More Ice - February 12, 2014

As if the last ice storm wasn't enough, we had another on February 12th. It was one of the worst I've ever seen down here.

Here is a picture of our front willow tree. It is a 15-20 foot tall tree which is bent under the weight of ice here. The top is actually touching the ground. To the left you can see branches from the Loblolly pines that iced, froze and broke off.

Front Willow

We lost power for 36 hours. It was very cold with the temps going between 20 and 35 degrees F. Luckily we had a generator and a wood burning fireplace. That didn't cut it too well, but it was something. We need to get a bit more off-grid or get a few more items to help us out. We lose power a lot, here.

Here is a pic of my beautiful Eywa-ish willow in the back yard. It did not fare too well, as you'll see.

Back Yard Willow

She lost three large branches. You can see two of the broken ones really well here. I need to get up there and cut them off. She bounced back pretty well, but she'll need a good pruning after this.

One thing that was really weird was it was SO quiet. We had no noise except for the snapping and breaking off of tree limbs. It sounded like small grenades going off everywhere. It was really loud when a whole pine would break in half and crash to the ground. We're talking 10" and larger pines. Luckily they were nowhere near a building.

Here is a shot of what happened behind our barn. The fence is about 4-5 feet from the barn. It's a property boundary fence. A whole lot of large branches fell as you can see the whole way to the top of the picture. The fence, which is the whole way around our property, is dented everywhere. The smaller branches fell with such weight and force that it crushed the fence in a lot of places the whole way around. We were fortunate nothing came down on our house.

Limbs Behind the Barn

Here's a decent shot of what went on in the Back 40.

Limbs in the Back 40

Limbs just kept breaking off and breaking off. It wasn't safe to go outside while this was going on. You never knew which tree would let go next! It looked like a bunch of squirrels went crazy back there.

 Here's what happened behind our driveway. The saplings on the other side of the fence weighed down little by little with ice. Our one shed seemed to disappear little by little as the trees bent. We watched them lean under the weight. There wasn't much to do other than stand at the windows, watch and listen.

Behind Driveway

At least I had a few things I could do while I waited for electricity. I hemmed pants and worked on my quilting that I put aside. If this wouldn't have happened, I wouldn't have gotten that stuff done. There is something good to be said for things which make you slow down, sit back and take it easy.

I've been watching the weather up North on the news stations. I can feel for them because I used to live there. However, this has been the worst for them in years. My stepson told us they're expecting another storm in DuBois. They've had it pretty bad.

Recently, our weather has been nice...50's to 70's. Now it looks like we're in for another cold snap this coming week. Oh boy!

I hope all of you are warm and safe during this winter weather.

Take care.

FYI...Just for Fun

Today we had 72 degree F weather.

Go figure!

Take care.

It's Been a While...

Sorry about that. It's been a while since I've posted. The holidays came and went quickly. Then January came and went. My, how time is flying!

Thanksgiving we had a house full, like I mentioned. What I didn't mention was that we had a power outage the day after Thanksgiving. So, we ate dinner outside the following night because we had to. It was REALLY cold. My niece and nephew brought tamales from Florida that they made. You can't beat homemade food! This was a real treat for me to eat fresh tamales. I've never been invited to a Latin home for dinner. That is kind of hard to believe since I have so many culturally diverse friends.

Here is how we cooked the tamales.

Tamales Cooked Outdoors

We started to cook them on the grill my hubby made, but the water didn't boil fast enough or hard enough. My nephew brought over parts of his turkey fryer and my canning pot served us well. I had enough cooling racks to fit inside to hold the tamales while they steamed. Yummy stuff! I got the recipe!

Then, we went to Florida to visit these relatives for Christmas. We had a really nice time. We took some very small gifts this year. I made dish towel angels and they turned out really nice. I can't find my original pattern on the internet. When I do, I'll link it here. In the mean time, check out the internet for your own. There are several styles to make. I should've taken a picture.

Here is a picture of the whimsical part of my Santa Claus collection.

Whimsical Santas

 OK. There are a few snowmen in there, too. They are still cute. My porcelain Santas are on the other mantel and I didn't get a pic of them this year.

Here is the village we set up on our buffet.

Christmas Village

I have a small collection of porcelain houses that we usually put under the tree. The tree needs a bit of a hike off the ground to fit these under. I don't want to do that with the dogs traipsing around. I also collect aluminum ware. I love the stuff. Most of it is from yard sales. I like using these to serve dinners for company. Sometimes just for us, too.

The new year came and Hubby and I sit and wait for the ball to drop. This year we had a cheese tray, spread with crackers and doggie biscuits. I was in the kitchen getting our small snack tray ready and Hubby asked me to wait while he set up the living room. He put a tablecloth down and our pillows up against the back of the couch. I didn't know about the table (stool) and cloth for the table. He's so sweet!

Trixie Eyeing the Goods!

Well, the ball dropped in Times Square and we woke up at 12:04 a.m. We missed it! We must be getting old or something.

Our weather has been really up and down this year. One day we'll have 70 degree F weather. The next it will be in the 30's. Up and down and up and down. Today was in the 60's. It was nice and sunny. Tomorrow, we're expecting 30's and freezing rain. Wednesday may bring 2-3 inches of snow. I need to start planting my garden and it's hard to figure the weather out this year.

If we get the weather, look for pics. It is a novelty down here to get snow and icy rain.

Take care.