Our Ice Storm 2/16/15 (Part 1 of a Weather Week to Remember)

The little cascade behind our home is totally frozen.

On Monday,  Feb. 16, 2015,  we thought we were going to get a very nice snow storm.. However,  that didn't happen... Even though our temperatures were below freezing all day long,  a warm wind aloft came from the south ---and what did we get instead of snow????  We had an ICE STORM.... Yipes!!!!!  The weather people called it everything from ice pellets to freezing rain to sleet.... Whatever it was,  we had almost an inch of ice all over our yard!  Everything glistened and turned white....It was WEIRD...  (Not sure I have ever seen this much ice at one time --at least not here.)

A close-up of the Frozen Cascade behind our home

George,  who doesn't like snow,  said that he'd much rather have a foot of snow than an inch of ice..... We were concerned that we would lose our electricity ---but luckily,  that didn't happen.   We did lose our satellite dish (DirecTV) due to the ice for awhile ---so George had to get the hairdryer out and blow the ice off of the dish....(That worked!!!!)

The Mealworm Feeder... The Bluebirds were able 'somehow' to get into the feeder to eat--but it wasn't easy!

We put our bird feeders out at 7 a.m. before the storm began... I was SO glad I had some food for those sweet little chilled birds... It's so sad to see them (any of the outdoor critters) during weather like this... The poor little birds were at the feeders most all day long... Poor Babies!

Lots of Ice on one of our Redbud Trees

Since we have a lot of trees around our yard,  we were concerned that some limbs would break... Luckily,  other than a few small limbs---we didn't have any damage.

Poor Rhododendron Bush;  Looks SO cold!

But--our wonderful Rhododendron near our deck is struggling and 'bending over'.... Hope the limbs don't totally break... I love that big bush. Many trees and bushes in our area have either broken or are damaged... SAD!

There were Icicles like this ALL around the house.

Close up of one of our icy branches

Our 'resident' Mockingbird stayed at the feeder for a long long time.  I guess --besides eating---he had a little protection under the dome.

SO--what did I do all day on Monday??? WELL---I took pictures and shared them with many friends on Facebook... I did other computer work --such as blogging.  Neither George nor I went outside other than on the deck to put up and then take down the bird feeders. George also worked on the satellite dish from the deck.  I did not go outside ---and decided not to go out at all... All I needed to do was to re-injure that bum knee (which is gradually healing). Yipes!   SO----I was a good girl and took all of my pictures from inside!!!!

That night, we also sat by a warm fire and ate a big bowl of home-made CHILI for dinner....  How's that for my first post from this crazy week,  dealing with this weather????   Guess it could have been MUCH worse though--so we are thankful.

The good news for us is that we truly were lucky---compared to many others in Tennessee (and other areas).  Tennessee was under a state of emergency with lots of trees down,  power lines down and power out for many,  etc....  SO,  even though we were lucky, to tell you the truth,  this was NOT FUN.

ALL of these pictures were taken on Sunday and Monday (Feb. 15 and 16, 2015)...The top two were taken on Sunday --before the storm, when I was outside.    WELL--this is only PART ONE of our "Weather Week to Remember".... I will share more pictures and posts upcoming...  We have had a week of Ice, Sleet,  Freezing Rain,  Snow (yes,  we finally got some snow on Wednesday),  a tiny bit of sunshine,  AND frigid temperatures all week....

AND--the forecasters are predicting another ICE STORM possibility on Friday/Saturday for US... That will be Storm Number Three just this week.  I hope they are WRONG about the ICE....

Hope you are all okay wherever you are.  As bad as this has been for Tennessee,  there are areas around our country/world that are having MUCH WORSE weather than we are having.  Prayers and thoughts for ALL.

Hugs,

Emoticons

SNOW in the SMOKIES 2/12/15

SNOW on the Mountains of the SMOKIES --2/12/15

Hope ALL of you had a great VALENTINE's WEEKEND...  My theme this month is to share the LOVE --so whatever you did and wherever you went,  I hope there was A LOT of LOVE shared!!!!

George and I shared our LOVE by taking a short trip to the SMOKIES for a couple of days... As you can imagine,  we took PLENTY of pictures to show you... SO--today I'll share with you just one small piece of our trip...

Our weather for these two days was cold and snowy ---but where we were,  there wasn't much snow (even though I LOVED seeing even a small amount)...  HOWEVER,  on the tops of the mountains,  they had LOTS of snow that day (2/12).  In fact, there was so much snow,  the main road across the mountain (Highway 441) was closed...  SO--we took our pictures from below.

Some of these pictures were taken near the Sugarland Visitor Center and some on the Gatlinburg Bypass.  We love taking pictures from the Gatlinburg Bypass since there are two special overlooks (looking toward Mt. LeConte and other mountain ranges).  We have taken pictures during all seasons and at all times of the day --but this was the first time we have taken pictures of SNOW on the MOUNTAINS.

Hope you enjoy the pictures... Please click on them for enlargements..

I love the close-ups of the SNOW on the MOUNTAINS.

The SUN was peeking through!!!!  I love seeing all of the PINE TREES covered with SNOW.

SUNSHINE was beginning to take over, and win the Battle with the SNOW-CLOUDS.

Another one I love --with the sun peeking through;

I love seeing the shadows and layers in this shot.

WELL---I could show you about 100 more---but you get the idea of how gorgeous it was as we stopped there in the late afternoon of 2/12/15.

Do you have a favorite from this group?????  I had a hard time just choosing this particular set since the entire area was so beautiful to try to capture... This was another one of those,  "in the right place at the right time"  moments. I guess my fav is the top one and the 4th from the bottom (for a close-up)....  YOU?

Have a great week.  We are in the midst of some nasty weather here in Tennessee... We thought we were going to get some snow (would have been exciting for me)---but with that possibility also comes something very dangerous (ICE,  SLEET,  FREEZING RAIN).... GADS---nobody needs that... My husband doesn't like snow--but says he would rather have A LOT of SNOW rather than an ICE STORM.  AND--there are many other friends having terrible weather also.  Prayers for our area and for all others who are experiencing this nasty stuff and who have to be out in it.

Hugs,

Emoticons