These are some photos that I took today after the ice storm. I am no photographer, but the ice was so thick on everything that I couldn't resist grabbing the camera.
Ice on a privet bush loaded with berries
No birds will be taking a bath in here any time soon unless they're into that polar bear thing. Note there's no real snow on the ground, just ice.
This azalea forgot to drop its leaves in fall. Now they're coated with ice.
An evergreen branch coated with ice. Imagine if you waited to buy your live Christmas tree until this weekend. Brrrr! Who'd want to bring that inside the house?
These Japanese Red Maple buds hold the promise of springtime but for now, they're sealed away in ice.
All of the branches and berries of this privet bush sparkled like crystals when the sunlight shone on them.
Ice-coated crabapple branches. The starlings and cedar waxwings won't be dining here for awhile.
I had to sprinkle some bird seen on the ground because the lid to my bird feeder is frozen shut with ice. I hope the Juncos, Titmice, English Sparrows, Song Sparrows, and Chickadees understand.
Now doesn't this make you want to grab a hot cocoa and a warm blanket?
I hope everyone enjoys a warm, happy, safe, relaxing, and lovely holiday season.
XOXOX
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Comments
Wow...just like fire.
Interesting, that.
Stay warm.
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Happy Holidays to you and yours Lisa.
Greg
Beautiful photos.
Ice is sparkly and surreal wrapped around everything...like its all been dipped in glass....
.....roads dipped in glass....power lines dipped in glass....eeeeee!
Gimmie snow!
O'Kathryn - I wish that the picture of the red maple showed up larger in my post. It's hard to see the little buds, already in place waiting for spring.
Umbrella - Floods - yikes! I hope you live at a higher elevation. Floods are no fun.
Dustbowldiva - Thank you! The ice is lovely to look at as long as you don't have to drive in it.
m.a.h. - Trust me, it's better to just imagine the cold than it is to actually feel it! Thank you for stopping by.
Persephone - Lovely to see you here! Thank you for your most poetic comments: ice and fire are harmful on both sides of the spectrum. I love your description of everything "dipped in glass". That nails it.
Greg - Thank you, my friend. Happy holidays and lots of warmth to you and your family too!
artsfish - Wow! A compliment from you on my photos is like gold. Thank you for that! I hope hubby gets home soon.
jane - Yes, I agree. It's amazing how each pine needle, each blade of grass, every leaf, is perfectly coated with ice. I try to think about how it happens; why doesn't the water just drop off? I guess it's a gift enough to be able to simply look at it.
Best wishes for a Happy Holiday too.
Grif - As I was falling asleep last night, I could hear the wind blowing, followed by what sounded like breaking glass. It must have been the ice falling from the tree branches and shattering.
Jess - I know! I can't believe that you had snow in Louisiana! Does the entire town shut down when that happens? People probably did think that hell had frozen over.
Screamin' Mama - I'd give anything to trade places with you right now. It was 15 degrees here when I woke up. That's a Minnesota temperature, not SE Pennsylvania!
Moana - I'm envious of your warm weather right now, although it's no fun when it's too hot. I'm glad that you enjoyed my ice photos.
Umbrella - Thanks for the photos. It looks like you live in a beautiful place. I'm glad that you're at a high enough elevation to not have to worry about flooding but I can see how the rest of the town might be in danger. I'll put the order in: no more crippling snowfalls, just pretty, fluffy ones. :)
This has been quite a Fall that is now over. I actually don't remember a Fall this year, and motorcyclists, who love riding in the cool Fall air, really miss Fall when it forgets to come around and we move into winter by mid-November. This morning it was 6 degrees on the front porch. We never see that around here before late January. Old man winter has the entire northern half of the county in his grip very early this year. Sue and I are leaving for a week in Myrtle Beach after the Christmas Eve service. It is usually in the upper 50s to low 60s there this time of year. When I called last night for our yearly reservation the desk clerk told me that today's high there is to be only 45. 45 is better than 6, but hardly balmy.
Have a wonderful and peaceful Christmas.
Monte
Your pictures bring back all that crystalline beauty. Thank you. But hey, why not make them bigger? If you want to and don’t know how, you can use Rob St. Amant’s explanation: Rob’s post.
Thanks for some wonderful snaps...
Meanwhile; I am positively roastingly hot over here in our summer December weather...
I could USE some ice right now.....!!
Denise - Ice is beautiful on the trees, but not so much on the roads (or weighing heavily on power lines.) Thank you for stopping by.
Monte - This fall has definitely not been conducive to motorcycle riding. Enjoy your time in Myrtle Beach.
Lea - You are always so kind!
LuluandPhoebe - Your comment made me laugh. We always can tell when a snowstorm is predicted around here because you can't find milk or bread anywhere. Even with the last big blizzard we had in 1996 with 36" of snow, we were only truly snowed in for a day. I mean, it's not like we're in Alaska. Can't people survive for a day on what they have in their homes? It's like they need to stock up for Armaggedon or something.
Daniel - thank you!
Karin - I have always wanted to take photography lessons. Your note is a good reminder for me to check the local community courses to see if one is offered in January. Have fun with your new camera. I hope you'll post some photos on OS!
O'stephanie - The red maple one is my favorite too; the idea of all of that beauty locked away until spring inside those frozen buds.
Deonne - Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have wonderful holidays too.
Faith - I'm not usually that good about grabbing the camera. Seeing my entire yard sparkling managed to get me out of the house this time though!
Joan - I'm glad that you were spared the ice. Not many places were! I was wondering how far down south the storm reached. We considered going to North Carolina this week and I wondered if we would have been driving through ice for most of the trip.
nahatsu - It's odd to remember that it's currently summer where you live. If I could, I'd send some ice over to you. We've still got plenty in the driveway. I don't think it will melt until May!
Thank you, everyone, for your comments. I'm pleasantly surprised by the attention this post received, and most appreciative of all of you. :)
Scruffus - You live in the northeast too, right? I'll bet your yard looks very similar. Thanks for stopping by.
Looks like you've been doing a lot of writing while I've been churning out the fruitcake. Back soon for some more catching up.
All the best this season to you as well --
All are awesome though, Lisa. Wow, that was some storm!
Hope you've thawed a bit, and sending best wishes for a white Christmas.
Laurel - You don't need a reason for a toddy but I'm glad I could help.
Bill S. - I'm blushing. You're the photographer, not me, but thanks for the kind words just the same.
Connie - It's always a joy to see your cigar in my comments. I'm still humming "I Just Wanna F*n Dance" thanks to you.
merwoman - So nice to see you here! How are the dogs liking the snow in your area?
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And since you asked, check out my dogs & snow post. ;)
(Not that I'm a blog whore, you understand, it's just the dogs, they're attention junkies!)
merwoman - I love the video and photos of the dogs playing in the snow. I should have known that you wouldn't disappoint with the video. :)
And a bump for the feed for pretty ice pictures!