January is the month that we really get into winter here. December can be mild and wet and not feel especially cold. Then, as the New Year arrives, the temperature tends to drop.
In December we did get a little bit of wet snow which disappeared within a couple of hours of falling. It didn’t stay around and look pretty for long, but it gave me the chance to take a few wintery photographs.
There’s something about the way snow half-hides things that makes having a rather chilly wander around the garden more interesting. It calls attention to details you might have just walked past the day before. Or makes you see things just a little differently. Those few remaining apples on their little tree fairly glow in the dull light when contrasted with the paleness of the snow. And fallen seed heads become semi-translucent as the melting snow soaks into them.
It’s quite possible that we may get no snow at all during January – or even during the rest of the winter. Winters without snow are not rare in the east of England. But I can’t imagine what my childhood in the north of Scotland would have been like without the heavy winter snowfalls.
Those winters were certainly colder and the snow would pile thickly everywhere until the landscape was just a soft white blur. Roads soon became blocked – I remember how often we helped to push cars out of snowdrifts on the narrow country road by our house. And the sound of a heavy sheet of melting snow rumbling its way down a slate roof is with me still. (The tall drifts of snow that built up from that happening were great fun to play in as a kid – but wouldn’t have been so great if the snow had landed on us!)
Here in Suffolk, though, things are very different. As I’m writing this, the sky is blue and the sun is shining – perfect weather for being outside. Maybe there will be snow this month or maybe there won’t…but if there is, I’ll get out and take some photos!
Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature 
Beautiful winter images, Ann! Perfect capture!!
Best wishes and greetings for a peaceful New Year!!
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Thank you Indira! I’m grateful that there are still a few things left in the garden for me to photograph. 🙂 I hope that 2021 treats you kindly!
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Love the snow covered flower images – the color is really rich in them. I do not miss the big snow falls where I used to live – that is a major reason I moved to a warm climate. Lots of hours of shoveling just to get the cars in the driveway. Best invention ever made was the snow blower – you were very popular in the neighborhood if you had one! Happy New Year and wish you a nice comfortable winter!
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Yes, I wouldn’t like to have to cope with those cold and snowy winters again – what we get here is so much easier to deal with. I hope that 2021 brings you great happiness and good health. 🙂
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Thanks – same to you Ann!
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🙂
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I don’t remember ever seeing a snow-covered apple. What a visual treat!
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It’s the first time I’ve seen snow-covered apples too – they just didn’t want to come off the tree! (But they have since. 🙂 )
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Those apples look very fine in the snow. The few ones left on the trees around here are much less appetising. I think we’ve had snow every day in 2021 so far. I hope you’ll get your share – just a nice sprinkling, mind, no traffic jams!
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A nice sprinkling of snow would be very pretty! But it’s more likely to be sleet – good reason for staying inside where it’s warm and dry!
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