Icebound

Just one of countless buds in our garden encased in ice!

It's just above freezing as I write this, near noon, so there is a steady drip from the trees and bushes, with occasional discharges of large clumps of snow. I speeded up that process with a broom about an hour ago, when I took this image.

Schools are closed today after yesterday's snowfall, which ranged from 6 to 12 inches (about 15 to 30 cm) in one day (we measured 9 inches on our deck table). We may get more snow today, but rain is forecast for tonight, which will make a nice change!

We've had episodic power (electricity) outages, and we were not alone, as there were more than 100 across the county. There was a longer one last night and early this morning, which meant we had no choice but cold cereal for breakfast. We were very grateful when the power was restored shortly after that, and enjoyed our hot coffee even more than usual!

(Check out Phil's blip to get a wider view of our neighborhood!)