Monday, January 4, 2016

Snow!

Feeling a little sorry for those of you who live (or migrate) further south, so I thought I'd share some simple pictures of our world today.  We now have 8-10" of the white stuff, and woke today to bitterly cold -20°C (-4F), with a strong breeze out of the northeast.  But it was partly sunny and bright.

Right in our own front yard, the spruce were starting to look wintery.  We've had much more snow drowning the trees in past years, but we'll probably get there again soon.

I was headed to Meaford for coffee, and the air was hazy with floating frost crystals as the sun faded in and out.  It wasn't really snowing, but it wasn't clear either.

In Meaford that northeast breeze was driving the waves off Georgian Bay onto the shore as much as I've ever seen.  But all morning I had the camera on the wrong setting (after taking pictures of that waterfall the other day), so the pictures didn't come out nearly as nicely as I hoped.  Though the haze in the atmosphere also blurs the distant picture.

You can easily see how the rocks along the shore get quickly coated with a layer of ice when waves like these are rolling in!

On the way home I saw lots more trees laden with snow; in sheltered spots they were very white.


And I stopped to get pictures of my favourite small barn, all by itself out in the field.

Out of interest I checked into the ski club, which hasn't been open yet, to find them making snow as fast as they could.  The air over the hills was foggy with blowing snow.  After our long snowless December, I suspect they'll finally be able to open this weekend.   Here's hoping the cross-country trails won't be long behind!

The sun mostly broke through for a minute, and you can almost make out Old Baldy in the haze over the ski runs.

And by the time I was home, the bluish shadows were stretched across the road in the late afternoon sun.

****

Woke to a surprising -20°C this morning, as a cold air mass has moved in, pushed by northeast winds, for at least today.  It's -22 and dropping as I write this, but it's not supposed to stay this cold, and the forecast even says a little rain by Friday (here's hoping not!).  The long term forecast though shows snow and 'seasonal' temperatures (-8 to -15) every day next week!  Yeah!

DJan reminded me that I forgot to post my walking report yesterday, so here it is.  I did manage to walk one hour every day all week, though that includes using the stationary bike twice to make up the time.  Now that snow is here, I have to get in to the swing of new activities.  Suddenly the snowshoeing group and the cross-country skiing group are both starting up, and those are the ways I hope to get my winter exercise.  But you have to commit to it between 10 and 2 or so, otherwise it just doesn't happen.  You can see why I wish for more snow.

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21 comments:

  1. Iyt looks very beautiful to me. We have a little snow but not as much as you have!

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  2. That is my kind of weather! Beautiful shots!

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  3. Your last photo is a stunner. Cold, you are in winter, but down here, in the middle of our summer, we had about 3.5Celsius early this morning. And it was early, about 5.45 a.m. , it dropped from 4.5 to that, then slowly rose, and by lunchtime up to 23C again.

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  4. Awwwww nuts!! Looks like I'm missing another great snowy cold winter.

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  5. Jealous, I am. We had a dusting of snow last night, but it went during the day.

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  6. Lovely snow! Hope you get more of that lovely white stuff. :) We had freezing rain here last night and it practically shut the town down.

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  7. The first snowfall and cold snap is a shock, but we get used to it and carry on. It didn't bother you. You got out for some fanastic photos.

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  8. It's beautiful...in your photos but not on our ground.

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  9. We don't get to see so much snow, so these scenes thrill me. :)
    Happy new year to you and yours!:)

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  10. For those of us in the southern hemisphere where snow is a rarity, these images are a delight. I especially like the shot of your favourite and solitary barn in the field. Happy New Year.

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  11. Thanks for the reminder of what winter really looks like. ;)) So far this winter the GTA has not experienced any serious snow fall.

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  12. Hello, the snowshoeing sounds like fun! Beautiful winter scenes. The snow looks pretty. Have a happy week!

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  13. Oh WOW ! you did get dumped on with snow ! looks soo pretty . It is cold here and the winds are biting but sadly still green here we ok green and brown lol . It is to warm up here in the next few days and rain very odd for us this time of year . We only live 2 to 3 hours away from you and yet our weather is soo different . My daughter lives just south of Collingwood and they have lots of snow to . Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !

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  14. That looks so nice and scenic from here, but glad we are not there.

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  15. Thank you for the update. And I loved to use my cross country skis for exercise when I lived in Colorado and we'd get a dumping in town. I'd head over to the local park and work myself into a sweat. I loved it. I've still got those skis but haven't used them in decades. I keep them out of nostalgia, I guess. :-)

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  16. We have the cold but hardly any of the snow. Beautiful shots!

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  17. Pretty snow pictures. I like #2 and your favourite barn ones. The cold has hit here too but not for long.

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  18. What beautiful winter wonderland pictures. That water sure looks COLD!!

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  19. Looks about like the kind of waves we get on Powell Lake on a very windy day. It's amazing how it can be flat calm within hours of the wind subsiding. Even with our bigger boat we stay home when that happens. - Margy

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  20. Brrr and very beautiful. Living in a snowy world is quite foreign to me. I have to travel 5 to 6 hours to reach the snowy mountains. Some years, it gets cold enough for it to snow on our low mountains around us for a few days.
    The View from the Top of the Ladder

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  21. So beautiful… lovely lovely scenes.… we are hoping for some more snow. It hasn't yet dipped below 0 F here yet, but it is only the beginning of Jan.

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