Let it snow!

I don't have anything of great substance to say today, but I'd like to share some pics from our first real snow day of the winter. People who live in cold, snowy places probably get tired of seeing their gardens shrouded in white, but it's a lovely novelty here in Portland. 

Here's the front of my house:

The creek in our backyard, a/k/a our naturescaping project:

Our neighbor's blue spruce -- too bad Christmas is over

Interesting texture:

Snowy sword fern, a common site when it snows in Western Oregon:

And finally, the purple pitcher plant on my back deck (Sarracenia purpurea). Sorry dude... no bugs for you today!