welome from the ice house!

this, my friends, is green grass (needing a good rake job)
and each blade encased in ice. Sux, huh...we suffered a
freeze last april, that left everything nearly dead looking
all summer! Even the out of control rose bush yielded
just one, dead bloom.

welcome to the ice house!

last night was sooooooooooooooo scary!

It started to rain here, but it really never rained...moisture was pelting out of the sky, and just landing, wrapping, and freezing everything it touched, laying down about an inch of ice on EVERYTHING.

we listened as the road crews went out, chains on the back tires, and still ending up in the ditch....they called them all back in to put chains on the front, too. Here in Missouri, we really aren't prepared for stuff, especially stuff that moves in in less than an hour.


we listened as a woman called from her car...she wasn't sure where she was, but the nose of her car was pointing up, and she could see the airport light...green and coming by every 30 seconds or so. (she must have been a keeper, cuz at one point, she offered to put her headlights on bright, to help the search along!)
just driving along one second, and the next second...you're looking up at your headlights in the sky, and trying to remember the last roadmarker you saw!
Because it hit early evening, there were still alot of drivers out...but most of us knew that we need to grab some feed, and hi-tail it to the house!

molly has now been home for FIVE DAYS...starting with the onset of the ear/sinus infection (round 2) then the MLK holiday, and conveniently now tuesday! she's like me, though...you could lock us up here, forever, and we wouldn't run out of things to do...as long as there is power, anyway. This is some of the artwork she displayed for us, after she got bored and went hunting up some fun:




Yes that is permanent marker!!

If you look really close, you can see not ONE but TWO BIG OLE TEETH,
coming into the spot the ONE tooth she lost left! Can you say...
ORTHODONTIST??? $$$ ????


That was what kept me up all night...so worried about losing power....so much so that the sarge is checking into a propane generator...one we can hook up to the house. We have a smaller portable unit...and wouldn't have frozen, but it would have been a hassle to hook up.

I finally got up at 4am, and stumbled out to the livingroom...did a quick check of the tv to verify all the schools would be closed...padded back in to turn off all alarms...draw the blinds...gather a down pillow and blankey, and close the bedroom doors so that everyone could sleep in.

I climbed into THE most comfortable couch in the world, and was enjoying a deep...deep...sleep (my first of the night) when... BANG BANG BANG on the door...and "WOOF WOOF WOOOO-lemme-eat-the-visitor-OOOOOFS" german shepherd alarms going off loudly and fiercely...waking not only my house, but any house in a five mile radius!!it's the neigbor boys from a few acres away...they want to know if we missed the bus, too.

EEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

I don't think their mom will miss them for awhile, as she's the one who sent them to the bus....and the dogs are now happy and full.


The sun is out now, and last night is sure to quickly become a forgotten nightmare... and for posterity...the only real weather we've gotten this winter is some tornadoes (from our warm air) a light dusting of snow on the trampoline...and now...the INSTANT ICING! knock on wood....maybe this is the last of it!



here's wishing for a quick thaw and dry, as we're in for more cold tonight...and a HURRIED SPRING! (hope yall are staying safe and warm)

this is what it looked like, on the back deck...not really wet at all...just ice!




and a little closer...these almost were drops! stopped short and frozen:



and lastly? the little blue/orange bird...usually a sign of spring when they start
gathering to nest...this one though? He's just confused! Behind him is the bulk of the sunshine we had til noon...all haze...the black fog that will MESS YOU UP!