So calm and white and bright.
The death knell tolls…
until the reemergence next Spring.
So still and calm this morning.
Tinselled Rubus.
Frosted baubles on the Guelder Rose.
Frozen pond.
Temporary exhibition…soon to be melted away by the rising Sun.
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Early morning in an Irish country garden.
It is early morning…6.3o to be precise…a bit earlier than usual for me to be up and about but I didn’t sleep very well. Probably due to being on antibiotics and steroids for an upper respiratory tract infection. Hopefully the drugs will do the trick and in a few days I shall be tickety boo again.
The only sound to be heard is the early morning birdsong. All the different voices merge together beautifully like a well rehearsed choir. So uplifting…
A wheelbarrow full of grass clippings sits as testament to yesterdays unfinished jobs. The first chore today will be to mulch amongst the Blackcurrants with cardboard and these grass clippings. But thats for later…
By the pond Flag Irises are just showing their yellow flowers…
and the Newts are up and about. Must be hundreds of Newts in the pond. I wonder if Newts ever sleep?
I can see little flower buds on the Water Lily.
Everything feels so alive and vibrant. The growth is so strong that the scene changes from one day to the next. A privilege to be able to observe it…I am thankful.
As the Sun starts to emerge it is time to go indoors and get the kettle on for coffee.
A new day has begun…
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First frost.
So calm and white and bright.
The death knell tolls…
until the reemergence next Spring.
So still and calm this morning.
Tinselled Rubus.
Frosted baubles on the Guelder Rose.
Frozen pond.
Temporary exhibition…soon to be melted away by the rising Sun.
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A sunny November morning.
The Sun is getting lower in the sky now casting shadows deeper into the cottage. So nice to be greeted by early morning sunshine on the table.
Strange shadow play on the conservatory wall. Seeds for next year drying on the table. Gardeners are always thinking ahead to the next season.
Still a bit misty outside.
Out into the garden. The Sun is at the south east but shortly the whole garden will light up as the Sun comes round to the south. Still lots of leaves to be collected.
Such a stunningly beautiful morning! More like Summer than November 1st. Been a while since I walked the garden in my dressing gown at this time of year. That’s the good thing about living in the sticks…no one peering over the hedge…ever!
Back to the conservatory for more shadow play.
By December 21st the Sun should be just skimming the top of the trees in the forest behind us and casting shadow and light even deeper into the cottage. As this is our first Winter here we are seeing all this for the first time.
Seeds to be potted on are highlighted too. Canterbury Bells and Dianthus planted in the Autumn to give a head start next year.
Lettie catching a few early morning rays…
while Freddie is needing some TLC. He had his little op a few days ago and has to wear this silly lampshade so he doesn’t go near his stitches.
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Thoughts at Samhain.
Be careful if you go down to the woods today…especially approaching dusk. It’s that time of the year when ghouls, goblins and other mischievous beings come out to scare and haunt and taunt. It’s dark and still and eerily silent in the woods on these days around the turning point of the Celtic year. For it is the time of the changing of the seasons. Summer is well and truly gone…Winter has come. The Celts lives revolved around agriculture and the seasons. This time would be the end of the harvest…indeed all berries and tree fruits were picked before Samhain because the breath of the Puca and other evil beings would fall upon them.
People dressed in masks and costumes to disguise themselves and frighten the evil spirits away. That’s where the tradition of dressing up at Halloween/Samhain comes from.
As kids we dressed in old clothes at Halloween. The only thing bought new was a mask. Nowadays the shops are full of costumes for children and adults alike. High priced badly made tat from China. The masks have become so grotesque and horrible…blood and gore…the more the merrier. Despite the recession this stuff is flying out of the shops. Amazes me!
For me it is a particularly poignant time of the year as it is the anniversary of my Father’s death. Twenty one years ago he left us at the age of fifty nine. I still miss him a lot. This year would have been his eightieth. I remember the funeral just before Halloween. While we were immersed in our grief and sadness everyone else was full of the joys of the season. Such is life!
Enjoy the dark time of the year…for us sure as night follows day the Sun will return in the Spring…warming the land for another growing season. Enjoy the fruits that have been harvested this year. The goodness of the Summer to sustain and nourish us through the dark time. A time of reflection, reading, crafting…glowing fires and hearty soups. Will we have snow or will it be a mild wet Winter? The answer will be revealed in time.
Enjoy the season that’s in it. Happy Samhain/Halloween to all who pass this way.
fromacountrycottage 
More than just a light frost for you to have ICE on your pond! Beautiful for an hour or so then I imagine a lot of black dying foliage.
Yes! I’m sure you’re right. I just cut the Dahlias back yesterday and put them in the polytunnel. Good timing…for once.
More than a light frost here in North County Dublin too – the dahlias I meant to cut in the polytunnel yesterday are black this morning. But very pretty to wake up to – though the hens didn’t think much of it
So gorgeous! Sun shining here now so already it is gone.
Oh we didn’t get that hard a frost! Lovely photos! especially the Guelder rose.
Heavier than our first frost, but it heralds the big changes of the season. Already the bracken is turning black and sinking down – it changes the whole landscape of my daily woodland walk – the very best time of year for me.
I love this time too. Could do without the shorter days though.
Quite surprised to wake up to such a frost. Didn’t take my Dahlias into the tunnel….. drat !
They may be ok…it was’nt a penetrating frost.
Gorgeous images there. There’s a kind of finality about the first frost I think. An acceptance that it brings that this is it for this growing season.
Your words – describing the lovely frosty photos – sound like a wintry poem all on their own! Thank you, Bridget!
Thanks Cindy!
Wasn’t too hard here but finished off the nasturtiums, had kept putting of the Dahlias as they were still blooming but removed them today and they are now in store. Now every thing is finished I can get to the garden to plant bulbs.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
It does look beautiful…even more so with your words.
We brought the rosemary inside for the winter,yesterday as we’ve already had a few nights in the minus numbers. It smells so lovely that I’m using some in tonight’s dinner…couldn’t resist.
Jane x
Lovely photos of your frosty morning. And there was ice on the pond too – that’s quite a severe first frost!
Great shots. It’s that magic time when it is crisp, beautiful and still new after the last flushes of summer.
Michael
We also had our first frost this past week, a bit scary really. I and the garden are not prepared for a really hard frost. It was the first whispers of a conversation to let me know that I have to let go of fall and accept that it will be winter soon.
I think your frost was much harder than hours looking at your photos. The year has passed quickly but there’s something quite lovely about welcoming the cold back again.
Hoping the New Zealand forecaster has got it wrong though…he is giving us snow for end of November.
Love the frost and your captures!!