Catkins, open water and early signs of spring...

Ah, the awakening of our 48 acres after her winter sleep. 

The mornings are still cold and hard edged. Fat little catkins gather on the willows and the creek ice has begun to melt.  

I have a little hopscotch of photos to share from my morning walk.  
Thanks for coming along.

Here's to a magical day!!

Still Winter

You've likely seen some of these fantastic images of snowflakes.
They've made the rounds of the interweb, and for good reason.
They are breathtaking.
Alexey Kljatov is the photographer and he freely shares his process.
http://chaoticmind75.blogspot.ca/
Beautiful work!

Less well known is the pioneer of snowflake photography Wilson Bentley, a Vermont farmer; the first to successfully photograph a snowflake. His methods later became known as photomicography. Bentley, aka the Snowflake Man, became famous for photographing more than 5,000 jewel-like snowflakes on his Vermont farm in the late 1800's. http://goo.gl/25UFSI


And so here I am on the 5th of February pondering the beauty of snowflakes, while our neighbours to the south are entertaining daffodils. It's still very much winter here on our 48 Acres. And when the sun comes out ... it's a sparkling white wonderland. Join me on a little walkabout if it's not too chilly for you and lets ponder the piles of snow. Made up of zillions of these.

Mid January on Finch Meadow.

I want to share a few of David's photos from the last few days.  Even though I'm looking at the same scene, David seems to capture light and colour in his photographs in a way that takes my breath away!  If you have a moment to spare, it is well worth clicking on these photos for a full size view.

 

 

 

 

 

 It's been a busy few weeks this first half of January.  Year end for us, and the mountains of paperwork that accompany that task.  Glad to have that underway now and more time to attend to my inbox and the out of doors ~ which always beckons.

 

And Oh my goodness ~ it is such a beautiful time of year.  Every fresh snow fall sparkles on the landscape and promises a brighter spring and a more nourished summer meadow.