Instead of being in full bloom this past week, the temperatures and wind chills seem to have made the witch hazel have second thoughts. The flower petals seem to be trying to crawl back into the buds. No, I don't blame them. (It was -18˚ C (0˚ F) when I was out running yesterday morning.)
I found this Red Hellebore (Christmas Rose) bud in the Woodland Garden at the RBG last Friday under some leaves. I would not have seen it except I knew where it grew and cleared off some leaves to see if anything was happening. Yes, I covered it up again as there will be more cold and snow before it blooms.
This is the Brevipetala Witch Hazel, also called Chinese Witch Hazel. This particular bush grows in the RBG Woodland Garden just below the Rose Garden. It was almost in bloom on Friday, January 22 when I walked by.
Last year it was in bloom already on New Year's Day. Other years it has waited until February.
There were many round holes in a log I was inspecting on my Friday walk and this exoskeleton was hanging on just by one of them. I have no idea what the animal was but I found the left overs interesting.
I have been working on my watercolour skills with a "how to" book. I still need lots of practice but it's looking a bit better to my eye.
Ted Kennedy must be spinning in his grave this morning. It's hard to believe that Massachusetts voted Republican.
Hard to hide in the ice and snow when you are a dark coloured donkey.
(Taken a few days ago when we still had a bit of snow and ice.)
Strange winter so far. It's the least snow we have had in a couple of years but it has been cold and windy.
Even the corn stubble on the farm down the road from us did not save the snow. We do have lots of fog and grey skies however.
Part of the "Glass Under Glass" show that officially opens today at the RBG. We were there yesterday so it was not all up and the names of the artists were not all available. I'll put up the name after my next visit later this week.
www.rbg.ca/pages/GlassExhibit.html
A sculptural piece by Bryce Kanbara presently at the "you me gallery" in Hamilton, Ontario. Bryce has a variety of other cutouts on his walls making an interesting exhibit with great shadows too!
You know it's cold when there is both ice and snow on bird wings. Actually it's feeling warmer with the wind chill only - 20˚ c this morning.
This is another photo from 1978 when I went to a camp north of Thunder Bay, Ontario for a course in winter survival. We slept out in snow shelters called quinzhees which were made by piling up loose snow, letting it settle, and then hollowing it out to make an igloo shaped structure in a place where igloos could not be made. (One needs solid wind swept snow to cut blocks for making an igloo.) Temperatures inside the snow shelter were just above the freezing mark while temperatures outside dropped to - 30 C. The hard part was getting up in the morning and going out to start fires for breakfast.
Photos on the way to becoming a calendar. Hope they make it before January ends.
