First Snow
Yesterday morning we awoke to see the season’s first real blanket of snow. It wasn’t the blizzard that had been predicted, but still a solid 5 inches or so.
With the somber weather we continue to have, we seem to be living in a world of black and white.
Here’s our front garden and house from the street.
I like how the fresh snow makes little white hats for many of the seedheads.
The snow also gives a white outline to branches and stems.
A black and white November sky. Black and grey, actually.
Birds and their houses provide at least a bit of color.
Thank goodness for Northern Cardinals!
It was a wet, heavy snow. The weaker stemmed plants, like this hydrangea, were forced to bend deeply under the weight.
The temperature was well below freezing. The Mourning Doves puffed out their feathers, as the extra air provides insulation. They still look rather cold, though. Either that or they puffed up to express some moral indignation.
Have you had much snow yet this winter?
gardeninacity 
We had two inches some time in mid October, but November has only given us the odd dusting here and there. I think this weekend is when we will get it in earnest. I know I should be ready (I’m in Wisconsin for crying out loud and it IS after Thanksgiving so all bets are off) but I am most definitely not!
Yeah, I don’t feel ready for winter either. I wish it were over already.
We haven’t had more than an inch on one occasion. Just lots of flurr nearly every day, which is fine with me.
Better than a blizzard.
I was in Santa Fe, NM two weeks ago when they had their first snow–lovely. Your house is charming in its snowy-looks. I’m glad you have Northern Cardinal to add some cheery color. As for snow here in Austin, we’ll see; it happens.
I’m guessing rarely more than flurries.
Never seen a cardinal bird before – beautiful! No snow here yet in SW England, just very wet and windy. My roses are still in full bloom…!
Cardinals are one of my favorite songbirds.
Just rain, rain and more rain over here. I think they have had snow further north, but here in the south it is just rain! I was hoping to see Cardinals when I was in Canada, they didn’t show while I was there, but visited my nephews garden a few days after I had returned!
They can be very thoughtless that way.
Oh no, don’t. Awful stuff. But the cardinal bird is gorgeous.
Definitely a winter highlight.
No snow here yet, either. We still have fall leaves, for goodness sake!
Lucky you!
We’ve had several snows, but we also had rain this week so some of it has melted. But, in general, the landscape is still white. That is a beautiful shot of the Cardinal. Applause to your in house photographer. 🙂
Very lucky to have her.
No accumulation here. Just flurries, wind and cold.
That’s our weather today.
P.S. Your garden looks pretty with a blanket of snow. I am sure the plants appreciate the insulation.
I’m sure you are right.
Winter has come very early to Maine. Fortunately, most of the outside work was done. For some reason, I really like the black and white of winter, although the cardinals do provide a lovely burst of red.
Oh, that magic blanket of white looks beautiful in your garden. We seldom get snow here so when it happens everyone rushes outside to enjoy it, schools shut down, and life moves at a slower pace. A warmer winter is predicted here so we may not see any white stuff this year.
No snow, just a little frost. Like Peter said, we may not get any snow at all this winter, we’ll see.
Perhaps you had enough snow for a lifetime while in New England.
The first snow is always beautiful. Sometimes, the first snow in Nashville, is also our last. Love the cardinal shot.
Our first snow is always just a warning shot.
Fresh snow is always lovely. We had a little frozen rain a couple of weeks ago which made the tree branches look as though they were covered in glass. Short-lived, thankfully. There are cardinals flitting around here, too.
Ice-coated branches are always beautiful but they can be terrible for trees. Thank goodness for Cardinals!
5 inches! That’s a lot. Just a bit here, barely measurable so I’m happy. Rain this weekend and maybe warm enough on Friday to finish raking. But you are right, it has been a very gray autumn. Even when the morning starts sunny it seems like it disappears quickly.
I have the feeling I won’t finish raking until spring.
That’s all it has been doing here. It can be very beautiful but I still say come on spring!
I hear you.
Your birds do bring such lovely colour to the scene. We have only had a sprinkling of snow so far and the forecast is mild. A white Christmas would be nice – even if it is just frosty!
I hope things aren’t so dry for you these days.
We have had lots of heavy rain! And listening to it pounding against the windows was magical! Unfortunately it meant floods for some people, but the ground has soaked it all up nicely here already. 🙂 🙂
Drove the youngest back to Chicago yesterday…snow went south of us so by the time we hit Racine, there was lots all the way into C. Glad it was sunny today, pretty green here. Ours seems to be here for a while and then gone-you lot got snow blasted!
Ours is gone as of yesterday. I suspect we’ll get lots more before long.
Watching the weather, we are not supposed to get anything but flurries. You may get more…as it scoots around the lake.
BTW…Happy Hannukah!
Thanks!
I always enjoy the first snow–and I always say thanks because I don’t have to drive much.
A giant advantage for working from home.
Far northwest side of Chicago, we had quite a few branches (even a tree or two) down. The preceding rain coated everything in ice, then snow.
The wind and snow pretty much finished off an old Weeping Willow across the street.
Day 3 (of no electricity, water, heat) – temp dropped to 45 this morning (in the house) and since all my electronics were dead I resorted to the car. WONDERFUL! I got to charge up my phones, listen to NPR and get warm all at the same time! In between, I get out and shovel snow, break the ice on the stock tank, blah, blah, blah. Then back inside my toasty car. The snow plow shows up at about 10, then about noon the power comes back on. My very favorite thing to do once power returned was to wash my hands in warm, soapy water. Ah yes, the simple things in life!
On no!! Hope things are better now.
It does look rather bleak, today it is very cold here but hopefully no snow for a while yet.
I didn’t realize you ever got snow.
Usually at least once in winter! Look at my posts last February and you cab see a lot of snow.
While you were getting your first snow, we were getting our first rain since last spring! I think I will stick with rain. Snow looks scary.
Well, thank goodness you got some rain.
Just beautiful!
It always is at first.
We’ve had much more snow than normal this year. In the past, it’s been hit or miss as to whether we would have a white Christmas – doesn’t look like that will be an issue this year.
Hard to know what to expect. This first snow was pretty early but it’s all gone now.
Gosh that’s early
Yuck
Exactly.
It’s so pretty. But, I hope we don’t get any this year. We have the past few, and it’s not normal. Or, maybe it’s the “new normal.” The problem is, no one is used to it. No one knows how to drive. Or shovel. Or much of anything but complain! Then there’s ice…
I have noticed that snow tends to bring everything to a stop when it falls where it is generally unexpected – Memphis or the District of Columbia for example. We’re all too used to it around here.
Your house looks very picture postcard in the snow, but I appreciate how difficult winter is in the Nothern Hemisphere. The red cardinal in the snow is a cheery photo.
The Cardinals are a very cheery bird, especially in winter.
Wow, where is this? x We’re in the UK so nothing till…. about Easter!!! 😉 haha
Chicago. This is early for snow, but we often get walloped with blizzards in January and February – and once, famously, in April.
Hello Jason, those are some very picturesque snow pictures, but goodness don’t you start winter early? We’re having blustery weather with lots of rain, intermittent sunny spells but it still feels very mild. I’ve had chance to do lots of winter jobs without getting too cold (and wet)!
The snow is unusually early this year. My least favorite winter job is shoveling snow.
I really like your shot of the cardinal. It is beautifully composed. I’m so happy that most of the snow has melted away. I know, I know, it is good, but I still hate it. A tree guy is coming tomorrow to cut up and remove the dead tree that took out our power line and dog run. I kind of wish we could keep some lengths of the tree, though, because my dog enjoys climbing on it and I think that is good for him, mentally and physically. Also I think it is good for the soil when a tree rots in place. However, the boss says a firm, “no” on that.
Hey, Melissa. You know, for some reason I can’t access your site at all since your last post.
I’m sorry about that. I’m moving my website (and domain) to a platform that is a LOT better suited to artists, but this has left my blog hanging. There will be a blog at the new site, and I’ll let you know when I’ve got it up and running. I think I’ll see if WP will let me use a different domain just to keep my old blog site alive.
Make sure to let everyone know about the new blog address.
I will~thanks!