The winter of 2009-10 was the harshest Scotland had faced in nearly 50 years. During the Christmas period and into the New Year, the Scottish Borders lay under a deep covering of snow, night-time temperatures fell below -10, schools were shut, roads north to Edinburgh were sporadically closed and an unfamiliar stillness settled over everything. The landscape of the Scottish Borders, always attractive, never looked more beautiful. These images are an attempt to capture some of that beauty.