Finally, the winter transformation has taken place. Overnight we transited from autumn to a winter aspect. One we are familiar with, but do not, on the whole, welcome with huge enthusiasm. At one time in our lives we most certainly may have, but not at this point. The most obvious and visible sign of the times can be had merely looking out the front door onto the changed landscape.

There they are, the fond, admiring photographs of the gardens right outside the front door, at the end of September, past summer and into fall. Everything is lush and green. Sunlight bedazzles on the remaining colours of the garden perennials, bright and perky in their various garden pots, unwilling to even recognize the possibility of vanishing from the scene.
As far as those beautiful flowers are concerned they are there, in living colour, texture and beauty for the duration. Little do they know the duration has arrived. And their time of blooming glory has lapsed.

It did not, in fact, take too much time to ruthlessly, once night-time frosts set in, remove them from their fertile beds of soil and to consign them to the compost heap. Not to make another appearance until many winter months have passed, giving way eventually to a hopeful new spring. That, at least, is eternal.

Overnight, we hosted a vastly different kind of weather. After having the good fortune of continuing mild weather thanks to La Ninya placing itself in an unaccustomed climate spot, we have suddenly become immersed in frigid, cold weather, and the winds that were such a short time earlier relatively balmy, have become downright aggressive.

The overnight temperature plunge allied with clouds fully drenched with precipitation finally brought us freezing rain, creating hazardous road conditions, something we are well and truly familiar with and were grateful to have postponed by nature as long as has occurred.

Hard on the freezing rain came snow. Hours of snow gently drifting down on the sleeping landscape where the soil has already begun its expected deep freeze. And now we bid farewell to the last, lingering remnants of fall.