Beauty before the beast .......

Have you ever been in almost a state of shock from seeing something so beautiful your mind keeps mulling over the details because it is just such a soul quenching event ?
I'm still in shock of how gorgeous that morning was .. I want to keep savoring every sparkle in every picture.
That dawn was so subtle .. it was like a whisper .. someone whispers in your ear ... that you have won the lottery ? .. OK .. maybe that is a bit far fetched but seeing the snow in changing light values .. how it began to move from pretty .. to beautiful .. to absolutely stunning with every sparkle glittering ... that is how it was .. and the blessed silence ...

Even something as what might be unnoticable at times, our neighbor's pear tree.

It held a completely different essence altogether in the snow and light .. so straight and reaching for the sky .. it was amazing.

Yes ... the many arms again ... I just keep hitting the replay button .. I found it fascinating.

That gorgeous bird house against the white on white branches .. too beautiful !

The glitter of the snow and sun ... how the snow hugged each nook and cranny ....

OK .. I had to throw a little Christmas in to the mix .. nice contrast with the red, right ?

The back garden looked so clean and fresh in its white dress ....

Little arms from wonderful trees that work so hard every other season for us.

This is their respite .. their time to be cuddled and cared for by the snow.

I wonder, if I sprinkled snow all over inside my house .. would it look as refreshing as this ?

The "girls" might not think the same way I do about it all ? ;-)

This setting against the blue, blue sky ... how perfect can it get ?

I'm sure my serviceberry "moved" to get closer in the picture .. don't you ?

Then it came down to Emma .. after Sophie's photo shoot .. she thought she could get away with just looking cute .. laying in her bed ... and .. she did !

The bit about "beauty before the beast" .. well it seems freezing rain is headed our way now .. so let the fun begin with that treacherous stuff ... YUCK !!! .. give me plain honest snow any time !!

Too Pretty To Believe .....

We have had a storm move out this morning from yesterday ... and yet again the winter storm warning is back flashing at us for another BIG dump .. I'm glad I got out to the stores today even after my jumping up and down from seeing how absolutely gorgeous it was this morning from all of that snow yesterday ... but here we go again ?
I'm taking pictures as fast as I can to keep up ?
Click on the pictures to see more detail : )
I took so many it has given me a thumping headache looking at them all ... but it was magical this morning as the sun got brighter .. there were so many diamonds in the snow I gave up counting ?

Reflections of light on our Pacific Sunset Maple ... soft and alluring .. subtle yet lovely ?

See through gown of snow above ... to many arms in a white wool fleece ?

Little fingers of our Mountain Ash tree ...

... and ... yet this vine still breaths life ..... curling its toes just a wee bit ?

Sophie thinking I had totally lost the plot while hanging out the deck door .. poor little love ready with her kitty paws aimed at 911 ? wink wink

Big blue eyes questioning my present state of mind ... wait for this next storm to hit and I might start wondering about myself too ? ;-)

What happens when ....

A few days ago I was excited to finally "catch" some ice in my little dragonfly stand .. and yet the rosemary did me proud and was remaining so vividly green and beautiful.
Yes ... the parsley too was holding its own .....

As well as that gorgeous oregano and sage with its parsley .. who would have thought it would in December !

Then today happened ..........................

Heavy, white, wet sticky stuff .. but being sticky it did STICK to the branches and looked beautiful to me .. it also has a noise damping affect .. you can hear silence .. that is true for me : )

White covered the purple oregano ...

It layered on lamps and limbs of trees ...

On garden arbors with fancy finials ....

On shrubs with many arms reaching out to it ...

On roof tops of houses for people and birds ....

On gargoyles ... whether they be watchers of a garden ...

Or actual weather gargoyles who might have known this was coming ?

On stoic garden gnomes who are friends of gargoyles, who might have given them warning ?

On mystery vines ... that we think we know what they are .. but do we really ?

The snow is melting .. and that mystery vine is still growing .. I can hear it .. under the snow ;-)

Sprouting Green in December ???

OK .. this is embarrassing to admit straight off the top of a post .. but believe me, if you knew how my brain has been consistently FRIED lately, you would take pity and not laugh too much ?
To the left of this very green "plant" is Pinot Gris heuchera and to the right of this very green "plant" is begenia cordifolia .. for the life of me please .. some one fill in the blank for the middle VERY green plant , which I darn well know what it is but am sitting here BLANK ????
Flames of Passion geum ... sprouting away here .. it was a new geum for me this past Spring and I highly recommend it because it truly is gorgeous and red !!

So many campanulas are POPPING in the garden it is scary ... and odd ... seeing so much GREEN !!

Stoplight huecherella against Gypsy Dancer Heuchera .. what a foil they make in the right season and here they are trying to do the same in December ?? Top THAT !! ;-)

.... and more campanula (Northern Shade should be nodding in agreement for how stubbornly beautiful these plants are and behave : ) .. Lime Rickey is to the right and perhaps Pinot Gris to the left ? .. duh ? moment again .. but hey .. this is topsy turvy time here !

A decoy plant that I use to draw the bad insects away from the more prized ? plants .. "rumex sanguineus" ... it also thinks it is SPRING ?

Cranesbill geranium Wargrave Pink ... an older cultivar but what a beauty it is and obviously thinking it is SPRING yet again ?

My plot thickens ... my sage plot is still looking good .. but take a look at this buddleia davidii Nanho Blue .. I love the gray green foliage any time but LOOK at all of the new growth it has !

Click on the picture to really get a good look .. all my pictures are click-able : )

...... yes, I have to show off more of my sage ... it is beautiful : )

Heathers have always been IFFY for me .. my friend Jean in the UK has had many a laugh at my attempts to "keep' heathers growing in my garden .. I swear it will happen this time Jean !!

Gorgeous tough as boots and PLEASE stay with me this time .... PLEASE !!!!!

OK .. this is just a nice picture .. to me .. the dark green of my Yew trees with the creamy white of such a beautiful goldenrod I have snuggled up against them .. almost .. Christmasy ???? ;-)

Finally, in the Great WHITE North ?

I truly thought I would be doing a garden plant post today .. I took pictures of so many green shoots from different plants popping, that it literally looked like Spring in the garden.
This is one weird December !
Then something happened ....
Mean while back in the office (aka kitchen) a certain young lady named Sophie was all warm and cozy in her new PINK bed.
But where on earth was another young lady named Emma ??
Picture of empty bed and cute toy mouse ....

Emma had decided to have a nap in her carrier by the fireplace where it was EXTRA cozy !

OK .. enough of the cute factor ... it has finally snowed enough that I could take a picture of it : )

Dave and the boys are over whelmed with happiness ? .. another winter to survive .. yeah ?

It was more a mixture of icy chips than snow really.

Can you see the lumpiness of it all ?

Weather Gargoyle was yet again trying to warm his poor hands.

Mista G from California (Cindee's little man) is in SHOCK ..... poor fellow, now he is Canadian !

Dave is the strong silent type ... he is putting up with it all in his usual cool ? manner ....

Snow on those Hens'Chicks and snail thinking he can make a fast get-a-way in the slippery matter ?

Again .. for emphasis ... snow on Hens'Chicks , parsley, oregano etc ... etc ...

Snow on what fruit is left on the Staghorn Sumac ....

Snow on arbor lamps looking very "cool" ??? groan groan ....... I know .... how droll ?

One more look and this picturesque setting in snow ? .. come on .. you know you have to look at it anyways so just DO IT ! ;-)

This is December ?

OK .. I am fibbing about the exact date that I took some of these pictures on.
The moon shots are from yesterday afternoon/evening November 30th .. there is only a limited span of time that I can get detail .. it can drive you NUTS ! ... and I don't have far to go with that issue ?
So when I know my camera is picking up details .. I shoot .. not burst mode but I keep at it until I think I have reached the "just one more and I think I have a single out of 12 that is great ?"

I think this is one of my best moon shots ever in fact .. not bad for a fixed lens even if it is 26 x optical zoom ?

So now I describe the 1st of December ... we had a light frosting of snow which disappeared so quickly I didn't even get a picture of it .. but I noticed that it stayed the longest on my two bare earth patches were my sleeping bulbs are tucked into : )

Bits of blue fighting very hard to stay clear of those clouds !

The wind was pulling them back and forth like you do with cotton wool bunches ? .. have you ever done that ?

One minute I am closing the blinds and squinting .. the nest I am turning on a light .. then thinking "open the blinds you dummy !" .. trying to be green minded and not wasting resources?

It was all very confusing to my brain and eyes ... lets rest on some rosemary in the late afternoon sun ?

Yes .. my pots are still alive and trying to stay that way ? The oregano is holding on for dear life!

I heard some "clucking" from the Hen'sChicks but they are still keeping up .. to the snail ??

Juts one more round shape to remind you that there is a full moon in the skies .. have a look and enjoy how gorgeous it is ?

Interesting ... isn't it ? .. this is going to be one of those weird winters when it starts late but with one heck of a bang I am afraid ;-)