Happy 2009 to all of you!
I invite you to view some of my nature photos taken on the last days of the past year.
We had some days of sea mist and frost, creating a world of ice…
All photos taken with a Canon PowerShot S5.
Cheers,
Hans
I especially like the closeups. 
djm
cold. Very nice though.
Number 11 was VERY cool! 
I liked them all, but that one was my favorite.
Now I’m really cold, though. I think I’ll go get a cup of hot cocoa! 
Yeah, that one looks like some candy sugar-iced sweet. The fruits are Cotoneaster berries.
It was cold! First three days of mist, with temperatures dropping at night to -5 to -10 C, but then the sun came through on the last two days of 2008, and it was just glorious walking around looking at the trees and crystals everywhere.
New years eve night a thaw came, and all the haw frost melted, with ice dropping with big bangs onto the roof of my caravan (trailer) home.
Hans
djm
I know it does not sound much compared to Canada, but temperatures here rarely go below -3 C, this being directly at the North Sea coast, which is warmed by the Gulf stream. We have palm trees here surviving! - My water supply pipe froze up in the coldest night.
Hans
Happy New Year, Hans. The photos are terrific. It reminds me of the ice storm that we had at my home a few years ago. Even ordinary objects when covered with ice take on a beautiful appearance. However, living in a woods with the overhead branches covered with ice was frightening, as you never knew when you would hear the next crack from the falling tree limbs and ice. We were without power for two weeks because of that storm.
Hans, if I remember correctly, you are living in the caravan park where Eileen and Peter Caddy lived when they brought the Findhorn Garden to fruition. Is there any evidence of the exceptional garden after 40 years, of course not in the weather that you so ably have photographed?
Great pics, Hans!
There was a glazing of ice in early December, here, with EVERYTHING glazed over in clear ice, trees and all.
It’s quite a sight!
Those are some really interesting pictures, mother nature can dress up nicely when she wants to…and those temps qualify as “cold” for me.
Thank you all for your kind comments!
Well, it is still there. Preserved and worked as a mixed vegetable and flower garden. Maybe not as exceptional as originally, no giant cabbages etc., all quite ordinary, but still a beautiful part of the park. Peter and Eileen’s old caravan has been restored and preserved too, it is being used as one of many small offices scattered around the place.
You can see it here, and part of the “original garden”, except the vegetable plot. Peter’s favourite stone seat he used to sit on and meditate is visible on the right:
The whole of the park is gardened in a lovely way, with lots of trees, shrubs and flowers. And there is a main productive vegetable garden of several acres, which in conjunction with an organic vegetable co-op grows vegetables to feed ca 500 people via a box scheme.
Cheers,
Hans
Yes, that’s the one 
I love how striking the red is against the white of the ice. Beautiful!
Your pictures are so much prettier than my pictures here http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1255807&l=2c079&id=622952654 showing the damage done by our record snowfall. (I know, there’s a shorter way to do the URL but I’m getting ready to go to work and stand under that crack all day and don’t have time to look up the instructions.)
The cold spell that Hans talked about (-5 to -10 degress Celsius) translates to (23 to 14 degress Fahrenheit), which isn’t that cold around these parts. The water lines have to be buried deep enough to handle spells of sub zero degrees F if you want to keep them from freezing.
From looking at my globe I see that northern Scotland is on the same latitude as Juneau, Alaska. Not very far north of there in Alaska they are known for their giant vegetables because of nearly perpetual sunshine in the summer. I would guess that the vegetables would be larger than usual in northern Scotland for the same reason. My geraniums in my basement bloom more profusely in the Winter under the 24 hr/day plant light than they do outside in the Summertime.
Hans, I notice the greenhouse behind Peter Caddy’s old caravan in the photo. Is there much growing of produce in greenhouses where you are? Years ago I lived fairly high in the Rocky Mountains in the USA. Fortunately, there were hot springs in the area, and people were able to heat greenhouses with the thermal waters. With the green revolution that is coming in this country, greenhouses is one things that we may see more of in the future.
I also noticed the wind turbine in one of your photos. We are going to see more of them too. With all of the wind blowing outside today we could be generating power if we would have had a little foresight. Travelling through the desolate back country of the American southwest, I often noticed a windmil standing beside a full stocktank. With no electricity for many miles around and years before the practical use of solar panels, the windmill pump was able to keep the cows well-watered.
We got a number of large polytunnels for producing fine vegetables, like tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers etc. in summer, and winter green crops like chinese cabbage, corn salad, early cropping carots, lettuce and rocket etc.
You can grow more or less anything within a polytunnel here. And outside the secret is to keep the wind out. With enough wind shelter much is possible.
we got three bigger turbines and an older smaller one, combined maximum output I think is 750KW. Enough power for the whole Park including industrial, office and domestic use. Surplus gets sold to the grit, which also gives supply during windless days…
More info here: http://www.ecovillagefindhorn.com/renewable/wind.php
For a green sustainable future!
~Hans