Two degrees below zero this morning here. That is warm compared to the -26 Houlton (way up north in Maine) was this at the same time. I was delighted, a little later, to raise the shade and find these ferns and flowers growing on the glass.

I ran across a tiny tree yesterday, complete with leaves. The tree, less than 18 inches tall, must have been under the snow much of the winter. I am surprised the leaves look so nice, but then, maybe that is why they do. When I posted it on Flickr, someone thought it might be sweet chestnut. What do you say?

Whatever it is, something about it is very pleasing to the eye. Something about the combination of shape, movement, and texture. This shot will go in my leaf collection!

go here to see blossoms from last year

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Thanks to Karen at artistgarden and Karen’s Textile Art blog for picking me for this award. I appreciate it very much. With so many talented blogger friends, I won’t make a list, it would be way too hard!  I just want to say, thanks to all who give me inspiration.

Early morning found me out behind the garden with my camera. Nothing unusual about that. I love the way light looks just after dawn. It was only 11 degrees, but I was bundled for the cold. The trees were covered with frost, and glowed golden in the light. As I stood quietly watching the sun come up, the crows and jays gathered at the feeders. A downy woodpecker flew past, coming out of the woods toward the suet.
I have been out and about a lot this week, walking on the frozen crust left behind by the rain last week. By the looks of the field, the animals are taking advantage of the firm footing, too. Each day, I find a variety of new tracks. I watched a fox check out the field the other night, while I shoveled up several inches of fluff, now resting on top the crust. His tracks circled back and forth across the snow, as he hunted. The delicate line meandering in from the woods shown in the photo was new this morning.

We always have a group of gulls resting in the hayfield behind our house right before a storm. Someone told me they come inland to ride out bad weather. I took a shot of them this morning, and later used the a solarizing filter to make it look like this. I am thinking it would do well printed on cloth and made into some sort of something. Hopefully, a good idea will come later. I can see that the gulls would look wonderful hand quilted. The original shot is next to this one on my Flickr page. Just click on the photo to get there.

The storm arrived around noon, and we have about an inch now. Thank goodness, this is not going to be a major deal. It is supposed to stay all snow. not the snow/sleet/freezing rain combos we have had the last two storms.