Winter Interest

Oh happy day! Our first significant snowfall is still falling.

I love the gardening concept of "winter interest". Why can't a garden be interesting in all seasons? Colour is mostly out of the picture, but other elements and principles of design still play their parts.

The clothes line, with all its snow still stuck tightly, beckoned me to take my camera and have a look around. Shall we?

The blueberry shelter looks like a fortress this morning.

Before we go any further, you need to be aware of today's sponsor: that soft smudgy sound of packy snow when you walk on it. I am guessing our native Canadians have a word for it. Can you hear it in your mind?

The tomato cages are trying their best to look like pine trees....

... and the woods looks inviting.

Our ponds are peaceful and tidy - the tidiest they've looked all year.

Quiet reigns this morning....

... and there is a cosy feeling coming from a few yellow lights..

Isn't it interesting how paving stones on the edge are warmer than the smaller ones of the driveway? They are slightly bigger. Do bigger stones hold heat more efficiently? Sounds right to me.

Ted's Christmas doves have stopped shining for the day. They are on a timer. But, the twinkle lights above the fireplace, they shine from early morning until bedtime. It's what makes winter enjoyable for me. A bit of warm light in a cold season. Hygge. Gezellig.

Who knows how many "first snows" we will have this year?

Each one will have its own beauty.....

... and winter interest.

New York Ironweed. How lovely.

“What I've come to learn is that the world is never saved in grand messianic gestures,

but in the simple accumulation of gentle, soft, almost invisible acts of compassion.”

Chris Abani