Wintery Mix

Yesterday we experienced our first ‘wintery mix’ of the season – although it was more freezing rain than anything else. I took photographs through windows of the house; it was too cold and hazardous footing to venture out. It was a good day to stay at home. Our gutters started filling up with ice (but the downspouts stayed clear)

And the skylight on the covered part of our deck was covered with a layer of ice and fringed with small icicles.

Ice coated vegetation too. A small limb on one of our trees broke as I watched. There might be others that have split that will require trimming next spring. The pine branches are leaning – looking like giant bottle brushes – but will straighten as the ice melts.

The evergreen bushes caught water on their leaves that froze as it dripped off – a mini-cascade.

The azalea bush outside our front door is my favorite with its reddish leaves turned to cups for ice – overflowing.

Later in the day, the temperature climbed above freezing and much of the ice melted enough to fall from the trees. This was not an event that lingered!