I suppose that after the recent deluge, the air must have been super-saturated so when the temperature plummeted we were rewarded with the theatrically beautiful ice show.
As I'm not sure of the science, I'm including a link which might help to explain the phenomenon.
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wxfacts/Hoar-Frost.htm
It was an opportunity not to be missed, so armed with trusty Dog and faithful camera (or is it the other way around?) I headed for the fields.
I was thinking about one of my favourite, wintry, children's poems;
Winter Time
by Robert Louis Stevenson,
Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.
Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.
Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.
When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.
Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding cake.
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.
Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.
Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.
When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.
Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding cake.
I'm still trying to achieve better mood/atmosphere in my photos and to get away from the matter of fact representation of what I see, so in this shot of the teasels, I gave a little tweak to the RAW file using curves in photoshop. This reduced the contrast a touch and hopefully shows the shivery cold of the morning.
The other two pictures are just trigger happy fun on a beautifully cold and frosty morning.
