First freeze

This morning brought a reminder that winter is just around the corner: hoarfrost, thick and sparkly, brilliant in the early morning sunshine. It arrived late this year; usually we have heavy frost by mid-October, certainly by Halloween.

I wanted one more chance to photograph the smoke tree in the early morning light. The tree was brilliant with yellow leaves yesterday, but the hard frost overnight took the last of the leaves, and there they lay at the base of the tree, rimmed with white, all the beautiful autumn colors in a heap.

More beautiful still was the herb garden, where the carpet of thyme looked like it had been dipped in coarse sugar like some fanciful garnish for a dessert tray. It looked good enough to eat.