An icy beauty

The snows of November and December have slowly receded at home, leaving a bleached landscape.  The startlingly low temperatures which lasted for weeks made life hard for animals, plants and humans but created some delicate beauty.

These pictures were taken on 22nd December within a few hundred metres of home.

Feathers of frost transformed the metre high dead stems of last summer's Rosebay Willowherb (Chamaenerion augustifolium) into white plumes

Daytime temperatures of around minus 10 celsius meant that the winter sun didn't melt the frost at all. The low angle and brilliance of the sun firing through the frosted branches made a shimmering, sparkling display everywhere.

Despite the harshness of the cold, it really was extrodinarily beautiful.