Happy Valentines Day

Here is the first photo of Tugby and Huck together.  There are still occasional bouts of huffing and hissing, but they seem to happen just before the boys get fed, so I'm blaming hunger.  As you can see, there is quite a size differential between them.  Tugby has had the benefit of the premium cat food we were feeding Chester, while Huck has been eating the food provided by Streetcats.  I'm going to continue feeding the boys the good vet food until their kitten stage is over, because we've noticed that Huck's fur is just not as soft and silky as Tugby, and he seems to be shedding more.  I guess you get what you pay for.

We had a pretty substantial snowfall over the weekend.  I took this picture last Friday while I was coming back from my walk.  As you can see, the front porch has no snow at all, and the front yard has hardly any either.  The snow that was there was very icy and hard.  Now, take a look at the picture on the right, which was taken from my living room window on Sunday morning.

We estimate that we received about 18 inches of snow overnight.  So much for the predictions made by men wearing formal suits after discussing the weather with rodents on February 2nd!  The bad news is that its not a lot of fun walking around our neighbourhood right now.  The snow isn't deep, but we've had above zero temperatures and as a result we have very slushy roads.  Despite many years of experimenting, I have never found a pair of walking shoes or boots that actually keep my feet dry and warm.  I can do dry, if I'm prepared to use rubber boots.  But the rubber seems to suck all the warmth out of my toes before I even start walking.  And I can do warm, but by the end of the first block my toes are all wrinkled and shrivelled up, and cold because they're wet. 
 
The good news is that I have been snowshoeing every day since Sunday.  I am so happy that we finally got enough snow that we can go out.  It's warm out, so I don't have to use too many layers, and I can nip out and clomp around for about 40 minutes in the afternoon.  It's so peaceful in the park that you would never believe that you're in the middle of town, and a complete change of pace from my usual exercises.  I found out on Sunday that I need to add more aerobic exercise to my program because although I wasn't stiff or sore, my heart was pounding and I was panting.  A lot.

The last thing I want to mention is my valentine for this year.  We've been married for over 30 years, so valentine gifts of chocolates and roses don't happen every time.  Furthermore, this is the busiest time of year for my husband, and he is generally working at least 12 hour days, which make it difficult to go shopping.  We found this plant container a couple of weekends ago at the local garden centre.  It happens to look exactly like our dog Sammy, who died of old age last spring.  My husband bought it on the spot and put a plant in the back.  I think there are more loving thoughts involved in finding something like this, than in relying on the cliched gifts that big retailers want you to buy.   The most memorable gift I've ever received for Valentine's day happened when my husband left for work as usual.  About 15 minutes later the doorbell rang, and he returned with a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun for me, with a small bouquet of flowers.  He explained that he knew he'd be working late, and probably not have time at night to pick anything up, if he remembered.   We sat and enjoyed our coffee together, and then he went to work.  It was a totally unexpected and thoughtful gesture that I will never forget.