December wonderland

The first weekend of December brought us a lot of lovely, light, fluffy snowfall that left us with plenty of shoveling to do! On my way home from the dentist this morning, I ran around with my camera because I think the snow is simply beautiful. Don't you?

When the snow is up to your belly

Apparently it's World Puppy Day, hence the video below. It has melted a lot since last week, when Shadow had a couple of pretty long walks, and by the end of them he was pretty worn out. I guess that's how it is when the snow is up to your belly. All that delicious snow to bury your face in and eat, and definitely a good cardio workout by the time we got home! Happy Puppy Day...

A marshmallow world

It's a marshmallow world in the winter
when the snow comes to cover the ground
It's a time for play, it's a whipped cream day.
I wait for it the whole year round...

-- It's a Marshmallow World 

by Lou Sigman, 1949

It seems unfair to me that the song above is only played at Christmas time when it doesn't even make mention of Christmas. What it actually talks about is a day like today, when I woke up to see light fluffy snow "in the arms of the evergreen tree" and more sparkly stuff floating down, turning every upraised branch into a series of cotton puff balls.

Shadow and I walked for almost two hours, revelling in the beauty of the day. The white trees contrasted with the grey sky, and every bush was like a fairyland of crystal and lace. God's artistry is so incredibly beautiful, a little bit of heaven here and now.

A whipped cream day, indeed. For my readers who rarely see snow, here are the best of my pictures, which can't begin to do the day justice. Enjoy!

Back to snowy walks with a small dog

Winter arrived this week. I'm happy to see snow, and don't generally mind the cold, as long as it's a bit warmer than -30 C (the coldest thus far this week was an early morning -20 with windchill to -26). Shadow and I have been waiting until after lunch to go out this week, though I prefer to get the day's walk out of the way earlier.

Here are a few images and a video from this week's walks:

Mountain ash berries are pretty with snow...

The river is slowly freezing (when it isn't thawing -- 

our cold snaps keep getting interrupted with temperatures

in the pluses... 

It's hard to see, but Shadow has a white beard

from licking snowbanks as he romps along...

Gallagher Park -- arguably the city's best tobogganing hill...

We love living so close to the river valley...

No ducks left here...

and long shadows at two p.m....

If you've never walked a small dog in the snow, this is what it's like, minus the cold fresh air... Have a good weekend, friends!

A snowy walk with a small dog

It's actually raining here today, but I thought I'd share some pics from a few days ago when there was fresh snow and Shadow and I took a walk... If you've never walked a dog on a snowy day, this will give you some idea of what it's like.

It was so snowy, we hardly knew we were in the city...

same place on a sunny day below...

Pictures don't quite do justice to a prance-y pup. 

Here's a wee video.

The way he shakes delights me, fur, legs and tail all flapping.

Happy New Year!