Tiny Tim and other things...

It was incredibly cold this morning, 27* up here on the mountain, and everything a glistening, frosty white.  It actually was very beautiful.  As I was just sitting down to have my first cup of coffee, this golden orb of light came over the mountains in the distance, glowing in my windows.

This is just so ethereal, with the sun and fog through the Birch trees...

Stepping around the Birch, and sliding along the frozen, icy deck in my slippers, here's another cool shot of the sun, the trees, and fog.  If you have to be up, practically before dawn, it's a real treat to have such a beautiful moment.

As promised yesterday, I took the camera with me down the mountain to Stewart Park.  Initially I was a bit concerned heading down the road as it was very foggy and below freezing this morning, but I didn't have any trouble at all.  Gotta love a big, ol' Chevy.

I got a good shot of Tiny Tim, but the decorations are frozen.  The golf course (in the background) was empty this morning, I think for the first time since I've been walking the dogs there.  Lots of cold, fog and frozen ground, but nary a golfer to be seen.  Anyway, here's Tiny with his frosty bows and frozen balls.  Er...ornaments.

 
This was unexpected. I had turned from the little tree to check where the boys had gone whilst I wasn't paying attention--not far as it turned out, just to the edge of the Butterfly Garden.  I managed to snap this photo before Max was aware I had the camera pointed his way.  Here are both guys, in their winter coats, though I'd rather Max didn't look like a pumpkin.  Ah well, at least he's warm.

Before he could think or run, I got this one, too.  I think this is the first ever direct shot of Max..!!  Isn't he the cutest wee thing..??  So sweet and lovable, with his dear little white face.  On December 27th he turns 4, though looks older, doesn't he..??  I think that must be partly due to his mysterious past. 

When we got home, the sun was just starting to break through the fog--up here, not down in the valley--and I took a few more photos of the beauty in the heavy frost.

The Mexican Feather Grass.  It's very delicate looking (feather-like, go figure), but this morning the fronds were pure white and rigid, instead of the usual wheat color and fluid.  You can see another one a bit further up the path in the background which looks totally frozen.  (Both plants have now recovered and are waving gently in a light breeze as I write this...)

After I put the car in the garage and the dogs in the house, I glanced out the window that overlooks the back garden.  Even from above, inside the house, I could see two spider webs on the fence below that were so thick with frost, they looked like old-fashioned crocheted doilies instead of fragile threads of webbing.

This one was just coming into the path of the sun, the pine tree on the other side of the fence was already mostly green. 

More of Granny's crochet work, and aren't they both just wonderful, even tattered and torn and no longer used by whatever spider made them..??  This one was off to the side of the yard, in an area that had hours to go before the sun could work its way there...you can see the pines behind this web are still white and frosty.

So, now I'm in the house, all warm and toasty.  It's still very chilly outside, but in my "greenhouse effect" house, I don't have the heat on at all; with all the windows doing their solar thing, it's 72* in here.  In the summer the solar problem is monumental, in the winter..??  Not so much.