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The HolidaysThe holidays are here, Wow, whaere has time gone. It has been a challenging year in many ways, I am glad to see it draw to a close.
I have a 5 day stretch off over Christmas,It just has worked out that way since my schedule seems to have fallen with these days off. Saturday morning when I got home we headed out again to do some last minute holiday shopping,I had wanted to take a nap first,but we were expecting another snow storm,and my MIL didn't want to have to drive in it. As it turned out we ended up staying in town till after the snow started,and drove home with heavy wet snow falling over the world. Staying up 24 hrs is not for the faint of heart,and I have decided I am not as able to handle this as well as I did 20 yrs ago,LOL It took me all day Sunday to recouperate.LOL
For us the Holiday celebration is over now, we had our dinner with Hubbies family yesterday afternoon. There were an aweful lot of gifts under the tree for the two wee babies in the family.A ,being 7 months old actually started to get into the unwrapping of the gifts. She was overwhelmed with all the toys. LOL
H,at 2 months old didn't have a clue,
Now I am trying to recover from the sugar rush from all the goodies we had/havve in this house. There was banana pudding, pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie, sugar cookies and fudge.I woke up with a sugar headache.LOL
Hope your Holidays are full of family fun and cheer. From our house we wish you a merry Christmas, or whateverHoliday you celebrate in your home. Ice Storms Bring Their Destruction To The GardenHere in the midwest we enjoy a mix of winter weather. Being too far South to have consistant freezing all winter means the ice forms on the lakes and rivers and melts again, making it unsafe most winters to fish on the ice as our Nothern neighbors do. Inconsistant snow cover makes sno mobiles somewhat of a crapshoot to own, some years you never even get a chance to use them,. We don't tend to have the trails Northern states do. We see snowstorms as much as 12 inches, but can also have periods of dry weather and temps in winter can vary from subzero to the 60,s in a matter of days come February.
Another problem we see living here is that we tend to get freezing rain storms when just North they may be getting snow. This ice makes it treatcherous to walk out to the car,let alone drive. Living on the edge of another county our highway rarely gets cleared as well as the Interstate or even the Hwy leading out of town the other direction. If we can make it the one mile to the interstate we usually can make it to towtown.
This weekend Oklhoma was hit by a big ice storm, leaving many ppl without power for over a day.This storm headed into S. Iowa with a vengeance Monday evening., blanketing the garden in a 3/4 inch sheet of ice.When I awoke to go to work this morning the power was off. There were creaking and popping sounds outside. I walked out the back door to let out the dogs and what did I see? The destruction of trees and shrubs that have been growing for some 14 yrs. The honey Locust lost a upper limb while I was standing out there taking photos of the ice.The maple trees branches are curving downward,The pine tree that I had just remarked at how beautiful it was becoming as it was maturing is folded down in on itself ,Shrubs are leaning towards the ground from their cnter,and the power line to the garage was within 3 ft. of the ground.
Not since 1993 just after having planted most of my trees have we had ice this thick. That year the maple out by the back patio lost it's leader to an ice storm,and it's growth pattern has reflected that storm so early in it's developement with downward curving branches and a wider than tall shape. I do not know how the trees will respond to this ice storm, their branches are not as pliable today as they were as young saplings. There will no dought be some changes to the garden this spring as a result of this ice.
We were lucky to get our power back on by 4p.m. ,and I made it to work safely after thawing the SUV out for nearly 1/2 hr before chipping away the ice from it's windows. I went in at Noon today and worked until Midnigt. They were short handed and aske me to change my scheduled time just for today, Tomorrow I will g in at 6 p.m. as originally shceduled. My first evening went fairly well, I felt like I was following a workflow that allowed me to keep up with the demands. There were 2 other coordinators there all night, and they helped by basicaly letting me take what I could handle.
On the way back home I stopped at the bride to capture some of the icy scene there in long exposure. Not crazy about my vantage point, but all in all it didn't look too bad, after some work in PS I may be able to post it. When the road is not so icy I will try and get a better angle. Iw ill add the macros I took in the garden today to the album so you can get an idea of how thick the ice is that is coveriong everything in sight.
A New Shcedule....Some Time For MeI am finally being moved to my new schedule. As it works out this change gives me a 3 day weekend. I hope I can catch up on needed rest, Get out to do some inspirational landscape shots and maybe some long exposure christmas light shots, and maybe kick the sinus crap that has me under it's grasp this week.
Next Tuesday I will be working nights, I will go to work at 6 p.m. and work until 6 a.m.It has been many years since I worked a schedule like this, but I remember I liked the freedom of having so many days off to yourself. I will work 4 days on and 4 off in a rotating fashion. Holidays will be a crap shoot.I f they happen to fall on my days off ,I get them off, if not, well then I work and get payed extra holiday pay.
It is going to take an adjustment I am sure. For one, when do you plan meals around a schedule like this. The cafe is not open at night, so I will have to bring a dinner wit me, and most likely eat a meal right befre going in to work. I am sure once adjusted though, the time off will give me lots of time to pursue photography, gardening, and life in general. The way I look at it, I was at work most of the day 5 days a week with only 2 days off before, I may as well stay another 2 hours and gain more days off.
The weather is quite cold and blustery this weekend. We are expecting a rain snow mix today and more snow tomorrow.Not too welcoming for someone who has been wanting to get out to do some long exposure photography. But I may head out to get some holiday light photos around town anyway. We have a fresh blanket of snow on the ground to add to the Holiday spirit.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, what ever your weather may be in the far corners of the world all of you may live in. OMG, What HAppened To The Garden??Update :
Due to a dear friends advise I swapped the color of the links and titles with the color of the text. Don't need her having seizures on me,LOl
(You know who you are, this one's for you.)
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With the coming of our first big ice storm that has kept me in the house this Saturday, I have decided to trya more festive decor here in the garden. What do you think of the colors? I diddled around a long time to find this unique combo.LOL Happy Holidays Everyone. It ia official Now that December has arrived. |
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