Fresh Snow And Sunshine

Five inches of new snow fell in the night with a low of 8. There was no high temperature to speak of.

Things changed abruptly this morning going from full snow to full sun in about half an hour.

It was a bit of a surprise. The winter storm was over.

The sun was nice, but the wind was blowing and there was no high to speak of. I did not make it past the front porch today. Next week is looking warmer. I will venture out.

Still Here

This is the snow from a week ago Sunday. Still here. It has been cold. More snow and colder cold is scheduled for this weekend.

I was temporarily trapped. A load of rubbish had to go down the drive. It took another day and a half of assisted melt before I could get back up. Now parked back at the top and ready for winter.

Winter. It was bound to happen.

It's been cold. The snow won't melt. While I draw more bones in the garden.

The Snow Is Still Here

Like I said the melt solidified. Once it compacts and freezes solid, it takes a long time to melt. The cold hasn't helped.

It has been a week since I wandered out there. I didn't want to put footprints in such a perfect, fresh looking covering of snow. The cold didn't help.

'Jelena' kept calling me down.

I was most impressed after a week of winter and a good full day of wicked cold wind.

Slightly frazzled at best.

Another round of colder cold is coming, without snow, so far. This snow could still be here next week.

 

The Snowdrops Were Still There

The tomatoes are long gone.

A big locust encased in a ginormous poisoned ivy vine fell in from Madison County. When the snow melts. That's when.

Winter

Has come to sit a spell. Motion has ceased.

There was rime frozen in the night.

The melt solidified.

Hibernation is under enforcement. Winter, it was bound to happen.

In Snow Motion

 

It Snowed

It is still snowing.

Kind of.

The wind is blowing. Steady and strong.

The wind is evil.

This was yesterday. Six to eight inches total today. Hard to tell. It is still snowing. The wind is blowing cold and steady. More snow and more cold is scheduled for the end of the week. Motion has ceased.

The books are totaled. The receipts are organized. The stack of forms are printed. With good behavior, the IRS might remove the red FWTP checkmark by my identification number.

Before A Winter Storm Bloom Day

I cheated and took Bloom Day pictures a few days early. A big winter storm was scheduled to arrive today. I wanted pictures of the growing winter Under Garden and the blooms before it was all buried in snow. Word is we may get up to a foot of snow in the next two days. It has already begun.

For a January Bloom Day in the depths of winter, I give you the Witch Hazel 'Jelena', unmarred and undeterred from full bloom by the previous bouts of winter last week.

The warm spell prior to the actual onset of winter enticed the witch hazels to bloom several weeks early.

'Jelena' has refused to turn back and in the last week 'Diane' has begun to let red petals peek out. I did not get a picture of that.

But I knew a long time ago that my garden could not rely on blooms alone. The Barren Time was five months too long without a garden's greenery. I had come here infused with tropical winds.

So I started drawing directly in the barren ground.

I needed a garden to get me through the winter.

Don't let me forget the Snowdrops for January's Bloom Day. They are coming up by the thousands across the mountain top. Flowers don't hurt a winter garden. When you try, you can have blooms close to year round in a garden far from the tropics.

Ten years later that Under Garden has become.

Along with other accumulations.

I keep drawing on barren winter ground. A garden continues expanding to become, something unusual. 

Along The Path Next Door

We are having winter now. Another, maybe big, snow is scheduled for the weekend. There has been abundant cold. I needed to empty the furnace drain bucket next door before I get snowed in. The baby 'Jelena' witch hazel by the chimney blooms on. All three 'Jelena' have continued with full bloom, uninterrupted by winter. The temps have been 40s-20s.

One day 'Jelena' will be big enough to be seen from a distance. If I can still see then. My eyes! I can't really see the computer screen in focus anymore.

I'm going to have to say my secondary cataracts are worse than the originals. If that is all that is going on. I'll find out on February 15th. 

I'm also going to have to say that this is the most winter smoke in the air I have ever seen since living here. The smoke has been truly bad for months. I don't know precisely why that is happening, but it just feels like a very bad sign. That can't be good for my eyes.

The pictures I see on this screen have been having a very smoky mood of late. Is it smoke or secondary cataracts? Who knows? The vibration of low light and the complexity of vast landscapes can add to the blur. I do see red berries in the mist.

Along The Scenic Byway

There is even more inside.

'Jelena' Between Snows

Incoming. Another round of winter was on the way. There was a brief window of melt before frigid returned.

'Jelana' looked pretty unperturbed after thawing out. We shall see how long that lasts.

I was a bit surprised. The switch to winter was steep and abrupt.

All three of the 'Jelena' Witch Hazels are in bloom.

Got to enjoy it while you can.

Half melted

And a garden that draws me outside.

Until it is too cold, and you get stuck inside.