We did have a white Christmas!

We spent Christmas with my mother-in-law in Mount Shasta, in the mountains of northern California near the Oregon border. The days before Christmas were sunny and dry, but on Christmas morning it started to snow. The timing couldn't have been more perfect! 

While I did venture outside to take the photos for this post, this is the view from my mother-in-law's large living room window:

Western redcedars (Thuja plicatilis) with falling snow

Having grown up in a place with chilly winters, I really don't care for the cold, but I love the sight of falling snow. The red barn in my MIL's backyard makes for a wonderful subject:

A few succulents in the snow:

Aloiampelos striatula is considered to be hardiest aloe species. I planted five cuttings in the summer, and they've survived 19°F nights with no damage. Snow's a breeze compared to that!

Opuntia humifusa, the eastern prickly pear, “naturally occurs from arid areas of Montana southward to New Mexico, and eastward to the lower Great Lakes, and along the East Coast from the Florida Keys to coastal Connecticut. Its distribution in Canada is limited to the Carolinian forest in southern Ontario, specifically in Point Pelee National Park” (from Wikipedia)

In the winter, the pads of Opuntia humifusa lay down flat, probably to avoid breakage caused by snow

Snow kept falling throughout Christmas Day:

Hill in front of my mother-in-law's house

Driveway

Rhododendron

Western redcedars

My MIL's house framed by the Western redcedars on the hill

Bamboos in the backyard:

Stone bamboo (Phyllostachys angusta)

Black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra). Planting this bamboo was the subject of my first blog post (October 10, 2010)! Click here to read it.

Fargesia dracocephala 'Rufa' laid low by the snow

Phyllostachys bambusoides

Phyllostachys vivax 'Aureocaulis'

And more views of the iconic barn:

Here's proof that I did venture out into the snow:

Here's wishing you a peaceful and relaxing rest of December and a Happy New Year. We can rest easy knowing that 2021 will be better than 2020. It simply has to.

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