Running on Ice

The news of the week - the weather. Things started Monday afternoon with freezing rain and sleet. The fun continued Tuesday with more ice, changing over to snow.

School was canceled Tuesday, so Erica invited some friends over and they tried sledding / surfing on the ice. I had fun playing with the video recorder on Brian's iTouch and captured this:


They worked hard building a ramp out of cardboard.


But in the end, they just had fun.

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326/365 - The First Ice Storm of the Season

Yup, this morning, completely out of the blue.

Because it was 75 degF on Monday, I think we were caught off guard.

After all, I ran outside in shorts on Monday. Today, I'm bundled up in my winter coat with a hood and I was still cold.



Fortunately, the temperatures have warmed up since this morning and the sheeting of ice that covered the cars at work. But it's still cold and rainy out there, so please slow down on the roads when traveling tonight!

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20/365 - Freezing Rain

Brian and his school mates certainly didn't have Outdoor Recess today:


As a result of the freezing rain, all evening activities were canceled. So we're watching "Monster Quest" on TV right now. I don't have a say in tonight's programming, as I would have picked "American Idol". Oh well, I've been working on the computer anyways.

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Mosaic Monday - Ice Crystals

My first Mosaic Monday entry. Who knows, it could be my last [probably not, but it may be several more weeks until I get the chance to shoot another collection].

Yesterday morning, at -13degF, it was SO cold that all the moisture had been sucked out of the frigid air and crystallized itself on every exposed element outside. Of course, such cold temperatures are a result of high pressure air systems, which means abundant sunshine and - beautiful, shimmering trees, flower stalks, even mailboxes.

So I ventured outside to take pictures of all the sparkling beauty around me. When the winds kicked up, many of the ice crystals were swept in the air, causing the air to glimmer. It made being outside bearable.

For the mosaic, I modified a storyboard template from Rita at CoffeShop Photography. Rita's free tutorials, storyboards and actions are top notch. I've learned so much from her and you should check her website out.



For more Mosaic Monday, please visit Mary at Little Red House.

And stay warm - a "heat wave" up to 30degF is coming!

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365/365 - Sudden Chill

Woke up this morning to single digit temperatures! But, as a result of the sudden cold temperatures, a beautiful, glistening frost covered everything left outside. Driving to work was like driving through a crystalline world.

I tried to capture some of that on the road - can you see the mist rising from the water in the retention ditches?


I should have stopped by the large pond off my normal exit to work. But I took another exit today due to road conditions. Next time, I will stop!

Wow, and today marks the 365th day of my daily photos. I don't think I'll stop just yet - I need to finish out the year at least!

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350/365 - Sheet of Ice

One of Brian's favorite things to do in the winter when there's no snow around. Play with the next best thing - the ice! And since pond ice is readily available, it gets chosen quite frequently.

First, break up the thick ice in the pond with a hammer. The attempt to move the sheet of ice from the pond.



Sometimes the ice is almost as big as Brian!


But he always manages to break the big pieces into little ones on the patio.
Just another day of icy fun!

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12 on December 12

As I am writing this on Monday, I am posting a little behind schedule, but better late than never (and since I took the pictures on the 12th, I will be pre-dating the post time - just a little trick in Blogger - your post will never seem "late" then!).

OK - back to Saturday, December 12th......

Saturday what a day what a silly little day
Time to kill take a pill as I sit and contemplate
How I'd like to be around all the people in the town with their fancy cars and things
But I've got time

Saturdays by Holly Brook

I wish I could sit and contemplate all Saturday long, but instead I start the day off with a picture of the morning sun streaming through the Living Room, aka Piano Room, aka Christmas Tree Room:


It's a beautiful, yet chilly (24DegF) start to our Saturday. So I go out and run seven miles, with the last mile running against that northerly wind. Brrrr! But, at least it was sunny!

[note - I took the picture after the run. I then thought about collapsing on the couch].

Still no time to collapse or contemplate - Scott was hard at work, filling the pond with buckets of water:

And here's the reason why - with temperatures in the single digits on Thursday, and a non working pond de-icer, the pond froze over, reducing the amount of water available to recirculate through our pond pump. This starves the pump and causes it to cavitate. Yes, any plumber, mechanical or chemical engineer will tell you that is a bad thing for a pump. I purchased a new de-icer yesterday (that shiny blue circular thing), but the water level was still too low. Last night I transferred about 20 buckets full of water to the pond in order to stop the cavitation. Scott was adding more water for good measure.

Water flowing at the waterfall - a good sign.


See, frozen solid in the middle of the pond.


Enough of the cold! Did you know today is National Hot Cocoa day? We decided to celebrate with a nice warm cup.


While a droopy Hannah cuddled up on her favorite warm spot - on the couch blankets. I swear, all she does is sleep! [oh, and let us know she's hungry]


Then I spent the next two hours trying to figure out how to add a darn tweet / retweet button on my Behind the Lens Blog posts. Seriously frustrating! But I finally got it figured out (caution to those who have customized Blogger templates - sometimes you have to try and decipher the html code).


Clouds and darkness reigned over the afternoon and the rains started, just in time for us to get ready for the annual company holiday party. Of course, I brought my camera.

Because, as a passenger of a car, you can take pictures of the street while waiting at the red light:


And during the party, you can take a picture of the table's center piece:


Finally, you get to capture the band, "The Duelin' Hillbillies".


Any band that has a violinist is OK in my book.

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346/365 - Encased in Ice

Wow, it's a cold one here today - it was only 9 degF this morning, with a wild chill of -10. I placed the pond de-icer out yesterday, but it doesn't appear to be working, as the ice is forming quickly, especially at the pond's waterfall.

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