Frost feathers

As we got used to the idea that our first visitors for a long time would not be coming after all, we had a rather subdued day. We were looking forward to seeing them a lot so we were disappointed, but I guess it's even more so for them as this was a long awaited and much needed holiday.
However, it was definitely the right decision and, thinking about all the health tragedies of the last couple of years, on a scale of disasters this was a fairly minor one.
So today we spent most of the day outside in the garden, clearing snow as a sort of work-therapy! I was up on the roof for a while moving snow, so the sweep can get up to our chimney about a week from now.
It's still winter-winter, but we can feel it moving towards spring-winter, when the snow is still here but the days are long and the sun is warm, when it shines. This was partly why we are clearing some of the snow. Jan dug out a bench so we can sit in the sun; I finished clearing the Red House deck for the same purpose.  We created a wind shelter behind Betty's, which Jan blipped.
The rather lovely frost feathers were down in a corner of one of the Red House windows. They are about 3 cm long and on the inside of the outer pane of glass.
It felt good to be outside, and work kept us warm even if it was around -13°C. I was out for 5 hours and by the time we went in it was almost dark. I only got cold as we completed the wind shelter, the last job, which involved working without gloves to get knots tied and sorted. But that gave me an excuse to light the wood-burner when I came in, and let that cosy dry heat spread through the house!