Would you like Ice with that?

Winter thought we were getting off to easy, with several weeks of decent weather, so it rolled out an ice storm. I actually would rather have ice 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of ice over snow, simply because it goes away sooner when sun strikes it. I am sure the ice is more dangerous to be out in and drive in. As long as I have power on the farm and Yak Tracks on my shoes, I don't worry. I figured I would share some images from the storm. The rain came from the east with strong wind pushing it, so many things are only coated on just one side.

Normally, this blue spruce is very proportionally balanced.

Ice off the doorknob to our retail shop.

The left side of the bale faces west and the right side faces east.

The ice made loading hay onto the feed sled, a bit more interesting this morning.

View of the timber line on the edge of the farm clearing.

Several days this week have been spent clearing out a bit of timber just south of our barn. I want to build our livestock corral there and another building in the future. I also trimmed numerous black walnut trees up that have market lumber potential in 30 to 40 years (I know way out there). They will be worth much more if they are pruned to grow very strait.  Even tough I trimmed many of the walnuts, I left several with more of a outward reaching growth pattern, typical of a savannah, in their original form. I like the aesthetic that they can create when they do grow with very wide reaching limbs. but there timber is worth less. The chainsaw will be out of commission for a few days, as the chain is quite dull. There are a lot of sticks on the ground, but I have not seen whole trees and limbs that the storm had claimed. I will let you know how things come out of this. It is supposed to get much better on Friday and Saturday. I look forward  to getting more things done outside.