Winter Wonderland

It snowed again last night, so after dinner we went out in it to play. (Snow is such a rare and precious treat for us that all normal routines are gone with the wind/blizzard.) This time it was the perfect snow for snowmen... We rolled a HUGE snowball, until it was too heavy to turn over again, and then rolled one nearly as big for the middle and then the head - which was nearly too high for us to lift it up. But we did it. We were very pleased with ourselves, and so in fine old tradition we began to pelt each other with snowballs... I am not a very good shot - almost as good as the kids, in fact, and so I got very cold down my back... ug!

By the time we brought everyone in for a bath we were freezing again, and they were whiny! Cold, tired and whiny! Great combo. Warm bath, warm pjs, hair dryer and bed...

And then I got the camera out again...

I had to get one of the eucalyptus covered in snow. I could title this What Nature Never Intended, I think.

And I was at it again, early morning... or, not so early because sunrise is pretty late mid-winter, but in time for the dawn colours.The birds were out eating again, and I got these shots of ground-feeders having a go at the crushed fat-balls and sunflower seeds I put out for them.

Funniest was the magpies which were stuffing their beaks with fat and then stashing it in holes in the snow... squirrels of the bird world! They were intimidating everyone who flew away from the saucer when they showed up. Until, that is, a collared dove came and started intimidating them. This is a picture of two magpies pretending that they don't want anything to do with that saucer and they would much rather have peanuts than fat, thank you.

Here is the snowman that we built last night, in the sunshine of this afternoon. It's as tall as I am.

And the setting sun (at 2:30) across a snowy field.

Icicles hanging from the church.

Our hedge and bin covered with snow. That's the depth of snow that fell last night. 3 inches or so.

And finally, our Christmas tree. Potted, so we can (hopefully) use it again next year.