Winter is here

Still winter. And from what I've heard, that's not quite the case everywhere, so I consider us lucky, for we've had the most perfect winter's weather for over a week now and apparently there's more to come.
Lots of sunshine, no wind and just above zero during daytime, and frost in the nights. Winter cannot be more perfect than this!

Here are some photos I took this week, in the garden and walking around our village.

First we had some days with fresh snow

The pansies were covered but didn't give in

So cute: Cat prints in the snow

Hydrangea "Annabelle" - this is why I didn't remove the faded flowers yet

Hibiscus seed pods

This brave little rose, Guirlande d'Amour, still has fresh leaves, despite the cold

After a couple of foggy nights everything was covered with hoarfrost, one of nature's most beautiful miracles

Frost on every single rose thorn

Still cloudy though and no sunshine, but all of a sudden we had this sunset. And there's a saying which I'll roughly translate from Dutch: red sunset brings beautiful weather

And so it did the next day, and immediately everything looked a lot more friendly

There was even some warmth from the sun.

Which unfortunately turned out to be the hoarfrost's nemesis.

Still there was enough to enjoy, this amount of snow won't vanish so quickly with only 2 degrees above zero

And without wind it was excellent weather for long walks around our village

Everything is so beautiful with snow and blue sky

This is the old quarry, it's now a small lake

The best walks are those where you unexpectedly meet a cat in the woods

Could winter be any better than this?