Amazing Ice Pics & Rookie News

As for the amazing ice pictures… I didn’t take them. They were sent to me by a colleague, Dana O’Quin, who lives in Harrison, Arkansas, just east of Fayetteville. The Arkansas ice shots I posted earlier were from CNN. I was actually going to mention Dana earlier, ’cause I know she’s been without power, but I hadn’t talked to her. So I decided to call and check on her first.

And guess what? She sent some pictures of her own for me to share. Who needs CNN when you have cool connections like that?

Look closely. There’s a branch frozen in there.

Power lines can only take so much weight before they snap…

…and this happens.

Just look how thick that ice is!

Tree limbs were snapping all across the state. So if the ice itself didn’t bring the wires down, trees or fallen limbs did the trick.

That is a lot of ice. A whole lot of ice.

It looks as if a tornado just went through, doesn’t it?

That’s a broken utility pole. In case you can’t tell by looking yourself.

This is my favorite picture. It is Dana’s son, Marrick, sitting on a huge evergreen tree. Now, when I first saw it, I told Dana it looked creepy. I said it looks Photoshopped ’cause the last thing you’d expect to see is a full-grown boy sitting ON an evergreen.

She replied with, “Marrick isn’t creepy.” I had to clarify with “Marrick is cute, but the picture looks creepy!” So she sent me two more pics to prove it was not a doctored shot.


Marrick really is pretty cute, isn’t he?

He sort of looks like Joe Flacco, doesn’t he? They both have the same color hair anyway. Speaking of Joe Flacco (yes, that was a stretch for a segue), the Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback was named rookie of the year! All of your votes counted. Thanks for stepping up to help.

Nazi Zombies Ahead… RUN!

Hubby and I aren’t big TV watchers. Which is good, ’cause we still don’t have our TV, but that’s another story.

Both of us are computer nerds, so we tend to get most of our news online. Every now and then, I come across a gem of a news bit like this one, about vandals “hacking” one of those road signs with flashing messages that, according to the video report embedded below, “…traditionally warn drivers of construction ahead, not zombies.”

In no way do I condone vandalism of any sort, but just how many folks do you think got a chuckle out of that one?

It Could Be Worse

Know why I am not complaining about the ice? Because we could have it so much worse!


These images are from Arkansas.


Now, this is some serious ice.


My birds have it easy compared to this.


Yesterday, my dogs were enjoying the ice and snow. Today, not so much. It did eventually warm up yesterday. Then it rained. The snow got saturated. The temperature dropped. What was once ice-crusted snow became solid ice. Belle, who is lighter and more fleet-of-foot, is coping better than Meg. Poor Meg has to tip-toe and is still sliding everywhere.

I risked broken limbs and a sore derriere to fill the birdbath. I might get some images later. For now, it is far too slick outside for me to be moseying around with my breakable camera. One good fall would do it–and me!–in. So I’m not going to press my luck.

Living in an ICY World

A very large swath of America has been covered in ice. Here in Maryland, things aren’t so bad. I’m not complaining, but I do have to share some images from today with you.

To be different, I decided to give each picture a title instead of rattling off a bunch of text.

Brrr Rabbit

If You Can’t Eat Them, Join Them

Slippery Stuff

Frozen Honeysuckle Vine

More Frozen Honeysuckle Vine

Interesting Lines in Honeysuckle Vine

Icy Pine

Pine in Ice

Finally, the Son is Out

The Son is Still Out

The Son is Gone

I hope you enjoyed today’s ice-related pics!

NEWS FLASH: This may be the first year we don’t buy any Girl Scout Cookies. They’re going to start putting fewer cookies in each box to save money. Soon, we’ll just be buying empty boxes. Full story is here. Empty boxes would certainly be healthier for us all.

My Talented Hubby

There are actually a couple of things to blog about today. The ice storm and my talented Hubby. But since most of America seems to have been subjected to the ice, and not everyone is lucky enough to have a talented Hubby like me, I’ll be different and talk about Hubby. More on the ice later…

Look what Hubby made me!

It’s my own personal set of goal posts. What with Super Bowl approaching and us having no TV in our family room since it went and DIED, well, I need something to do. So, he thought if he made me a set of goal posts, I could fold up some paper footballs like we did in elementary school and he and I could make a day of playing paper football instead of watching it on TV.

Doesn’t that sound like fun?

Maybe we can invite friends and family over, too. Make some mint margaritas, which Shannon introduced me to, and maybe some Mexican Pizzas…

Interested? No?

Okay, they’re not really goal posts. It’s a set of portable studs. You see, Hubby knew I needed some studs to fill a certain hole in my life…

… the hole where the TV used to be. Hubby made this niche and cabinet surround to hold a TV. He did it years ago before flat panels became so popular. It’s deep. Way too deep for a flat panel TV to be mounted on the back wall. So he whipped up some studs to mount it on.

The “goal posts” are mounted on an oak base, which is raised off the floor. You could see it better if the danged dog bed wasn’t in the way. The space underneath is where the receiver, DVD player and cable box will go.

The TV is supposed to come today, if the deliverymen can survive the ice.

Speaking of ice… I need to get outside so we can play on the ice before it melts. More on the TV and the ice storm later. For now, I’ll just leave you with the image of me trapped at home with two playful dogs and the studs Hubby provided to facilitate my entertainment.

It Snowed!

The day is only half-over, so this may not be the picture of the day, but it’s going to be hard to beat.