another photo from yesterday’s dusting

norway spruce

saint paul, minnesota

we woke up this morning to a fresh dusting of snow: all was bright and white.

balsam fir in my side yard

saint paul, minnesota

ruffed grouse wing

the whole wing is beautiful, but the leading edge vanes of the primary feathers are arresting

superior national forest, near grand marais, minnesota

these last couple weeks of january are traditionally the coldest time of year in minnesota

today was no exception

the forecast for tomorrow morning is -17 C

saint paul, minnesota

i was so smitten with the large assemble i shot of all our finds in languedoc, that i was inspired to do more of the same.  thus the bones, and now pine cones.

i pick up new-to -me pine cones whenever i come across them. i keep them in a box in my storage room.  i always assumed i would use them some day for holiday decor–on a table or mantel.  but STILL blog is a much better use, don’t you agree?

my collection includes cones from :  australian pine, cedar, jack pine, balsam, cypress, douglas fir, austrian pine, scotch pine, norway spruce, white and black spruce, red pine, white pine, atlas cedar, parasol pine, longleaf pine, and sequoia redwood

minnesota, florida, georgia, california, and languedoc, france