Ice Storm 2011 – Day 2

Day 2 of the worst ice storm in decades – or so they say.  The freezing rain continued to come down until late evening yesterday, with the wind blowing like crazy.  Another inch of snow was supposed to fall overnight, but when I got up this morning nothing had fallen.  The top crust of ice was still solid.  The dog walked all around the yard without making a paw print.  She even slipped trying to jump up onto one of the benches built into our deck.  It was so slick that her claws provided no traction.

Despite all of the icy rain, the tree branches and bushes were not coated like I expected them to be.  I was expecting to wake up this morning to a fantastic winter wonderland that I could spend the day photographing.  That was not the case.  In fact, I slipped down the front steps and totally flat on my side trying to clear the ice for the mail lady.  Luckily I was not hurt (just my pride – who knows who was watching me out their front windows!), but after that I figured my camera and I should stay safely on dry ground. 

The back yard was a little safe, and I did manage to get another picture of my neighbor’s butterfly bush.  I don’t know its scientific name (I am terrible with plants, trees, flowers, etc. – both with identification and growing) but I know that it specifically attracts butterflies.  And it did attract some beautiful specimens this summer.  Here is the bush yesterday: 

I feel like you can see the ice more prominently in yesterday’s photo.

 

And here is the bush today (below).  It doesn’t look like there is much more ice, but it obviously is weighed down quite a bit more.  Surprisingly we did not lose power, although the winds did wake me up a couple of times during the night.  During the late summer we cleared out a bunch of overgrown bushes and half-dead trees that were handing right over the house.  All of that hard, sweaty work was definitely worth it.  Who knows what would have happened otherwise.

Today was not quite as productive from a working standpoint, but definitely from a personal standpoint.  I started out the morning making blueberry-vanilla scones.  I finally hand-washed all of my sweaters.  There were six of them, all Ann Taylor LOFT.  I have hand washing sweaters even more than ironing.  However, it will seem like I have a whole new wardrobe once they dry.

Unfortunately, I think the dangerous weather has passed and I will have to return to work tomorrow.  I have been reading Facebook posts all day where people have been complaining about going stir crazy or looking forward to returning to work or school.  Not me.  I could work from home every day.  Don’t get me wrong.  I would prefer to be able to leave my house without wiping out, but I could definitely spend the majority of my days at home.  Without the stress of the office, I have all but written three more posts.  My creativity was flowing seemingly without effort.  Work stifles me.

Since it is officially a “school night”, I suppose it’s time to wrap this up and think about easing towards the bedtime routine.  Surely I can survive just two more days of work…