A Sugar-Dusting Of Frost

A Sugar-Dusting Of Frost

I’m sitting here on a beautiful bright and frosty morning. The sky is that watery winter blue, with barely a trace of cloud, and although the sun rose some hours ago, the ground frost is lingering, dusting the earth like icing sugar. The sunlight is a welcome relief from those days when the sky is a solid grey and it feels like someone attached a dimmer switch to the sun. Grey days make me want to hibernate.

We have a lot of birds in our garden this winter, and I’ve enjoyed watching them come to our feeders. We bought a huge bag of sunflower hearts earlier this year, and it won’t be long before we need to re-stock. The robin fixes us with his beady eye when the bird table is empty, staring into the kitchen window and flicking his wings to get our attention. The goldfinches sit and spill as many seeds as they eat. Under the feeder a pigeon, blackbird and several chaffinch strut around in circles catching the falling treasure. Even the shy woodpecker is coming regularly to our feeder this winter. I’ll be working on adding the characterful and soft beauty of their movements and the subtle colours of their feathers to my art this year. 

On the last day of the old year I find my heart yearning for spring. The anticipation of seeing those first flowers fills me with hope for the new season. Though the winter is barely started yet and many grey and wet days are likely here in England, days like today - where the sun is bright and beauty is all around - are a treasure. If it snows - and the weather forecast teases us with the possibility - I’ll be out there enjoying the wonder of it. Everything hushes. The soft crunch of a deep covering underfoot is the only sound as flakes almost the size of feathers float softly down in dizzying drifting paths. I hope it snows…

For now, I’ll enjoy this bright day and say Happy New Year to you all. May it be one filled with beauty, hope and inspiration.