winter is here in earnest

There is frost every night, and the woodstove is going 24 hours a day. The daring flowers that still blossomed (nasturtium, rosemary, echinacea, hazel, etc.) have suddenly shriveled and faded, their stems left mushy by the night's ice-crystals. And the trees that were billows of colour a few days ago are dropping their leaves en masse, now. Here are a few photos of the leaves...