Wall Screw-moss

A light fall of snow had turned Stonepit Close into a sugar-dusted confection,  sparkling and glinting in the morning sun. The snowfall had frozen overnight giving rise to what our family termed 'snost' - a hybrid between snow and frost with a clear crystalline structure that provides a satisfying crunch when you walk on it. The cold almost took my breath away, but was so uplifting - I really am a creature of the north.

I meandered slowly through this fairytale landscape, admiring the ice droplets adorning the birch branches and seed-heads of hedge bedstraw and studying ice-etchings in the frozen puddles (see extras). 

Needless to say I took plenty of photographs, but I can never resist the sporophytes of wall screw-moss, the bright yellow stems providing a warm counterpoint to the frosty scene. And they're even better when they're covered with droplets, melting as the sun first catches them.