We slept in this morning and it's entirely my fault, although Irving never complains. I get so caught up in writing and posting in my blogs that time just seems irrelevant, though I'm also keenly aware of how late it is. Should I ever forget, Jackie will remind me.  He gets quite restless and makes no secret of his disapproval. He thinks it's time we all troop up to bed and lets me know it. 

 

While I'm writing Irving is usually watching various Swedish, German or British crime shows on his computer. We never watch television. We've got television of course, but don't bother with it, haven't in many years. There's just too much else to do, aside from reading. 

 

 

 

When we awoke this morning it was dark, and so comfortable in bed, we just stayed longer than we could have. Irving usually listens to the news on one of his little portable radios early in the morning, then falls back to sleep and when we finally wake up for good, he fills me in on everything.

 

As soon as Jackie and Jillie hear us talking, they know it's time for them to get us up. They loll all over us, demanding to be stroked, and we do that until we get tired of it, although they never do. When we did make our way downstairs finally, it was to the realization that it was raining, heavily. And there was one of our neighbours, putting up decorations for Christmas on his trees.

 

 

They just finished taking down their Hallowe'en decorations, and it will take them weeks to complete setting up their Christmas decorations. They're more or less addicted to these outer displays. The bright lights on dark evenings can be quite attractive, actually, and a lot of our neighbours indulge in them, but these neighbours take decoration really seriously.

 

Eventually the rain stopped, and out we went to the forest with Jackie and Jillie. But not before my usual Friday business in the kitchen. I prepared some bread dough and grated old Cheddar into it, along with sesame seeds, and that dough will be used in a day or two to make croissants to pair with a bean-and-vegetable soup I'll be preparing, perfect for these cold days. And I also decided to bake cupcakes, and as a result we'll be enjoying coconut-lime cupcakes for dessert tonight. 

 

Today was somewhat warmer at 5C than yesterday's 0C, but it really didn't feel any warmer, although we dressed a little more carefully against the cold than we had yesterday, when we went out in a rather festive mood because of all the snow that had fallen. No snow left today, however. Most of the forest trails were sodden and deep in clay, thanks to the melted snow, so care was needed not to slip and slide on the inclines, ascending and descending hills.

Overhead, the sky hosted large dirty-dark billowing clouds, and wind made it seem even colder than yesterday. But as always, we enjoyed our circuit through the trails, and so did Jackie and Jillie. Heaven knows what we'd do without the forest nearby for our daily excursions. We consider ourselves beyond fortunate to be able to leave the house, walk a few hundred yards up the street and enter a forest adjacent to the street we live on.