I braved our icy steps the other morning to take some photos in our frosty garden. The bright and cold winter weather is a double edged sword isn't it? There is SUCH winter beauty and gorgeous light and I want to get amongst it but it comes with SO MUCH slip risk!
I was happy that I could work at home one day last week so I didn't have to brave the icy hills of Hebden town but I did make it out to the garden. The frost covered seed heads were calling me.
I wrote about these very astrantias back in the bright warmth of June when they were wearing their summer clothing and brimmed with colour, life and energy. Take a look at the photos for contrast.
Now they are nodding their heads. They've been battered by wind and snow and rain and they are just hanging on. Today's covering of ice crystals has accentuated their skeletal beauty and they look like majestic. Like tiny ice palaces.
I wondered if there were any tiny insects inside snuggling down inside them out of the cold. I'm glad I didn't 'tidy them up' at the end of the flowering season.
I found it amazing to compare the same scene, summer and winter one after the other like that. It reminded me what is to come again but also how much there is to appreciate about these cold months too. We have a while left of winter yet so lets find those bits to appreciate.
As well as the frost I've been enjoying:
- the stark silhouettes, especially on the tops of the hills against the sky where the trees look like lace
- just how differently coloured the trees are, even without their leaves
- tree decorations - the natural kind like lichen, leftover dangling seeds, new catkins coming, sparkly drops of rain, withering fruit, berries, moss
- being able to see the busy birds in the trees while there are no leaves to hide them
- leftover grasses and seed heads, pale and battered but beautiful
- stars
- seeing constellations I learned last year again
- the bright moon
- the morning sun on our opposite hill and the way it glows on the hill
It's good to consider these thins and let them light our way until the spring.
What about you? What are your favourite things about being outdoors in the winter?
