House in the Mist

We've been having beautiful clear & cold weather for the last week, with lovely mists and hard frosts. This morning I grabbed the camera and snapped a couple of pictures before I left for work. Here's the house all quiet and frosty just before sunrise:
I had to hold my breath so that it wouldn't obscure the house in the picture.

Here's the view to the east, with the mist rising off the frosty fields. As usual with this sort of picture, it was at least 80% more beautiful in real life.

This is where the sun actually comes up this time of year, south-southeast over the swamp. About an hour after I took this picture the sun would have come streaming over the ridge and illuminated the frost coating the swamp brush, making everything look like it is coated in diamonds for a few minutes before it melts away. I only get to see that on the weekends though... [sigh]
The firewood, incidentally, was a housewarming gift extraordinare from Ross and Keron. THANKS GUYS! Ross delivered it Friday night, just before the party. It sure is a lot nicer to burn than the wood we've been scavanging from fallen snags around the property. We've been keeping the fire going through this cold snap and I must say that the Jotul stove sure puts out the heat. We can load it up with wood and damper it down before bedtime, and it keeps the whole house warm all night and there's still enough embers left in the morning to get it going again by simply adding another log. The cats may even love the fire more than they love the radiant heat!