've put on a vegetable soup to cook for dinner, found the pineapple I was planning to cut up for dessert in a state of rot not visible from the exterior, and the snow removal tractors have finally cleared out our driveway. Earlier, when I'd gone out to shovel last night's and the morning's snow, the accumulation was thigh-deep. I shovelled the snow from the garage sills so the tractor could scoop it all up when it eventually arrived. Glad it's done.

 

Sad Waste

Not so glad we've been stuck in the house all day, save for the time when we were out shovelling the walkways in the backyard again, before breakfast. I happened to be the one to take Jackie and Jillie out last thing before going up to bed usually, instead for Irving doing it for a change, and the force of the wind almost knocked me over. Its howling and movement of the snow startled the pups as they marched gingerly through the snowpiles of billowing wind drifts.

 

The strange thing was that this today there seemed to be less snow down on the ground first thing this morning despite hours of overnight snowfall, than I had encountered the night before. While at the front of the house large snowdrifts were deep and steep. It's been -7C all day, but the wind bursts make it seem much colder.

Surprisingly, the municipal plows have done a number of passes on the street. Even as private contractors appear to have been swamped by the sheer size and consistency of never-ending snow. We decided with reluctance there was nothing much to be gained in subjecting ourselves and the puppies to the kind of arduous trek a ravine hike would become if we ventured out to the forest trails today. We might find the effect of the wind reduced by the forest canopy, but the depth of snow massed on top of the ice that formed on the forest floor on Friday when we had rain, sleet and freezing rain, would be no one's idea of a picnic.

Jackie and Jillie don't seem to mind. They don't much like high wind. And trying to make their way as small dogs through a deep accumulation of snow would represent quite a sustained effort for them, as it would for us.  So I used the 'spare time' to catch up on some correspondence and do a few other things I've been putting off for too long. And engaging more afternoon reading.

Irving is busy in his workshop finishing off a stained glass door insert. Both of us feel as though something is missing from the day. Our usual walk in the woods, of course. We'll see what tomorrow brings.