Ice Storm 2005

It's time for

Farm Friend Friday

over at 

Verde Farm!

Today we spent the afternoon trimming trees

here on the farm that had been damaged 

a few years back by a severe ice storm.

This brought back a lot of memories for us

and so I thought I would post about it. 

This winter has been a tough one for most of us

here in the USA and Canada and overseas. 

Some places have been hit heavy by snow storms

that just keep coming and I'm sure we 

wonder if it will ever end.

So far here in Kansas we have had our share 

of snow and storms and even

a little ice....

but nothing compares to the winter of 2005.

This is what I saw around 9pm out our French doors.

It started around 4pm with rain turning to 

freezing drizzle.

By 8pm it started to sound like a war zone.

At first I heard what sounded like a loud crack

somewhere near the house. 

Then there was another and another right 

outside the window.

This was no little branch breaking...these were limbs!

My hubby had left for work around 3:00 pm so I was

alone ...and I was scared and I was worried for him.

We lived in the city at the time and we had HUGE

elm tree's on our 1 1/2 acres.

One very huge tree grew very close to the house 

with HUGE limbs that grew out OVER the house.

I figured it was only a matter of time before 

one of those limbs would come crashing 

through the roof.

Thank heavens that didn't happen...but the aftermath

looked like a war zone.

Hubby made it home safely but it was slow going

as the roads were treacherous.

The next morning we were shocked to see just 

how much damage the storm had done...everywhere

 you looked there were huge limbs either down or

hanging broken from the trees.

I couldn't hold back the tears.

Those beautiful old trees!

That whole day was spent talking to neighbors and 

surveying the damage but thank goodness no 

one was hurt or had their homes severely damaged.

The next day it was a whole different scene...the sun 

came out and the damage was transformed into

a glittering world of sparkling crystals.

This tree above is a Chinese Elm and was right out front of the house.

Not one limb was broken...the limbs and branches bent instead of breaking!

The other elms were American Elms that grow more upright.

This last photo is of the most severe damage

we received to the house other than bent gutters, 

bent fencing, bent BBQ shelf and chair.

All in all we were pretty fortunate.

Now we just hope and pray that this winter

goes out like a lamb. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend 

(with NO snow) and for 

those of you who haven't entered my 

Give-Away 

..please do!

I will draw a winner on Monday Feb 28th.

Good luck!

Maura :)