Chicago FINALLY got its first official snowfall of 2017. Winter this year has been extremely unusual considering most years we are usually buried in snow from December through March. Although we did enjoy those unexpected warm spells during February (usually the most brutal month here), it was comforting to finally see some lovely fat flakes drifting down and blanketing everything in white.

But certain flat-faced members of the family weren’t as excited as I was to venture outside and tread in the freshly fallen snow.

As soon as Sid saw me pull out his fleece coat from the closet, he bunched up in his bed and refused to cooperate. Eventually, with a little encouragement (3 baby carrots), I persuaded him to go outside for some snow patrol duty.

Hi everyone! My, you’re looking swell. It’s Sid here with you today.

Now that my back and hind leg are functioning better, I have been able to go on much longer walks. So just the other day, I was out at Winnemac Park and I noticed that the sun was shining brightly, humans were wearing shorts, jacket-less pets were running around everywhere, and even several robins were out looking for worms. It was a gorgeous day.

I got back home and casually glanced at my calendar only to find we were still in the month of February! Here, I thought I had just hibernated through February, March, and April, but in reality it has just been one of the most unseasonably-warm Februaries in Chicago that I (or my dad) can recall.

Usually February is one of the harshest months of Winter in Chicago. I mean last year most days were below zero! Does this mean people are going to start planning their tropical winter holidays to the balmy Midwest?!

Happy 2017 to all of our friends both furry and fur-less!

After the holidays it got REALLY COLD in Chicago – we’re talking BELOW ZERO with the wind chill so we’re been hunkered down at Pug Slope HQ and thus haven’t had much opportunity for adventure lately.

I think Sid’s okay with that.

He told me his resolution this year is to get fatter (duh, I mean it’s the goal of every pug in existence). He’s already well on his way though as our walks have been extremely brief due to the arctic conditions outside.

So he’ll be napping, snacking, and increasing his diameter until Spring comes — then it’s Pug Boot Camp time (shhh, don’t tell him!).

That first snowfall earlier this month was very pretty but the snow only lasted a day or two. Remember, though, that this is December in Chicago so naturally it wasn’t long before we got another dose. Our morning walk that day took us once again to our favorite neighborhood spot: Winnemac Park.

Upon arrival at the park, Sid became sour due to the added difficulty one experiences when one is trying to sniff out the perfect pee spot and everything sniffable is covered in thick mounds of cold fluff.

But his mood did a complete one-eighty when he set eyes, or rather nose, on the raised garden beds located in a corner of the park near the high school. The beds were overflowing with dried plant stalks which are an optimal medium for sending/receiving pee-mail, so I am told.

I do hope we keep getting snow here because the added humidity the snow brings makes it feel slightly warmer than usual and prevents the city from becoming a stark frozen tundra. And it sure is purdy.

Yes, folks, it is now OFFICIALLY winter here in Chicago. We got a few inches of snow yesterday in the form of large fluffy flakes. Of course the first snow is always the best, especially when the temps are still bearable. You’ll certainly get a polar (pun intended) opposite opinion if you ask me about snow in April, but for now Sid and I are enjoying it immensely. Well, maybe me more than Sid.

Have you gotten any snow where you live yet?

After all the vet visits earlier this month (including a yearly check-up, rabies shot, dental cleaning, and a trip to the emergency vet after an episode that I shall refer to as “The Vomity Calamity”), Sid and I were happy to have a fairly normal and uneventful week or so.

Being that it is still mid-winter here, we did get some more snow this past Sunday, but just enough to make everything look pretty and not the kind of snow where people collapse on the street while attempting to extract their cars from gigantic fluffy white mounds.

Winnemac park looks especially beautiful with a coating of snow. We’ve been getting up earlier than usual now that sun comes up sooner, so our morning walks have been very pleasant.

The park holds all the wonderful smells that Sid dreams about each night. I think the snow must enhance the smells as he can spend a good five minutes with his snout plastered to the base of a light post.

He also gets to observe and greet fellow canines. Or, depending on the pooch in question, he’ll just huff and puff and eventually bark at them from a safe distance (as he is demonstrating above).

He will sometimes track human boot prints in hopes that he may eventually find the human and they will have treats for him.

If this little guy tracked you down through the snow-filled tundra, you’d reward him with some baby carrots, right?

When the weather gets brutally cold and I find myself cooped up at home, I finally find that I have time to do those little projects that I had put on the back burner during the more pleasant summer months when all I wanted to spend every minute outside.

Today’s project involved one of Sid’s many beds. He was given this bed as a gift for his 7th birthday back when he called NY home. While the sturdy material the bed is fashioned from had stood up well after repeated washings and feverish digging/nesting sessions courtesy of Sid, over time the stuffing had compressed and the bed just looked flat and sad.

During the summer, when I got the idea for this project, I had picked up a bag of fiber fill from Joann Fabrics for this very purpose. I wasn’t sure how much to get so I got a rather large bag (thinking I might eventually re-stuff one of his other beds, too!).

Plumping up the bed was much easier than I had anticipated. First, I took the bed to the laundromat and put it through the hot wash cycle to get it squeaky clean. I hope Sid doesn’t mind that the patches of peanut butter that were mashed into the fiber are now long gone!

I then cut a hole big enough for my hand to fit into on the underside of the bed and finally got to the fun part: I just began stuffing fistfuls of the fiber fill into the bed (making sure to pack it in tightly) and distributing it evenly throughout all the nooks and crannies. As you can see from the photo above, I ended up using up over half the bag! My Sid will not stand for a saggy bolster.

Then a quick row of stitches to seal up the hole and PRESTO! Good as new! In fact, BETTER THAN NEW!

I think he likes it, wouldn’t you agree?