MAGPIE'S MUMBLINGS

A blog about my interests, which include fabric landscapes and various and assorted other artsy pursuits and sometimes known to contain mumblings of a random nature.

Monday, March 31, 2025

Hunkered down

 We certainly had an interesting weekend which centered around a huge ice storm.  Our power went out at 7:30 Saturday morning and, due to the heroic efforts of our hydro crews, came back on around noon.  Thankfully it stayed on but keeps flickering on and off.  Other areas haven't been so lucky and they are still without power.  There are trees and lots of limbs down in the park just across from our building and more falling and by all reports there are lots more down around the area.  


This is the view from our balcony looking towards the river.  You might be able to see one downed tree on its side (to the right in the photo) and another root (middle of pic) with the tree in the river itself.  The next two pictures - a brave little woodpecker chipping away at the ice coating on the suet feeder....


.... and this is what greeted me when I opened the bedroom curtains.  Not a great picture but it was taken at a distance.  You might be able to make out the thick coating of ice on the tree.



Update  to add....been through 2 power outages.  Latest for just over 24 hours.   Had over an inch of ice on our balcony.  Trees and power lines down.  God bless our hydro and emergency services!  Will visit you all once we're sure our power stays on.

22 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:39 PM

    Wow! That is a heap load of ice!
    Glad y’all are safe and power is back on. Beautiful cardinal photo, a quilt worthy one.

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    1. Yep - lots of ice for sure! Sure caused havoc everywhere and cleanup is going to take probably weeks.
      I was really happy that the cardinal photo turned out!

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  2. An ice storm!! Unimaginable to me. =) No electricity for any amount of time in such conditions would be a very long time.....and freezing. Glad you and your RC are okay. Such a good photo of the red cardinal among all the wintry white bleakness.

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    1. Luckily we have lots of blankets to snuggle under, along with multiple layers of clothes. The can opener came in handy although cold beans and a piece of bread for supper wasn't exactly what we wanted.

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  3. This has been quite an ordeal. Yes, cold food in a cold apartment, not the first choice.

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    1. Sure made life interesting for awhile - scary listening to the trees falling in the park between us and the river. Had a nice hot supper tonight so feeling much better.

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  4. You have a lovely view! I hope you get some warm weather soon. It was 80 here today!

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    1. Our view has changed quite a bit with all the trees and limbs down, that's for sure. We're on the third floor so have a good view of the river if we're standing up. Our balcony has solid 'walls' so if we're sitting out there we can't see anything and our apartment windows aren't 'picture' windows so we have to make an effort to see the river. And yes, we'd love some warm weather!

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  5. sheesh - i whine when our power goes out for a couple of hours - no hot food or drinks for 24 hours in an ice storm sounds absolutely awful and i'm glad that you have each other.

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    1. Yes, we have each other and lots of blankets...and a can opener. Cold canned beans and a piece of bread aren't necessarily a well-balanced meal, but better than nothing!

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  6. There are so many trees gone this winter here too. Heart wrenching

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    1. Yes, it's awful to see the fallen trees and the degree of damage. As far as I know noone was hurt so that's a blessing.

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  7. WOW--that ice coated tree sows how thick it coated everything!! Gosh hope that's winter's last gasp for you folks!!
    We are having very cold NW winds and spitting rain here and many gray days...looking forward to warmer weather...
    hugs, Julierose

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    1. Yes, there was about an inch of ice on everything (if not more). It's no wonder it did so much damage. Very nice here today which is good for the crews trying to clean up as well as the people trying to get the power back on in some of the outlying areas.

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  8. Anonymous1:03 PM

    Sherryofcreateology: Oh Dear. Your photos really show the ice and damages from the storm. Glad you and RC are safe. Having the power out is scary. What a brave woodpecker who knows he needs to feed. Also the Red Cardinal in the ice tree is gorgeous. Be safe and stay warm dear.

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    1. The damage got a lot worse after I took those pictures, sadly. The RC went out and chipped the ice off the suet feeder so the little birds could get something to eat.

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  9. I was watching this storm after a friend posted pictures when the ice was starting to coat all the trees in his area. Such a feeling of helplessness, waiting for trees to drop limbs or come down. Take care, you two!

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    1. Yes, definitely a feeling of helplessness. Nothing you can do but wait it out. They're saying there's more on the way tomorrow but not as much (fingers crossed!).

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  10. Hi MA: Oh my goodness, power going out when it is so cold outside, I hope you were able to stay warm, we also had an ice storm, on Sunday the sun came out on Monday, melted the ice, now today it is snowing and raining, weird weather.

    Catherine

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    1. We had lots of blankets and dressed in layers so we were okay. We were just thankful that it wasn't really cold outside AND that there was no wind. If there had been, we probably wouldn't have had power for days. Mother Nature isn't someone to be trifled with, that's for sure.

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  11. On the few times I managed to get on the computer I read about the ice storm and wondered how you were doing. Nothing worse than losing power for an extended time. Hopefully things are better now.

    God bless.

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    1. We're okay for the moment but there's another storm coming our way tomorrow so who knows what that will bring. It's not supposed to be as bad but if it comes with wind it will bring down a lot more trees and branches that are precarious at the moment and who knows what might happen to the hydro grid then. Spring can't come soon enough!

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