Surprise!

Well. I wasn't expecting that. It's been colder than usual here, and thus when we had our first snow showers of the season the snow actually stuck.

We also appear to have had some early-morning visitors:

Those would be bird and animal tracks. Squirrel? Maybe. Rabbit? Could be. Either way, they seem to have had quite a hoedown.

The snow even stuck to our beautiful red berry bushes (don't know what they're called). These provide snacks for the birds all the way into January, so I love them. One can sit in the sunroom (shivering) and watch birds alight, taste, and fly away.

Of course, the downside is that my little vegetable garden has probably fought its last battle. The chard seemed defeated by the snow:


And even the hardy little oregano might decide that it's time to go dormant for winter.

Still to come...Iain discovers that snow is cold.