you don't see this every day

In your grocery store baking aisle, you might find a grain product from Bob's Red Mill. The mill is two miles from my house. I went there today to restock on oat-groats and this is what I found.







The water wheel is purely decorative, with a recirculating pump to keep the water flowing and the wheel turning. It has been below freezing the past three days, and the pump kept going after the wheel stopped. It's dry and snow-free all around, but the wheel has a glorious coat of frosting!
















Little bitty icicles hanging off the paddles of the wheel.



















Honking great monsters hanging off the buttresses,
(see the lumps along the sides of the individual icicles? That's because the wind was pretty brisk as the ice was forming.)

















And a fairyland of crystal festooning the undersides.

The english ivy is covered about an inch thick inice. It'll be interesting to see how it handles the chill.

So you folks in Australia, if you can get your head above water, here's what you're missing in the northern hemisphere.

Seriously, the flooding in Australia is dreadful. I'm hoping that all my friends and all those that they love are safe.