Ice Baby Ice!

Our driveway ... even with the new gravel from last year was pure ice Saturday morning!

YakTraks were in order!

So for most of Saturday night and most of the Sunday we were encased in ice and fog with dense fog predicted through Monday forenoon.

I went to get Saturday's mail and was struck by how cool the forest looked.

The tree below is one I followed last year. It is a Hop Hornbeam tree that generally keeps some of its leaves through the winter. This year wicked winds stripped them.

The fog was thick and the road was iced.

It was a fine day to stay off the roads.

I did venture down into our creek bottom and enjoyed some bird watching through the dim light. I walked on the ice as it was easier than walking on the rocks.

Some think cold, damp, and foggy days are awful. I think of it as having Mother Nature is a soft light box.

It is dismal looking in a way. But sometimes one can find beautiful things. 

I am very lucky to be surrounded by an interesting landscape.

The temperatures warmed up quite a bit during the day and some of the ice melted down almost enough for me to be able to drive up the hill if I needed to.

That said, even though it was a pain to so many people. I liked our fog and ice.

Oh to love the creek

I like snow melts or winter thaws. It makes my little heart sing and my husband shake his head.
He often wonders if I am just crazy. No, I think he knows I am crazy.

I am nuts about our little creek. Any time we have a huge rain or a snow melt event I am scurrying to go watch it and take photos.

On the 15th we had our second day of extremely warm temperatures. I was sure that we'd had a 'run-off' on the 14th, but I had to wait for a phone call from the clinic. I was really quite put out that I could have been missing an adventure in Awesome Creek.

This photo is from March 2014. We'd had a lot of snow then.

February 15th this year...

I do love the sound the water makes as it makes its way through these boulders. The water is a coffee color with streaks of foam from the melting snow and ice. I believe the water color is from erosion from the cropland above and a mix of the clay and soils that line this 'dry' run.

I'd worn knee high waterproof boots for this.

After so many years of running down to the melt off, you'd think it would be boring or ho hum.
It isn't.
Each time it is different.

The path of the creek changes ever so slightly with each 'event'. Sometimes it changes drastically.

During such melt downs or heavy rains, I'd like to be everywhere at once along the creek. But that isn't possible.
This is the run off from the heavy rains we had on January 26th.

This is from the snow melt of February 14th and 15th.

boots...

Try as I might, I never do seem to get in the same exact place for these shots.
I gave up trying to be exact a long time ago.

But that is the charm of snow melts and heavy rains. I get to set up and practice some long exposure shots of the water.

Time was a factor also. I rush down to shoot the creek and explore as the daylight is beginning to fade.
I hurry instead of taking my time.

There are chores waiting for me at home. And a hungry husband.

I put the Olympus camera in my mini back pack and grabbed the tripod. I walked upstream to take the easier way out of the creek.
As I got above the water, I could hear a roaring coming from my neighbor's dry run.

I stepped through the barbed wire and walked over to where I could look. The water had started coming down here too. I couldn't help myself. I had to take a shot of the run off winding its way through the boulders and rocks.

I think I am going to find an old plastic chair to drag down to Awesome Creek and put it in a place so I can just sit and watch.

Morris doesn't come along with me any more. His eyesight is not very good any more and his hearing is pretty questionable.

I do miss his company and the looks that questioned my sanity....

Morris in 2014 giving me the look:

Weather alert.
Melting today.
Rain and ice event from tonight through Tuesday night.

I'm going to polish my cleats.

Weather a very strange year so far.

We've swung wildly from very cold to just freezing. From frigid to mild with rains.

Thankfully the animals seem to be taking this weather in stride. 
The mules and horses refused to go to the stock tank on Sunday until we put down barn lime and a combination of sand and hay chaff.

We've had an ice event each week. 

Who came up with the name Ice 'Event'? 
Once a week the temperatures have swung to just above or right about freezing and it has rained.

Getting anywhere safely on the country gravel roads has become an issue. Our township is running low on sand according to the patrolman Rich talked to our town only has one bin left of sand/gravel.

I hope that is enough to get us through to a real melt down!

Traveling back and forth to work has become rather unpleasant. This is a shot I took -- yes I stopped-- of 'good' weather and good roads!

There are no shots of course of the bad places, the scary twists and turns that come down off the ridge at an 8% grade into the valleys.
It is trips like these that make me dislike working period. The drive to and from work is stressful. 

This is one of the roads I take to and from town or work. This is a nice sight to see on a slick day. Fresh sand and gravel over ice.

And...this is where I park when it gets like this. I can walk up to the ridge from home and I don't have to worry about falling off the driveway into the woods and wrecking the car.

Our road is a dead end road. It doesn't rate getting more gravel/sand on it as there is only 3 homes on it.

My neighbor on the top of the hill has purchased 'chains' for his and his wife's vehicle. He found out the other day that even the 'chains' didn't help. 
This is a shot of the road from our mailbox area. This is good winter driving!

Yesterday morning I took a sled-full of hay chaff, sand, salt, and screenings up to the ridge and spread it behind the Subaru so that my neighbor could park behind me. Our driveways were still solid ice. It is surprising how this mix adds traction to an area!

In the afternoon, the temperatures rose yesterday and the sun came out. 

Rich used the skid steer to break up ice around the stock tanks and then proceeded to work on the driveway.

I was so happy that I quit doing all of my catch up work around the inside of the house and came outside to enjoy the sunlight and the mud/ice.

Mud and ice! Snow slush! 
I know it looks like a mess. But it is much better than glare ice.

It was only in the places that the sun shone, but it made us very happy.

And it made Val-Barbie happy too!

Dislike this Ice Winter, But...

I have yet to spread our dwindeling supply of sand/rock/salt mix on this trail that I use 3 times a day to feed, water, and take care of our hounds.

I've taken to tying my Yak Traks onto my boots with laces. I could wear my snow shoes with their giant teeth that will grip and dig into the ice, but the Yaks are slightly less cumbersome.

In 3 weeks we've had 3 ice storms. There is another one scheduled for Monday some time. Well, okay the weather is snow/sleet/rain mix.
Since I have our Subaru now parked on the ridge, it will stay there.

I've used hay chaff and dirt from the shed floor on some of our worst walking paths. I've even taken it by the sledfull to the large heated stock tank so the critters could get some grip on the ice.

Amazing how the equine are dealing with it. The mules lead the way and the horses follow carefully. No one has slipped.

Under the ice crusted snow is about 3 inches of ice. Our lane for the skid steer is almost totally useless.

It is so nearly iced up that even with ice picks, the skid steer nearly has an impossible time negotiating the path.
Going up this hill is impossible.

We've decided to use another route for moving round bales for the cattle. That worked okay, but is now fast becoming nearly impossible also.
The ... ahem old skid steer with double the ice piks may have done better, but at this point? I'm not sure.

The Dexter cattle also have adjusted quite well. They have trails that they use and mostly hang out near the feeder.

However, this ice and melt and rain and ice and more melt, then freezing has created some incredible beauty in the creek area.

I finally had a little time to get down and explore. I didn't go far as chores would beckon me back home within an hour.

Many parts of the creek were frozen over completely and in other sections where springs came up kept it flowing.

Water...
Ice...
With water flowing beneath it...

I could have wandered about all day.

And here is the Ice Wall. I would love to get over to the Ice Cave.

However, I can be happy just messing around not too far from home.

Fractal Art, Break Time

The recent events and feeling a bit under the weather have kept me from getting out with my camera and hiking.
I swear with all this ice and poor weather it is nearly noon before we are finished with chores.

Then it begins again.
So I thought I'd do some quick edits and play with Incendia, JWildfire, and Mandelbulb 3d.

This black and white abstract is a combo of Incendia and MD3D.

I'm not as proficient as some of the folks who do this every day and work with these programs all of the time. I usually dabble in the fractal programs when I can't get out or have no inspiration to do any photography.

Sometimes I just have the need for lots of wild color which this one shows. The JWildfire flame is layered over an Incendia fractal of 'horns'. Then layered with a flood edit of reflections I did in CS2.

I used Topaz Glow to bring out some of the wild colors. 
I love wild colors!

I just printed this one to hang on my 'Art' wall. I used two formations by MD3D and a flame program called Apophysis 16 to make the wild looking thing in 'front'. 
I just loved the hues and decided to see what it would look like printed.

It did not disappoint.
I wish I had a huge wall for a lot of my creative work. Alas, such a wee house!

All I know is that it has been a nice break from the horrid weather we have been having.
It seems this winter, it is all about ice. Ice. And more ice.
Yak Traks or snow shoes are the footwear of choice.

See?