Mountains and Shrubs

There are two mountains we can see from inside and outside of our house when looking to the east. The first photo is of Ben Lomond which is 1527 meters (5157 feet) at its highest peak. There is not much snow on Ben Lomond in our winter which is now, occasionally there is a decent amount.  There is a snow making machine up there as well and it's used when a decent snowfall has fallen because some people do like to ski.  

This first three photo were taken through the window, zoomed well in of course as it's about 1 hours' drive from home to begin the journey up the mountain. The first one is early in the morning, well it is for me, then the second photo shows the snow a bit later on in the morning. A link to part of the road up the mountain and the village [ here ]

Another day and more snow on Ben Lomond, taken from inside my home on the same day as the first photo.

The next two photos are of Mt. Barrow 1413 meters (4636 feet) and about 22 km from home. The first photo was taken from a different location and the second was taken from home later towards evening. Mt. Barrow doesn't have snow on it every year, but you know it's cold when the snow comes.  It will probably be all gone when we wake up the next morning.

These two photos are of a Dwarf Nandina Domestica which are growing in the front garden as a hedge and were planted last year.  The kangaroos had a good time eating some of them last year, this year they haven't attempted to at this point in time.  These plants are beautiful in winter as they have a vibrant red foliage, sometimes it takes a few years for them to develop their colour.

I was surprised to see the Dwarf Lavender also known as Spanish Lavender and a few other names, in flower.  The plant below is a grass and escapes my mind to be named.  There are 3 of these in the front garden bed.

The Heuchera below is a nice plant and only recently has become available for commercial use to grow in the gardens.  The Heuchera comes in a few colours and we have 3 of them, they are a Native of North America. 

The first Camellia in bloom this year.  There are just three at this stage. We have a hedge of different ones growing up the west side of the house, they are sheltered.

Well I Never!

Have lived in this street for over 45 years and on Wednesday morning there was SNOW! First time EVER. Everyone is excited!

The backyard.

Walked closer 

Next door neighbours manfern over our fence.

Daffodils are supposed to be somewhere up against the fence. There is a small pond somewhere there.

View just out the front door and neighbours front yard.

Above looking down the hill.  Yes, it's garbage day.

Looking to the right down the hill.

Looking to the left down the hill.

Home above.  The snow falling off some of the solar panels on the roof and on the otherside doing the same, there are heaps more panels.

Next door neighbours above.

Part of the garden, see one daffodil.

Above the maiden hair fern not touched by the snow.

Steps from the patio to the back door.

Below, the other side of the house.

Mt. Barrow Snow!

The trip up Mt. Barrow the other day, some more photos.  The snow only stayed a few days and still there is no more at this stage.

I did the above photo in HDR. The remainder are normal.

I nearly went skating up there :) I wore boots with high heels, but that's me :)

On our decent the cloud came in.

Something I don't see often!

A cold snap and I looked out the window to see the lowest mountain in the distance with snow on it!
I have only been in snow about 1/2 dozen times in my life as snow doesn't fall here where I live, it only falls on the mountains for a short period of time. When we see snow on Mt. Barrow we know it's cold.  Today the highest was 11 DegC (52 degF) in the city.

I took a few photos with my old DSLR the Canon one with the telescopic lens. Black & White Photos look like they have more snow but that's not the case.

Mt. Barrow

The two photos were taken on top of Mt. Barrow about 40 minutes drive from where I live.
Not often is there snow on the mountain because it's not high enough or cold enough.  The TV towers are also on this small mountain.  This is about the second time I have ever seen snow, and as you can see it's not very deep at all.  These photos were taken a couple of years ago.  I thought it might help to keep us cooler by looking at snow in our hot summer time.

My foot with ugg boot on it.