Hidden Gems

I was definitely not expecting to have to shovel more snow when I got home from work today, but there you go. It was another couple inches, but luckily just very fluffy stuff that was easy to push aside. I probably could have skipped it and let it melt on its own on Friday, but I wanted to make sure the cold frames were clear so they could soak up every bit of sun that might come their way — we need that dirt warmed up to plant seeds!

When I cleared the snow frames, there was a treat beneath the glass:

Each window had an icy pattern on it, on the underside of the glass. I think this is caused by traces of moisture and/or organic matter leftover from when carrot leaves used to touch the top of the glass back in the fall, before we picked them. It's kind of too bad that these pictures aren't really doing justice to how pretty and how intricate the crystal patterns were. I think the one above looks like a medieval drawing of a tree, the trunk of which is growing out the lower left corner of the glass.

There were several tree-branch patterns. You can see in the one above that it was already starting to melt at the bottom shortly after I uncovered it. 

I tried to take a close-up of another section, but it didn't work as well as I hoped it would. This part looks more like ferns and feathers.

I wish the photos could convey what a lovely surprise this was when I brushed away the snow that I had only a moment before been cursing. It's been hard to see much beauty in winter as it has worn on 

(and on, and on), so this was a nice reminder to be appreciative of each season in its turn.