Winter Beauty and a Boot Topper Update

We have had some very cold temperatures this winter and not too much snow. Plus we've had a LOT of dark, dreary days. Now, the other day, just a day or so after we arrived back home from our "trip to remember", I was walking the dog in our cold northern climate. This particular day, in which the sky was perfectly clear and we had gotten a bit of snow, I was busy taking pictures of all the gleaming beauty around me.

When I got on the computer sometime later, I saw that my "blog-o-sphere" friend, Gillian of Hookin' A Yarn had posted about her January garden and the things that were blooming. Wwwwhaaaaatt??? Blooms in January? Well, she does live in Northern Ireland. But still!

The pictures of her garden were lovely, what with the green grass and the daffodils about to burst open and the LAVENDER! Oh my! It is a far cry from our northern U.S.A. January. But when I got around to looking over my new photos from earlier in the day, I decided that our winter is, indeed, beautiful, too. Just different. So here are the photos from my phone.

The sun shining between
branches

This is a stump full of
fungus. I suppose
it's dormant right now.

This tree always
makes me thing of Ents.

Here's a close-up of the
same tree.

Can you see the wild
beast? She is laying
on her cushy bed at
the moment.

We have a field full
of this dried out "weed."
I think I'm going to cut some
and put in a crock.

I thought I'd end this photo post with a photo up-date of the teal blue boot toppers from my last post.

I am very pleased with them. They look great on top of boots and the lace shows up better when they are on and slightly spread out. And they add an extra layer of warmth in this wintry place we call home. 

P.S. The knitted item on the right of the yarn is Forest Glade Cowl, which I found on the blog called Natural Suburbia.