Past mid December, almost “true” winter, and still there’s only a hint of ice on the fish pond, just a light coat where the waterfall runs in the summer:

The water is COLD of course and the fish are “hibernating”:

It’s much milder than last year, and look at the river two years ago today …

(Meanwhile, Margaret is sunbathing in the 70s in Florida!)

Almost exactly a year later, the first frost of Winter 2011/12 beautifies the grass and fallen leaves:

A beautiful golden sun set behind trees in our garden this evening …

It’s been a great Summer this year, in this area at least. Lots of rain to make everything green, lots of sun to make it all grow – and lucky for us the high winds were not too bad for the North Shore.
One result, lots of mushrooms / fungus growing in the mulch and under the trees at work – here’s a few samples:

And no, I have no idea what names they have – though a quick Google search suggests the top one is “Fly Agaric” and poisonous!

I saw one Fall colored leaf shining in the sun this morning, too pretty to ignore!

At first we thought it was a tiny Hummingbird on the Buddleia, only an inch long – but then realized it was an incredibly well disguised Hummingbird Moth! Not only does it look like a little bird, but it flies like one too – and in bright sunshine:

Well actually, just one sunset, but photographed with two cameras – my old Nikon D200, and my newer Sony A55. I’ve not used the Nikon for months now, just trying it before I decide to sell it … Again an interesting comparison, with the Nikon making deeper colors, but the Sony giving a sharper picture. Due to the Sony managing a 1/80 shutter, while the Nikon went down to 1/8.
These two pictures were taken without using manual camera controls, and are not computer edited; I suppose I could boost the Sony colors, but couldn’t improve the Nikon focus:

Nikon sunset:

Sony sunset:

Even though it’s already mid 70s with strong sun, I spotted dew remaining on the grass this morning – because the humidity is so high I suppose!

You might want to click for bigger version, to see it properly!

Took this quick picture today – nice looking fish pond this year

We had lots of rain over the last couple of days, and it changed the garden from the pictures I posted earlier!

Here’s some new looks at the plants, rain enhanced – or in the case of the Rose bush, rain damaged!

Even with the rain battering, the Rose bush is ready to recover: