ICY

    I have never seen a winter quite like this one.  No matter where you are - upstate NY, New England, Mid Atlantic States - there seem to be icicles dripping from every roof.  Not mere dribbles of frozen water, but javelin sized, use as a murder weapon - type icicles.  When visiting Connecticut recently, the mounds of snow and drifts were three, four, five feet high in places, but what was stunning to see were the numbers and sizes of icicles on every roof.  Gorgeous to look at, but the pragmatist in me also see damaged gutters, water running into soffits (and thus, attics), and the real danger of getting hit by one of these behemoth water stalagtites.
   Today we looked in the sill of our upper floor windows and saw ice a half an inch thick between the windows and the screens (we have no storm windows - former owner never got them when they installed new windows). With a marlin spike and a meat mallet we broke the ice, then started leaning out the windows to break down some of the icicle curtain.  The following shots should give you an idea of their size and scope.

The ice curtain outside the window

She is about 5 foot 3 inches tall - the icicle was about 4 and a half feet long

Breaking the ice that had filled the sill

what else is a child to do with icicles???

    I keep looking at the snow and ice and thinking of the birds - the feeders are filled and I bought suet cakes yesterday.  On principal, I will not feed the deer after they destroyed my rhododendrons last year.
      The snow is falling gently - again - and the kids and hubby have just come in from sledding. The fire is burning, the house is warm. I guess there is nothing to do with a winter as solid as this one except enjoy it!