We slept in this morning. Deliberately and luxuriously. We anticipated a busy day, but 'busy' wouldn't begin until early afternoon. So we figured we could use the morning hours to a rest-advantage, and that's just what we did. Jackie and Jillie were in full agreement. More than prepared to abide by us while we all just loafed about in bed. A serene togetherness.

Even when we did eventually stir ourselves there was no hurry. We just toddled along, more or less. Still, there's a schedule to keep and habits steer one into the direction of getting things done. At a slow pace, however. And it was delightful. We had a bang-up meal eating a little more than might be advisable if it were not a cold winter night, and the day had been one of more than ample physical activity. 

Our dinner was more than welcome on a busy, cold day. A dinner that more or less looked after itself. The oven did the roasting, and I did some occasional basting of a Cornish game hen to acquire that dark brown crispy texture and seasoning that permeated under the skin. Which I discard, but Irving enjoys. The noodle pudding that accompanied the hen was a good foil, almost neutral to the hen's toothsome flavours. One doesn't normally think of poultry and raisins accompanying each other on a dinner plate, but sometimes it works very well. We won't mention the necessary green accompaniment. But the slices of fresh pears were a nice finish to the meal.

We lingered after breakfast, then swung into action to prepare ourselves to leave the house. Jackie and Jillie had a  spa appointment to be groomed, and while they were there, we planned to do our weekly grocery shopping. Efficiency, that's the key. 

I had put together a few bags of clothing we were discarding and they were to be delivered to the Salvation Army's thrift shop. We had to pick up a big bag of kibble for the pups. The pharmacy awaited a drop-by. The bank was prepared to welcome us for a cash withdrawal. All this and more. We dropped by Farm Boy after leaving our puppies with the beautiful crew at the spa.

Something odd happens at that store specializing in fruits and vegetables; our eyes light on all the colourful, fresh offerings and we discover we simply cannot do without items we don't normally have access to. Irving loves fresh figs, and there was fresh figs waiting to be picked up. We pounced. I had forgotten what a nuisance it is to peel the damn things.

 From there, after acquiring shopping bags of items we'd normally get at Food Basics, we headed off there, stopping first at the bank and to deliver the clothing bags. We don't normally shop that late in the day, so there were far more people in the supermarket than we're accustomed to. Still, it wasn't crowded, and we had no problem getting everything we needed, and more. This time when I deposited the bag of food we'd selected for the area Food Bank the receptacle was empty but for what we deposited, since it had just all been picked up for distribution.

Approaching the spa on the walkway leading to it, we passed one of the windows and there was Jackie and Jillie barking furiously at us, scrabbling at the window to hurry us up. They smell delicious, they feel like Angora. So we were late getting around to our ravine hustle. We set out at a time closer to when we usually arrive back home after a hike.

This has been a colder day than the past several, and windy. All of us needed to relax and work off some of the steam of the day. So we took our time there, too, ambling about the trails. No need to hurry, we'd done enough hurrying in the middle of the day. The forest landscape looked serene. The creek height is diminished from the last few days. No snow melt today with this icy temperature. This has been a day that earned its keep.