Snow Day: Thick Ice and Snow at Home [Winter Photos]
It was so great to have a true snow day.
This was actually the third day of the ice storm in our area, made up of freezing clusters of ice stacking up to form a blanket of crunchy snow.
Here in this set of images I am sharing various scenes from around the house and yard.
Front Yard
Front Corner
Below is the two shrubs I have been hedge pruning this year, attempting to build a more cloud shaped dome. With the snow cap on top, it's a bit more evident.
From the other side, I shot this photo the day before. It shows the damage it suffered a year ago when my dad had to cut away a portion to re-dig our pipes to the house. I think I have done a good job this year of carving away all the stump ends he left, but now there is plenty of bare space I cannot repair.
There are many twisted old branches visible however, which in a way makes the tree more compelling to examine than a standard topiary of perfect geometry (that never happens in nature). Perhaps one day the wood will merge and form a very interesting thick base for a valuable niwaki.
In the meantime, I have been training the nearest branches to begin to conceal this open side.
Neighbor's Yard
They have this wonderful old tree across from us that the birds enjoy roosting in. A lucky bird gets to use that nest on top to raise its chicks, to the envy of all the others.
Most people were unable to drive on this day. The streets were covered in a base layer of ice that was not melting. If your car door wasn't frozen shut, you were probably lucky to have a spot in the garage.
Cold weather doesn't stop these geese from flying where ever they want to be.
Textures of Ice
Over a quarter inch of solid ice encased the family van. With constant rainfall freezing on impact, this is what happens to the side windows.
Call me crazy, but I took some macro photos of the ice on the windows. Artists often need random-looking textures to generate realistic surfaces. I think these all show the natural ice colors, shadows/highlights, and textures really well.
Even the thinnest branches on the trees were covered in the same thick ice.
Backyard Wonderland
All the snow has been pushing hard on the back fence. It has been needing replacement supports for a few years already.
Everything else is peaceful and picturesque.
Icicle
Uh-oh! Did we leave the hose water running?
Nope. Not exactly. This tip of the hose was in contact with the rain. As the rain dripped down to the end, it formed this elongated ice sculpture.
That's about it for today. I have plenty more to share coming soon, showing other aspects of the recent snowy weather in my part of the world.
Photos in this post are all #originalworks by @creativetruth, unless stated otherwise.
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Your post is reblogged and upvoted by me. It is a good post. Thank you @creativetruth
Your posts are really interesting. Now I'm considering getting into Bonsai trees. I've been planning to get into gardening for some time now anyways.
I think you might live in the Pacific Northwest? The mansion post was Oregon so.
I live on the East Coast in Maryland just outside of Baltimore, and I want to visit the West so badly. In particular I want to see the California Redwoods and Sequoias, but I'd also love to be in the huge forests of Washington or Oregon.
Crater Lake is also near the top of my list.
I love being deep in the woods where the trees are oldest and largest there's something about it. But when I look at images of forests you can usually tell it's the PNW just by the look of the forests. I can't even say exactly what sets it apart really, and it's not something obvious like the Spanish Moss that covers the trees of the South East.
But to see trees that reach 300 feet, and large enough for a car to drive through seems amazing to me. Though I disapprove of cutting through them like that.
A favorite place for nature lovers to visit is also the Japanese Gardens and the Lan Su Chinese Garden, both in Portland. The architecture is blended into the landscape of both so it is very immersive.
I vaguely remember visiting the redwood forests and museum when I was very young. Lots of historical logging stuff. The feeling was not so much, "look how tall the trees are," but rather being surrounded by a wall of trees you can't see over the top. Ever been in a room with walls so high it feels like they go up forever?