Frosty Foggy Solstice

I woke up yesterday, on Winter Solstice, to a pale, foggy and very frosty morning. Our first frost this winter.

The trees in my back garden were dressed in frosty white. The contorted hazel looked especially lovely.

The lone witch hazel flower coated in crystal.

Out front, on the farmer's field, the sheep were lounging about in the heavy fog.

One lone sheep felt it necessary to be apart from the rest.

It was SO cold, I went back inside and had my oatmeal. I used the last apple from my tree today. Notice, I had the wrong burner on. I actually was thinking it was taking longer to cook today, because it was so cold!

In a little while, the sun came up, peering through the mist.

The sun was just a glow in the sky.

The countryside looked magical in the faded light...

Later in the day, the weather had not changed one bit, it stayed foggy and frozen. Here's the sun around 2:00, low on the horizon, caught in the branches of the beech tree.

Back inside, Tas watches the bird channel, as a flock of starlings look for goodies in my back garden.

It was quite a big flock, and I wonder what they found so interesting back there in the frosty grass.

So that was the shortest day of the year here at Windywillow.
Happy Winter Solstice to all you gardeners and artists!