Snow and Ice

So far this winter has been rather messy, to say the least. It started out rather nice with no snow to speak of until right before Christmas. After Christmas, well that's been another story. I don't think we've had a weather event that wasn't a mixed bag of precipitation, snow, freezing rain, ice pellets and everything in between.  I scraped off one layer of ice off my driveway this past weekend only to reach the first layer of ice. Luckily I don't park in my driveway, I put the car in the garage so the driveway is pretty evenly covered with packed snow and ice. For those of my neighbours who do park in their driveways, there are craters where the cars are usually parked.

It does make for some interesting and beautiful photos though, even if they never turn out exactly how my eye sees them, I'm sure you can use your imagination a bit.

Sunlight on the ice covered vine in my backyard

Branches covered in ice, when the weight is too much it can break the branches and sometimes even kill the tree.

Christmas ornament caught in ice like a fly in amber.

Another shot of the tree and Christmas ornaments covered in ice and snow.

My neighbour's Christmas wreath.

A view of one of the maples in my backyard.

My 4 foot, artificial tree, the snow is REAL!

Cedar hedge covered with snow and ice.

 And what is the weather right now? Well today we had snow, probably about 2 inches or so, not all that much really; but tonight, it is supposed to warm up and there's a weather warning for freezing rain and ice pellets. What else is new. I left the snow in the driveway and on the back deck; if we do get freezing rain, it will be much easier to shovel or snow blow with a layer of snow underneath it.

And it's better to get the nasty weather during the week and hope for clear skies on the weekend as the winter agility season begins this weekend. Beckett will be in his first trial where we will compete seriously at the Masters level, or at least I hope we will. I know he'll try hard, hope my handling is up to it.