Typically at least once every winter we get an ice storm.
What started out as a beautiful few-inches of snow on Saturday night turned into freezing rain by the wee hours of Sunday morning. It covered every surface in a glittering, crackling coat of ice, which I (of course) had to venture out into once I had fed Mary Todd (safely inside), and eaten breakfast.
It was, as expected, cold and damp out, but I had to capture the subtle spectacle of the ice show.
the ice covering the vines of this bittersweet looked like crackle glass up close
January is officially over, and Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter (i.e. he saw his shadow). Although his history of predictions is ✨questionable✨, he may be right this year, because there are still plenty of low temps and chances of snow on our forecast.
January has been a month of intense creativity for me. Work has been extremely slow (as per usual in January), and although I’m currently very poor, I’m always happiest when I’m not just sitting at my desk painting all day.
Although pet portraits are a great staple for me, I’m hoping for some new opportunities to come my way in this new year.
The weather forecast was right (despite our doubts): winter storm Albatross arrived, and we woke up to a winter wonderland on January 19th.
The temps plummeted during this storm, so although the snow started off heavy and wet, the majority of it was dry and powdery — the perfect combination to coat the landscape in 5-6″ of pristine white ❄
January 18th was the last day that we got truly decent temps. The morning was warm*, and rays of sunlight were shining through the rising mist over the stonewall.
Very New England-core✨
*a winter’s “warm”, of course
although I despise what the invasive bittersweet plant does (and do my very best to not let it produce berries on my property), its winter display (in my grampa’s yard) is always impressive
Everyone who lives somewhere where it snows knows that there’s snow…and there’s
❄snow❄
Riley Mae tied some branches onto the bird feeder by the kitchen window; she set it up for photo opportunities, and it works perfectly because the birds will even come to the feeder while I’m sitting on the glider just a couple feet away from it. This is a little dark-eyed junco (left) and a house finch (right) a.k.a a Hollywood Finch
We got our first real snow on December 4th. We were only supposed to get an inch or two, but when I woke up and looked out my window it was a winter wonderland! There’s such a specific feeling to going to sleep with no snow and waking up to this beauty, and it cannot be explained. The fact that I have a friend who lives in New Zealand and has never seen snow in his life still boggles my mind.
Of course it was very heavy, wet snow which resulted in us losing power for a few hours, so I went outside and built a little snowman while we were left in the dark. He had a face on both sides: one for us and one for everyone driving by. The faces didn’t end up lasting long (the eyes very quickly started to melt out), but the snowman [incredibly] lasted for days. He defied all logic — and gravity — by bending completely over, while never losing his head. By the time he melted, his head was almost touching the ground, while still remaining firmly attached to his body.
I truly magical snowman.
when you wake up in the night to a snowplow going by your house, you know that you’re going to wake up to something beautiful in the morning
Well, not only “good news,” but like…things that I’m excited about it.
Doesn’t it always seem like as soon as you do, the things that you were just gushing over start to fall apart…? Or is that just me??
Like recently when I sent out Christmas cards and hard-launched my love for a sweet giant rabbit, only to have to hand her over to a foster home after Christmas…?
braving the 15-degree morning to enjoy the world covered in ice