It was a bitterly cold start to the day this morning, the temperature gauge on my car read a cold -5C at 6.15am when I took the dogs out for their morning exercise, the coldest day of the year so far. The weather forecast was good for this morning so after our early morning walk and breakfast I left the dogs at home and headed over to the gardens at RHS Harlow Carr on the outskirts of Harrogate. It is usually a couple of degrees colder over there which I was pleased about as I was hoping the frost would still be on the grass and plants. By the time we arrived it was 10.45am. The sun was just coming over the tree tops and picking out some of the borders as we made our way through the visitors entrance, making quite a picture. The steps down onto the main pathway had been fenced off due to the frost and ice. There was a lovely blue sky for a change, from the centre we headed over to the left past the library and learning centre, the cold temperature was sufficient to freeze the lake albeit with a thin layer of ice. From the Lakeside gardens we continued around the lake and onto the Streamside path, the sunlight shining on the grasses highlighting the golden colours that glistened in the daylight. Out of the sunshine the air was still quite cold and the temperature barely over freezing point, in early January the sun won’t reach parts of this trail consequently the frost will stay on the ground all day. We had a pleasant walk following the course of the stream to the Old Bath House where we crossed the stream and headed back towards the centre following the stream again but this time from the other side. The sunlight catching some of the trees was beautiful, the red and white coloured bark standing out from the dark shadows. Heading uphill through the Sandstone rock garden the views looking back towards the Gazebo from the small ponds took your breath away. I had to stop for a few minutes and admire the beauty of the surroundings. The effect of the sunlight, blue sky and a hard frost is quite remarkable forming a lasting memory in my mind.