Thursday, February 3, 2011

Ice aftermath

Dawn - aftermath
All is calm.  Today dawns with clear skies, no wind and single digit temps.  I bundled up and swept away  3" of snow out to the birdfeeder.  The exposed path is not blacktop but inches of ice and must be negotiated with great care.  According to the forecast we won't get above freezing in the near future so melt is yet to come.  (There are glaciers in all my gutters, nothing I want to melt quickly anyway else water can back up under the shingles).

At one point 55,000 Stark county residents were without power.  Today  27,000 are still in the dark.  Luckily neither Mom nor I lost power.  You can deal with a lot if you have heat and lots of hot coffee!

From my windows I used binoculars and saw lots of tree carnage within range.  I was able to identify some of the big crashes I heard that horrible night.  It doesn't appear that any whole trees came down, but some limbs that broke off are as big as trees!

Footing is treacherous what with the layers now on the ground: snow, ice, snow, so I didn't wander around to get more damage pics.  I did snap this of one of my broken rhododendrons.


ice victim - broken rhody

Only one other rhody suffered damage - outside my bedroom window, losing a branch.  This rhody, however, had shaded my sitting area in the 'morning' garden.  There won't be any shade there this year. :-(

The sun is shining brightly.  Now it's all about cleanup.  And here at the gardens that can wait until Spring.
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10 comments:

  1. Has this happened before or is this year's weather a little extreme?

    Good to know that the sun is shining brightly. Spring is on its way.

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  2. Oh, poor old Aunt Rhody :(

    Stay in! Now's the time to bake! Try new recipes! Make soup!

    The sun's out this morning but it was about ten below zero when we got up this morning. We've all dug ourselves out, more or less. They say no melt in sight for us, either. Praise God, we only got the snow blizzard, no ice.

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  3. Be glad that is the worst Kris.

    Our Shade changed a lot after that 07 storm. I lost my favorite River Birch in the Hummingbird Bed. I should get another. I did love that tree and it shaded the patio in early morning.

    How wonderful that you neither lost power. That really complicates things.

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  4. You really did suffer from the storm. We did not lose power, but I was fully expecting it. Feet of snow and no real damage here. I feel for your 55,000 residents.

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  5. It's so weird seeing what's happening in your garden while it's way above seasonal temperatures here. We're back to normal today, below again on Friday, and back above by Saturday afternoon. I don't think she can decide what she wants to do this year. Sit tight and have a cup of coffee.

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  6. Yikes...so sorry for your Rhodies :-( Just keep drinking coffee...eventually it'll be spring...right?

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  7. Oy, what a storm! You deserve an all expenses paid tropical vacation! Stay safe!!

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  8. I went to the post office today and saw many sad sights along the way. Branches down, crushed shrubs, torn gutters and damaged roofs. Some of the shops I planned to stop at were closed due to "No Power". At least the sun shone brightly all day, though stubborn ice still glittered evilly on the trees.

    Thanks all for visiting. Your comments have much lightened my mood... :-D

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  9. Coffee, coffee, coffee...:) Glad you still have power and can be comfortable and get your dose of vitamin D from the sunshine.

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  10. This winter has been harsh everywhere. Here in GA it has snowed several times, which is unusual. Hope everyone got their power back. I feel for them.

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