Gardener's Group discussion

Happy (almost) Solstice everyone! The change of seasons is upon us once again.

And for our Winter Solstice, we're going to have late Spring temps! Good grief lol

Heard it might be in the 70s on the East Coast tomorrow. Crazy! Three inches of fresh snow here last night. Shoveling today was pretty easy as it was the fluffy variety of snow.

Yup, recording breaking temps by Sunday and then cold again for Christmas! So much for a White Christmas :-(

No problems with having a white Christmas here. About 13 inches on the ground and we've been having lite snow all day. Neighbor, Mike, shoveled for me today. What a guy!

68* today and tomorrow is supposed to be Warmer! Then temps get back to normal.

We've had over 5" of rain; needless to say, the snow is gone. It apparently was 63 degrees in the middle of the night last night, an all time record high the N. Weather Service felt compelled to tell me about in the middle of the night.(To be fair along with a flood warning, though we are high and dry.)

But it's dropping now and will be in the 20's tonight. It's a good thing all that rain wasn't snow; at the conversion rate of 1" water is 1' snow, we'd be buried. Which happened back in the 70s (buried, but mostly by wind drifts) and that was enough for my lifetime.

Temps in the 40s for a few days, loads of rain, then last night the temps dropped and the northern suburbs of Detroit got ice. Gotta love Michigan winters!

Well lookout Christmas Eve back to the future... I mean back to the single digits on Christmas Eve in Michigan :) Preparing more deserts for the family Christmas Eve dinner and I still have a couple of gifts to buy and wrap up.

And for New Years, I will make Sushi Rolls for that big Night.

Snowed all day today but half the time the sun was shining through the clouds so we had what I call "glitter snow". Beautiful and perfect atmosphere for finishing up my holiday baking and packing to leave early tomorrow morning. It's going to be very cold for outdoor sports but we have the clothes for it so we should be fine. Not looking forward to the 4 hour drive and am hoping the road conditions allow us to make it in that amount of time.

We're in the deep freeze again. Minus 3 for a high today and down to -20 something tonight. This is very typical for New Years weather it's almost always frigid. I'm planning to stay in as after checking with friends no one feels like going out in the cold. Fine with me.

Chery My Dear--have you ever considered that you are attempting to exist in a climate that is incompatible with human life?

:)

It was just bleak here today; gray everything and cold (to me) at low 20's and windy and snow flakes every little bit. I detest the grayness of this time of yr, the cold is OK if the sun is out.

My next door neighbors bailed for Florida yesterday morning; gone for four months. The wife would leave in October if he would; she is cold when it's 50.

The people across the street are moving house; got a place with quite a bit of land and twice as big housewise; though,no pretty view like they have now.

The old fellow down the street died on Sunday. Not unexpected, cancer, but I liked him.

My other NDN seems OK and staying around thankfully; otherwise, the street would be half empty! I wanted quiet but I don't want deserted. Of course, the two houses will be sold and new people move in, but it might be spring in all probability. Going to be a quiet winter.

Should all come here. Nice climate, not so hot as Florida, and totally compatible with year-round gardening unless you live in a rainforest like me, in which case it is a constant battle, but an enjoyable one.

Happy New Year everyone.

Wishing everyone a healthy, safe, prosperous & Happy 2014!

Right back at you Jo!!! We hope to see more of you next year as things get better for you.

Quiet here for New Years; we aren't party people. I'm watching Duke:Texas A&M; DH is asleep already.

Even the cats are sleeping.

I hope everyone has a great next year and it is better than 2013 for us all.

Here here! And thank you kindly, I appreciate that :-)

We're not out & about on NYE folks either. We've done all that in the past (before we met an after we first met). If we go out, we usually do so by 3:30p and are home by 6:30p. Better safe than sorry! Especially in this area. Stayed in this NYE, hubby's already asleep and I'm trying to make it to midnight lol!

Perfect weather here in the Northwest. Sunshine!!!! Going to go out and garden. Lucky me.

No need to rub it in :)

Well, Cheryl, I spoke too soon and will pay. Assuming the forecast is correct (rash thing to do), Sunday's low is scheduled for -16, high Monday -4, Low -14.

It hasn't been that cold here in many years.

Going down to zero degrees fahrenheit here tonight. Snowing now and expecting around six inches of new snow by morning. Starting the new year by going to the dentist tomorrow for my bi-annual cleaning and the market.

Going to visit my brother this saturday that was unable to go to the family Christmas get together due to an ice storm, bad icy roads and a power outage. He had a week long power outage due to the ice storm. It cost him $40 a day for gasoline to power the house hold emergency generator.

So I am going to a second Christmas family get together this Saturday :)

MissJessie wrote: "Chery My Dear--have you ever considered that you are attempting to exist in a climate that is incompatible with human life?

:)

It was just bleak here today; gray everything and cold (to me) at l..."
There are times when it's pretty awful. However, I grew up here so I'm used to it and now that I'm retired I can just stay home when it's bad. I worked nights for many years and the worst was coming out to a cold car in the morning and driving home on square tires when the weather was like this.

Happy New Year to All! I've also stayed home, did not stay up until midnight and have been sewing, cooking, reading etc and just generally enjoying a couple of peaceful days.

I had a good time on New Years eve at a place where I took Ballroom dance lessons. About hundred people, small bar, nice dance floor, large tables and people I have known for years that have also taken dance lessons there. I will say being retired, I never see young people get into ballroom, almost every one there was a retired university degreed professional of some sort. Sorta like the Amateur Radio club, almost all old electrical engineers, no young people at all.

The world is changing, but I do believe social graces and basic skills are quickly disappearing like dancing, gardening and cooking.
I know, I know... I am getting old :)

Happy New Year all!

Sorry about the lousy weather over much of Canada and north-eastern US. Weather really nice here on southern Vancouver Island. First snowdrops up and I'm really tempted to get outside and start rearranging my perennial beds.

Snowing here like crazy, we're in the up to a foot range here on the coast depending on what forecast you look at and it's going down to -6* tomorrow night at our northwestern NJ home! Single digits here on the coast. But, that's winter in the Northeast, no biggie! (3 foot and more is a biggie lol!)

Had to let another of our kitties go today. Breaks my heart but it was the best and right thing to do for him. He was elderly and his cancer had spread, he was beginning to suffer and the vet agreed it was the right time. (I trust him implicitly - took many years to find this vet and I pray it's many more before he retires). Plus, I just knew from having been down this road before looking at him and the changes in his demeanor it was time. Still heartbreaking and sad. I'm so exhausted, I'm off to bed!

Jo wrote: "Snowing here like crazy, we're in the up to a foot range here on the coast depending on what forecast you look at and it's going down to -6* tomorrow night at our northwestern NJ home! Single digit..."

Jo,
Am so sorry to hear of your cat. I've had to make that decision a few times in my life and don't think there's much harder to do. My beloved elderly Himalayan has kidney troubles and I fear the same outcome. Please, take care of yourself.

Jo wrote: "Snowing here like crazy, we're in the up to a foot range here on the coast depending on what forecast you look at and it's going down to -6* tomorrow night at our northwestern NJ home! Single digit..."

So sorry about your kitty Jo. I recently helped my youngest daughter take her 15 year old beagle to the vet for the same reason and it was hard. Hope you are doing okay.

To all of you who are in the path of this latest storm I hope you are safe and warm. Seems like the east coast has really had a lot of weather issues this winter.

I am so sorry Jo for your cat. It makes me cry. We lost our dear Jessie earlier this year and it still breaks my heart. But it is the right thing to do for sure; I can't stand the thought of any animal suffering. But damn.

It's 11 here right now and we had about 6" of snow; the forecast had called for 2-3 but of course what do they know? And it's windy. Forecast for Sunday is -16.

But nothing like the blizzard up East. I hope all you who are in the path keep in the house and don't try to go out to work or whatever until it's over. Staying safe and alive is more important than anything else. (Also, I hope you keep your power.)

Yup, global warming is a bitch isn't it? :)

So sorry to hear about your kitty! I had to put down one of mine in November. Heart failure at 5 years old, hard to believe. You take care of yourself.

Thank you all for your kind words & understanding! I'm sorry for your losses as well! It's so heartbreaking. Ugh. So awful. The snow storm was actually a welcome distraction today. It helped me out of bed this morning. We had 10"s of snow where it didn't drift and the drifts were from about 14"s to 2 feet. Did what I could to help Hubbs around the apartment complex and cleaned off mom' s car and moved it so our landscaper could plow out the rest of the small lot she parks in. (She lives in the same complex as we do and my husband runs). Now we've got single digit temps here on the coast until Sunday, warm up until Monday then back down to the singles and below zeros again. We're tired and sore but will hopefully sleep well tonight as a result!

The governor has already closed all public schools in the state of Minnesota on this coming Monday. With possible wind chills of -60 predicted it's probably a good idea. It's been 18 years since the last time this happened. I did all my errands today so I can just stay home until it's over. We had a mini heat wave today as it got up to +11 and it felt great. It also snowed most of the day but just the light stuff so no problem with that.

Big snow coming tonight...how much will it be? I've heard everything from six to twelve inches. Staying home quilt, read, knit. Ah life in Michigan! You'd think I'd be used to it by now. ;)

I know all about Michigan :) Yep, 10 to 12 inches predicted for me also.
Are you looking forward for that Monday morning ten below zero :)

Today was a nice day around twenty degrees and I am currently at a library for a self study of vector calculus in my retirement years. Then off to Costco for a few items then home before it starts to snow. Let the dog out and finish read a science fiction novel. Sleeping in for the next four days :)

I will also be browsing my seed catalogs and make my orders in a few weeks. Then in April I will get out my grow lights, heat pads and get seed containers going.

It is what it is. ;) if the weather gets too bad I'll call in sick. Trying to build up my sick leave so it'll have to be REALLY bad, lol.

Went out today, warm 38 degrees and sunny to visit Mother in rehab. The mob scenes at Meijer, Walmart, Kroger, were apocalyptic --worse than Black Friday.

Weather forecast depends upon who you believe--Accuweather say 4-8 inches; National Weather says 8-12" starting tomorrow morning.

But it's the cold that's forecast and the wind is picking up already. Supposedly it hasn't been this cold here in over 20 yrs.

I did my bit, told Mother I'd see her again on Wednesday (when the temp is scheduled to exceed zero, finally). I took her a nice comforter, very warm, for her bed just in case the heat at the Rehab Center can't keep up; it hasn't been there 20 yrs so who knows?

The football game tomorrow at GreenBay should be interesting; coldest since the Ice Bowl in Cincinnati many yrs. ago, to which my sister went. I'll enjoy it from my living room :)

Everyone, kindly stay warm and safe and don't go out.

The world is coming to an end and I feel fine - REM.

It was indeed a mob scene at Costco and at Meijer. Every line was open at Meijer, I have never ever seen such a thing before, not even on Black Friday. I had to go back to parking lot at Meijer and Costco to get a cart. But I got what I wanted at Meijer and Costco to make my sushi rolls for lunch, and pork chops with risotto & parmesan cheese and more next week. Yep that snow storm will be difficult to get through :)

Now to finish that science fiction book.

So far so good...stopped snowing and only about 4 inches out there. Tyler was already here to shovel and will be back when the plows come through. Turkey stew in the slow cooker, quilting and knitting and reading to do...life is good. ;)

Uh oh spoke too soon...snowing again, lol

Jeanette wrote: "Uh oh spoke too soon...snowing again, lol"

I knew when you said stopped at four inches it was not over :)
I have been out twice shoveling and plowing my driveway. We are going to get every bit of that one foot snowfall tonight. Looking forward to that 12 below zero tomorrow night with that 12"+ snow :)

The snowmobilers are having fun by flying down the roads.

I have a gate on my small back deck that I keep cleaned off, so my little Yorkie won't get out in the deep snow plus the sub freezing Tempratures. My back deck is literally a poop deck.

Freezing rain yesterday with the warming temps. 57* right now, been raining like mad all morning, gusty winds too, nearly all the snow is gone. Once this stops, the temp will drop 48* down to 9* tonight with wind chills well below 0* through tomorrow. Snow again this Thursday followed by rain for next Sunday. Roller coaster temps in between. I'm sensing a Winter pattern here LOL!

This AM actual temp -22 and windchill of -49 and only slightly better predicted for tomorrow. Don't think this broke any records. Did a little laundry, made wild rice soup, talked on the phone with friends spending the day at home, finished putting the binding on a quilt and started cutting out my next project. Kind of enjoy these stay at home days in the winter when the house is cozy, the cats drape themselves in front of the heat registers and I can just putz around and do whatever I feel like doing.

Well, I can't quite compete Cheryl, but it's -14 right now officially. The forecast foot of snow was actually over an inch of rain in our little corner of Indiana; but now everything (cars, etc.) is over an inch thick in ice. Not pretty. All the schools are closed again tomorrow, which is good. We got no mail and no newspaper today. So much for rain, sleet, snow..... :)

I didn't go out yesterday or today and won't tomorrow either. I agree, quiet days are nice. I tried a new "baked" bean recipe in the crockpot, very good.

Wednesday I have to go out to visit my Mother in Rehab and check out the new place she's going to move to--mainly give them money to hold the apartment, pick out the wall paint, etc. It will be nice when this month is over. She's had a mad on since a couple of days before Christmas and I've just about had enough of her behaviour. My sister called her today and said she was mad about who knew what, so I gave it a miss. I don't need it right now.

The new place is lovely and very close to our house, a convenience is theory:) The move will be a pain in the ass, but hey, what else is new? Enough complaining.

Keep warm everyone and stay safe.

Jo wrote: "Freezing rain yesterday with the warming temps. 57* right now, been raining like mad all morning, gusty winds too, nearly all the snow is gone. Once this stops, the temp will drop 48* down to 9* to..."

Jealous. I can barely remember the last time it rained here in the San Francisco bay area.

Temps bad again today and schools closed again. Just heard it's supposed to be +30 by the week-end. Crazy!

Woohoo! Almost made it to 0 for a high today. Went out to do some errands and it felt so much better. Also had bright sunshine and not much wind which really helped too.

Good thing I went to the markets last Saturday and stocked up on goods. The heavy snow and extreme cold weather has made travel difficult. I had two feet of snow with drifts in my driveway that I plowed out yesterday in -12 degree temperatures.

It has been five days now still at home catching up on my home cleaning and experimenting in the kitchen, Quinoa Pilaf with Ginger and Chiles was fairly good. Trying to eat healthier for the new year, probably won't be long for the biscuits and sauage gravy :)

I will venture out this weekend, upper thirties for the temprature, and once again test the waters of civilization. The little rat... yorkie needs grooming.

I awoke to 21* this morning! Funny thing is that I've been more cold, even in doors as the temp has begun to warm up some. Delayed reaction to the Polar Vortex?! lol

Plenty of leftover curry chicken to warm my bones with though! YUM!

I woke up to -12 degrees sub freezing weather, this morning. But getting warm fast the high today is around 25. After today it will be one week indoors, a record for me :)

Curry Chicken sounds real good.

Today a simple meatloaf and a salad. I do not mind using the oven durring the winter months. I think it will feel good to get out tomorrow. Going through the seed catalogs and dreaming of spring.

About 5 inches of fresh snow in the past couple of days. Now comes the wind up to 50MPH gusts. Not so bad here but in the open prairie parts of the state they are having blizzard conditions. I'm deep into several quilting projects and am content to stay home and while away the hours in my sewing room.

Thick fog most of the morning which returned by 2pm in the afternoon. Thick thick thick!