Impermanent Snow

The winter storm that has been sweeping across the country has arrived.  It started this morning with snow.  Fortunately, I grabbed my camera early in the morning because even as I was taking pictures, it was shifting into rain. 

The upturned, curved leaves of the Osmanthus captured and collected the flakes of snow.  The meager light seemed to be concentrated by the snow and leaves, so they were almost glowing. 

Soon we will be pruning off some of those branches, to use for decorations in the house. The bright yellow green sets off the dark green and red berries of the hollies. 

The Viburnum rhytidophylloides 'Allegheny' is putting on a dramatic show in the snow.  Some leaves have turned yellow or deep red.  There are three stages for fruits, with newly opened flowers, then red or black berries. 

The snow in this shot is out of focus, so it just appears as irregular white patches.  With the light being dim, the shutter had to be wide open to have enough light to even take the shot.

This could become a favorite picture for me.  There is so much going on.

Now it is raining and sleeting.  The snow is washing into the ground, and has almost disappeared. 

December Dusk

The weekend was spent raking leaves out of edges, then using the mower.  Call it a process of mowing the grass as well as sweeping and shredding the leaves for the compost heap.  If you look to the left of the Crepe Myrtle tree, at the edge of the picture is the overflowing compost heap. 

The remaining work doesn't have a strict schedule.  There is more bits of clean-up and fall pruning around the house.  Then, I need to go down into the ravine to see what needs to be done to keep the weedy things under control.