Five photos

My photos for this week's Five on Friday  -  herbs grown on the windowsill, more halos, more dreams:

Have a lovely weekend...

and especially a Sunlit Sunday!

Happy weekend!

Hello all! With this post I participate in 

Saturday's Critters, hosted by Eileen,

Sunlit Sunday, hosted by Karen

and 

Mosaic Monday, hosted by Judith.

Thank you to all the hosts!

It's cold outside. When I'm writing this on Saturday morning, it's still dark outside and the temperature is -31 degrees Celsius (-23,8 degrees Fahrenheit). When the sun rises, the first thing to do is to make certain the bird feeder (and at the same time the unofficial squirrel feeder) is full. 

These photos were taken yesterday. Do join me, my camera and a zoom lens for a short walk! :)

Tracks I'm not able to identify. I'm afraid it could be a mink (Neovison vison).

Many of you have already seen my fern frost photos. In the not heated porch of a summer house, there are windows to three directions. There I was, turning like a spinning top, trying to capture the lovely play of light and colours.  My photos, especially when compressed, fail to do justice to it. I'm dreaming of... a macro lens. ♫

Nature is an amazing artist.

Three photos added on Sunday afternoon:

I hope you enjoyed the photos.  Have a lovely weekend!

Beautiful winter

The days are cold, but beautiful. When I'm writing this, the temperature (outside☺) is -29 degrees Celsius (-20.2 °F).

In the afternoon we have seen pretty ice crystal halos. They may have been "sun dogs" ("phantom suns"), but I'm not certain.

One was "above" the lake.

These optical phenomena are caused by the refraction of light from ice crystals drifting in the air.

The crystals are called "diamond dust", and never was a name more appropriate... Here a close-up, with enhanced colors. Pretty, aren't they!

♥

I'm joining Karen at My Little Home and Garden for Sunlit Sunday

and

Judith at Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday.

♥

Unfortunately my photos don't do justice to the beautiful phenomenon.  Imagine that you are surrounded by the bright sunshine and see tiny little particles, innumerable and almost imperceptible, dancing in the air and glistening golden...

Sun dogs typically appear in pairs, always at the same height as the sun. The red-coloured side is the one towards the sun, as you can see in the photos.

Using a zoom lens, trying to focus on the floating ice crystals was of course very difficult. Below, there is another out-of-focus photo, with strongly enhanced colours and contrast. I decided to call it "Étude de couleurs"...

♥

Here's to a beautiful, colourful and sunlit new week!