Granted, it's not as much as the dear folks out in the mid-west have had over the last week (bless their souls), but it's enough to knock down trees and power lines. And it's our second ice storm in the past few days.
Here are a few shots from the yard:
Burning bush berries:
Our poor white birch:
Our poor clump birch:
Our poor weeping willow and white pines:
Mr. Chickadee at the feeder:
Mr. Titmouse above the feeder:
The clothesline:
More feeders:
It's still cold and raining (at 32 degrees, still cold enough to add to our ice accumulation), so I suspect we'll get even more ice build-up. And we've been given wind advisories for the rest of the day (supposedly getting wind gusts up to 40 mph again).
That's not good. Accumulated ice + high winds = mega tree damage.
Bummers.
I must say, though, that I've found a small silver lining in the freeze: hand warmers.
When I was outside taking pictures, I didn't wear gloves (it was above 30 degrees after all -- who needs gloves when it's so warm???).
But my camera is metal, and metal cools quickly and retains the cold, and my poor stubby fingers got numb fast.
I do have a hand-warmer mug, btw (a gift from a friend after I broke my hand last year). If you want to see it or read about it, click here.
But that's not what I'm talking about.
When I came in from outside, all I had to do was announce to the ten hopeful eyes looking up at me, who wants to be my hand-warmer?
And I had five living volunteers clamoring to be the first to bring life to my stone-cold hands.
:o)
There's nothing like the warmth of a Lab to lessen winter's chill and bring life to the soul.
'Til next time,
Joan
6 comments:
Poor trees! We suffered through the ice storm of '98 (which probably affected you a bit too) and lost all kinds of trees. Some have started to grow back (depending on where they broke) and some stayed in the bent posture. It was horrible in so many ways. I hope you get a thaw and it melts soon because that was part of our problem - it didn't thaw and the ice stayed on the trees for so long that they never recovered. Never mind trying to walk the dog - legs going every which way! Good luck.
Julia,
We lived through the ice storm of something like '92(?)--early 1990s anyway-- when we lived in Rochester, NY (we lived there only four years from 90-94). We were without power for six days (our neighbors went without power for two weeks, so no complaints). We shoveled ice from the yard into our chest freezer to keep our food from spoiling. We had no heat -- it was 34 degrees in the house by the sixth day when our power and heat returned. Rochester lost 50% of its tree population with that storm. What I remember most vividly is lying awake in bed that night listening to the trees fall (big, mature trees, not just branches).
It sounded a bit like that in the woods around our house this morning, and this isn't nearly as bad as what we experienced then. We at least still have power (we'll see how long that lasts with the winds picking up).
It's funny how sounds transport us to different times and places -- when I heard the limbs falling in our woods this morning, I felt like I was back in Rochester 15 years ago.
Sound is a powerful thing!
Thanks for the well-wishes. We'll see what happens when the wind picks up (it's still at freezing temps here).
Poor trees, but I love the clothes line photo. I hope the wind doesn't do too much damage.
Our mid-week ice is now buried under another thick blanket of snow - which the girls are thoroughly enjoying. And I've found myself using my hand warmers as feet warmers this week too. :-)
The pictures are beautiful; scary but beautiful too. While everyone was getting ice last week, we were breaking record highs here in TN. We were up to nearly 80 degrees. Very un-Christmas like.
Hope you and your family have a VERY Merry Christmas!
I hope you are all alright. You haven't posted in a long time and I miss reading about your "Lab Tails"
Kathy
Hopy you and the labs are having a good New Year. Just wanted to let you know that reading your blog always Makes My Day!
- Charlie
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