And still there is ice

It has been quite a week here with all the snow and ice.  I knew our road was a frost trap from last year but I was somewhat surprised to find myself scraping ice off the car at 2 pm yesterday.  (Didn't think to photograph it but will tomorrow.)  It just won't melt and we have had the heating on all day for several days, having decided that at our age that's what you do.  I go round telling people that your heating bills are much higher if you don't go to work.

This morning I went into the garden to feed the birds and realised that the frost on the plants was very beautiful so I grabbed my camera.

I love the way the undersides of the leaves are a different colour.  It makes a beautiful abstract print so I shall print this one out.

This is a cyclamen struggling to survive.  I noticed that another cyclamen that is in a pot within reach of the outlet of the boiler is looking very bright.  Because it generally does not get very cold down here I always chance it by trying to over-winter things.  If they survive I save myself some money on plants in the spring and if they don't I do not feel I just threw them away.  But this parsley looks as though it has found its way to the freezer ahead of time.

There are lots of interesting patterns to be found in 'iced' plants because you see the lines so much better.

Because the garden looked so good this afternoon I went for a short walk up the nearest rural road.

In the past this valley has been very inspirational to me, including providing the idea for one of my journal quilts in 2009.

This was in spring when the Cornish hedges (banks of stones covered in vegetation) are full of flowers and there is gorse along the top of the hedge.  This afternoon almost all the ice had melted from the verges but the road was still somewhat icy so I did not go as far as I usually do.  I found these in the driveway to a farm.