And then there was ice....

After the 18 inches of snow in our freakish storm earlier this month, we got hit with the crunchy ice topping. 

Arby in the snow, with the lights from the cell tower waaaaay in the distance behind him.

The wind blew pretty hard, so that the north side of everything was really coated thickly.

Tree branches were really weighted down.

It was thick enough that Aleaha could walk on top of it without falling through.

Icicles at a slant - gives you an idea of the wind.

Not only were the icicles long at times, but strangely shaped too. Check out the one on the right - it's Y-shaped. How does that happen?

Brrrr - just a reminder of how cold it was. 

Trees like the ones in Dr.Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Ice thickly coating everything. Had to work on the fences a few times to make sure animals stayed where they are supposed to. Not that they really wanted to leave (although Curious George Arby got onto the wrong side at one point).

Smokey wanted to go play with the girls.

So he braved it to join them in an ice-romp.

The ice had formed along the branch, then separated off into branches of its own.

We did lose a big oak limb, but fortunately it didn't land upon anything to cause damage.

Daddy ventured out after several days to begin helping along the clearing process. It was cold still, but the thaw was on its way and we needed a clear road for safe access.

The tractor is not a dozer, but it sure helped!

Fog was dense and snow was very wet and heavy.

It took about 4 hours of work...

And Daddy had us in better shape.