Hi everyone,
Well, it’s getting kind of exciting tallying up your votes in the comments and emails for the Favorite doll dress of 2024. I decided yesterday I would re-post the same post 2 days in a row so some who didn’t get a chance to vote, still could. If you haven’t voted yet, please click HERE so the voting will all be on the same page. You can comment on that post or send me an email by clicking the “contact me” tab at the top.
But for today I thought I’d show you a few pictures of what my yard looks like after the ice and snowstorm left its mark. It’s pretty much frozen in time… it looks exactly like it did yesterday and probably will look the same tomorrow. Everything is frozen solid and encased in ice. If you look at the branches on some of my pictures, it is about a quarter inch of ice all around each twig.
If you click on my pictures they will enlarge.
As the sleet was coming down and getting thicker on the tree limbs, we could hear them crashing to the ground, but it was dark so we had no idea what it was going to look like when we woke up Monday morning. We had some big limbs break off and one of my favorite trees, the Heritage River Birch, which was in the back yard, by the shed, lost the top and 2 big branches. One of them made a direct hit on my terra cotta fountain. We still can’t tell if it’s shattered, or just knocked over. It’s too frozen to tell.
We lost one side of a Bradford Pear tree… we had them all in a row, kind of as a screen against our neighbor’s house… the section that fell down was blocking that neighbor’s driveway that we share. The big branch fell right into our prettiest Thuga tree and kind of split it, but we are hoping it might straighten up. Two neighbors came, one with a chain saw and one with a tractor, to help move that big branch and the other one you can still see.
We lost a branch from the tree I like to take my doll pictures by. It has that gnarly bark, and I love how my dolls look against it. The branch fell in front of the gazebo.
Then out along the road, we have some huge pine trees and they dropped LOTS of branches and the hedge along the road is covered in ice and bending over. It was hanging out in the road, so my hubby pushed the branches back on the grass.
All of our big Thuga trees around our house are either split and the bottom half is laying on the ground or they are bent over like a jester’s shoe with a bell on it. I sure hope they don’t snap off. They are so frozen stiff, my hubby can’t straighten them up.
But, all in all, we are thankful nothing fell on our house. It’s just clean up in the yard… and cutting down the Birch tree. It’s a goner!
I’ll share the winner tomorrow of which doll dress won “Doll Dress of the Year!”
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Bad Ice!! It was really bad, wasn’t it? We just had lots of snow—about 9-10 inches.as everyone says, it was really hard to pick the ones I liked best.
Wow! I’m sorry to hear you lost so much or sustained so much damage to your established trees. A few years ago, heavy snow broke part of my big lilac, and it’s finally getting filled in again, but it takes time.
Those icy branches remind me of an ice storm from 51 years ago! It was January 1974, probably around the 8th or 9th or so, and Ron and I had been dating for a few weeks. He wanted me to meet this elderly couple, dear friends of his for many years, who lived down near Portland (we are north of Seattle) so Friday after he got off work, we drove down there to spend the weekend. I think it was probably 10:30 or 11 p.m. before we got there; we had some tea and cookies, and then everyone headed to bed.
Let me interject, this couple was a lovely Christian couple, with a very high sense of propriety, and so they put me in the guest room UP stairs, and him in the library downstairs. Protecting my honor, which I appreciated.
In the morning when we got up, we awoke to a coating of ice on EVERYTHING! Including Ron’s car, a convertible. The cloth top had probably 2″ of ice on it, while the metal body had about 3/4″! Mom Stebbins (we called them mom and dad) had to bring the hot tea kettle out to thaw the door enough for Ron to get in and start the car, and get it warmed up, because…..
This was a good day to shop for rings!!! 😂🥴
Yup, we went shopping for rings that day! After pulling big sheets of ice off the car, we carefully drove on the ice covered roads to the downtown area of Camas, WA, where we picked out my rings. Ron wouldn’t actually ask me to marry him until the ring was sized to fit me and ready to slip on my finger. Then, on the way back to Stebbins’s, we got stuck on the ice and needed a push to get going!!
They were the first people we told about our engagement. Five months later we were married! They are in all the family pictures, along with our parents; they’d never had children and Ron was the closest to a son they ever had, I think.
So, now you know!
What a sweet, fun, lovely memory. Thank you for sharing. : )
lovely memory, Charlotte
What a great “ice” story. Ice on the car and ice on your finger. 🙂
Aw, I love that story, Charlotte! Such a beautiful memory, thank you for sharing.
What a sweet memory, Charlotte. Thanks for sharing it.
What a lovely story Charlotte, thanks for sharing your precious memory
Dear Charlotte, what a lovely story. Thank you for sharing it. It certainly warms the heart on this very cold day.
Oh my, Jeanne, what a mess you have to clean up, and it is so cold to be out in that too! We did not have ice like that, but our ice seems to be underneath the 4 inches of snow we have. It is not fun trying to shovel, I will say that, and we won’t be getting out of the 20’s as far as temps go. It is 11 now! I just knew you would have more ice than us, since the farther south you went, it was sleeting more than snowing. Losing that big birch tree is going to hurt! Maybe you could plant a new one once the old one comes down.
What a lovely story, Charlotte! Ice and Romance ! Did you get married the following spring, since I remember you mentioned that lilacs were blooming and you carried lilacs at your wedding?
I can’t imagine running around in weather like that, but come to think of it, we did that too…….when we were young! Who thinks about the weather then anyway?
Sorry to hear about the losses the trees took in your snowstorm. Incredible pictures of so much ice on the tiny branches. Stay safe from the falling branches.
There are, however, worse weather conditions than snowstorms. The wind-blown fires in the Palisades and Pasadena, California, are about 35 miles north of where I live. This is so shocking in such a densely populated area. They are the worst by far in the 35 years I’ve lived here. I remember my parents loading up their car and being prepared to evacuate on some occasions in San Bernardino. Prayers for the families and the firefighters.
Thanks for sharing the lovely story of your engagement, Charlotte. Very romantic 💘!
I looked up what was 35 miles from me to see how far away the fires are from you. We’ve had fires that close to us without harm, however, I will be praying for families, first responders, and you. : )
Stay safe, Susette. The news we are seeing is horrible. People getting out of there cars with pets and running to flee the fires. Prayers for you, all those affected, and all the firefighters and paramedics.
Stay safe Susette! Prayers for all that need to evacuate. That is the scariest thought having to leave everything behind not knowing what you’ll come back to.
Oh, Wow, Susette, prayers going up for you and the others in this terrible area!
Dear Susette, I am sending prayers and good wishes your way.
My votes are for,
Sassy Scottie, Bee’s Knees, Springtime Sweetness.
All your work is beautiful Jeanne. Your are truly an inspiration and I love everyone’s comments and pictures they send in to share.
Doreen in Arkansas
That ice is amazing! Thank you for showing us. I’m sorry for all the damage. I’m grateful your home remained whole.
Thank you for giving us two days to vote. I read the blog every morning on my phone, but I prefer to comment on a computer and yesterday I never got back to my computer. I’ll head over to “yesterday” and cast my votes.
Ice is so heavy and horrible.
We have had many storms like this on the east coast.
The yard and trees will heal, I am just so glad that all of you are safe and your house is not damaged
I loved all of the dresses and choosing was very difficult
I know Jeanne’s place has a lot of downed trees and bushes, but the pictures are actually beautiful. The frozen subjects are amazing and the photos should be framed. I guess one could look at it as a heavy pruning job that was done for you in one night. Glad there was some help getting fallen limbs out of the driveway. I’m sure a lot of the bushes will come back and flourish once again. So happy to see that the gazebo was spared too. Now’s the time to pull out catalogues and pick out a new tree to plant in the birch’s place. Shortly, it will be time to plant something rigorous that can withstand the ice to some extent.
Yesterday, here, we were out cutting limbs too, on an old silver maple that needs to go unfortunately. We were able to cut limbs from the ground and a few other person managed to cut by safely standing on the roof. Got it all cut up and filled the big yard can for pick up today. This is a huge tree, so we will probably have to call in someone to get the big stuff way up there, but it is a start. Have to get it away from the house. Fire danger of course.
As Susette mentioned, southern California has had a huge wildfire that looks to have caused 30,000 people to evacuate. Time will tell how many absolutely lovely homes were lost. Hard to believe that in the middle of winter this could occur, but there has been lack of rainfall there and extremely dry conditions. So sad.
Oh no Joy… stay safe and prayers that fire is knocked down. I agree with Laura I’d rather have ice and snow then fire burning nearby. yikes
Yes, prayers for the devastating wildfires in CA. I’m so glad you are safe, Susette, and hope they come no closer to you. I’m looking out on our 4 or 5 inches of snow. The ice by-passed us. I’ll take that any day over danger of fires. We’ve had broken tree limbs as well as losing three trees in the past (huge maple, flowering plum, and redbud) , and other things from ice, but in comparison it is just fine. We lost both the flowering plum and redbud when our neighbor’s river birch crashed down on them and our fence from the heavy ice. Ice on trees is hard on them, but it is beautiful! I have many photos taken over the years of ice and icicles. The branches coated and dripping makes it look like a Winter Wonderland. No damage to our house any time either. Of course I lived here in Ohio during the Great Blizzard of 1978 as well as the huge snow of 1977.
So good you have neighbors to help clean things up, Jeanne.
Oh nooo! Your poor trees, I’m so sorry Jeanne. But happy to hear your house didn’t sustain any damage. Fingers crossed your fountain is ok.
Charlotte your story is so sweet ty for sharing! I’m so sorry to hear you were sick during Christmas. I hope you are completely over it. I too was ill and it was awful! Our son and his family were here for the holidays. On Christmas day I was so sick that I went to bed right after the grands opened their gifts. I slept for 15 hours. Yesterday my youngest grand and hubby came down with it… I feel sooo bad : (
I hope everyone is staying warm and safe
Hugs
Ingrid
My goodness Jeanne, you were hard hit. We’ve had ice like that here in the past and have lost many tree limbs. So glad none of them hit your house but sorry about your fountain. Hope the damage is minimal. It has been cold here the past few days with highs never getting out of the 40s and light freezes at night. But the worst is supposed to come in tomorrow with possibility of a winter mix, which usually means mainly ice. I plan on going to the store today because I’m not sure I can do it tomorrow, especially if the roads are icy. We’ve had my favorite weather the past couple days, cold but sunny. Today it is cold and gloomy. Not looking forward to tomorrow.
Loved the chance to vote but it is definitely a difficult task. I love them all. But I will say that one of the auctions I won is doing nicely in the voting. When the votes are in I will say which it is.
Jeanne that is some strong ice! I am so sorry for the loss of so many branches and hope that your fountain is ok.
I remember ice storms when I was in college in Atlanta. I had a 1961 Beetle and the carburetor was going crazy, it got stuck on FAST and I had to take it to the dealer after an ice storm. The roads were icy and I had to keep stopping to slow down the carburetor. It would keep going up to FAST. It is amazing that I didn’t crash on the way, but made it there. I did love to look at the icy trees then, just not that day!
I remember winters like that in UK and some places further south from her, especially inland can still get frost and ice like that but here on the coast it never gets that cold especially these days. We had very little frost this year, I think -5C is the lowest for a good many years.
I don’t vote since I am not in USA but if I did Bees Knees would be my top choice. I just loved that outfit.
I think the rain might have gone temporarily, might get the washing dry. I don’t have a dryer, sunshine is free. It is a pain in the winter though. When I was on my own (and when I was with my dad) if I really needed to, I put the clothes on a rack and set it in the sunroom but that is now Sam’s bedroom! The deck is covered though so we can usually dry most things there if we need to. It just takes a while in winter.
I am going with Darren to the travel agent this afternoon to work out when I will be able to travel. I don’t think I will be able to visit my brother in Texas it depends on whether Darren can get insurance for me through his work. He’ll probably try because his MIL will need it as well as she is going to New York with my DIL. I think they thought the insurance went up dramatically at 80 (which wouldn’t have worked for me as I am 80 in May, before I intend to travel. MIL is a year younger than me, however I checked on how much at 79 and it was the same.)
I had better get on and start my day
Stay warm everyone
You can still vote Anne! IN fact, please do! You’re just as much a part of us as anyone!
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, please travel gently as you move around outside in the snow and on the icy paths. I am so sorry that you lost tree branches. I am looking forward to seeing your yard in the Spring when all will be in bloom and the dolly models will once again pose outside.
Hi Dorothy,
Yes, I’ll have to show some pictures in MAY! Won’t that be perfect?
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, yes! That is something to anticipate with great joy. I am already smiling!
Oh Jeanne…I had goosebumps on my arms from shivering just looking at your photos of the ice and snow! I remember that kind of ice and the broken tree branches well. Northern Indiana is where I hail from and made the decision to move to the middle of Texas in 2019 to live closer to two of my daughters AND also because I grew to hate the icy cold weather and cleaning two feet of snow off of the car and navigating plowed streets, as I was retired by then. My oldest daughter still lives in northern Indiana with her husband and their daughter who is away at college in Ft. Wayne, IN. They do fly down once or twice a year for a visit which is an event to look forward to, plus we stay in touch with cellphones, texts, and emails! This is the first week that the Austin, Texas and surrounding areas have experienced cold temps…..just two weeks ago I sat outside on my porch in the sunshine wearing sandals! It will probably be cold here in Texas now for the next two+ months, but without the mounds of northern snow.