Tag Archives: snow

A Foggy Mind Bears Fruit

Hydrangeas in the Fog
Heatherwood Winter

Many times I wake up early in the morning and my mind is in a fog. It doesn’t worry me though. I close my eyes and think what is right about the world around me. I open my eyes and up pops an idea or thought that I can focus my day upon. It’s a much better way to start the day than brooding on something that is outside my influence.

I often use a similar technique when I photograph. I will be walking around with my camera enjoying the world around me. I feel good, but nothing is popping up that focuses my interest. I close my eyes and clear my mind. I open my eyes and just look around. Then there it is, something captures my eye and off I go!

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Late Fall vs Early Spring

Woodland Path in Late Fall

Woodland Path in Early Spring

I love the four seasons. Above is one of the reasons. In early spring the red buds are bursting and the daffodils are blooming. Leaves on the woodland maples are just starting to emerge. Six months later, the leaves on the red buds have dropped and the leaves on the maples have turned brown and are just starting to drop. The foliage on the perennials have turned brown and are starting to die back. As winter moves in, the branches of the red and yellow twig dogwoods along with the red winterberries will provide winter color to the woodland.

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A Painting from the Woodland

Snow-covered Maple Tree Leaves
Heatherwood Woodland

Our October Glory maples are one of the last trees to display their fall colors and to drop their leaves. The first two light snowfalls this year sprinkled the leaves with patches of white, leaving a beautiful woodland winter scene. Last year, an early heavy snowfall blanketed the branches with a layer of heavy snow. Several large branches bent over and broke, leaving large wholes in the tree’s shapes. This year, we have not seen any damage, yet!

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Winter Is Coming Early

Winter Color
Heatherwood Lower Garden

Even when the ground is covered with snow, the color of Heatherwood shines through. This is one of my favorite intimate scenes in our lower garden. The bronze of the sawtooth oak, the red of the oak leaf hydrangeas, the yellow of the yellow-twig dogwood, the the grey-blue of the blue spruce, the purple-brown of the nine-bark, and the background orange and green highlight the winter garden.

This image was taken during our first snow about a week ago. Today we are getting our second snowfall of the season. It looks like it will be a big one. The good news is that I have my tractor back from its seasonal maintenance check up to plow the driveway. The bad news is that we have not put on our snow tires yet.

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An Eastern Washington Blue Sky Winter Day

Looking Up to Selah Ridge
Heatherwood, First Snow

We had our first snow of the season a couple of days ago. After the snow flurries stopped, the sky opened up to this beautiful blue sky. Off I went with my camera! The remaining late fall color created a nice contrast against the fresh snow. It will be several months before we will have a morning cup of coffee here in one of our little garden hideaways.

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More Snow !

“New Blanked of Snow”
Heatherwood Meadow

I woke up this morning to a new blanket of snow. It was beautiful, but … my spring clean-up crew was scheduled to start cutting back the grasses and perennials. I guess I will have to wait for a few more days.

The beauty of the new snow blanketing Heatherwood was worth the delay. I enjoyed a two hour walk around the garden with my camera. Each day is a gift. My challenge/opportunity is to make the best of each day. Yesterday was a great day!

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Warning!!!

“Late Winter Snow”
Heatherwood Meadow

Mother Nature gave us a little warning on this last day of February, “Don’t get too excited about spring, we still have three weeks of winter left.” I have been getting ready to start cutting back Heatherwood’s grasses and perennials. The temperatures have increased from the 20’s last week to the 40’s this week. Yesterday, I was out in the yard with my pruners. Luckily this is the last snow predicted for our 10 day forecast. And, the temperatures are predicted to rise back up into the 40’s. Hopefully we will be able to start our clean-up later this week.

In the meantime, I took the opportunity to walk through Heatherwood for a couple of hours this morning with my camera. There were plenty of opportunities to create images from a late winter snow. The light snow was a heavenly gift.

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Blue Sky Winter Day

“Japanese Garden Entry Path”
Heatherwood Winter

Blue skies on a winter day raise my spirit. I walk out our front door and turn to my right and see the glorious blue sky above the sunlit ridge. The warmer temperatures are melting the snow. Trees and shrubs are now free from snow. Ground covers are peeking above the snow-patched ground. The partly snow covered pathways entice me to walk through the garden. As I walk along the path I stop to touch and inspect the various plants that have been under snow for the past six weeks. I look and see new buds forming on the tips of the branches. I continue and stop multiple times to just look around me and contemplate the garden’s beauty and the changes that will emerge as the seasons of the new year progress. My spirts rise.

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