In the wetland that edges the cornfield, the fertile fronds of sensitive ferns were stark against the snow.

and this is about as many berries as I've ever seen on this winterberry; I guess the birds haven't yet discovered them.

Edited to add a photo 1/21; the birds enjoyed the fruit during last week's thaw.

This post was edited by nhbabs on Tue, Jan 21, 14 at 21:52

nhbabs: Your pictures and your commentary show how much you love the land, and it's a very beautiful land indeed!

I'm betting the winterberries just aren't ripe yet - no way the birds aren't going to be watching that feast.

Claire

Babs, I always enjoy your photos of your property too. I think it is the way land is supposed to look in the Northeast. I sometimes have thought I belong in another time period. I want to go back to the days when things were more in tune with nature. When the kids were little we took them to Sturbridge Village in MA, often and I just felt so at home there. Your property reminds me of that. Happy that you share it with us. :-)

I have a Viburnum that is full of fruit that the birds are not touching. I saw a bird sampling it this morning, but so far, that's it. It's nice you get to look at that gorgeous berry display for awhile.

The river at the end of our property has become a frozen lake with just a few islands of open water. Here are the downriver/upriver views from early the other day.

When the frozen temps cause the top water layer to freeze, the tides still run below. We can hear the river ice crack with the tide changes --- the frozen plants reappear from underneath the ice.

To me, it looks like an alligator is emerging and heading toward shore.

Sill jealous of all you water property owners. Well done, Molie. The grasses are perfect examples of the hidden fluidity. And the pictures are just plain pretty! I'm trying very hard to 'like' winter - for real - not on Facebook.

Jane

Beautiful, Molie! The sounds of the ice cracking must be a surreal background noise. It doesn't seem possible that a river can actually freeze.

I remember hearing loud cracks in a a very cold lake somewhere (I remember the sounds but not the where).

I've read that Ice-Out is the end of winter for some and guessing the date of Ice-Out on Lake Winnipesaukee is a local NH game.

Claire

Thanks, Jane & Claire. We live on a tidal river that begins as a very narrow stream in the northwest part of town and meanders in S-curves down to the sound. The influence of the tides weakens as you travel upriver, which in some places is less than 8 feet wide.

Freezing of the surface is common when there's a prolonged cold, like this year. When we do get breaking ice, itâÂÂs usually later in the winter. And there have been winters with very little ice on the river.

Lake Winnipesaukee--- now thatâÂÂs beautiful! When we lived in Keene, visiting that lake made it seem like I was back at the Connecticut coast. Their Ice-Out is the real thing. Ours is just occasional but still fun when it happens.

View from the top of Nashoba Valley Ski Area yesterday morning. I love the snow on the lower portions of the trees - the remnants of snowmaking.

A very different river today--- and far, far from Pixie's great winter shot --- the mist was rising all along the river as a day of 50+ temperatures began. Here are some early morning shots, beginning with a view to the small bridge that spans the river.

No geese in this photo, but they were having a PARTY! in the coves last night. They probably knew what was coming.... a big meltdown.

I love these misty mornings--- the hazy view to the other side and the quiet woods

Such a contrast within New England in January! A crisp, clear snowy view on a mountaintop in MA (I guess your daughter skis as well as skates, pixie_lou)... and then a January thaw transforms Molie's river in CT into a sauna.

Beautiful pics both of you!

Claire

Molie, your river is lovely regardless of whether it is frozen or not. Its ongoing changes must provide constant interest in your view.

We have had striking combinations of late afternoon sun and clouds a couple of days this week.
Monday:

Friday:
{{gwi:326285}}From January 6-11, 2014

Today, no sun . . . near freezing temperatures with on and off rain, leaving everything coated in ice. Happily, it has been a light enough coating that power hasn't been disrupted, but the dirt roads in town are treacherous and many of the paved roads have heavy coatings of rutted ice.

These winterscapes are absolutely gorgeous. However with the 40 and 50 degree days all our snow is gone. It seems like I just found "problems" in the garden earlier today.

Someone is feasting on the Sweet William.

And evidence that I have yet to eradicate all the bittersweet.

Hoping for more snow here!

nhbabs: Your pictures are a good reminder that the sky is also part of the landscape. And with all that snow on the ground, the snow merges with the cloudy sky and the plants seem to be floating in the middle. Very beautiful.

pixie_lou: Your bittersweet pictures may have given me an answer to the red-orange bird droppings I sometimes see in my yard. They're probably evidence of birds eating the wild bittersweet that's on the coastal bank.

Claire

Hi folks,
I introduced myself over in Bill's thread about Camellias; I mentioned there that I'm interested in early/winter bloomers and zone pushing, so thought I'd make my first post here and show how a couple of my first plants in that category have fared after the bitter cold (which I was thankfully out of town for!)

Here is my Cherry Laurel 'Otto Lyuken', which I was worried about, but seems to have only a bit of wind burn/bronzing.

Then I have about 5 different varieties of Erica Carnea that I'm testing out. None of them have actually quite bloomed yet, but I'm guessing they were thrown off because they were just planted in late Sept and needed some time to settle in.

Finally, I was really surprised to open up my flimsy plastic cold frame, which I set up and planted way too late (like, late october), to see that a bunch of stuff is still alive. From front to back, there is baby lettuce, then some sorry looking radishes, then a few little kale, and finally spinach and carrots, which are both looking completely pristine. At this point, I'm just hoping they make it the rest of the way, and give me an early harvest in spring!

seanm: Welcome to the forum! Erica carnea is one of those plants I really really want to have, but really really have no sunny place to put them. I hope they do well for you.

I think most of us are gritting our teeth and hoping that the insane temperature fluctuations this winter won't seriously damage our newly planted treasures.

Claire

Seanm, your landscape is a lot greener than mine! Erica carnea usually bloomed for me in March here when it emerged from the snow, so I wouldn't be surprised if yours blooms on warm days starting soon.

Pixie Lou, I wonder if voles noshed on the sweet William or if someone else enjoyed it?

nhbabs, now you have pictures for a daily calendar. Really nice - well done. Jane

Hi Sean. Welcome to our forum. And thanks for posting.

Frost patterns on the trunk of our sedan this morning. I spent a lot of time looking at them this morning since I couldn't find my scraper. I thought they looked like feathers!

Way to go, Pixie! Very nice. Mimicry in nature is captivating.
Jane

Jane - I was tempted to post the photo on the birds thread - and call it a frost bird.

I never noticed the seed pods on my neighbors sycamore tree until today. Now I know what is causing all the fluff in the road.

I didn't know it was sycamore until Sunday when I took pictures of the pods and Googled. Boy, if I hadn't stopped at Dairy Queen (where the trees are), or read your post, I wouldn't have learned that!

The sunset last night was exceptional; long, low and sweeping.
Jane
62 days until spring

Nice photos, Pixie Lou and Jane! What a range of colors from the silver frost to the neutrals of the sycamore against the bright blue of the sky to the warm colors of the sunset.

I was similarly fascinated by the frost on my car Wednesday morning and inspired by Jane's frost photo on the storm thread I took some photos. The variety of patterns on the different surfaces grabbed my eye, and I can now see the similarity between the patterns on my hood and Pixie Lou's trunk.

I wonder if it is the underlying material or the curvature of the surface or some other factor that produces the patterns.

A bit OT, but the frost looks botanical to me and it grows . . .

Marvelous frost pictures, pixie_lou and nhbabs! I'd be happy to have that as a permanent texture on my car's finish (metal parts, that is, not on the glass I want to be able to see through). It would make a good shower curtain too.

Sycamores and sunsets help the winter go by, too.

Claire

Last night the moon rising above the trees across the road lined up with lit winter bucket out by the mailbox.

Your photo of the full moon above your winter lights is marvelous, nhbabs. What a great shot!

I also enjoyed the frost "paintings" captured by Pixie Lou and Jane. To me they suggest tropical foliage. I see palm fronds, but maybe it's wishful thinking, or irony given I'm seeing these images in frozen water!

Neat photo, nhbabs. Kind of Star Trekky,... twinkling tomato sticks paying homage to their lunar side,... nicely rounded natural conversation piece, lol. I like it.

Today we woke to snow coating everything, and since there was no wind until after 1PM, we had plenty of time to enjoy it.

nhbabs: The night scene with the moon is eery, and beautiful. And the day scenes are classic winter in a lovely place.

Claire

Loved the snow-covered trees and the wide blankets of white in those last shots, nhbabs! I'm expecting more of those kinds of photos with the next snow storm that's heading our way.

Molie

Once I clicked on the soon-to-be-famous NH snow scenes, then I could see Apple, iPhone5. Thanks, nhbabs, for reply. Sorry I didn't think to click before.

Another 5-10" of snow is coming later today and sure as shootin', my winter scenes are not going to look like those above. Need more conifers here.

Jane

nhbabs - your landscape photos make me think you are living in a Currier and Ives photo!

Here are a couple photos I snapped on Saturday - when we received the snow that the meteorologists did not forecast. I remember looking out my window and was shocked to see huge snowflakes - I was dumbfounded, wondering where they came from.

pixie_lou: What's in the last photo? I think I see snow on asphalt with a few red leaves, but the geometric structure has me confused. Ice on a piece of fencing?

Claire

Claire - it's ice and leafs litter in the driveway. The geometric pattern is the remnants of shoe prints and Mother Nature.

Thanks, pixie_lou. Mother Nature is indeed sometimes hard to comprehend.

Claire

Pixie_lou & Claire, I'm finding it hard to comprehend what Mother Nature has up Her sleeve this year. The cold has been just BRUTAL. Even the dog doesn't like going outside.

Here at the CT coast, "cold" usually means the leaves on the rhodies are hanging slits. Then some years it gets really, really cold and the whole river ices up a bit.

Here's our river, frozen in its tracks for days ----

The next one (a bit blurry) of the cracking ice

Molie

That is one cold river, Molie! It's hard to believe there's water flowing underneath that congealed ice. The salt marsh down the street looks very much like your river, or at least it did yesterday in the cold.

It's been very cold here too, but suddenly today the temperature went up to almost 40 and the snow started to melt. The fluffy powder is collapsing into the heavy wet stuff we usually get. I was out scraping away slush from the pavers, and clearing the deck and porch quickly before it freezes up again tonight and walking gets treacherous.

While I was working I looked up at a hawk and saw this view of the bay at low tide.

Claire

Molie, the river still looks like to art to me. Icy and lunar, but art.

Claire, that's one lucky hawk. Very pretty.

I really enjoy the varied scenery that we all have, lovely even in the depths of winter.
This evening the way the clouds seemed to fan out from where the sun was setting was stunning. They were eye-catching even before the sun painted them.

Very beautiful, nhbabs - it looks as if all of the colors and lights are rushing to get back to the sun before the street lights come on.

Claire

Street lights . . . ?!

Very pretty, nhbabs.

nhbabs: Just a reference to the rule in my childhood that you had to be home before the street lights come on. It led to a lot of frantic running when you saw those street lights glow. Obviously not a universal rule since not all neighborhoods have street lights.

Claire

Beautiful sunset, Babs!

That is a beautiful sky, nhbabs.

Babs, that's a magnificent sunset--- very striking and a beautiful "bookend" to your January 6 photo of the same field. All of you photographs of the back fields recall a book of photography I saw years ago that was taken by a woman from a particular apartment window overlooking Central Park. I think her book included a year's worth of photographs of the same view from one window in different seasons and times of day.

Claire, I love the subtle coloration in the grays to blues to greens to grays and tans of the bay at low tide behind that hawk in your first picture. That's a photo I'll share with my DH. It will be a great inspiration for some of his paintings.

And, boy! Do I remember that "rule" about curfews, street lights and sunset. Those were the days! We kids played for hours and hours outside with no worries ---- and no fears for our parents in those gentler times.

Molie

I also remember the street lights rule from my growing up in suburbia, but Claire's comment cracked me up since I think that there are something like 3 sort-of street lights in town, which are more near public buildings in the center of town than actual street lights.

Molie - I have an acquaintance who lives on the VT/NH border and has an online blog that is photos of the Cornish-Windsor bridge backed by Mt. Ascutney near his home. I am not anywhere near as regular as Dan in taking photos, but I do love my view and take the time to look at it several times each day. I notice that the "Shape of the Year" photo taken late in the day on 1/27 has the same pattern of clouds as my piece of sky at about the same time.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shape of the Year

Skiing at Nashoba this morning the sky was so blue!

You lucky duck, Pixie! You're right - gorgeous shade of blue. Thanks for posting it. When I did ski, I just loved it. Enjoy yourself.

Jane

Pixie Lou, that looks like a lovely ski area.
Here's a photo of the Merrimack from the top of the bank with some frozen areas, but also some faster current areas free of ice. It looks very different from Molie's smaller tidal river. On the far bank there's some ice and a line below which there's no snow, which shows how high the water got last time it was raining. There's probably a 15' difference in water level from highest to lowest over the year, so I am glad that we have high banks here.

This is looking back at the house from 2/3 of the way down the corn field. I don't know why the sky had color since this was late afternoon looking north, perhaps some trick of the atmosphere as the sun started to set.

pixie_lou: That looks like a great skiing day - blue skies, sunny snow and little wind. Plus a ski lift to carry you up to the top.

nhbabs: That's such a difference between the Merrimack with the ice churned up and the serene corn field with the smooth snow and sky. Without the high river banks that corn field would be chaotic.

Claire