Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: Andrew on January 01, 2008, 09:20:54 AM
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In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter,
Long ago.
Christina Georgina Rossetti
Not here today !
When I was younger, I can remember snow in winter but foggy and about 7C at the moment.
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A clear blue sky and sunshine here but cool.
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Andrew would that make you in your late 30s or into 40s? It snowed every winter when I was young. We used to make snow slides down the road - run fast and slide. It ended up very smooth. Freezing fogs. I remember my hair freezing while out sleding down a hill. Too poor for a sledge so we used a sheet of cardboard
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7'C would be absolutely heavenly right now!! :o Today was a bit over 34'C, and currently somewhere around 26'C. Heading for overnight low of around 15'C forecast. Even the thought of snow is refreshing at the moment. ;D 8)
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Paul, swop you a bit of mine for a bit of yours! ;D
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I would swap David! We would have been very warm here today if the sun had been out. Right now 16.14 the temperature outside is 12c
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Did anyone see the programme about the floods that hit England and the rest of the worl last summer? It was excellent. It was caused by a minor blip is the jet stream that moved it from the far north to mainland Europe. It shouldnt happen again
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It was caused by a minor blip is the jet stream that moved it from the far north to mainland Europe. It shouldnt happen again
Oh yeah???
In the last 5 years, parts of NZ have had at least a dozen of what were described as "once in 100 years" floods.
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Did anyone see the programme about the floods that hit England and the rest of the worl last summer? It was excellent. It was caused by a minor blip is the jet stream that moved it from the far north to mainland Europe. It shouldnt happen again
Aye right?! ::) (And they say two positives don't make a negative).
I've just dug up a large wisteria (the garage wall it was against won't be there in a week's time) and must replant it tomorrow as there's some cold weather approaching (below 0oC). Certainly very mild up 'til now - I even have moths coming to the lights round the outside of the house (Sneaky the gecko has just eaten one).
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Cute gekko!!
David,
If I could work out a way to trade I think I'd take you up on that!! ::)
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Paul,
you've been having it easy!
We've just had a run of days at 39, 40, 39, 41 and that's oC not oF! Thank goodness it's a bit cooler today! Roll on Autumn!
cheers
fermi
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Why is the grass always greener (well maybe not in the south-hemi at the moment ;D) ?
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Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow
Exactly like here! But the worst thing: we haven't seen sunshine for about four weeks here in Budapest :'( :'( :'(
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Why is the grass always greener (well maybe not in the south-hemi at the moment ;D) ?
According to she who has shared my life for the last 37 years I am a (more!) miserable old git when it's grey and mizzly than I am when there is a bit of heat in the sun. So, if I was in Oz at the moment I'd be St. Peter re-incarnated ;D
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So that means you've got a great excuse to come for a holiday here then? ;D
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So that means you've got a great excuse to come for a holiday here then? ;D
my other excuse would be cash related Paul. Having said that I am resolved that before I'm too old and infirm I SHALL go to Australia and New Zealand ;D
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dont well all!
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What you and I need Mark is a rich widow with one foot in the grave and 'tother on a bar of soap. I've been searching for years ;D
Strong cold East wind today and temperatures struggled to 8C. Spent half an hour in the garden with enough layers of clothing to keep an Eskimo warm before creeping back indoors again.
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too right. I do know one but we dont get on!
How's the snow where you live? It's doing it's best here snowing, melting, snowing .. it's freezing now.
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Mark,
So cool!! (no pun intended). Excellent pics.
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We have 2 to 3" of snow here, but it seems to be thawing at the moment.
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thawing fast here. Lots of photos oportunities but it's so dull.
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Here's an interesting map sent to Trillium-L by Brian Whyer of Buckinghamshire. Guess where Dunblane is! Yep, in the middle of that blue blob in central Scotland. :(
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/rr/17.gif
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Can the map be true, Anthony. I find it most interesting that the dark blue of Fort William etc sends out fingers to the east like that. I did note that the current snow reports (18:00) are including Dunblane in the areas with bad road conditions.
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nearly all of Scotland looks blue to me. Nice ring road around the town and meandering river I see on Google Earth
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We have 4 -5 inches, but both cars have been out today. The only cars that cause other road uses (and no doubt themselves) headaches are Volvos and (especially) Mercs and BMWs due to being rear-wheel drive. They are useless in snow.
The ring road - Dunblane by-pass - was designed by an idiot and continues to cause more accidents due to the design of the roundabout at the south end and the exits at the north end. My side of Dunblane still looks like a badly made tartan travel rug.
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all our snow is gone. Hopefully there will be snow again this winter
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Earlier quote from David Nicholson--"Having said that I am resolved that before I'm too old and infirm I SHALL go to Australia and New Zealand".
Don't leave it too long David ,(and others),as the secret is just out--in our local paper yesterday it was reported Invercargill --yes I tell you --little ol' Invercargill had the second most sunshine hours in NZ for the month of December--couple that with decent rainfall ,(mostly after dark),and it's obvious the south is the place to be.
I guess we'll be inundated with applications for residence now.Sigh!!!.
Not to worry there's plenty of room.
All applications directly to me please with $100 nonrefundable deposit.
Cheers Dave
Local Alpine Enthusiasts Immigration Commissioner
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Great day here today - lots of sun. I should be at home taking photos but I did bring a few to work
By the end of the month we gain 50 minutes daylight and before you realise we will be at the longest day. It would be interesting to see who your location compares. Just change the location at this address
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=919&month=1&year=2008&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1 (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=919&month=1&year=2008&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1)
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Well folks, we had storm force winds over night (up to 90 mph) and the kids' 12' trampoline ended up in the road next door but two! :'( I was just reporting situation to Vivienne when the phone rang. It was our next door but two neighbour letting us know that it was outside their house and that hubbie was getting dressed to help shift it. The good news is that due to building work my car was not in its path and it missed two cars parked in the road opposite next and next door but one. :P Greenhouse fine, I think?
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Just change the location at this address
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=919&month=1&year=2008&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1 (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=919&month=1&year=2008&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1)
That's great, Mark, Many thanks! :-*
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no damage in my garden other than damaged flowers
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Mark, there's another lot on it's way tomorrow.
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In another thread, Luit says it was 9 degrees with him in Holland, today and he had been out in the garden!
Much colder than that and still far too windy for that here. I was worried that I did not go out with Ian and Lily as their sheet anchor... I could have lost them both !
Forgot to look to see if next door but one's trampoline was still there today :o
If your one HAD hit the neighbours' cars, or even your own, Anthony, would your insurance have paid out ?
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If your one HAD hit the neighbours' cars, or even your own, Anthony, would your insurance have paid out ?
Checked with insurers - we are covered for trampoline and cars.
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Checked with insurers - we are covered for trampoline and cars.
Well that's a relief... what about compensation for neighbour's hernia? ::)
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What about mine. I had to move it again this morning so we could actually exit our drive on foot. Tied it to the other gate post! when I came back in to collect my back, lunch and car keys I got shouted at for not switching the study light off! Huh. :( Spent over an hour taking the side netting and posts off so I can get it back into the garden!
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Nah, I'm pretty sure you can't sue yourself for compensation, with or without one of those ubiquitous firms that advertise all over the TV ::)
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Got £300 for a broken collar bone in June 2006 - after contacting aforementioned firm (see above) to tell them that the £200 they had sent me was for a shoulder blade not a collar bone. The young lady on the phone had to consult her dictionary (the doctor had written clavicle) and apologised for mixing up clavicle with scapula! ::) Alas I am only covered for bones! :(
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Anthony, I don't know how you wangle these things! I'm surprised that a busted collar bone is worth more than a busted shoulder blade, though... much longer to get over latter and with more longterm problems likely thereafter ???
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Quote from Maggi - "what about compensation for neighbour's hernia?"
What about mine. I had to move it again this morning so we could actually exit our drive on foot. Tied it to the other gate post! when I came back in to collect my back, lunch and car keys I got shouted at for not switching the study light off! Huh. :( Spent over an hour taking the side netting and posts off so I can get it back into the garden!
You do keep your hernia in an odd place Anthony ;D
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I don't know Lesley... tying it to a gatepost seems as good a place to keep it as any. ;D
I was just trying to picture Anthony's neighbours.... everyone else is coming in to the insurance company with wind damage, storm damage etc, and his neighbours come in complaining of trampoline damage!! ::)
Glad we aren't getting the winds, but could do with some of the associated cool. 33 to 35'C here the next couple of days, although I would imagine that Fermi is worse at the moment given they're forecasting 41 for Melbourne and he's not that far away from there.
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I was just trying to picture Anthony's neighbours.... everyone else is coming in to the insurance company with wind damage, storm damage etc, and his neighbours come in complaining of trampoline damage!! ::)
Typical of the ups and downs in the insurance game Paul....but they always seem to bounce back? :D
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If they paid out for damage caused by a trampoline, might the cheque bounce?
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If they paid out it would definitely put a spring in your step!!
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Where is Maggi, the Pun Punisher?
She is badly needed here.
Torrential rain in the south east of Ireland yesterday afternoon and evening; went out to my local garden club meeting and had great difficulty getting back home as I encountered a stretch of water about 50cm deep in a dip in the road; drove through very carefully and got home safely...and dry.
Paddy
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Paddy,
That's lucky. Glad you didn't get flooded out, or caught in it.
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Howling gale here from West South West, driving rain, and the lights on all morning so far. Just going to look at holiday brochures!!
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Where is Maggi, the Pun Punisher?
I am here, Paddy.... and I'm expecting chocolate from Cliff, Paul and David.... just hope my postman can cope with the extra work ;)
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Ah, there you are Maggi, good to see you are keeping a watch on these punners.
Paul,
Normally there is a field between my house and a river; today there is no field, just more water, everything is flooded. However, my garden is on a slope and the water runs through. Down one side of my garden I have a field dyke which is normally dry but today is it under a torrent of water. This happens only after heavy rain. They dyke is part of the field drainage system for the farmland round about me.
Paddy
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Maggi,
Sometimes life doesn't live up to our expectations!! ;D I mean I COULD send you some chocolate, but by the time it is taken from the post box outside the post office I would imagine that half of it will be on the surrounding letters.... 34'C outside seems common here at the moment (forecast again tomorrow) so I'd imagine the post box will be 60 or more degrees. What will the postman think when he or she tries to deliver this mass of mail all melded together with chocolate, and just think of all those other people deprived of their mail because it was stuck to your chocolate parcel. I mean there could be really important letters lost just because I sent you that chocolate. Could you live with that?? ::) :P And besides, heat affected chocolate goes funny and white and doesn't taste nearly as nice as before it is heat affected. I guess I should wait until it is winter here to send to you, but then you're summer over there (although that shouldn't be a problem anyway, as your summer is about the same as our winter isn't it?? ;D)
Paddy,
Not goo at all. Here's hoping it doesn't rise any more. Dry here for the last few weeks, but up in the north of New South Wales they've had record floods (highest in for the last 50 years). Some areas got 300mm in a few hours.
Ooooh, I think I'm going to get into trouble!! :o 8)
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Glad to hear you are just about dry, Paddy. I must say, when I first saw the photos of the position of your property, I was a bit concerned as to the closeness of that river... I am very pessimistic about flooding... dangerous stuff, water and so clever at getting everywhere. I have been horrified by the photos on the Forum of Dominique's flooded garden... see here, for instance ....
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=374.360
I'm really scared of flooding like that. Funnily enough, only time I've actually lived in a property with river side access, I wasn't bothered....( too young and stupid to know better, I think now!) The house was quite high above the river, though and we never had any flooding.... now we're at the top of a hill and I am very pleased about it!
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Paul, you are indeed living dangerously... however, I must consider the safety of the post, I am, after all, a reasonable person... it is my other half who is the Despot!! ;)
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So.... it's the Despot and the chocolate Desperado eh? What a pair!! ;D
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So.... it's the Despot and the chocolate Desperado eh? What a pair!!
What a team, Paul, what a team! It's the secret of our sweet success..... oops... that's a choc I owe myself ::)
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It's been very wet and reasonably "warm" for the last couple of days. Winter has vanished.
Today we have 8 to 10°C - sun - clouds and lots of wind !
Not exactly January like...
We're promised a lot more rain for the coming days.... >:(
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Got stuck on a snowed-in road in the Cotswolds today on my way back from Northamptonshire to Gloucestershire. Me and a couple of hundred other cars and lorries on our road, apparently hundreds more on surrounding roads.
Thought I was going to be there all night. Cars were turning round to go back but then going nowhere as the traffic wasn't getting through on the way back either (steep hills all around, 3-4 inches of snow on the roads, blizzard conditions and lorries sliding back down the hills!
Finally managed to turn my car around when someone coming the other way told me they'd been told the hill ahead was completely blocked with snow and stuck lorries. Very long, slow snowy slidy round-about drive back and around onto the M5 via Cheltenham finally got me back 3 hours late (normaly a 2 hour drive for me but 5 hours this time).
First time I've ever hit standing surface water on a motorway - at 50 mph with loads of traffic behind doing 50mph! Not fun! The motorway signs said 'Slow. Spray.' and advised 50 mph. 30-40 would have been better advice! Apparently the M5 further south was completely shut due to flooding. Loads of flood warnings out around here tonight (again!)
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Wow, you are getting it bad!! Glad you got home safely.
Other extremes here..... 36'C yesterday, with overnight minimum of 21'C. Fermi probably had it worse, if not yesterday then the day before (he tends to get the weather systems before we do in most cases). Currently a balmy 29'C at 11am. Last rain recorded for Canberra on Dec 28th.
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How are the Australian floods going, Paul? Receding by now I expect. They were on the news here for a day then vanished. They said it wouldn't make much difference to the drought problems, and only on the western coast.
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Or was it the eastern coast? Mmmm. Eastern. That's the trouble with our TV news, there's always some amazing celebrity news or other crappo trivia that's much more important than reporting that the world's climate is going to hell in a hand-cart - or that our government thinks a new generation of nuclear power is the answer. Oh goody, goody - we're getting another 20-odd new nuclear power stations with no idea of what we'll do with all the nuclear waste we've already got let alone what the new ones will produce. Wind power? Wave power? Nah! We're only the windiest country in Europe with the largest coastline. What would be the point of investing in wind and wave power?
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Martin,
East. Receding, but for some areas it will take a while. Long way north of here thankfully, although we could have used some of the rain. Feels positively baked dry around here at the moment..... a fortnight of heat without rain tends to do that. ::)
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Got stuck on a snowed-in road in the Cotswolds today
Snow? I shall think about that tonight as I watch the uncontrolled bushfire about a mile away and hope that the wind doesn't change.
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Rob,
Must admit I am expecting fires here again soon too. With the good start early in spring, then the rain in November and December we have a big fuel load here at the moment...... all drying off VERY rapidly at the moment (ended up around 36'C here again today). Thundestorms in the area at the moment as well, so that could easily start some fires too.
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Floods, Fires, all manner of pestilence.... I wish all afflicted with such terrors safe and well.
It is nice and bright here in Aberdeen.... just out checking temperature... it is 4 degrees C in the sun at the moment (Lunchtime) and has been down to minus 6 overnight. Still no sign of my Hamamellis buds opening.
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We had frost and fog all day today. The builders only managed to put a layer of concrete into the founds this morning using hot water to ad to the mixture as the outside tap was frozen solid! Now (at 10.30 p.m.) it is still crunchy underfoot and about 0oC, but it's raining. Oops, as I speak it is turning to snow.
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We won't here ever match our friends across the ditch for temperatures, but we've been doing quite well all the same. 33C at my house on the last two days, and 35, 120 miles north at Timaru where my daughter lives. Last night the temp didn't drop below 28 in the house so sleeping was impossible. I'm eagerly awaiting the south west change with some rain, the weather man says we're to have today. No sign of it yet though. I've to order water today or we'll be out in a couple of days. What's coming from the tank is distinctly murky (an oxymoron, if ever there was one).
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Torrential rain here today and the builders started taking the roof off our kitchen today! :o Our en-suite is now out of bounds and there is a (formerly recessed) ceiling light dangling two feet from the kitchen ceiling too! It still works but apparently can't be put back because of something (romantically?) called a dwang!? At the weekend I will take pics of what they have done to the garden (no plants damaged, from what I can see).
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Of course, now the Darbys have gotthe builders in, the Scottish weather is bound to be awful for the duration. Just hope it doesn't reach up here! Heating still not fixed... turns out it's the pump... gas man didn't have one!
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Having gone through a very wet spell recently, again, (or perhaps continuous would be better!) with very heavy rain and gales last night, I popped down to the village to see what our local river, the River Earme, was looking like.
It rises about three/four miles away from where I live and tumbles down the steep Southern slope of Dartmoor to the sea at Mothercombe about five miles away. So, it is a short river and has the reputation of being one of the fastest risers and fallers in the country. Sure enough, by the time I got down there, it was less full than I would have thought, and whilst I was taking a few pictures one of the locals told me that I should have been down at 0800 this morning when it was in fine spate. Being a gentleman of leisure I don't do 0800's these days!
So, here are a couple of pictures together with one taken last March when it was in a more gentle mode. The bridge showing in the top right of the pictures is the ivy covered bridge from which the small town of Ivybridge gets it name-no prizes for guessing that then. ;D
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Planning for some white water rafting David ? ;D
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Having gone through a very wet spell recently, again, (or perhaps continuous would be better!) with very heavy rain and gales last night
The same here. Raining more or less since the new year, and heavy rain and gales started mid-morning today :( It least it isn't cold (at least 14ºC) - I think the wind is from the south and south-west.
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Planning for some white water rafting David ? ;D
Not likely, I'm a devout coward :-[
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Having gone through a very wet spell recently, again, (or perhaps continuous would be better!) with very heavy rain and gales last night
The same here. Raining more or less since the new year, and heavy rain and gales started mid-morning today :( It least it isn't cold (at least 14ºC) - I think the wind is from the south and south-west.
You are getting it before I do Chloe, can't you divert it in some way ;D
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Planning for some white water rafting David ? ;D
Not likely, I'm a devout coward :-[
At least you're an honest chap.... ;D
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At least you're an honest chap....
Not to mention sensible ::)
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I'm starting to despair of ever seeing any decent snowdrops in the garden this season thanks to the awful weather! We've also had nothing but heavy rain and strong winds since I can't remember when. Plus wet slushy snow on Friday night. And now we're forecast more torrential rain and gales for the rest of the week - plus flood warnings back on the local rivers and the people who were flooded in the summer in Gloucester and Tewkesbury are reportedly sandbagging their homes again in expectation of their second major flood of the year!!
Just about every snowdrop flower that's come up so far has flopped over on weak, drawn-up stems thanks to the low light levels and been flattened into the mud by the rain, wind and snow. One of the drawbacks of gardening on a south-westerly facing hillside is when we get a winter like this all the wind and rain hits us head-on from up the Bristol Channel.
I also put down organic chicken manure pellets round all the snowdrops, which turned to sludge in all the rain and is now splashing them horribly! In normal seasons it's not been a problem, and is a good gentle fertliser that won't burn emerging snowdrop leaves (useful when I forget to put something stronger on during the summer dormancy - which is every year!).
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My river picture isn't nearly as exciting as David's - but it's the highest I've seen the river for a few months. Seagulls 25 km inland, that means something, I believe ... Strange to see the river apparently flowing the "wrong way" because of the strong wind!
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That looks a lot colder that 14 degrees, Chloe :-\
What a pretty church that is.
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Local TV weatherman 2230 last night 'If you need to be out and about tomorrow is the day to do it, it will be cool but dry before Thursday and Friday revert to gales and heavy rain likely to continue throughout the weekend'
Good, we said, we'll take a trip to Duchy Nurseries in Cornwall and look at some new Camellias they have.
1030 this morning, black as night, rain coming down in stair-rods and the road outside bearing a strong resemblance to the pictures of the river I posted yesterday; this continued, and then at 1545, Moses like, the black clouds parted, blue sky appeared, before 15 minutes later all was replaced by clouds and rain again.
Mrs N, who shows all signs of becoming 'stir crazy' and has Hoovered, thrice over, all things in sight over the last few days hovered behind me, Hoover in hand. 'I'll Hoover your computer keyboard' she said. She doesn't realise that I have lovingly laid down this bed of biscuit crumbs over the past two years.
Notes to me:-
1. next time I'm out pick up a couple of pine cones and a strip of seaweed there is more to this weather forecasting than meets the eye. I speak as one whose scientific education stopped at 'O' level Chemistry-failed and 'O' level Physics, so bad they wouldn't let me take the exam.
2. Google 'rice growing', you've got the soil for it.
3. fix an appointment for the car too see a Psychiatrist, it's beginning to think it's a boat.
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Glorious day here today. Builders are up to roof level with the kit. F...ing Sky "engineer" came and went for the fourth time without moving the dish.To quote the builder the man said: "Huh. I've just goat a service request here. Ah doan't hae the tools tae shift it" and he buggered off. (Apparently they get £11 for a service call but a relocate they get £35). They are supposed to be coming again on Friday! Meanwhile our dish is now inside the house....even though it hasn't actually moved, so no signal! >:(
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You can't get the staff these days can you? ;D
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Let's hope it'll all be done by Friday? ::)
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I wouldn't count on it, Anthony. We were getting a poor or actual loss of, signal on some channels.....mind you , we only have the most basic Sky package so we have fewr than most to lose ! Anyway, engineer said holly tree and birch next door might be blocking the signal somewhat to dish at side of house, suggested getting it moved higher, to chimmney stack... fine we said, on you go then.. no no, I can't do that, you'll need a "High Height" team... okay, send one.... ten days later this HH team arrives... takes one look at our litte roof and says oh, no, we can't go up there, elf and safety, innit?
And this for a house which I believe in estate agent-speak is a "one and a half storey" that is, a ground floor with dormer windows in a sloping roof above... not exactly Everest.... not much wonder poor Sir Edmund Hillary died, he must have heard about these guys and died of shame. Seems we'll need to get in a TV aerial erctor... seems those guys are actually prepared to USE the ladders they carry around, unlike Sky's HHTeam :P Since the problem of the dodgy channels is worse in wet weather, roll on Spring!
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Reminds me of the days of Radio Rentals. A pal of mine had his new rental TV delivered. Not only did he need to produce a plug (remember when electronic items were supplied without them) but the wally had to borrow a screwdriver too. My pal suggested he got another job. Bet he never brought a pen or pencil to school, when he was there, either!
Rather ironic, here I am on the weather topic moaning about something else!!!! ::)
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You and me both, Anthony, let's wait and see if we get away with it!
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Temps near Dunedin have at last climbed down from the low to mid 30ss and we have a coolish 20C today with some precious rain falling. Heaps more I hope, still to fall, else I'll be buying water by the weekend. ???
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Here in Oregon today was a rare sunny day, though cold with temps not much above freezing. More noteworthy is that here in Eugene, today is the first day since the winter solstice in which sunset has occurred after 5 PM. So the days are starting to get longer, and spring is just around the corner!
Ed
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Lest it should be thought that I bang on about how wet it is here in Devon (this is a trueism!) I came across some annual rainfall figures the other day. Apparently the mean average annual rainfall figure for Ivybridge for the period 1961-1990 was 1363mm or roughly 54 inches, and undoubtedly will be higher now as one of the results of global warming. On the heights of Dartmoor it was a staggering 2278mm. No wonder I'm going rusty. We have had only two days without rain so far this year
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Tipped down for three hours this morning. When I got back from work the kitchen table (all 7' by 3' of it) was in the hall and there were 12 white plastic buckets spread between the kitchen and the back sitting room as the absence of roof had caused BIG problems for the builders! Everything is soaked!
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After a week of rain, Wednesday was beautiful. Blue skies, windless and a temp. of between -1c/+3c. We needed to get out so we went to the Trossachs, about 1h 40 from Ayr. There we had a two hour walk along the shore of Loch Katrine. I had kitted up for cold weather but I had to take off my down parka and ended up in my shirt sleeves. From there we headed along by Loch Achray towards Callander, then to Lochearnhead, Crianlarich and ended up at Rannoch moor, just before Glencoe. It was too late to go any further although I would have loved to head up to Cape Wrath through the mountain scenery. I had forgotten what a beautiful country we live in as we normally cannot see it for clouds. Anyway, it was looking at its best with some snow on the peaks but not on the roads. The deer were taken at a car park at the top of the Blackmount. I thought they were plastic models to attract the tourists until they moved. They obviously make a good living by mooching grub ! Only, they could be in danger of ending up on the menu if the meat ran out.
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That roadside cafe looks too dear for me T.C........they are probably trying to make a fast buck.
Magnificent shots of a truly wonderful area....many thanks!
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Just realised.....what a perfect spot for a stag do!
Chocolate and cream eggs in the post Mrs Y.
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Tom, Callendar is a park in Falkirk. The town is Callander. 100 lines. ::)
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I have only seen Scotland in pictures until now. But it was beautiful, even with clouds!
Dear German Forumists,
I am learning German, and in my book - by a certain Ernst Häckel - is this sentence:
Der Winter ist eine unangenehme Zeit.
Do you agree? ;D ;D
Here is very "unangenehme" indeed. No sunshine since who nows when.
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Dear German Forumists,
Here is very "ungenehme" indeed. No sunshine since who nows when.
Hi Kathrine,
Sorry I'm not German, but did you mean "unangenehm"?
In this case I agree.
Here in Holland we are near the coast and have now and then a little more sunshine as
about 25 km from the coast.
Today it's only raining and about 8 C.
P.S. ( wünsche Dir angenehmes lernen!)
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Yes, thanks. Dud, eh? :-\
I've corrected it!
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??? Dud ???
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Dud = wrong, faulty ..... can also be duff
As in "these orchids came from Luit, so I know they are not duds" :D
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Years ago I was told by an english teacher, that 'dud' means also 'bad learning pupil'
:-\
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Yes, it can be applied to all sorts of things... like many of our words, it has multiple meanings and applications. :-\
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The most common meaning of "dud" here is something that doesn't work as it should. (e.g. a bomb that is dropped but does not explode is a dud)
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my book says
Duds used to mean your good clothes but changed to tattered old clothes during the 17th centuary when cast offs were put on scarecrows "dudmen". In the 19thC dud became a word to descrive anything anything counterfeit, ineffective or fraudulent. In WW1 dud was widely used for uxbs
Dud now refers to anything that is lower than our expectations
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Yes, it can be applied to all sorts of things... like many of our words, it has multiple meanings and applications. :-\
Oh Maggi, that doen't sound Scottish..... much too expensive! :-* ;D
Next problem caused by Mark: In WW1 dud was widely used for uxbs? maybe Buxus..? 8)
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uxbs = unexploded bombs
But Luit mentioning Buxus reminds me that I keep hearing of Buxus that is sick or dyingin the UK... I think it is a disease, rather than weather ( though I cannot remember the name of the disease at present!) ......is this happening all over Europe ? I mean is the disease of Buxus happening, not me forgetting!
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Well Maggi, I have seen some green topiary which possibly looked like uxsb.
But you will know also that I was teasing Mark a little.
And by writing in a strange language and asking about word, you learn the most isn't it?
By the way I noticed that I suddenly a Full member. Time for a party. You are invited ofcourse!
I'm always wondering why the smaller pieces are for me, :( :o
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ummm Apple Tart but where is the sauce Anglais?
Buxus are dying all over the place from a blight of some sort
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Sorry Mark, that's poison for me, but I could whipp a little for you, or don't you like it whipped?
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Ooooooooohhhhhh Luuuuuit, Daaaaaarling,
All this talk of whipping has me in a frenzy.
Paddy
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Ooooooooohhhhhh Luuuuuit, Daaaaaarling,
:'( Help.... :'(
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It's OK, Luit, you can relax; just couldn't resist!
Paddy
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pffffffffffffffffffffff ;) :-X
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Hey, Boys, I was a little away, and I see you're celebrating without me! Although I became a 'Full Member' to, and beeing a woman, I have to make the cake!!! ;)
Today it's raining, I don't go out, so I have time. ;D
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Kata! How wonderful.... I'm glad its raining with you so we can share this torte..... cake and flowers, what could be nicer!
It was a lovely day here, so this afternoon I walked with Lily to visit my dear friends Brian and Maureen Wilson, also Forumists. Brian has been in hospital and faces difficult treatment for his illness but remains determined to succeed. They are frustrated at the number of tasks waiting to be done in the garden but I saw only beautiful signs of growth for the Spring to come......especially Helleborus thibetanus which was showing lots of colour and clumping up very well. Brian's brusselsprout crop looks terrific!
I was cheered to hear the happy news of the safe arrival of their second grandchild, a brother for little Anna.
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Hey, Boys, I was a little away, and I see you're celebrating without me! Although I became a 'Full Member' to, and beeing a woman, I have to make the cake!!! ;)
Would take the next flight, but my "Master" said: too much cream on it. Sorry :-[
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Just realised.....what a perfect spot for a stag do!
Absolutely staggering!
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Kata and Luit, you are now both fully qualified members of the Scottish Rock Garden Cake and Cooking Club. Well done. Yours latest efforts look quite delicious. :)
Maggi, I believe you are closely associated with the Show Schedule. I can see a time in the near future when there will have to be classes for cakes, pies etc. Provision will have to be made for overseas members to have their entries couriered to the venue. Judges of course will want to sample each.
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I volunteer! :P
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Anne, wait patiently in the queue ;) Besides, what qualifications do you have? You look a bit thin to me. ???
Lesley, another excellent Idea, and one which I am sure will find favour with the Pudsley Piglets, also.
Luit and Vroni ( who I suspect may have been responsible for Luit's yummy offering) already have attended an Aberdeen show, so they will know their own way here.... though of course, they are most welcome here, with or without cakes and pies!! 8)
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Maggie
Show Schedules are already printed. Do you need an insert for the new section at Aberdeen 2008 ;D
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Luit and Vroni ( who I suspect may have been responsible for Luit's yummy offering) already have attended an Aberdeen show, so they will know their own way here.... though of course, they are most welcome here, with or without cakes and pies!! 8)
Maggi, we will seriously think about this. :-\ And yes, this yummi was a Dutch one with Austrian flair ;)
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5 pages of moaning, discussions on eating children (see comment elsewhere) and now we're into poisoning and S&M!! :o What is this place I have returned to? You're all on something!!!!!! ::)
;D
Cakes look darn nice though!!!! Hungry now!!
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Were we eating children? I must have missed that one. Who's the big bad wolf then?
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Yeah, someone commented they couldn't eat a whole one in one sitting, or something like that. Probably Anthony I'd guess, but you never know.
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Actually, it was Paddy.... in the "What could be catching the imagination of...." thread. Still sounds like something Anthony would say!! ;D
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Funnily enough, it is something I say all the time... I like children but i couldn't eat a whole one.... I think Paddy and Co. are right, it is a quote from W.C. Fields... he, who would, on the whole, rather be in Philadelphia.... (as he said on his deathbed)
Note from SRGC: The SRGC does not now suggest, nor has it ever sanctioned, the ingestion of minors.
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Funnily enough, it is something I say all the time... I like children but i couldn't eat a whole one.... I think Paddy and Co. are right, it is a quote from W.C. Fields... he, who would, on the whole, rather be in Philadelphia.... (as he said on his deathbed)
And who also said he never drank water (only booze) because "fish f*** in it."
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I've just finished reading a particularly gruesome thriller set in Philadelphia and I'm not absolutely sure that I WOULD rather be in Ph..., as I probably won't say on my deathbed.
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2 inches 5 cm of rain here today and now there's a hard frost outside
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A frost ??? whats that - We can almost do without the central heating down here :P
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I've had a busy day so did not get to work with the camera as I had hoped. This morning lots of my rhodos were looking VERY unhappy... leaves down and rolled up tight. On checking the thermometer I saw that is was around minus 5 degress C.... had been down to about minus seven... I would have thought by the state of my rhodos that it had actually been colder than that... they have perked up a little now, but I'll get pix tomorrow if it is bright enough and post them in the Rhodo section.
Flippin' perishing here..very overcast now, there may well be snow about tonight.
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Today started with -2oC on my journey to school but buy 4 p.m. on my way home it was 4oC. Builders still working away and here are some pics taken at the weekend, two weeks into the project.
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Mmm....scaffolding in the rockery and on the troughs..... :'(
Can't think what possessed you to get it done at this time of year.... it even LOOKS cold.
The ground floor extension was already there, this is just to go above that, right? What extra rooms are you getting?
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At the far end downstairs a utility room, hence the redesign for the garage. Upstairs two kids bedrooms and a pseudo Jack and Jill ensuite (access from corridoor, not each room). To make access through, the two existing back bedrooms will become a large bedroom/study and a passage through. Designed by my friend Alan Murray (Murray & Murray Design Studio) and built by the delightful Charles of Aspen Construction, Falkirk.
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Be nice when it's done ;D
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Did I tell you about next door's extension which took a year? ::)
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Charles reckons 6 weeks tops. The roof gets tiled this week and he plans to finish the floors on Friday. The inside structure in the new part is already done! He starts a new job in Bridge of Allan on Monday as he can then rotate skills as and when needed between the two sites.
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This fellow Charles is certainly a good man to know... pity he is so far away! Would that he could have been hired for next door!
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a very balmy 15C/60F here today. This morning at 8am all the Crocus and galanthus were open
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Yes Mark, the weather is barmy! ::)
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A cup of winter :)
(http://photofile.ru/photo/olga_bond/2177562/large/74111371.jpg)
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Barmy and balmy it is! Once again hardly light all day here with continuous thin drizzle (of the type that, Peter Kay would say 'wets you through' ((Peter Kay is an English comedian)) ) and temperatures upto 13C. A little frost at some stage, even for a couple of days would help.
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My lawn is just pure glar today as it rained most of the day and temperatures reached double figures!
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Olga, what a super picture. 8)
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A cup of winter :)
(http://photofile.ru/photo/olga_bond/2177562/large/74111371.jpg)
Lovely photo, Olga. You have a good eye for creative shots.
David, I never thought I'd say this but I miss the frosts too! It just isn't winter without them - just one long dreary cloudy autumn. I want some winter sun and a bit of cold!
Anthony, what's glar? And re. the earlier haggis and whisky post, I assume Friday is Burns' night?
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You beat me to the draw on the Olga photo compliment by nine seconds, Maggi! 8) (sorry, I know I'm a nerd but I checked the posting times) :-\
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Martin, it's not just me that misses the frost, my Auriculas miss it just as much!
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Heard the other day we have the lowest clouds this winter out of all of Europe and all because the Jet Stream is too far south
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Martin, it's not just me that misses the frost, my Auriculas miss it just as much!
And as I mentioned in a snowdrop thread, my snowdrop seeds aren't germinating because they're not getting enough cold. And all the 'drops in the garden are coming up too fast, too thin and etoilated and falling over because there's no winter sun. :-\
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Glar is very sticky mud.
Yes, Friday is Burns Night. James is reading this poem to his P7 class tomorrow:
Address to the Toothache
(Written when Burns was grievously tormented by that disorder)
My curse upon the venom’d stang,
That shoots my tortured gums alang:
And through my lugs gies mony a twang,
Wi’ gnawing vengeance;
Tearing my nerves wi’ bitter pang,
Like racking engines!
When fevers burn, or ague freezes,
Rheumatics gnaw, or cholic squeezes;
Our neighbour’s sympathy may ease us,
Wi’ pitying moan:
But thee – thou hell o’ a’ diseases,
Aye mocks our groan!
Adown my beard the slavers trickle!
I kick the wee stools o’er the mickle,
As round the fire the giglets keckle,
To see me loup;
While raving mad, I wish a heckle
Were in their doup.
Of a’ the numerous human dools,
Ill hairsts, daft bargains, cutty-stools,
Or worthy friends raked I’ the mools,
Sad sight to see!
The tricks o’ knaves, or fash o’ fools,
Thou bear’st the gree.
Where’er that place be priest ca’ hell,
Whence a’ the tones o’ misery yell,
And ranked plagues their numbers tell,
In dreadfu’ raw,
Thou, Toothache, surely bear’st the bell
Amang them a’!
O thou grim mischief-making chiel,
That gars the notes of discord squeal,
Till daft mankind aft dance a reel
In gore a shoe thick.
Gie a’ the faes o’ Scotland’s weal
A towmond’s toothache!
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Anthony,
Do you HAVE to put gibberish up here on the forum? At least you could run a spell checker through it!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ::)
I can muddle through some of it, but my brain started to hurt (even more than usual) after just a short while!! ::)
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"Glar is very sticky mud."
What a great word--and useful to all us folks...
Do you glare at glar when you come upon it?
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Anthony,
Do you HAVE to put gibberish up here on the forum? At least you could run a spell checker through it!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ::)
I can muddle through some of it, but my brain started to hurt (even more than usual) after just a short while!! ::)
Philistine ::)
"Glar is very sticky mud."
What a great word--and useful to all us folks...
Do you glare at glar when you come upon it?
No, you usually skite in it. :P
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Here in the North East, glar turns into glaur... a much stickier version of dubs (mud) .... by the time you next visit Scotland, Carlo, you'll be fluent!
Anthony forgot to mention that, having had the misfortune to "skite in the glaur, you'll lickly feenish up tapsalteerie"
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Skite? The only definition I can find for that one is "splash or splatter". In the case it would be the glar that's doing the skiting--although if glar is sticky and slimey it's not likely to skite.
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I'll glare at glar and glower at glauer...
I LOVED my only day in Scotland--and can't wait to visit for a longer stay...
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skite in the glaur, you'll lickly feenish up tapsalteerie
When you slide in the mud you're likely to end up head over heels.... ::)
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Anthony,
Do you HAVE to put gibberish up here on the forum? At least you could run a spell checker through it!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ::)
I can muddle through some of it, but my brain started to hurt (even more than usual) after just a short while!! ::)
Philistine ::)
Nah, I'm an Australian actually!! ;D
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'Philistine !'
Nah, I'm an Australian actually!!
From what I see of Australian soap operas ( which amounts only to the odd trailer for a programme...)
the two are synonymous, aren't they? ::) ;)
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Whew! Thanks Maggi...
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Maggi,
Ouch!!!!! :o
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Maggi, Ouch!!!!!
Sorry, Paul, I didn't mean not to be a good NEIGHBOUR :P
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You have got to remember though..... it is more popular in the UK than it is here in Australia. Says more about you guys than us!! ::)
;D
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Thanks Maggi and Martin!
After month of moaning we’ve got a true winter! Hope your weather will please you soon.
(http://photofile.ru/photo/olga_bond/2015606/large/73996049.jpg)
(http://photofile.ru/photo/olga_bond/2177562/small/74111374.jpg) (http://photofile.ru/photo/olga_bond/2177562/small/74111372.jpg) (http://photofile.ru/photo/olga_bond/2177562/small/74111373.jpg) (http://photofile.ru/photo/olga_bond/2177562/small/74111375.jpg)
http://photofile.ru/users/olga_bond/2177562/74111374/#mainImageLink
http://photofile.ru/users/olga_bond/2177562/74111372/#breadcr
http://photofile.ru/users/olga_bond/2177562/74111373/#breadcr
http://photofile.ru/users/olga_bond/2177562/74111375/#breadcr
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Beautiful shots, Olga!
I cannot speak for Martin, but I know I never seem to be content with the weather......is this a British thing ? Or a gardening thing? Who knows ! :P
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It's a gardening thing Maggi! Weather can’t satisfy gardeners! :)
Drivers want warm weather without snow.
Children want strong frosts to stay at home.
Greengrocers hate frosts.
Gardeners like moderate frosts with much snow.
What Got can do with this? :)
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Skite? The only definition I can find for that one is "splash or splatter". In the case it would be the glar that's doing the skiting--although if glar is sticky and slimey it's not likely to skite.
"Skite" (to skite) is used in NZ and perhaps in Aust, instead of "boast." One might skite about the superb condition of one's Dionysia (if one had one worth skiting about. :()
Olga's pic is stunning, and talking about good pics, is there any news anywhere 'bout the AGS Online show?
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is there any news anywhere 'bout the AGS Online show?
Yes, the results are out ...
http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/servlet/onlineshowservlet?command=visitshow&sitearea=onlineshow&category=2007
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Anthony, I wondered what http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr would make of Burns' poem. I put in the first 2 verses, but since they don't have a Scottish to English option, I translated it from 'English' to German and then back again. This is what it came up with:
My after curse venom'd stang, this entry threads my tormented rubber alang: And by my beginnings of gies mony twang, Wi ' Zerfressen vengeance; My nerves wi violently tear up ' bitter Pang, how Rackingmaschinen! If burn fever or freeze ague, Rheumatics zerfressen or cholic pressing; Sympathy of our Nachbars can facilitate us, for Wi ' regretting Aechzen: But thee - Thouhoelle O ' A ' diseases, scoffs our Aechzen!
I think I understand that better than the original... :-[
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"Skite" (to skite) is used in NZ and perhaps in Aust, instead of "boast." One might skite about the superb condition of one's Dionysia (if one had one worth skiting about.
In this sense skite is an abbreviation of blatherskite. And nobody has mentioned 'skite-the-gutter', where skite has a very different derivation.
Never leave home without a dictionary of slang.
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Looks pretty much like gobbledegook to me? Skite is just a Scots version of skate.
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Anne, I think if you put that to music you are a dead cert to win the next Eurovision song contest ;D
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is there any news anywhere 'bout the AGS Online show?
Yes, the results are out ...
That's good, I don't think they were there when I looked yesterday or Wednesday.... :'(
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If the path is 'skitey' (how would you spell that?) then it is bloody slippery, watch your feet.
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That's good, I don't think they were there when I looked yesterday or Wednesday.... :'(
yesterday WAS Wednesday I think ;D
But maybe your heart is in NZ where it's already tomorrow :'(
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Diane, you may well be right... I mean, of course, you ARE correct... yesterday WAS Wednesday... I meant about my heart.......... :-\
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Diane, you may well be right... I mean, of course, you ARE correct... yesterday WAS Wednesday... I meant about my heart.......... :-\
Ah! the romance is still there :-[
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David,
Nah, she's just expecting him to bring her some chocolate home, that's all!! ;D ;)
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I remember my dad telling me a story about two bloke leaving a certain establishment (probably the Pack Horse in Dalton?) when they heard a noise. "What's that?" exclaimed one. "It's an owl" replied the other. "I know it's an 'owl, but what's 'owlin'?" said the first. :P
Well, it's certainly 'owling around here today. Gales, driving rain and floods. Certainly won't be a braw bricht moon licht nicht the nicht!
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I remember my dad telling me a story about two bloke leaving a certain establishment (probably the Pack Horse in Dalton?) when they heard a noise. "What's that?" exclaimed one. "It's an owl" replied the other. "I know it's an 'owl, but what's 'owlin'?" said the first. :P
Well, it's certainly 'owling around here today. Gales, driving rain and floods. Certainly won't be a braw bricht moon licht nicht the nicht!
Owls about that then, as Jimmy Savile might have said! ::)
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On quite a few days of last week we had fairly strong winds from the South (our prevailing wind direction is South West) on some evenings we had rain and the following day cars, house windows, and greenhouses were covered with a sandy deposit. This topic cropped up in the local press and our local TV weatherman (who normally forecasts the weather to be the exact opposite of what turns out!) says it was as a result of strong winds in the Sahara desert and low pressure systems sucking up sand, to be then deposited all over my nice clean car. I seem to notice that this happens regularly these days when the wind is in the South.
Has anyone else in the UK noticed this phenomenon, and has anyone in Europe (not that we aren't in Europe of course! ;D ) noticed it?
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Has anyone else in the UK noticed this phenomenon, and has anyone in Europe (not that we aren't in Europe of course! ) noticed it?
Not this time, David. But it happens several times every year.
The windows in the house and the cars outside are full of dust then.
These days winds are more from the West.
Luit
P.s.I like your expression for an islander. ;D
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It didnt happen here but we did discuss it last year
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It happened in a big way a couple of years ago I think, with plumes of hot air from the tropics carrying the Saharan dust up to us - mostly happens in Summer, but we don't seem to have Summers and Winters any more in southern England!
Apparently, the Sahara is what keep the oceans supplied with the nutrients to keep life going - each year umpteen squillion tons of dust from the Sahara is blown into the Atlantic, where the nutrients dissolve and travel around the other oceans on the currents.
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- each year umpteen squillion tons of dust from the Sahara is blown into the Atlantic
I am reminded of a (perhaps) apocryphal quote from GW. Donald Rumsfeld is supposed to have interrupted in a meeting in the Oval Office saying that 3 Brazilian soldiers had been ambushed in Iraq. GW then asked DR to remind him how many a brazillion was. ::)
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:D :D :D :D :D
By the way David, we do get this desertsand as well out here on some occasions - mostly in Summer.
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I was contemplating having a wee moan about the worsening weather until I saw a TV report about the situation in China with all that snow and then saw lorries being blown off theroad and a man killed on the M62..... so, I now consider myself very fortunate and I have no moans to make. :-X
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There is a hellebore flower on the lawn this morning having been blown off its stalk overnight!
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My garage door (leaning up agaist our house and destined for the skip) blew over for the fifth time last night!
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thankfully all panes still in the glass house, never know when to use glass/green/alpine, this morning. Actually one louvre pane managed to break. The noise yesterday was terrifying. The rattles could be heard in the house through double glazing. Today is now bright sun, some snow over night and a slight breeze. A good day for photography and I'm not at work
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Bah
Today is now bright sun, some snow over night and a slight breeze. A good day for photography and I'm not at work
here at work in Newcastle it's been snowing since midmorning and there is an icy wind blowing from all directions at once so which ever way you face the snow gets in your eyes >:(
the weekend forecast is not much better, still at least nothing has blown away so far!
It will get better soon I hope
Sue
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Just had a snow/hail storm here. Yesterday the wind and rain were so heavy that I could not see the river bank 1/2 mile away !
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Just came along the promenade from Cleveleys to Blackpool and saw the ship that had run aground. Fortunately all passengers and crew were taken off by helicopter. Puts the 2 panes of glass blown out of my alpine house into sharp perspective.
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Had two siskins on my peanuts today in all this weather. We have never had them here in our garden before, tho SGill says she has seen them at her place not far from here. Lovely little things....
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JoF and the run-aground ferry...... what was that ferry captain thinking about , going out in that weather...I think all the Scottish Ferries had cancelled long since....... :-\
Siskins are one of Ian's favourites birds but they are here only occasionally nowadays. In past years we would get a few pairs over long periods. Only seeing a Brambling and the Blackcaps once in a blue moon, too. Very sad. Spotted something I didn't recognise the other day and still haven't worked out what it was.... perhaps if I cleaned the windows ?........ :-[
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I'd wait until its a bit warmer if I were you, Maggi....
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Chris, the muck is mostly inside.... :P :-[
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We are covered in a couple of inches of snow.
Masses of Siskins in N Ireland. If the snow keeps up expect more in to gardens and maybe Waxwings
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I can tell you it is HOT HOT HOT in Christchurch NZ where I am spending the day taking in the art galleries.
I have had wonderful trips into the mountains and hope to post lots of pics when I return to bonnie scotland.
I hate to say it but I miss you all as I only get brief snatches of the internet when possible.
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neI iH. I'm trying to type Hi Ian upside down so he can read it without having to stand on his head. ::) I suppose wandering round those misty mountains in New Zealand could become hobbit forming, if it wasn't for the yearning to be back in the auld country? ;) I bet you've had a fanastic time? Us archchair, 'SAD' gardeners could do with some of your sunshine so send us some more pics via the interweb please. :)
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Only 2 mins left Anthony, I will bring sun and pics home for you.
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Anthony,
Our technology is sufficient down here in teh Southern Hemisphere that it automatically converts to upside down for us to read..... otherwise how would we be reading everything else you write? Hmmmm... there goes my excuse to ignore everything you say, just because it is the wrong way up. Dang, should have thought of that earlier! ::)
;D
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I can tell you it is HOT HOT HOT in Christchurch NZ where I am spending the day taking in the art galleries.
Not really cold here but the first snow for my region.
Gerd
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We had -2oC last night, but only a peppering of snow.
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now that the sun is up the snow is melting fast here
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No snow here all day yesterday, just cold and wet. Pond has frozen over again overnight.
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It was minus 7 degrees C when I went outside to take some pix at nine am. Flippin' perishin' !
I 've got some pix of very cold rolled rhododendron leaves. Will post when I've thawed out... this may be in some months' time!!
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Any sign of the post man/woman?
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...and today was the day our combi boiler decided to go on strike! Yikes. Huddled up in front of our ancient electric fire til the gas man comes brrrrrrrr
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No snow here all day yesterday, just cold and wet. Pond has frozen over again overnight.
My pond is three feet deep and the water pumped through a box filter so it never freezes over.
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Still very cold here, though bright enough... been busy with visitor.... postie came nearer 1pm... Yeah! Slovak chocolate! Yummy! Thanks, Mark!! Off now to take Lily for a walk while its still sunny...fortified by choc! Me, not lil!
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Hey, Maggie!
Hi ye off to Blackpool immediatly. It seems that the beach is thick with packets of McVities chocolate biscuits ;D. From the grounded ferry.
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Hey, Maggie!
Hi ye off to Blackpool immediatly. It seems that the beach is thick with packets of McVities chocolate biscuits ;D. From the grounded ferry.
Mmmmm! Soggy salty chocolate biccies with just a dash of radioactive particles from Sellafield. Remember to take a flask of tea for dunking. And a gieger counter. :)
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Hey, Maggie!
Hi ye off to Blackpool immediatly. It seems that the beach is thick with packets of McVities chocolate biscuits ;D. From the grounded ferry.
Mmmmm! Soggy salty chocolate biccies with just a dash of radioactive particles from Sellafield. Remember to take a flask of tea for dunking. And a gieger counter. :)
Makes it easier to find 'em in the dark!
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Now Lads, I'm desperate, but not THAT desperate... besides, since the arrival of Mark's Slovak choccy bar today, I do not feel the need to salvage radioactive soggy salty biccies! Very nice this choc from Mark
is was, too! :D
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No snow here but the side blew out of one of my greenhouses so spent the afternoon in the freezing cold sunshine replacing the glass. We are only 15 miles from the stranded ship so not surprising really.
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Strong winds and for the last three hours torrential rain. For those of you in the UK who haven't had it yet it's on it's way?
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Strong winds and for the last three hours torrential rain. For those of you in the UK who haven't had it yet it's on it's way?
We had it this morning and early afternoon - seems to have calmed down now. Not good for carnival :(
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Still very windy here but I think the rain may have eased enough to take Lily out briefly. Heating has gone to sleep so it won't be that much colder outside! I'm off... see you tomorrow!
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Today was a really good day, bright and sunny... it even got up to 5 degress c.... positively balmy!
It was perfect for me, because I spent most of the day lifting leaves from the back garden and if it had been any warmer I'd have melted! :-X
When the BD went away, the place was looking quite neat, most of the fallen leaves had already been hoovered up by Ian and his trusty leaf vacuum... but, in the meantime, the Cotoneasters have got round to shedding their leaves and the wholegarden was a real mess ... I thought I'd better get it tidied up a bit for the return of the master... I felt a bit like a teenager, frantically cleaning up the empty beer cans from under the sofa before the parents get home :-[.....(no, no need to worry about THAT in the house.... recycling collection was yesterday!! ::))
Was amazed at the amount of leaves I collected...... I use a big green cylindrical hopper/bag thing which, full of wet leaves ( and they were wet, very wet) weighs about the same as a bag of bird seed... that 20 kgs now.... so I reckon each load was 15-20 kgs .....must have heaved more than ten bags full to the leaf pile.....it was about knee high when I started and now its taller than I am and I gave it a squash down as I built.
I was pleased to find lots of signs of growth which were being hidden by the depth of leaves..... more snowdrops and crocus and shoots of Corydalis. Best find was an Erythronium caucasicum in flower.....if it is sunny tomorrow, it may open its flower to welcome the BD home.... that would be grand !
When I finished my leaf blitz, I took Lily for a walk... she was kindly keeping me company while I worked but she prefers to go out for a walk rather than sit and watch someone move leaves about....when we went out I soon discovered how sheltered our back garden is... I had thought it a really pleasant day but it was marred "out front" by a biting wind... our walk was rather brief! :-[
Seems calm now, not much wind, so we'll go out now to see if we fare a little better this time... besides, in the dark I can wear my balaclava and not scare so many people. 8)
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Hi Maggi,
I too have been moving debris out of the way, and discovered a number of things popping up in this mild spell. The noses of the leaves of my Trillium rivale are at ground level, and almost all of my snowflakes are now showing white flowers in bud. The L. vernum is in full flower, the ones I got at last year's Dunblane event, it is so nice to see them all. And I found things I had quite forgotten I'd planted out too - including the Erythronium 'White Beauty' that I got from Ron at last year's Hexham Show. Foliage only yet, but I bet the flowers will come soon if this warm spell keeps up. Hope Ian arrives back safe and sound soon....
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a huge 15C here today. Leucojums in full flower now including Paul Christian's Podpolje which isnt as desribed. It's never been yellow tipped
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Chris, the Bulb Despot has landed! He is safely home and retired about half an hour ago to bed.... barely made it up the stairs! He has had the most marvelous time... cannot speak highly enough about the kindness shown to him and the fabulous scenery and flowers.
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Glad all's well .... jet lag for a half world trip will be several days I suspect. Don't be surprised if the BD gets up in the middle of the night demanding his dinner or lunch....
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So very pleased to hear Ian is safely hope to your loving arms Maggi. Let him sleep as long as he can (do tell me to teach my Granny, if you wish) and jetlag shouldn't be a problem. Then give him my very best wishes and kindest regards.
Lesley
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Ian "switched" to Singapore time as soon as he boarded the plane in Christchurch and then to UK time in Singapore .... I think that's what he said?? And he slept reasonably well on both flights, as he did on the way out. Not worth sleeping on the last hop from London! He wanted to keep awake till a reasonable UK hour, and the back of eight was a close approximation for him... he's only up until ten pm a few days a week at the best of times ! Sleep is something he has always been good at. He walked along for a swim this afternoon and we went out with lily this evening so he's had some fresh air.
Heard from Finn, who is coming round to normal again... he had a sleepless 40 hour journey home... not the most fun for him, though he had had a wonderful time and enjoyed the trip very much. he is hugely enthused about getting cuttings from our NZ plants and seed for Tromso !
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They say it takes a day for every hour difference, but if you give it a couple of days and ease yourself into UK time you can do it much more quickly? Half the UK/World suffers 'jetlag' on a Monday because they sleep late at the weekend!!!
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sleeping late is the best way during dull winter days
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Some of us are just happy to sleep at all! :P
This time difference is so confusing to me.....I checked an online Time zone site... saw that it said what I thought to be the case with times here versus NZ and Singapore.... then tried to square that with what Ian said in his emails or phone calls..... worked okay for NZ but when I tried to make the calculation between NZ/ Singapore and Singapore/UK, then double check that I had got that right by going "backwards"... I was in a fine muddle. Didn't know which way was up. Attempted to clarify my confusion in telephone call with good friend Alan Newton ( who, incidentally, looks a bit like he could be Dave Toole's long lost brother) this only resulted in Alan falling off his end of the phone line in fit of the giggles and his explanations, when he was able to voice them, did not help one jot! In the end I managed to confuse him as well, which was a nice change since it is usually the other way round. :-X
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If Alan and i are alike in looks and he also prone to serious 'fits of giggling' then that confirms it for me Maggie--he surely must my long lost other brother.
Cheers Dave.
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Yes, Dave, I think it must be true. Got a photo somewhere.... bear with me......
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Now then, what do you think.....
[attach=1]
[attach=2]
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perhaps here you'll see it.... he wears strange clothes sometimes, too ::)
[attach=1]
[attach=2]
Alan may carry a little more weight muscle than you do, Dave, but the resemblance is there for me!
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I think you mean a little more
muscle weight, than Dave, Maggi.
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EMMA was here!
Before and during the hurricane (more than 220km/h).
The last pic shows my house before the storm.
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Good heavens Hans, that is shocking. Are you, yourself and your family quite safe and well? And was house damage very bad? I'm assuming there's something left as you still have computer access. But let's have some reassurance please.
On my own behalf, I'm happy to say we've had steady rain for 36 hours and every drop is a blessing. It has been widespread through the whole country but as is always the case, the drought areas which need it most, have received least.
There's a distinct drop in temperature too, and 14 is today's predicted high, down from the 20s and 30s of recent weeks. I think autumn has arrived though there is colour on very few deciduous trees yet. I noticed yesterday that Nothofagus antarctica was speckled with butter yellow instead of solid green.
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Poor Hans, with avalanches and hurricanes, he is the Forumist with the most dangerous life, is he not?
Our best wishes to you and your family, Hans :-*
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Maggi, we are all ok! The house is situated under a rock face and so protected (see the last pic). No problems for us and the garden with the greenhouses. But in the nearby village many roofs were destroved.
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Hans, glad to hear that you did not suffer any damage. We had very strong winds on Friday evening/Saturday morning but I had no idea that they were part of a hurricane.
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Was our high wind due to the hurricane? I was tidying the green house when the wind hit. I was too scared to carry on
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We had high winds last week. I left the GH doors open but no damage. Snow this morning though, and that's after taking the tortoises out of hibernation on Saturday! [They won't be out of doors until the cricket season starts.]
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Hans,
I read the news sunday morning on the internet and I thought of you. To be honest I didn't dare to ask you what happened. I was frightened to hear very bad news or nothing at all which is even worse. Then we had some guests so I sincerelly forgot about it, but now I am so happy to hear you and your family and house are well.
Many people were ruined here in Hungary, but not in Budapest. It's so sad that people go to the Univers but can't do anything against these awful storms (and deseases!).
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Mark, yes it was "EMMA". When I heard the hurricane I was scared and run into my house. The sough of the storm was unbelieveable and the nois of the flying away of the roofs and the falling trees were shocking.
Now we had 3 hurricanes in the last year (Kyrill, Paula and Emma). I am very happy that all is past, have no destructions and can enough my garden again. Today we expect snow.
Hans
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I'm sure everyone has seen this by now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSNnHh0gUAY&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSNnHh0gUAY&feature=related)
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I'm confused. ??? I thought Hans lived in Austria and there is all this talk of hurricanes, which is a Caribbean phenomenon. Have I missed something? :-\
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But we had the famous hurricane that was denied
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Mark, remember coming into Inverness for your first Pitlochry Discussion W/E a couple of years ago!
I think that if I had been on the flight in the video it may well ahve been my last one. Ferries, in Scotland, don't sail if it is too rough.
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Every flight I have flown on this year has been a rough one but Easyjet to Inverness was the worst
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Shocking forecast for NI tomorrow, I should go back to work if I were you!! ;D
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Just looked on Sky weather - frost over night then two days of rain with up to 3"
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Here's a video to blow you away
Golden Eagle v Capercaillie
http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/116233 (http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/116233)
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But we had the famous hurricane that was denied
Denied in advance, but though the winds were 'hurricane force' it wasn't a hurricane.
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but though the winds were 'hurricane force' it wasn't a hurricane.
Strictly speaking that may be correct but as regards, "Emma": try telling that to Hans and his neighbours :o :P :(
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Maggi, it seems you 'East coasters' have been doing fairly well weatherwise of late?
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Not too bad here on the glorious east, David! My thanks at this point to the local tourist board for their generous sponsorship of this post ;)
The gales have been pretty horrible at times and some snow and hard frosts too but bright enough days and no ghastly damage, so I suppose we mustn't complain. :-\
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Here's a video to blow you away
Golden Eagle v Capercaillie
http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/116233 (http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/116233)
That is awsome. 8) Is there a 'what happened next'?
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Was that 2 male capercaillie? If so it was very nice of the sparring partner to defend him. Maggi, if you are watching, I'll get the hang of this eventually.
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Anne, yes two male Capercaillie at a lek and unfortunately, Anthony, no follow up
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Just a fascinating film..... I reckoned the only reason the second male stood up for his opponent was because he was so fired up for a fight anyway that he was never going to let the eagle duff up HIS rival, that was HIS job!
Watched a couple of times to try to understand exactly what went on... thought at first that caper the eagle first pounced on was no too badly hurt, since at a copule of points he seemd to be fighting back and sitting up quite strongly, then after the eagle got truly annoyed at the second caper and pounced on him instead, and those two fluttered a little way to the right, I thought that there was just aglimpse of the first caper still lying on the ground, not moving, in the very far left of the frame.... so, sadly, I suspect that the end score was eagle two, capers nil. I just hopethe eagle atethem both.
Ironic when we keep hearing of capers being killed by flying into low fences etc, that two of them can manage to fall foul ( no pun intended) on one other bird .... not much wonder theyare few in number!
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Impressive stuff. A male caper is a huge bird - turkey sized. I remember seeing one flying through the trees on Inchcailloch (an Island on Loch Lomond where I did an honours project on spiders). The trees seem to move out of the way! :o
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We had high winds last week. I left the GH doors open but no damage. Snow this morning though, and that's after taking the tortoises out of hibernation on Saturday! [They won't be out of doors until the cricket season starts.]
I'm very impressed that the tortoises go out to play cricket, or do they just watch?
Such a shame about the timid end to the England v NZ test match a couple of hours ago. ;D ;D ;D The brightest spot in England's performance over 5 days was Sidebottom's hat trick. The last test hat trick bowled in NZ was 78 years ago.
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We had high winds last week. I left the GH doors open but no damage. Snow this morning though, and that's after taking the tortoises out of hibernation on Saturday! [They won't be out of doors until the cricket season starts.]
Such a shame about the timid end to the England v NZ test match a couple of hours ago. ;D ;D ;D The brightest spot in England's performance over 5 days was Sidebottom's hat trick. The last test hat trick bowled in NZ was 78 years ago.
It takes a Yorkshireman....... ;D
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who plays for nottinghamshire
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who plays for nottinghamshire
Only just seen the result Mick, we could have done with 11 Yorkshiremen playing and two Yorkshire umpires! No doubt Lesley will be rubbing it in later ;D By the way, he is actually doing missionary work in Notts.
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any of you kind souls who are not too busy looking at what's in bloom in your garden today *could* come over quickly please and help shovel me out of my house (last snow storm of the season, I hope, and what mighty one, it was, 36 hours later)...
after realizing I could not get out of the house (all doors barred by snow), and windows not of the style to allow crawling through), I had to call a friend to come and help....or be trapped indoors until melt-down....
i have plenty of food, and gardening books, and the computer...so i suppose i would be fine... ;)
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Kristl, I even have my snow shovel ready at my door..... I am just rather busy this week.... will your supplies last till next week? Dear me, I would so liked to have helped you out... literally!!
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we could have done with 11 Yorkshiremen playing and two Yorkshire umpires! No doubt Lesley will be rubbing it in later ;D
But there were several Yorkshiremen in the team David. Only the one made much impression. One or two may not live to fight another day. :'(
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Not good Kristl. I hope you got out OK?
To all in the UK..... I hear reports on our news that you guys are bracing for extreme weather. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but obviously it is expected to be a nasty blow if they're issuing extreme weather warnings!!?
Good luck all!!
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Can someone explain weather systems to me please. We have a very calm day here so far. How can there be massive gales a few hundred miles away?
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Pretend the system is an aeroplane Mark. It's way out there in the Atlantic, flying towards Northern Ireland. Eventually, it gets there.
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But it's battering the UK already. I'm looking out at blue sky just now.
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But it's battering the UK already. I'm looking out at blue sky just now.
You should be so lucky! It's 0915 here, black as night and a howling gale. It's wonderful how weather changes in the UK in realatively short distances
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Just a slight breeze here. Fingers and toes crossed for later
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Its been raining in Yorkshire all morning, wind picking up now.
who plays for nottinghamshire
Only just seen the result Mick, we could have done with 11 Yorkshiremen playing and two Yorkshire umpires! No doubt Lesley will be rubbing it in later ;D By the way, he is actually doing missionary work in Notts.
He must be on an exchange scheme with me then David.
Mick (missionary from Notts educating northern hill tribes) :) :) :)
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I'm very impressed that the tortoises go out to play cricket, or do they just watch?
Actually the tortoises should be afraid, very afraid, as they seem to be shiny on one side!
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Mick (missionary from Notts educating northern hill tribes) :) :) :)
Clearly the missionary position in Yorkshire is similar to that in Scotland. ::)
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Mick (missionary from Notts educating northern hill tribes) :) :) :)
Clearly the missionary position in Yorkshire is similar to that in Scotland. ::)
;D ;D
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Mark,you are in the eye of the storm, look at the weather map.
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Actually the tortoises should be afraid, very afraid, as they seem to be shiny on one side!
I'd be handing them over to Vettori then. ;D
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Mark may have it calm in Northern Ireland but here in the south we have had weather, really rough, wet and windy weather leading to the river breaking its banks and flooding the fields between it and our road and also flooding the road. When I went out at 7.30a.m. the water was too deep to walk through, well above the tops of my wellies before I got anyway into the road at all. Getting out was impossible so I had to take a day off work and stay at home instead.
Here are a few photographs to show you the situation:
1. Looking down the drive, road flooded, field on other side of ditch flooded, riverside levee barely visible.
2. Looking left from the front gate, road flooded - those red and white posts were put in by local construction company to stop employees constantly reversing into dykes and getting stuck there, too much work time lost rather than worry about the damage caused was their motivation.
3. Looking right from the front gate.
4. Looking into the field between us and the river.
5. At least someone enjoyed the water! This is my delightful dog, Sid, who is the gentlest animal imaginable but who savages postmen and anyone else who happens to come into our garden, or passes by on the road, or drives past on the road or even looks in our direction. A perfect country dog in other words, keeps the house safe.
Paddy
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Sid does look a happy chap. I am pleased to see the way your drive slopes UP from the roadway and all that water, Paddy. Flooding is a terrible thing in a house.
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Maggi,
That slope is essential. The water level has been two to three feet higher on occasion. Today's flooding was due to high tides and high winds. When heavy rain is added to these two conditions the situation is far worse.
Sid is a happy dog indeed, excellent company in the garden where he always lies beside me while I work and also an excellent time-keeper as he starts crying when it is time for a walk.
Paddy
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The winds have just arrived within the last hour
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Very strong winds here again at the moment along with particularly high tides. Fortunately we have not had any significant rain so while we may have flooding it will be related to tiide times and will be gone by the morning. High tide is in about an hour's time.
Paddy
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Horrendous day here yesterday with 80mph winds and driving rain. Being about 15 miles inland we missed the worst of the wind, and being 400 feet up it would have to be a hell of a flood ;D Garden fences held though after spending an arm and a leg on new ones last year. Everything in my front garden which is open to winds from the South West was flattened. Still pretty windy today with frequent heavy showers.
Looks as though those of you in Ireland and Scotland are getting it tonight.
I'm looking for better weather for our visit to Wisley on Thursday.
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We've been seeing pictures on TV of the flooding and the terrible seas, especially along the south coast. We're all thinking of you and hoping all will be well.
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And 35'C here yesterday, which is rather warm for March. fter not even hitting 30'C in February (normally our warmest month) we've had a number of days over 30'C in March now, and another 4 or 5 still forecast. Not much fun, particularly for those plants already confused about the coolFeb and thinking it is autumn. The paddocks and lawns around here have all toasted brown in the last week, after staying unusually green for Feb. We could do with some good rain! ::)
Still.... could be worse. Adelaide (capital of South Australia) has had 9 days straight over 35'C, a record for March for them. Still a few more days of high temps forecast as well. They've been up around 38 to 40'C each day. Didn't enjoy our 35'C yesterday, but would have far less enjoyed the last week in Adelaide. They've also been 47 days without any rain at all, so very hot and very dry!!
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Fairly calm here last couple of days.
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It's probably signs of advancing years, but I can remember much worse gales in the west of Scotland 40/50 years ago. Yes, the gales were bad recently but no worse than in previous years. The residents of the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland would probably rate wind speeds of 80/90 mph as a standard feature in Winter. I think that the media like to hype up the story for their own ends. It was almost portrayed as the end of civilization with reporters standing on the sea fronts telling us how awful it was. If the wind had been really fierce they would have been blown away.
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Here are some weather stats for February
Scotland
Temperature: Average of 4.2°C which is 2.2 °C above the 1961-1990 average. Warmest February since 1998.
Rain: 162.4 mm which is 154% of the 1961-1990 average.
Sunshine: 84.2 hours, which is 131% of the 1961-1990 average.
N Ireland
Temperature: Average of 5.5 °C which is 1.8 °C above the 1961-1990 average.
Rain: 58.6 mm which is 72% of the 1961-1990 average.
Sunshine: 86.4 hours which is 135% of the 1961-1990 average.
England
Temperatue: Average of 4.9 °C which is 1.9 °C above the 1961-1990 average
Rain: 82.9 mm which is 105% of the 1961-1990 average.
Sunshine: 109.0 hours which is 167% of the 1961-1990 average. Sunniest Feb since 1970
Wales - any forum members in Wales?
Temperature: Average of 5.0 °C which is 1.7 °C above the 1961-1990 average
Rain: 83.1 mm which is 79% of the 1961-1990 average
Sunshine: 115.8 hours which is 178% of the 1961-1990 average. Sunniest Feb since 2004
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It can be seen here http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/2008/february.html (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/2008/february.html)
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Weather here in Imlil 1750 metres above sea level is very hot to the point David and I are reduced to drinknig mint tea at times... no beer of course :)
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I had to Google Imlil to find out where you are - Morocco. Are you plant hunting?
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No freeze here today. We had a very nice 13C
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Happy Easter Greetings :D - start of spring time ???
Around 4hrs ago we had a hefty hale storm with thunder - later turning into snow fall.
After ~1 1/2hrs it was over and ice and snow started melting...
Some impressions I'd like to share with you.
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Where is global warming when you need it ??? ;D
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Global warming ???
The temperature fell from 7°C to 2°C within 10minutes...
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there are some victims :'( (but they will survive) and others feeling not impressed by weather capers
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last ones...
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Oh, dear, and to think I have been complaining about the weather here! :-[
You are not having the Good Friday you might wish for, Armin. I hope that you have had the worst and there is improvement now. :-\
Easter Greetings, nonetheless :D
[attach=1]
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Thanks Maggi,
most people don't work due the national holiday - it is a bit strange atmosphere here today.
After the storm - nobody is visible on the streets, it is unusual silent, much less traffic and noise...
After staying outside for taking the pictures I've warmed up by drinking a cup of hot coffee...
Then, one of the best things to do is to stay inside the house, read and monitior the forum news...
Cheers
Armin
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Oh, dear, and to think I have been complaining about the weather here!
The same for me, Armin. Now I'm glad being here.
When seeing your pictures we were thinking at relatives of ours who were driving back home to Austria in this weather and hope they passed Frankfurt maybe one hour before it started to snow in your place.
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Some pics from this morning
1.+ 2. very early
3. one hour later
Gerd
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Amazing how these plants spring back! They are all tougher than we give them credit for.
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We had some sun, on and off, most of the day but with the kind of Northerly wind that made you feel like being in-doors.
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This has - until now - been the warmest winter in my part of Sweden since mid-eighteenth century when the records started.
Thus I had Galanthus, Leucojum, Helleborus, Iris reticulata, Hepatica, Ypsilandra in flower and the Eranthis nearly over.
This night we had -9°C the Galanthus, Leucojum, Helleborus etc look like overcooked spaghetti (and so does the leaves of my Pteridophyllums) and the Ypsilandra flowers have gone glassy.
:'( :'(.
I wonder what has happend to everything else that has been lured up too early?
It seems that this is not only the warmest winter on record. It is also the latest culmination of winter since 1902.
The combination is not agreeable
Göte
PS
It is assumed that the rest of this week will have temperatures well below zero C.
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Yesterday was a very cold day here with the wind blowing. The actual temperature was 6.5. Today so far a slight wind and quite warm
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Well it is almost April 1st, and here in sunny Bury this is what greeted us this morning. You know snow so late in the season could destroy the Black Pudding crop ::) ::)
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Our snow disappeared with a sunny spell, ice which was trying to form on the pond has also melted now. But the snow showers keep on coming. I can see over to the Cheviots from upstairs, and they are quite white this morning. Once the tree limb is down, I'll be able to see more of them too ;D
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Shelagh, you gonna show us your prize winner from yesterday?
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Hardly worth it Chris, only one 1st and a shower of 2nd's after braving the icy blast and the M62. But since you ask here it is.
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What a little beauty. Bring it to Hexham so I can see it a bit closer..... Well done. We didn't have the snow that has fallen further south, strange eh?
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Last night was the coldest night this winter -17,3°C, and the roe deer have eat mine Crocus, it was a bad night.
Ulla
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Hi Ulla, it sounds much worse than the weather we are having. I see you are near to Gothenburg in Sweden, have you had much snow this winter?
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My part of the world is not only still frozen, but seems frozen in time---the historical record of over 4m of snow was almost broken this year, and if the snow predicted for later this week doesn't turn into rain, the record of 420cm *will* be broken. There are mountains of it everywhere and with nights still around -20C nothing is changing fast.
The only evidence of spring are the critters who have run out of food reserves in their winter hibernation spots and are now being seen making their way through the snow drifts searching. I followed a skunk down to my office the other morning, who had been sniffing around the rear door to my house. These are slow-moving animals at best, but it was like watching a toddler. It tottered in front of me, in my plowed path down the hill, and when it got to the bottom, not knowing where to go, because the path ended, and aware of my presence, decided it had to attempt to climb one of the snow mountains. It was a moment I wish I could have photographed for you---both indearing and hilarious to watch it's slow, persistent and frustrating labour.
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My property, Easter Sunday, 2008.
A picture is worth....
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Hi Shelagh. Very little snow this winter, but a whole lot of rain. Last week we have snow and frost. I wonder how mine Hellebores and Hepaticas looks when the snow melt away. They was in flowering.
Ulla
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Some pics from this morning
1.+ 2. very early
3. one hour later
Gerd
Gerd,
I guess it was the first snow fall this winter in Solingen?
Or shall I say this spring? ::)
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Yes Armin, the first time, indeed.
Our local blackbirds are shocked - they never saw a blanket of snow before!
I don`t know how to post: Is this message ' wildlife ' or ' weather '? ;D ;D ;D
Gerd
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Hello Kristl,
you can proudly say you have a "real" winter with dry frost.
Don't you enjoy any winter sports - skiing, skating ect.?
Overseas here the wheather is so lousy. Christmas was "green" and Easter "white".
My neigbour has a beautiful Magnolia stellata already full in flower - the frost & snow from last two nights turned the flowers from white into wilted brown. :'(
Hallo Gerd,
I can understand the blackbirds - their courtship has been distracted ::)
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I am down! :'( :'(
Due to the weather conditions here with warm and now cold weather and snow the nature runs riot!
Today 2-3 mice have eaten more than 70 (maybe 100) strong buds of my Cypripediums! I am crying! :'(
They ate all Crocus, most Helleborus, Galanthus, Hepatica, Fritillaria,...Only the Trilliums have survived at that place. :'(
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Hans! :o :'( What a catastrophe! You need a BIG, hungry cat!
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Hans,
what a disaster :o :o :o:'( :'( :'(
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Easter in East Germany, much sun and more snow than Christmas!
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More than a month ago our garden looked full of flowers, just like plain Spring, with bees busy with lots of flowers to work at, visitors wearing t-shirts, etc... Since we entered 'real Spring' we're back to the Winter we were spared of this year, with high icy cccccold winds and lots of hail... :-[
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Hans,
I am very sorry for your loss. The mice which ate your plants, were they common house mice?. Were your plants were kept in a greenhouse, or growing in the open ground?.
Since quite a few years we have a very serious, HUGE problem with gophers eating everything eatable (even plastic!) underground. We cannot use chemicals, and plating in cages did not deter these hungry beasts. :'(
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Jose,
I think I have not lost the Cyps becauce the mice ate only the buds and not the rhizomes. Some will flower the next year again - I hope so :)
The Cyps were outside in my garden (Alpinum). The plants in my greenhouses or around were not eaten, There is only a part of my garden with a total destruction of the areal parts of plants. I have seen only 2 eating mice and 2 dead mice. I think they were Haselmäuse (Muscardinus avellanarius) which eat buds, seed, cobnuts and insects. 5 years ago we had in late spring and summer a plague of mice with thousands of mive but with no destruction in the garden! ;)
I hope I can enjoy some Cyps this year and can show pics you again.
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My first Cypripedium flowering ever is occuring right now, with a small pot of C. 'Gisella' (I guess one of the commonest kinds?) with two flower spikes. I was thinking about risking planting her in the open ground, but with these nasty gophers... :-[
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Great to see you here José!!
I'm not sure you really mean gophers, unless they are some strange Basque variety escaped from America ... :D I thought maybe squirrels, but they wouldn't eat things underground, I don't think ... hmmmm
um abraço
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Hi Chloe!,
I don't know if gopher is the right name. They are rodents which live underground at all times, building extensive galleries and nests, eating huge quantities of roots, bulbs and whatever they find pallatable.
In our garden we have to deal with other serious 'pests' such as wildboards, rabbits and red deer, but I assure you these rodents are worst of all! :P
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Hagen,
that's true - more snow than on christmas.
This easter monday morning started with promising blue sky and sunshine until noon time and I thought the bad whether is already over.
Mentally I had just stopped deploring some frost & ice victims.
But I got shocked :o - snowfall again ! Just 1/2hr ago >:(
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OMG Hans i hope all your plants survive (the buds were still emerging, or they were already unfolding?) Is there any chance of flowers this year? Its incredible how our most beloved plants are *precisely* those that pests preferentially choose (and i speak by myself!) This cannot be coincidence!
Jose welcome to the forum! I like your avatar a lot.
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Jose welcome to the forum! I like your avatar a lot.
I like yours too!!! ;D ;D ;D
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Hi Chloe!,
I don't know if gopher is the right name. They are rodents which live underground at all times, building extensive galleries and nests, eating huge quantities of roots, bulbs and whatever they find pallatable.
In our garden we have to deal with other serious 'pests' such as wildboars, rabbits and red deer, but I assure you these rodents are worst of all! :P
Sounds like Arvicola terrestris. This is the "water" vole or rat, an endangered species in the UK where it is much loved through the character "Ratty" in the children's book Wind in the Willows, but a feared garden pest in Europe, including here in Norway where it forms extensive burrows under the snow in winter eating everything in "sight". We've sent you our White-tailed Eagles. Perhaps it's time to start sending our surplus water voles.... ;)
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It is this creature, I am sure, which is the bane of the life of Janis Ruksans..... he has lost many a fine bulb to the predations of this animal ...I have heard him describe just what Stephen says... they travel under the snow and eat everything! :P :o :'(
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Of course, how could I have forgotten! Northern Spain has been suffering from a plague of voles since last year.
Though, considering the terrain of the wonderful garden where José works, his ones might be considered mountain voles ;D
Chloë
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Arvicola terrestis is indeed a real menace. i have described the effects in a posting quite some time ago.
However, the very thin silver lining is that they live solitarily. One could not believe this, considering the vast amount of tunnels and destroyed bulbs and roots but it is a fact. Usually there is but one animal in the tunnels. Sometimes two.
They can be trapped fairly easily - I can describe how if there is interest.
I suffer with you Johannes. But I think that you had the smaller animals that burrow under the snow.
I get ithem every third year when they dig all unprotected corydalis corms.
The cross section of an Arvicola terrestis tunnel is 5cm or more. Field mice and their ilk have tunnels that are less than 4 cm.
Göte
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I think it will take a couple of days before a can see if pests have made damages in my flower beds.
More than 500Cm of snow this winter(10 Cm last night). 150 cm on ground today. 200 to 300 on flower beds. >:(
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Wow, Bernard, that is some snowfall you've had this year. Last time I saw that much was when I got a photo from a friend who went out to Kitimat to live. There will be no problem with moist ground once all that melts I can wager! Hope it passes soon. How on earth did you manage to keep the snow off the greenhouse? Assume if you didn't, it would cave in under the weight.
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Bonjour Chris,
There will not be any problem when all that "white shit" will melt down. My land is on a sand terrace. At least 25 feet deep of sand. And a lot of ponds to recive that water. For the "winter-garage-greenhouse", it is easy to move the snow. It is more difficult for the house roof.
66 feet long x 35 feet wide (Cleaned 3 times this winter).
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What an impressive snowfall!!! :o :o :o
We usually get a couple of snowfalls every Winter (but not this one), and that's all. Temperatures rarely go below -4ºC, and when they do, just for a night or so.
Arvicola terrestris is indeed the name of the culprit >:( I cannot risk more bulbs and precious perennials in the open ground anymore :'(
Here we have a real plague and certainly they are not solitary beasts (which they were!). I'd be most interested and grateful to know how to fight against them, but cannot use chemicals as our garden is public and we are in a Natural Park. Cannot hire a pack of hungry cats either :-\
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I apologize for the delay in answering but I wanted to have a photo.
How to get rid of Arvicola terrestis (which I for sake of simplicity will call ’vole’):
There are many ‘remedies’ that do not work. When they seem to work, it is usually that the vole has eaten all and moved on to the neighbor’s garden.
Some merchants try to sell Fritillaria imperialis or big Alliums and say that they scare voles away. I had a mixed planting of Lilium and F. Imperialis. The voles sure left the Frits but destroyed every Lilium bulb.
Some people say that gas CO from an idling engine or CO2 from dry-ice works. Maybe it does sometimes but what happens is that the voles temporarily leave their tunnels in order to get fresh air. If one is quick, agile – and can guess where they will come up – one might be able to hit them with a shovel or similar implement. It has never worked for me. The tunnels can be 50m long so gas can hardly be efficient.
The vole burrows a vast system of tunnels with cashes of edibles and nursery rooms. This system has several exits which are short 20-60cm branches from the main tunnels and end in a small pile of soil. Moles also make piles but in obvious places like lawns. Voles put them in more discreet places such as under a shrub.
Voles dislike drafts. If the little pile is removed, they will block the exposed end of the tunnel within a couple of hours. They will then go on filling the branch all the way back to the main tunnel. This takes a few hours.
This means that if you have put down a trap in the branch and there is a slightest draft, they will ignore the bait and fill the trap with soil. It is absolutely necessary to put a bucket or similar vessel over the exposed hole with the trap and to seal the edges well with soil.
I start the vole hunt in the early morning by opening a couple of branch tunnels that seem fresh. I then inspect them at least every second hour. If the hole is still open in the afternoon it means that this part of the system is deserted.
If the hole is closed, I open the branch a little further so the trap can be situated close to the junction. I throw a couple of small morsels of bait as far as I can, set the trap and close carefully. Usually there is a dead vole in the trap within four hours. In say 25% of the cases the trap is full of soil and then I repeat the performance. When the vole is removed I leave the hole open.
It is important not to wait. If the hole is left over the night it is so packed with soil that it is very difficult to find it.
In say 80% of the cases the hole remains open for weeks – meaning that there was only one vole. Sometimes the hole is filled again and I take a second one – never a third. This is why I believe they are solitary animals.
Bait:
Potatoes but not all kinds. Blue Kongo is ignored. Carrot works well. Scorzonera and other roots are recommended and probably work but I have not tried them. I assume corms of iridiaceae would work very well but they are difficult to fix in traps.
Traps:
Oversize (15cm or so) mousetraps of the Tom&Jerry-kind work but the bucket is necessary. Today I use a German trap made by ‘Neudorf’ that works very well. It is its own “bucket” so I push it down flush with the tunnel and cover all with a thin layer of soil. The far one is cocked and the near one is tripped. As You see it signals by pushing up the spring through the soil when tripped – very useful! I find this trap superior. If you cannot find any, google or visit the homepage: http://www.neudorff.de/produkte/produkt-katalog/katalog/sugan-wuehlmausfalle.html
The photo shows one trap cocked and one tripped.
Smell – your own.
I try to keep everything as clean from human smell as possible. I wash my hands and then smear them with soil. Same with traps and to some extent bait.
Tallyhoooo!
Göte
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Göte,
EXCELLENT information!!!. I shall print and study it carefully... Thanks a zillion!!! :D
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Gote, you poor long-suffering man, having to go through all this. I shall never again complain about the occasional rabbit or possum, neither of which bothers the crocuses and other similar, or underground things anyway. ??? ??? ???
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You're SO LUCKY, Lesley!!! ;)
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Lesley.
I appreciate your kind thoughts.
Occasional possum ha ha! :D Lucky you!
Once I had had to shoo a moose (Alces alces) away. It was eating my Bergenias and refused to budge until I was only 4m away. (OK I admit it was a moose calf not much bigger than a pony) ;)
The glorified rats, that are called beavers, just had a willow that I had planted in a prominent position on the lake edge. >:( They also eat my Nymphaeas >:(
Mice eat my crocus and corydalis corms unless i put them in cages. >:(
The badgers (Meles meles) sometimes dig through the lawns looking for worms. >:(
I have to have my goodies in a part of the garden where I have a 6' fence. Why? because of the roe deer. (Capreolus capreolus) >:(
I have seen red deer (Cervus elaphus) 3 km away. They kill the newly planted Picea abies in my neighbour's forest. >:(
I have also seen fallow deer (Dama dama) :-\
The wild boars took all potatoes for another neighbor last summer. :(
Sometimes the hares (Lepus europeus) take the bark off the fruit trees (and the voles take off the roots) :(
The squirrels always take all hazel nuts (i do not eat nuts. The squirrels can have them) :-\ However, they also take all the seeds of my Pinus cembra >:(
There is a silver lining, however.
Last summer we did NOT have any bee swarm invading the chimney :).
There is no sign of rabbit in my part of Sweden. :)
Fortunately we have fox :)
Sometimes lynx, :)
The wolf unfortunately only passes through :(
The stray cats hopefully diminish the number of small rodents :) but I assume they take the occasional bird :(
The pine marten (martes martes) is also helpful :) but unfortunately they dislike the foxes. :(
I wish the minks (Mustela vison) would take the voles instead of eradicating the coots (Fulica atra) :(
I garden in a ZOO !!!
Göte
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Göte,
Isn't wildlife a blessing ? ;D ;D
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You're not wrong about gardening in a zoo. Wow!! It sounds so exotic that you have Lynx sometimes visiting your garden, and Moose, and badgers, beavers, wild boar, Pine marten etc. Then again seeing the damage they do maybe it is better that they're all the way over there in your garden and not here. ;D I don't mean to be selfish, but in this case I can probably live with myself. That is some list of critters attacking everything. :o
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Gote, I'm printing your post and pinning it on the wall in my potting shed, to remind me not to moan about ANYTHING!!!
Having said that, it would be great I think, to see these wild species in one's area - well, for a LITTLE time - as we have no wild animals at all, except introduced species and those only occasionally, like the possums. They're there in the trees but only now and then do a little damage in the garden. My heart goes out to you and your fellow gardeners.
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Göthe,
I sympathise with you, our garden is in the middle of Pagoeta Natural Park, and we have also a loooong, varied list of wild visitors, especially by night 8)
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I certainly agree that wildlife IS a wonderful thing. The cranes (Grus grus) have arrived and the whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) halts on the neighbouring waters. Soon i will see the osprey (Pandion haliaetus), make its afternoon inspection tour over the shallow waters, However...
The deer are very nice to look at but they are too many and they are no longer shy. They further have the habit of first nibbling anything that looks differently. Crocus in a lawn, Tulips in a bed, Standard roses and so on. There are simply too few predators. This includes the genus Homo. "How can you kill Bambi you BRUTE!!".
The beaver is OK in a forest brook where it will create a dam that invites wildlife and plants of many kinds. On a lake side they are a menace that will eradicate a lot of plants that I find desirable like Sagittaria, Stratiotes, Sparaganium and Nymphaea. (It is not true that beavers have sewing machines)
A part of this is our fault. In previous centuries we killed too many deer and eradicated the wolf and nearly the other big predators. Now the deer bounce back but the predators are slow in the uptake.
Some people talk about imbalance but there is always balance in nature but never static. They really mean that the balance is not what we want it to be.
A man falling from Empire state building is in balance. Gravity, air drag and inertia are in balance. (His mental balance is something else)
Most of my plants that suffered from the extreme spring cold have recovered. the Ypsilandra flowers are, however, a permanent causality. I am undecided about the Cardiocrinums. Helleborus thibetanus is OK but H. abschasicus lost half its flowers.
Göte
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I hope the rest of the UK have as nice a day as we are getting today. 19c today
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We had 19C today too. Thought about painting some shading on the greenhouse but having seen Sunday's weather forecast I'll leave it a while!
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Crazily up to low 30s here :o, but due to go back to much lower temperatures and rain next week.
Chloë
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Wow Chloe, that's pretty hot!. Here nice weather at last, after some dark weeks of nonstop rain and strong winds. Today quite sunny and some pleasant 18ºC.
We need the soil to dry quickly so we can keep on with the preparatives for the plant show :P
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9°C out here.... and +5°C + showers of rain/hail and wet snow....forecasted for Sunday.
The tour of Flanders cycle race classic promises to be memorable....
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A bit of weather came this way last night.
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Happy not to live in Wolverhampton today. Havent been out yet but no white stuff on the ground. Today is rescue Anenome day
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At six o'clock the cat woke me to be let out - not a sign of snow. At nine o'clock when I resurfaced - what a difference. And it is still snowing. Forecast for the next 3 days is sleet. Had hoped to tidy the garden and put in the recently acquired plants before I depart for Iran - thank goodness for the light evenings.
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This weather at this time of years always makes me think of birds that already have eggs and chicks and early spring migrants. It pays not to be an early bird
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Just been informed I missed the snow here.
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Flurry of snow here about 0900 but all gone by 0930. Nice and bright now but a cool Northerly breeze
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My father woke me up at 8.25 >:( >:( (not that early, but I was actually sleeping in for the first time in weeks) to say that it was snowing in Kew.
Chloë
(whose UK family is moving to a house WITH A (small) GARDEN in Crouch End tomorrow - anybody want to buy a flat in Kew? :D)
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Hi, this is spring in Kirriemuir this morning, me and my grandson out looking for plants ;D cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Great looking winter suit and I can see the snowman is a gardener
Today may be 10c going by my thermometer but it definitely is going to be Anemone rescue day. It's
f-f-f-f-freezing out side
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Snow has melted here in Aberdeen but now the wind is getting much stronger again and there are very black clouds about....not too worried though, because Flanders cycling is about to come on TV!
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This is sunny Sussex it ended 2 inches deep and only partley gone
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Hi again, with this Siberian weather the birds are all looking for food so here is a picture of some Goldfinches at my feeders today we had abot 12 birds. cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Snow has melted here in Aberdeen but now the wind is getting much stronger again and there are very black clouds about....not too worried though, because Flanders cycling is about to come on TV!
and a great race it was wasn't it Maggie !
and on top of that, the Flemish winner - Stijn Devolder - lives only 5 km from here - I think I might go and have a pint in the pub where his supporters have their club house... ;D
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Indeed, Luc, yours seems a good idea! Stijn Devolder was worthy winner, pity we only saw half an hour to the finish on TV :P I think there was an hiour earlier, but I was at work and Ian was wathing the Grand Prix!! Good to have some sport to amuse us in this weather! And soon Gent- van Wevelgem and Pari- Roubaix! Hurrah!
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Ian you will got more Goldies if you feed them with Niger/Nyger
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Ian you will got more Goldies if you feed them with Niger/Nyger
So "they" say, Mark, but we only get occasional Goldies and feeding the nyjer seed didn't tempt anymore or the few we had more often... it did however, get us FORESTS of nyjer seedlings :P :-X
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Indeed, Luc, yours seems a good idea! Stijn Devolder was worthy winner, pity we only saw half an hour to the finish on TV :P I think there was an hiour earlier, but I was at work and Ian was wathing the Grand Prix!! Good to have some sport to amuse us in this weather! And soon Gent- van Wevelgem and Pari- Roubaix! Hurrah!
You must have missed them in the snow shower they crossed earlier in the day then : great sports !
Here it was on TV from 12.30 until the finish - We didn't miss one single image - out here the Tour of Flanders is almost religion ;D
I went to have a look earlier in the day to see them pass by at approx. 5 km from where I live. Smell the atmosphere !
A great day !!
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Maggi I think your garden is too crowded for goldfinches. Try putting a niger feeder on the birch
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Hi again, we do feed Niger but the Goldies and Goldcrests love the Sunflower hearts we also feed what is sold as Robin food and we have bullfinches this last week with greenfinches. We have more heavy snow at the moment so looks like another day at the computer tomorrow, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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Our goldfinches will not touch niger while there are sunflower hearts to be had - I eventually had to throw the niger away.
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Heavy frosts here the last couple of mornings, perhaps the heaviest of the Winter/Spring or whatever it is, but still all gone by 0930. Gone with it though are the new bright red shoot tips of Pieris 'Forest Flame' and Pieris 'Valley Valentine' really doesn't know what has hit it. My Magnolia stellata growing in a pot now has brown blossom. BUT I worked in the garden this afternoon in shirt sleeves and got a little sun glow on my nose and forehead. It's a funny old climate! ???
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Back to Winter it seems ::) with heavy showers and wind, right now 8,4ºC outside.
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Heavy frosts here the last couple of mornings, perhaps the heaviest of the Winter/Spring or whatever it is, but still all gone by 0930. Gone with it though are the new bright red shoot tips of Pieris 'Forest Flame' and Pieris 'Valley Valentine' really doesn't know what has hit it. My Magnolia stellata growing in a pot now has brown blossom. BUT I worked in the garden this afternoon in shirt sleeves and got a little sun glow on my nose and forehead. It's a funny old climate! ???
David
Sorry to learn that your Pieris suffered, but at least it made me feel better knowing why mine had overnight changed so dramatically. Half my Magnolia stellata is now brown, and the camellias are not looking too good.
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Same here ! :(
Pieris - Magnolia - Rhodo's - all flowers and new shoots that were developping gone brown and black.... :'(
Well, there's always next year .... ::)
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At least with the Pieris there is the chance for a new set of growth very quickly.... some years we have had three sets of new growth frosted and still got our "fix" of bright growth before summer.... one of the reasons I so like Pieris 8)
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Nothing spectacular here but it is so rare we have snow that I had to get out and take a few photographs. To put this in context - this snow began to fall around 7.00a.m. I was out by 7.15 and the snow had thawed by 8.00a.m. so it was a fleeting experience.
Paddy
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And to finsih off - yes, snow is a novelty here and brings out the child even is a grumpy chap like myself.
Paddy
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My, Paddy, the snow helped you "paint" lovely pictures but I feel very sorry for all those flowers getting such a shock. Poor magnolias!
We have had a thunder storm here this evening.... Weather! I think I've about had enough of it! And the weekend forcast doesn't look great, either.... good luck everyone for still having some flowers left after all this!
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Was the snow today, Paddy?
Today we had the hottest day so far and I wasnt home to see what the temperature was - must buy a new max min. The car was sitting at a friends house and when we got in to go look at dipper nest boxes the heat inside was stiffling
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No, Mark.
Monday last but I have only had time to post today.
Paddy
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I just love those pictures!
I wish i could had the same experience. Snow is so beautifull!
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I do like all of your pictures Paddy. Although it's not truly winter, the lack of much foliage and summer lushness shows the "bones" clearly, and lovely flowing lines in your garden.
As Maggi says, "poor magnolias." Has 'Fragrant Cloud' been frosted into horrid brownness since? I'm wondering about the good orangey patch in pic #3. Is it by any chance our native Libertia peregrinans? That is an excellent plant for winter colour in an otherwise drab landscape. It does need some space though.
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I hope everyone else in the UK and Ireland is enjoying the heat we are having for the last week or so. Dont know when it last rained. This is how 2007 started with hot April and may and then went down hill for the rest of the summer. Plants in troughs, pots and green house are suffering. I spent a few hours yesterday evening watering
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If I am to believe our meteorologists, Autumn went on and on up to Easter when we had a brief winter followed by spring. This means that we never had the mean temperature under 0°C for a full week until March. Then the cold finally hit us with temperatures down to -11°C, This would normally be no problem in my garden – we get -20°C many years – but this came when much had started to grow. The Erantis were nearly over, Galanthus (The kinds I can grow) in full flower, Some Hellebores were over, some not started and some (including Thibetanus in full flower). It looked awful at the time but the plants showed a surprising resilience.
I hope that the following notes could be of interest – at least to those gardening in cold areas. All plants grow in the open ground and received no protection.
Cardiocrinum giganteum was up 10 cm. – only slight damage to the tips of the leaves
C. yunannense and cathayanum were just showing the tips and seem undamaged.
Ypsilandra thibetica was in flower. Flower destroyed but plant seems OK.
Hellborus thibetanus Looked like spaghetti but recovered completely.
H orientalis abschasicus: Half of the flower destroyed otherwise OK
Other H orientalis in various stages: Spaghetti but full recovery.
Corydalis solida and relations. Those up: Spaghetti but complete recovery.
Hepatica nobilis looked little sad but no permanent damage
Galanthus: Spaghetti but full recovery.
Heloniopsis orientalis breviscapa had two big buds. One unharmed is now in flower. The other looks OK but does not move.
No damage to any Crocus, Scilla, Chionodoxa or Eranthis. (No unusual kinds) Iris danfordie lay down not to rise again. Reticulata was OK but flagged a little.
The buds on the following shrubs had started to swell but look unharmed. However, final verdict has to wait:
Magnolia kobus Rhododendron mucronulatum, prinophyllum, canadense, yakushimanum, schlippenbachii, smirnowii, vasyeii, luteum, Catawbiense roseum elegans, ‘Persil’ ‘Jolie madame’, ‘Glowing embers’, ‘Puszta Feuer’, carolinianum, and various Minnesota hybrids. My two unnamed kinds of philadelphus and Forsythia also look unharmed.
Let us hope that we do not get a new cold spell this season.
Göte
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Göte, a very useful weather report from your garden to guage the response of different plants to the nasty conditions many of us have had lately. Thank you!
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Hi Lesley,
Apologies for the delay in replying to your kind comments.
That is indeed a Libertia perigrinans, the patch of good colour at the end of the garden. I think it is a great plant, never a bother from it, needs its space OK but gives a great warm colour and even if it wanders a bit too far it can be removed very easily and then one has something to give to another gardener. That patch came from the tiniest piece I was given about ten years ago. It is a great plant.
Magnlolia 'Fragrant Cloud' had some flowers well burned by this cold snap but the thaw came almost immediately and only the most open flowers were damaged. It now has a new show of flowers all in good condition. Our cold spells are fortunately very short lived and only do a little damage. A plant which I like and which was caught at just the wrong time was Bergenia ciliata; the flowers went all brown, pity, but the foliage will be good later and there is no threat to the life of the plant itself, so its just a temporary setback.
Actually, that part of the garden - where the libertias are - is only a new area which we started about five years ago. If you can imagine that behind my back as I took that photograph there is an equal area which is simply in grass with the exception of a ten foot bed along the boundary fence; so plenty to keep me busy for another while.
I saw your comments elsewhere on garden size and agree completely. If ever downsizing was necessary I think I would simply leave it go to nature and tend some part closer to the house. Of course, the compost heaps will be kept going until the very end. It is Mary's and my intention to one day retire to the compost bins with two bottles of the most excellent wine and appropriate medication and so finish our days where we most enjoyed them.
All the best, Paddy
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Is everyone also in the UK and Ireland suffering from this drought and dessicating wind? It's exactly 2 weeks today since we had any proper rain. We've only had a few spits here and there. The rain gauge has been totally dry all this time. I dont like to do it but the hose has to come out on Monday afternoon when I finish work early.
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Mark, speaking to Alan Newton in Ponteland yesterday, I had to sympathise with him when he told me of yet another day of perishing, pouring rain! Been like that for about a week... he's ordering scuba gear... ;) :-\
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Lucky him! Now if it had been a west wind I would probably be complaining about too much rain.
I see on Sky news' weather tonight rain is coming on Wednesday for us. Harold McB was telling me via email he's having difficulty getting plants for the Ulster show on Saturday. Dnt know if that means they have been pushed on too far with the warm days. 13c in Margaret G's garden today
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If ever downsizing was necessary I think I would simply leave it go to nature and tend some part closer to the house. Of course, the compost heaps will be kept going until the very end. It is Mary's and my intention to one day retire to the compost bins with two bottles of the most excellent wine and appropriate medication and so finish our days where we most enjoyed them.
A great way to go Paddy. Will two bottles be enough though?
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You may be right, Lesley. Perhaps, we should begin to lay down a more generous stock just to be sure. However, the general plan has always appealed to us and with refinement it should work well. Perhaps, the timing of the taking of the medication would be a deciding factor.
Paddy
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My plants are weeks behind compared with last year. Last year I had a Cypripedium 'Sabine' at the Perth show. This year it is nowhere near flowering. 'Emil', which I had at the Glasgow show last year, is <1" above the ground!
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Paddy,
I loved those snow pics. Sorry it has taken so long to finally see them. That is a very special looking double yellow hellebore.... you're lucky to have such a good colour (or are they common over there now?). Snow is rare here too, and to settle that much even rarer. Congratulations on being out there in time to see it looking so good. ;)
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My yellow Hellebore isnt happy in this heat and lack of water
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I used to look forward to warm days but that was before I got hooked on plants. Today we were a tiny bit over 16c.
Yesterday after work I was very disappointed to see all the flowers, maybe 30+, on my Pulsatilla collapsed with the lack of rain. My Primula veris was also flat to the ground. Most disappointing was a pot of Trillium rivale I wanted to put in the show this Saturday. The whole plant has collapsed I thought it had died. After a soak over night the leaves are not quite how they should be but all the flowers are dead
Roll on Wednesday night when prolonged rain arrives
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Paul,
The rare fall of snow is treasured here for its novelty.
Yes, hellebores are readily available in good forms here though one had to be prepared to pay dearly for them. The best value I have ever had was a package of six seedling plants from Ashwood nurseries in the UK. They all turned out to be good plant, none spectacular but clearly well above average.
Paddy
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warmest day this year, 20C
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Mark,
Don't you water? Do you rely on rain for all the usual watering in your garden?
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I can go away on holiday for three weeks at the height of the summer and leave the garden, including all my cyps in pots, quite safely (touch wood). 8)
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Paul, Ireland, and Scotland, get a lot of rain so when it stops there is a problem much the same as when some snow falls - the country grids to a halt. I tend not to water and when I do it only plants in pots. The day a rain didnt happen in my area. It lashed for a few minutes around 5.30am and again around 3pm. The rain gauge showed .5cm. When the rain fell this afternoon the temperature fell from 15c to 8c and back up again
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Anthony and Mark,
Oh that is SO depressing! Here in the middle of summer it is a battle to go 3 DAYS without hand watering, so 3 weeks is just a dream! All the time I waste watering when I could be gardening! ::) Maybe I should just give up and sell my collections..... would be a lot easier. :o
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A friend has invested in an electronic timing device attached to his hose that waters all his garden, pots and hanging baskets at 7 p.m. every night. 8) Not too expensive either.
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Must be nice to have everything needing exactly the same amount of water. ;) The setup costs for attaching systems like that to my 3000 pots would be phenomenal. Remember, we can't use sprinklers, just drippers or hand held hoses between certain hours on certain days. ::)
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I don't adjust the water, just the medium and the type of pot. They can then get the same amount of water with some staying moist due to retentive compost and less drainage and others draining very quickly.
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A skid of that "four-lettered word beginning with s" came down last night but quickly melted away. Mainly on the rooves. Today is damp and miserably dark and cold at 5c. I should have known we'd get it after the weather horrors from the UK and Europe this Spring.
Shortest Galanthus bloom I can recall, the warm weather got them.
Imagine, no snowdrops in May.
johnw
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Yesterday and today were supposed to be rainy days. Yesterday was cloudless for most of the day and reach 16c. Today was partially cloudy and reached 21c.
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Dont want to rub salt in the wound but we had another great day today. For a while the thermometer at work reached 22C before settling down to 16c for most of the day.
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Was that yesterday or today? Chucking it down here, all day so far, and not very warm at all. Maureen's just put the heating on so it must be cold!
PS. anyone finding the Forum very, very slow again today, pages taking an age to download, or is it just my connection??
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David that was referring to Monday. Today is currently 17.5
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Most of the day it struggled to make 8C and then at 1630ish the sky cleared, the sun came out, and it reached 12C. Now it's pouring down again and the forecast shows it leaving the South West around 1000 in the morning to be followed by frequent heavy showers. Well I need not water for the rest of this week.
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We had everything from gorgeous sunshine to torrential thunderstorms. Still not bad at 12oC.
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Thunderstorms here this evening with hail as big as marbles, washed some of the coolglass shading from the greenhouse.
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Light but steady rain falling here, the first decent lot for weeks if not months! But snow is forecast for this afternoon. Getting really cold too.
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The weather forecast is spot on today with rain all day - NOT!
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You may get some tomorrow.
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If only David! Weather forecast wrong again. Right now, 2pm, it's 22c, overcast but very bright and 1mil of rain so far
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It's just the same here and we were promised rain too.
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The weather forecast is spot on today with rain all day - NOT!
I think we got yours, heavy rain most of the morning and early afternoon.
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Beautiful day here,sunshine and 18c
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Sister in law's car showed 24c in Belfast today. 21 here at work. Due to lack of rain and neglect by me some of my plants have died - A. trulifolia, Dicentra cuccularia, Dianthus bought at the show .... Tulips are drying on their stems. All clusianas have dropped their petals.
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24°C today - and plenty of water in the ground after lots of rain last week, result : everything growing like mad !
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You beat me by 1 degree Luc, hottest day of the year so far, and busy decorating my daughter's bedroom (Dads come in handy some times!) so didn't get in the garden all day.
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This Saturday will make 5 weeks without rain. It's good in a way that we are having this fantastic weather. We are usually jealous of England having great weather while we drown. The mil that fell at the weekend has now dried in the rain guage.
This is the kind of thing that is happening to my plants.
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Today we are into the 6th week without rain. Well, 1ml fell yesterday and 1ml at the start of the week.
It's 9.08am and the temperature is already 20c
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Haven't done much in the garden this past week as my daughter has been making use of my painting and decorating skills! When I left her house this afternoon at 1630 the car thermometer was showing 28C. Now I have ro rush around for the next few days doing all the hot weather preparation I should have been doing this week-shade paint on the greenhouse, watering inside and out etc etc etc.
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Here's another casualty of the drought. All my bracteate bluebells look like this. I did get 10 days out of them
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Finally managed to get much needed shade paint on the greenhouse today. This is a sure sign that the weather will change and we will losse the sun for the next forty days at least!
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Finally managed to get much needed shade paint on the greenhouse today. This is a sure sign that the weather will change and we will losse the sun for the next forty days at least!
You had better be wrong about that, David... it's the Aberdeen Show this Saturday and a wet day will kybosh the visitor numbers! :o
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Rain is forecast only for the south west
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It usually is!
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Out of interest can I ask all those in the UK and Ireland to make a quick comment about rain or lack of. Is your ground wet or dust?
This is our 41st day without rain other than the 2x1 mils that fell last week. The casualties continue mainly bulbs and alpines
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An abundance of dry, sunny weather here in Lancashire, Mark (which will promptly end now that I have mentioned it :) ), but the grass on the moors outside my window is still lush and green and I am only watering plants in pots at present. Liverpool had flash flooding in the past couple of days and light rain is predicted for this region on Thursday/Friday. Anything is preferable to the horrors inflicted on the poor people of Burma and China. The loss of a few plants through a temporary drought seems very minor in comparison?
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Very much so.
I just spoke to a forum watcher who lives 45 miles away. Last Thursday they had a huge down pour along with thunder and lightening. My half barrel water feature is down to half. The grassy areas outside my house are turning brown
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Dry as a bone here and scorching hot, up to 26-27 C (until the weather changes tomorrow). Still moisture in the soil though from earlier rains so not much suffering. Bulbs dying down but it's time for that. Snowdrop seed pods ripening nicely.
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Hate to say it Mark but there are perfect growing conditions here. The ground is moist from previous rain. There is little wind, the mornings are cool with dew and the afternoons lovely and sunny. The flowers are staying on the plants for quite a time and new ones are opening with the afternoon sun. Compared to last year when it had been dry and windy for 10wks until we came back from the Prague conference.
I might regret saying this as we might not get anymore rain or too much rain from now on.
Susan
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We've had the odd shower either early in the morning or later at night over the last week or so but good bright days... we get a bit of haar ( sea-mist) in the evenings which cools things down and is very slightly damp but no really high temps. here... just very nice... this may be summer :o ???
That said, we've been watering today.... and getting our photo taken by the local paper for a bit of Show publicity for Saturday!
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I think I would like too much rather than too little rain. My water bill has just come in and it has gone from £0.72 to £1.97 per sq.metre. >:(
Susan
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I was going to ask if you are coming up to the Show, Susan, thought you and Addie might fancy a weekend in Aberdeen..... but reading your last post, I expect you cannot afford the petrol :-\ That's a very nasty price rise, isn't it? Daylight robbery, me thinks. >:(
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Maggi, I think we will be too busy trying to dig a well, with any luck we might hit oil instead of water. ;D
I have pushed the limit on shows for the year, Addie has been along to 4, I think that is his max.
Susan
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Aberdeen being the country's oil capital, Susan, you perhaps should come up to seek advice from the local oil big-shots! I'd quite like to see Addie as Jed Clampett, mind, better than JR Ewing!! ;) ;)
If you're to be digging, then I hope the sun shines on you and on the Aberdeen show! Can't you train up Heather the Terrorist (sorry, slip of the pen) Terrier, to do the digging for you? ::) ;)
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Well, I did tell you what would happen as soon as I got my shade paint on my greenhouse!
Intermittent very heavy showers all day today and a half hour thunderstorm with torrential rain and hail is just coming to an end (don't think I have ever seen before as many lightening bolts in a concentrated period-you would have been under the table Maggi! The forecast for tomorrow and Friday is more of the same.
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Well, I did tell you what would happen as soon as I got my shade paint on my greenhouse!
Intermittent very heavy showers all day today and a half hour thunderstorm with torrential rain and hail is just coming to an end (don't think I have ever seen before as many lightening bolts in a concentrated period-you would have been under the table Maggi! The forecast for tomorrow and Friday is more of the same.
It must be coming up from Portugal, David :( No lightening, but heavy showers, wind and (for us) rather chilly temperatures. Not much fun :-\
Chloë
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No rain here for weeks,soil dust dry, and no rain forecast for the coming days.
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I think I would like too much rather than too little rain. My water bill has just come in and it has gone from £0.72 to £1.97 per sq.metre. >:(
Susan
I'm puzzled, or should that be puddled? How does one get a square metre of water? :-\
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I knew someone would spot my mistake, I meant 1 cubic metre.Still a rip off no matter what.
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I knew someone would spot my mistake, I meant 1 cubic metre.Still a rip off no matter what.
;D
Lovely and sunny in Dunblane today, by a perishingly cold wind. :-\
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My garden is so dry the sparrows are using it to dust bathe. The was a very noisey gang present when I woke this morning.
On Tuesday evening the sprinklers was going for four hours yet on my return from the Burren it looks just like it was before I went.
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The cathedral graveyard has scorched patches where a sunken gravestone is near the surface of the grass. Can't remember seeing that for many a year!
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All your rain is down here with us >:(
But if it can prevent a few forest fires, I ain't complaining!
Chloë
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It is tipping it down - if they impose a hose ban this summer (whenever that arrives)....
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Cloudless sunny day looking across the Antonine wall from my classroom this morning. 8)
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Anthony and the rest of the UK people:
It is Chloe and I who should say how great weather we have (teasingly) and You complain about the rain and not the way it is now with rain for us and sun for You. But as Chloe said less forrest fires and my newly planted bed also gets some water so I am only half complaining.
Kind regards
from Portugal where the rain now is always near now
Joakim
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After 46 days of sunshine with no rain the weather broke yesterday but only .5ml fell. The thermometer showed the lowest day time temperature during this time. 10c had people back in trousers and fleeces.
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Had another monsoon deluge last night - at least it helps to remove weeds (still recovering from the 3 week holiday.
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Drove back from Norwich to Devon today with torrential rain all the way along the M4. Judging by the state of my garden it must have been very windy whilst we have been away.
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Here are a few sunset photos from Monday night. Anyone know their clouds and fronts? What's the long thin cloud called?
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Looks like cirrus. I was looking at them from the Argyll coast on Monday on our way home from Arduaine gardens
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Well, after a scorching Saturday when I got thoroughly burnt cutting the grass and gardening my weeds, we have a rare dull day. Had to put the sprinkler on last night! ::)
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We had rain on Wednesday, 10ml, and on Thursday, 3ml, but when I went out to plant bedding yesterday the ground is still hard. 22c yesterday. We usually get the rubbish weather while southern England basks in sun. Now it is the other way round.
Last Saturday May 31st was our hottest day - 26.5c
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Torrential rain last night from 1730 to 1830, followed by thunder and an inch of hail. My daughter, who lives 6 miles away had a dry evening!
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Snow here on Friday and Saturday (gone now). It was 3degC at the Market in the early morning but apparently the wind chill factor took us down to -5. Not the best day I've worked outside! :o
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Today's rare dull day turned out to be hotter than yesterday! 8) Spent the whole afternoon out in the sun checking Higher Biology (national exam) scripts against the provisional marking scheme. Markers' meeting at Murrayfield tomorrow.
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So, this is Summer? It's dark and has been since about 1830 when we put the lights AND the heating on. The rain is thrashing down after a day when it has rained on and off all day, and is accompanied by a howling south westerly. My better half fancied some Foxgloves this year, 'they'll all blow down' I said, and they have!!
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"I told you so," he said, a pleased smirk on his face! ;D
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Rained heavy all day here,couldn't take the dog for a walk until 18-30 when the rain cleared and the sun came out. Summer? ???
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It is good to have some rain again but only 5 mils fell. That's, from memory, 13mils since April 5th. 10 weeks now without a good rain fall. Almost all grass areas in my town is dead. Some Scots Pines were planted on a roundabout near me 4 years ago. Now their needles are brown.
These photos were taken last month
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Mark,
Isn't Ireland supposed to be the Green Isle ? :-\
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Heavy, rather thundery rain showers here today in Aberdeen, mixed with lovely sunshine in between. Probably too warm in the sunny spells to do anything other than burn off the much needed rain at a rapid rate :(
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Yes Emerald Isle is true but in the North rapidly turning brown. In the last couple of days we have had 11mils in total but like Maggi it's very warm in between showers. Right now it's 19c. I've been in shorts every day since April and only reverting to jeans for my bat surveys just in case of brambles and nettles
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"I told you so," he said, a pleased smirk on his face! ;D
Ah! yes Lesley that was the case. But the smirk soon went when I saw the garden this morning, Lilies, Phlox, etc. all flattened. I even got up at 0100, got dressed, and went out to close up the greenhouse top vents the wind was so strong.
Must have very brown legs then Mark?
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What a beautiful Summer day today here in Devon! It was raining when I got up, it's rained on and off (more on than off!) all day, it's still raining now and highly likely it will be when I go to bed. The forecast tomorrow is for more of the same. If you are reading this thread Kristl I wouldn't be too hasty about including Devon on your itinerary.
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I was in the Cambridge area today. Forecast was over cast and rain but it was very warm, 25, and no clouds
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All this travel, are you on EasyJets privileged passenger list ;D
By the way, I was right, it is raining again today!
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Still no rain here. :(
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cheap Ryanair this time.
rain, rained and rained here today. The temperature didnt rise above 9.,f-f-freezing,5c. 8mils fell today. Still in shorts!
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You hardman you! :D
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it was very warm, 25, and no clouds
Very warm???? Here is 32 in the deep shadow, and dry like Sahara. I think it's really madness growing alpines in Hungary. :'(
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And snow in the south of the South Island of New Zealand. :'(
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Warmest June here in Canberra for 51 years. Only had two official "below 0'C" nights, which hasn't happened since records began. Day temps were 3 above average for the month. Less than half the average rainfall for the month too (same as April and May). Not particularly good!!!!! ::)
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After a breezy, showery morning, the wind has really got up now with driving rain so, if North of me, you are still in the garden, you wont be for long! Can this really be July?? >:(
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17ºC and drizzle in north Portugal :( After temperatures in the high 30s last week.
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middle 20s here and very hot
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I think all the good weather this year has been in Antrim, apart from a few good days in June it's been pretty dire here this year so far.
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27 and not a cloud in the sky, but at least there's a gentle breeze.
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................ and in Southern Norway! 13C here at the moment.
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Yesterday we had 28mm of rain
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I hesitate to write this, in case of jinxing things -- what the heck, I'll live dangrously-----we have had two lovely days here in Aberdeen :-X
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Snow on the ground when we awoke. -0.5C at the moment. Snow falling heavily driven by gale force winds. Make the most of your lack of rain, + sunshine, Maggie. Was it hot and sunny for our cricketers?
Susan.
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Fabulously sunny day here. Shame Jamie Murray lost the mixed double semi. I notice that my escaped snake (not my fault) gets a mention in Andy's book. ::)
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A July morning. Trees thrashing around in a gale, rain driving in, skies as black as night. Could a man ask for more!!
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Could you please send some gale northwards? It's reached 27C already, awfully muggy with no wind :P
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Not sure exactly where you are in Norway arisaema but if you take Bergen as a marker you can expect some rain on Monday (max. 16C, light winds from East), showers on Tuesday (max. 20C, light winds from East) and sun on Wednesday (max. 18C light winds from North East).
Horrendous here today with gale force winds and driving rain from early and still going. This afternoon we visited a small beach, where we normally go in Autumn and Winter when there is a storm force South West wind blowing, just to watch the waves crashing in (simple people we are!!). In over 20 years of living in Devon I have never before seen worse seas in what purports to be Summer. The beach faces South West and gale conditions are usually spectacular there but today surpassed many others in the depths of Winter. According to a local surfer, who took one look at the waves and decided not to bother!, waves rounding the point of the bay were in excess of 12 meters. Looking out through the mist and the spray through the little bay and into Lyme Bay itself a fleet of tankers, coasters, and other ships had moored seeking some shelter from the worst of the storm. I forgot to take the camera so you will have ro rely on my description.
Lots of flattened plants in the garden and lots of very soggy soil. Although I closed down somewhat the top vents in my greenhouse (which are normally wide open all year round) rain drove in through the remaining gap as well as through the galvanised wire mesh which covers the greenhouse door, and trays of newly re-potted bulbs under the staging look somewhat damp on top.
All in all not one of my better days!
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I'm further south, not far from Kristiansand, but we're supposed to get rain here too. No wind though, but we had enough last week :P Your weather today sounds awful, on the bright side at least it can't possibly get any worse!
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Another good day here.... it was not bad for the cricket, Susan, though somewhat changeable.... story of the year so far, I suppose. I am ashamed to say, that even though the cricket pitch is only half a mile down the road, I did not go and barely knew it was happening :-[ I was aware in advance that it was going to happen, but at the time family matters took a bad turn and the whole thing pretty much passed unnoticed. Have to say, there wasn't much in the way of press coverage locally.... which seemed a bit strange. :-\
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We are living in the West of "Waterland', but we had most of the last week
very nice weather. Two days were rather warm with over 25 C. but there was a
nice wind.
There were many thunderstorms in the Netherlands, but they were all more inland.
We, near the sea, know that the thunderstorms here are mostly taken by the sea after the
longest day.
There were some little showers now and then, but it's mostly to dry here.
(Good for harvesting bulbs! ;D ) And we had beautiful blue skies for several days.
Today started beautiful and late in the afternoon we had some nice raining.
Now this is over and tomorrow we'll have nice weather again.
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My potting shed is raised on sleepers because that area floods, so I wasn't very happy today to be crossing my moat every couple of minutes during a thunderstorm while harvesting bulbs. I finally decided to give up until it passed over.
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Plenty snow here too. My Lola looks like Santa Claus at the moment; red suit with snow-white beard, moustache and hair.
Yesterday the Market closed 2 hours ealy as the wind/snow/rain were so heavy and beastly. We still had shoppers though. True heroes!
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My local forecast on the BBC website keeps promising rain - and it never comes. Today I have blue skies and no rain, yet the forecast is once again rain.
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Be careful what you wish for... Heavy rain here, only 16C.
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Told you so, arisaema :P
Monsoon like rain here today. Arthur you need to go West young man!
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David
Today the weather lived up to the forecast - rain glorious rain. The trouble is the forecast is rain for the rest of the week - and they might get it right every day.
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We haven't had the snow that Lesley, Sue and Paul have had, but we've finally had a decent drop of rain! 26mm, just over an inch, in the space of 24 hours! A nice gentle soak which will do a world of good to all the recently transplanted trees and bulbs, etc.
I guess that it's finally winter here in Central Victoria!
cheers
fermi
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As yet another Atlantic low pressure system sweeps in from the South West we enter the ninth day of July and also the ninth day in July on which we have had rain (in quantity!) at some time of the day. Rain is driving in on a very strong South West wind and the forecast says it will continue for most of the day with localised flooding. I suppose, living at about 400 feet and on a steep slope, I shouldn't worry to much about flooding!
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I suppose, living at about 400 feet and on a steep slope, I shouldn't worry to much about flooding!
One positive thing at least David.... ;)
Anyway - same here - rain and wind.... and I only live at 45 feet...
:-\
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Glad we seem to be sharing out the misery Luc! ;D
Still blowing a gale here; still pouring down here, as it has been every minute of the day. I spent most of the day reading, mainly about Iris species and forms, and getting very worried about the many varieties of Iris reticulata planted out, and flowered, last year in my new bulb beds as every book I pick up draws my attention to their need for a dry Summer dormancy. Here!, they must be joking.
Later in the afternoon I went down to the village to take a look at our local river, the Earme. I could here the rushing of the water as I opened my front door and we are about a half mile from it's banks as it flows down the steep escarpment of southern Dartmoor. Managed to take a few pictures.
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Lovely weather here yesterday and today until 1700hrs this evening ,when we had a thunderstorm.
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Michael, you are hurting me ;D
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:)
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I think we are getting tomorrow what you got today David? Certainly yesterday and today were quite pleasant.
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Magnar - What an incredible collection of rare, superbly grown and photographed plants you have!
johnw
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I went down to the village to take a look at our local river, the Earme. I could hear the rushing of the water as I opened my front door and we are about a half mile from it's banks as it flows down the steep escarpment of southern Dartmoor. Managed to take a few pictures.
David,
it would be wonderful to see our local river, the Campaspe, in flood like that!
I think for bulbs that need a dry summer dormancy you may need to resort to covers over the beds!
cheers
fermi
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If the beds are well drained and water doesn't lie around the bulbs for any length of time, they should be OK.
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David, if this is any consolation to you, it is pouring here in Aberdeen today.
I hope the half mile between you and that river is uphill to you?? I wouldn't care to be downstream of that torrent. :o
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Lesley,
Prepare yourself for more cold and snow when this system moves over from Australia to you guys in NZ. There's been snow in Orange (central NSW), high country in both NSW and Victoria and lots of cold and wind throughout. Methinks that by the time if picks up the extra moisture on the way across to you guys you'll be getting a good dumping of snow in NZ, and you'll either get the snow or just very cold where you are. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. ::)
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Paul did You get any needed water from above may it be in for of rain or snow?
Getting colder here 25 with cold wind instead of 35 and to the weekend rain :'( so I do not have much to gloat with.
Joakim
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David, if this is any consolation to you, it is pouring here in Aberdeen today.
I hope the half mile between you and that river is uphill to you?? I wouldn't care to be downstream of that torrent. :o
For a change no rain (so far!) here today but very windy and overcast all day. We are OK Maggi the river runs down a fairly deep ravine and would have to flow uphill to reach us.
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If the beds are well drained and water doesn't lie around the bulbs for any length of time, they should be OK.
When I built my bulb beds I spent a King's ransome on sand and grit so the soil is pretty sharp. Proof of the pudding will be in the eating, as the saying goes.
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The promised rain all fell last night here. Cricket was good though. ;D
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Yes it was, I had the radio on in the greenhouse. Sir Geoffrey was berating the South African bowlers. He also had a wonderful go at Jonathan Agnew who told him that at lunchtime he was interviewing the Chair of the Zimbabwean Cricket Association. Geoffrey said 'Well ask him whose bank account the £7 million for the development of cricket in Zimbabwe from the International Cricket Council, went into. But you wont, will you'
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I think this gives you a clue. Mugabe's dining room in Harare. David, I've sent you the rest of the pics.
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Lesley,
Prepare yourself for more cold and snow when this system moves over from Australia to you guys in NZ. There's been snow in Orange (central NSW), high country in both NSW and Victoria and lots of cold and wind throughout. Methinks that by the time if picks up the extra moisture on the way across to you guys you'll be getting a good dumping of snow in NZ, and you'll either get the snow or just very cold where you are. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. ::)
The forecast for east coast Otago today is cold wind and fine but rain tonight with probably snow/rain tomorrow. And that's the best for the whole country. Snow/rain expected throughout. We were rained out of the Market last Saturday, maybe tomorrow as well but I'm having a day off so will be safely tucked up by the fire. :)
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Joakim,
We had a bit of rain, which has been wonderful for the garden but just under an inch (I think about 22mm all up) is nowhere near what we need. Has made no difference to our water supplies in the dams, which is more unfortunate. We need a good few inches to put some proper water into the soil and into the dams. So little groundwater left now. ::) Major old Eucalyptus trees are dying all over the city, as we just aren't having enough rain to penetrate into the soil more than a couple of inches. :'(
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Our rain seems to be falling at night, but the temperature is still only about 15oC, which is poor for mid July. :(
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I think this gives you a clue. Mugabe's dining room in Harare. David, I've sent you the rest of the pics.
Thanks for those Anthony. Nice to see how the other despot lives! ;D Had there been substantial quantities of oil in Zimbabwe would Mugabe (e ba gum backwards way!) still be around, or indeed alive?
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When I was in the Drakensbergs we drove past the ?King of the Zulus house. It too was palacial and surrounded by a high fence. Living outside of this 'palace' were his subjects living in bee hive huts
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The King of the Zulus couldn't have his throne in one of those huts Mark. As the old saying goes, people in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones. ::)
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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
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Quote from: adarby on July 10, 2008, 08:45:40 PM
I think this gives you a clue. Mugabe's dining room in Harare. David, I've sent you the rest of the pics.
Thanks for those Anthony. Nice to see how the other despot lives!
Astonishing! I was just about to ask Anthony ( privately) how he got that photo from our interior decorator when David let the cat right out of the bag..... now everyone knows how a despot lives :-[ :o ;)
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;D ;D ;D
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The King of the Zulus couldn't have his throne in one of those huts Mark. As the old saying goes, people in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones. ::)
Well said, glasshopper!!
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Well, it's a while since I had a moan about my weather, so let's put the matter to rights.
Before Summer started (has it?) I was on record as saying that it couldn't be any worse than Summer 2007, well it is! According to Maureen's diary we had 19 days on which it rained in July (21 in 2007), that makes, so far, 118 days in the year on which has rained (123 for the same period in 2007. I have to say though that June had only 9 days on which it rained (19 in June 2007) which equals our record dry spells in June and July 2006. Our wettest month, since she began keeping a note in 2004 was 27 days in October 2004, followed by 24 days in January 2008.
Yesterday we should have gone to Trecanna Nursery- http://www.trecanna.co.uk/default.asp in Cornwall, as they were doing a South African weekend for Charity (they have done this for the last few years and last year Dave Fenwick of African Garden fame was in attendance) but it chucked it down for most of the day. On our local weather forecast last night they said we were in for a surprise today-a dry day. What did it do? It chucked it down all day again, indeed this morning I had to put the light on to read the paper over breakfast. Oh! happy day (as the song goes!)
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David,
We had our end-of-month weather report on television today. The southern end of the country had 300 - 400% of normal rainfall for the month of July.
The town of Newcastlewest in County Limerick in the south west of Ireland had four times its normal July rainfall in as many hours last Thursday evening, leading to frightful flooding and consequent damage. We have had the dykes, normally dry in summer, flowing with plenty of water during this week.
It does mean that trees and shrubs will make excellent growth however.
Paddy
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David, how can it be a worse summer this year if last years recordings were all of more rainy days? Do you WANT more rain?
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Lesley, maybe I meant 'worse' in an all-round respect. This year we seem to have had far more grim and misty days, and indeed strong windy days than last year. The hottest spell of the year (a couple of days!) seems to have occurred last week whilst I was away in Scarborough-Sod's Law again as my Primula marginatas in the greenhouse suffered a bit.
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David,
I should have added that a bonus of the extra rainfall is that pumpkins are growing at a tremendous rate. There should be a bumper crop in the autumn, so lots of pumpkin soup and pumpkin pies to look forward to.
Paddy
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It's never a good sign for the weather when it is forecast 7'C and snow, it's 8:30am, it's still below 0'C and there is still thick ice in the birdbaths, and it's raining!!? (how it is liquid I am not sure?) Methinks their forecast of snow today might be correct!! ::)
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Well Paul, we had snow yesterday and on Friday. When I went to work in Lola at 5.30am, I got stuck on the hill. Roger coming behind in his 4wd van had to pull me out and I abandoned the car for the day. 20 mins late for work. 3C all morning with windshill to -1 or 2 and rain and snow as well. Another perfect Otago day. As well, my staff member decided to be sick for the duration and I had his job to do as well. All the heavy lifting, emptying rubbish bins etc. Major chest pains but not heart, just bl...dy hard work. Many other problems/irritations through the morning culminating with some stupid birk parking his car in a gateway, blocking exit from the market for the vendors. Another equally stupid birk had vent his anger by breaking of a windscreen wiper from the offending car. Owner phoned me when I got home, threatening God knows what. Not the best of days.
Hell, I didn't even have mushy weetbix for breakfast!
Sun today with very heavy frosy, hardest so far this winter.
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It's tough at the top Lesley! ;D
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As it has rained again all day coupled with a howling gale s no gardening I thought I would help you Lesley with a bit of advice. Basically I found dealing with the public who almost without exception leave their brains and manners at home when they step outside is hell. So the answer is to retire which immeadiately turns you into one of them or as my wife says an old grump.
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10th day of August and we have had rain on 9 of them. I was seriously thinking of buying a wet suit but Maureen thinks I might frighten the horses!
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Shouldn't worry, David, most sensible horses will be indoors in this weather...... ;) :-X
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Shouldn't worry, David, most sensible horses will be indoors in this weather...... ;) :-X
;D ;D
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Good advice Tony and I will do, in time. But in fairness to our Market visitors, we do have an awful lack of parking within say 500 metres and in general, people are very good and courteous. The car owner phoned again in the evening and apologized for his attitude, which must be a first. He was American too!
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10th day of August and we have had rain on 9 of them.
Correction: 11th of August and rain on 10! >:( >:( >:( >:(
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Gardening, gardening books and outdoor activities are severely curtailed. The weight is piling on as I turn to a different passion - cooking. Gazpacho to start, chicken and prawn paella for main course, a creme brulee with summer fruits and a black forest gateau with coffee was today's dinner - the result of today's continuous rain.
All very enjoyable in their own way but the dull, grey skies are so very boring. No swimming even, no walk with dog and I've read four murder mystery books since the first of August.
Under a cloud in the south of Ireland, Paddy
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No swimming in the rain, Paddy? I love swimming in the rain. It makes the water feel warmer. Snow is even better, not that that's happened very often.
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Hello, Young Baxendale.... you've been away for ages... all welll with you and yours, I trust?
Paddy, I have had a bowl of rice krispies for my supper.... I do not appreciate your tales of gastronomic goodies at this time.... at the very least, send me the leftovers! Not that I suppose there are any of those.... tsk! :(
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Martin, the trouble is not with swimming in the rain it is getting changed under the weather.
Maggi, I could send you the recipes!
Paddy
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Hello, Young Baxendale.... you've been away for ages... all welll with you and yours, I trust?
Paddy, I have had a bowl of rice krispies for my supper.... I do not appreciate your tales of gastronomic goodies at this time.... at the very least, send me the leftovers! Not that I suppose there are any of those.... tsk! :(
Hi Maggi. I've been working here on my own for the last month finishing a book while wife and kids soak up the sun visiting relatives in in Slovakia (30-35 degs C almost every day, a constant round of the local open-air swimming pool, walking in the hills and mushroom hunting in the forest).
Paddy just got my gastric juices flowing. Went straight to the kitchen to whip up a beef, red wine and veg casserole to slow-cook for a couple of hours while I finish a couple more cartoons and nip out to the gym to work up an appetite.
Weather (at least in England) should improve next week as I've got a couple of days at the seaside booked for me and Ivi for 15th wedding anniversary celebration - and I always pick the one really hot, sunny week of the summer for my hols (even if this year it's only 2 days). I know it's tempting fate but thought I'd warn you to stock up on sun cream before Thursday 21st arrives. ;D
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Martin,
You're only a young fellow. We celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary last Saturday.
Enjoy the casserole.
Paddy
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Martin, the trouble is not with swimming in the rain it is getting changed under the weather.
Paddy
If I have time, Paddy, I'll have to draw a quick cartoon of you running to the beach with just swimming trunks on under your mac, closely followed by the local constabulary.
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Martin,
You're only a young fellow. We celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary last Saturday.
Enjoy the casserole.
Paddy
Second marriage, Paddy ;D
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Ah, another victory for optimism over experience.
(Just joking!)
Paddy
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Paddy, fond best wishes to you and to Mary for your anniversary :-*
Suggest you send recipes to Ian... he is doing lots of cooking lately....it's the celebrity chef syndrome I think ::)
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Maggi, how's the labyrinthitis? Any better? I was tempted when Ian first posted about it to say that I hoped you'd find your way out soon, but thought you might not appreciate jokes about it at that point. Assuming you're now feeling better, I've reverted to my usual insensitivity.
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Paddy I'm sure your cookery skills are waisted(!) in Ireland. How about a visit down under, before we waste away.
Martin, 68 corydalis seedlings up so far.
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Paddy, I have had a bowl of rice krispies for my supper.... I do not appreciate your tales of gastronomic goodies at this time.... at the very least, send me the leftovers! Not that I suppose there are any of those.... tsk! :(
Maggie
what with rice crispies and the weetabix, I'm organising a (real) food parcel as I type to prove there is more to life on a very wet day than breakfast cereals ;D
Sue
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10th day of August and we have had rain on 9 of them.
Correction: 11th of August and rain on 10! >:( >:( >:( >:(
UPDATE:
12th and 11. Who was this St Swithen guy?
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Over the last few days I've progressed from my 'welly shoes', to proper wellies and with the monsoon continuing outside I'm thinking of breaking out the waders.
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Mind you, it does save me having to water things. :D
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Anne,
By the sound of it you should start planning a boat purchase. We could do with a bit of a flood here to refill some dams and groundwater. At least there is no danger of my place ever flooding from river overflow or anything like that.... it'd have to be flooding of biblical proportions, and most of the city would be underwater before I was. ;D
Good luck with it not getting TOO waterlogged. :(
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Martin, 68 corydalis seedlings up so far.
A testament to your skill as a seed raiser, Lesley! I struggle to raise them from seed in pots and do better sowing them in the garden. Anyway, glad they're germinating okay. :)
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Sue, you have a heart of gold, dear.......much more of this and I will be a shadow of my former self. Well, no, not really, that would takes months of starvation..... :P ;)
Martin, thank you for your usual kind wishes :-\ ........ when I told someone at the BBC what had been ailing me, he thought it was "one of my jokes" :-X
I am able to see the funny side of things again now, though still seeing quite a lot of things from very funny sides indeed.... nausea has gone so only slightly dizzy now and I'm getting used to that.
Much more of this and I will be admirably suited to life on the ocean wave ;D
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Martin, thank you for your usual kind wishes
Maggi, sorry to hear you're still not 100%, and apologies for the rubbish joke - I get a little stir-crazy when I'm here on my own for a month with no-one to talk to but the cat (who knows nothing about current affairs, by the way, and only wants to gossip about what's happening in the bloody awful Big Brother House). Hope it clears up soon.
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Martin, it is rubbish jokes that keep me going, I assure you.... they're usually the best kind... especially if they are bad enough to warrant a chocolate fine [attach=1]
Sorry to hear cat is such a duff conversationalist.....one down the road witters on about the price of fish all the time :-X
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Sorry to hear cat is such a duff conversationalist.....one down the road witters on about the price of fish all the time :-X
Maggi,
I'm not sure what Lachie has been telling Will,
[attachthumb=1]
but I'm sure it's something about believing that he's actually a koala!
[attachthumb=2]!
cheers
fermi
P.S. We're finally getting a decent drop of rain, it hasn't all ended up in NZ!
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Lachie is a cutie!! What type of cat? British short hair, or are the ears like the Fans. Looks like quite a small breed?
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Seems Lachie is showing his versatility by his koala act.... talent shows are all the rage on TV here... he must have ambitions.
Will just take this chance to send love and congratulations to Will on his recent good news on health front... Yippee! Let the travelling commence, eh? !! :-* :D
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Horrendous day here today, torrential rain and very strong gales. This morning I went out and closed the greenhouse roof vents as I feared the lot would disappear over the fence-never had gales like it in August before.
Many of the plants just don't know what season it is. I have two Acer palmatums in pots which are both in full Autumn colour and I noticed today that a Camellia in the front garden has a flower open. Crazy.
13th day of August and rained on 12.
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Hope you've got the guys from the Guinness Book of Records lined up David. When does it become a record for rainy days in a summer month. 30 out of 31? way to go yet then. ;D
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Eureka- it didn't rain today, well, not yet anyway, and I managed a whole day in the garden, first this month. Our local forecast last night was for heavy showers developing around lunchtime, so, wrong again. I see from this mornings paper that some forecasters are saying we are in for 5 years of poor Summers. If they can't manage to get one day at a time right, with all the expensive technology at their disposal, I'm not going to worry too much about the next five years.
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Eureka- it didn't rain today, well, not yet anyway, and I managed a whole day in the garden, first this month. Our local forecast last night was for heavy showers developing around lunchtime, so, wrong again. I see from this mornings paper that some forecasters are saying we are in for 5 years of poor Summers. If they can't manage to get one day at a time right, with all the expensive technology at their disposal, I'm not going to worry too much about the next five years.
That seems a reasonable approach, David. I do wonder why they even have all that satellite stuff etc when they can't even look out of the window and tell what is actually going on that day :P
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According to the forecast, today will be the hottest day of the year, with 39°C. Maybe, but I already measured a few times this temperature this summer. Anyway, this summer we also had more rain then usual ;D
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Eureka- it didn't rain today, well, not yet anyway, and I managed a whole day in the garden, first this month. Our local forecast last night was for heavy showers developing around lunchtime, so, wrong again. I see from this mornings paper that some forecasters are saying we are in for 5 years of poor Summers. If they can't manage to get one day at a time right, with all the expensive technology at their disposal, I'm not going to worry too much about the next five years.
It poured and poured in Newcastle yesterday but today, it's not raining and hasn't rained so far at all, only problem is that I'm stuck inside at my desk trying to earn the money to do the gardening and the forecast for the weekend is . . . . . yep, yet more rain. I enjoy my job hugely but there are limits. ::)
Oh well, have to hope the forecasters are wrong and the rain holds off, at this rate I was thinking of taking up ark building, I'd swear the cats are getting webbed feet . . . lets hope for one day when it is fine over the weekend!
Sue
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seems the nasty weather is particularly bad with tornados in Poland and floods in lots of Ireland.
Feel rather gulity that it is quite good here in Aberdeen... real thick haar has come in tonight though and had reached six miles inland from us by 19.30 hrs. Fog is always spooky, isn't it? Worst part is folk will be speeding in it and crashing. Every day paper is full of horrible accidents, tho' most have little to do with the weather...... :-X
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We managed to escape the rain yesterday and today, thank goodness, but unsettled weather with rain is forecast for the foreseeable future on the met office site. Depressing.... I'm trying to get a big privet hedge cut back and need to shred it, not much chance of getting on with that while its like this. It is going to give me some much needed shade to grow things in though, when I've got it sorted. If only we could get a week of dry weather!
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Chris, I'd settle for just two days running :(
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what I can tell you is, depending on sources, two thirds of or one months rain fall fell in a few hours over here. Many rivers broke their banks. A new upgraded road through belfast, the West Link, had a new underpass completely flooded. That's 7m/20 feet of water. Police werent answering phone calls on Saturday because, unbelievably, 100s or 1000s were made redundant recently. They couldnt cope with the floods
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Mark
I know you kept asking for rain earlier in the year, but I bet even you did not expect to get in one day.
Saw the floods on TV and can only imagine how bad it was for those families flooded out of their homes.
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Paul, I see Fermi has missed your question about the breed of Lachie..... he is a " Scottish Fold"....of course, I only know this because Fermi told me when he sent photos of Lachie when he was a newly arrived kitten..... for me, cats are a bit like snowdrops.............seen one........ :-\
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for me, cats are a bit like snowdrops.............seen one........ :-\
Maggi :o :o :o
You could not call Gemma ordinary
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Well, that is different....not the cat sat on the mat but the cat sat on the art......appropriate enough for your cat, eh, Art?!! ;) I can certainly tell between the smART cat and the lovely Lachie.... the colour is the key ;D
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what I can tell you is, depending on sources, two thirds of or one months rain fall fell in a few hours over here. Many rivers broke their banks. A new upgraded road through belfast, the West Link, had a new underpass completely flooded. That's 7m/20 feet of water. Police werent answering phone calls on Saturday because, unbelievably, 100s or 1000s were made redundant recently. They couldnt cope with the floods
Just seen the pics on the news Mark, must have been awful for those flooded out. Hope you escaped unscathed.
Normal August day here today. Poured down all day, apart from one 10 minute spell.
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I feel the need to announce that it is 11.34am and it has not rained so far today!!!
Indeed the sun has appeared sporadically.
modified at 6pm- previous post far too optimistic now torrential rain again
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Somebody's turned the light on here as well! 8)
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Pissing down now, that's normal as I'm about to go out >:(
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Dry day here until 10 minutes ago. Now it's back to normal-chucking it down.
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The Meteorological Office is based in Exeter about 30 miles away from me so you would think that at least they might have a sporting chance of getting local forecasts right. The Bank Holiday week-end, they said would be dry, bright and warmish with only the odd shower!
Saturday-grey, overcast and heavy rain through Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Sunday-grey, overcast and from mid afternoon heavy drizzle.
Today-grey, overcast and heavy drizzle.
I may go over to see them tomorrow and see if they are interested in swopping their multi zillion £ computer system for a bucket of sea weed. I'm pretty certain if they hung up a clump of sea weed outside their palatial offices and felt it now and then they might do a little better!
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Even looking out the window might do the trick... ;D ;D
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Much too easy Luc ;D
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And of course that depends on the smog levels, or how clean your windows are. They could forecast fog for days on end, not realising that they just have dirty windows and that was why they couldn't see outside. ;D I would have thought David that the seaweed solution was a big high-tech for them wasn't it?
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The amount of money they spent on the new offices must mean they have the new hi-tech glass that cleans itself. Given the amount of rain we have had this year they should be permanently sparkling.
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Well! good riddance to August and hello September. September started very well with a howling gale, heavy drizzle on and off all day, and from 1700 the rain has been pouring-so what's new :( It felt more like November today.
Maureen's diary recorded 25 rain days in August, two short of the record 27 in October 2004.
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David
Your being so cheerful keeps ME going. In your place I would have moved years ago.
We were promised thunderstorms with lashings of rain yesterday - almost nothing :( ::) :( I put off gardening and watched the cricket - between the heavy rain showers falling not many miles from me. This was after my team managed their first point in the Premiership - it is all positive now ::) ::) ;D
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Well, English cricket's worth watching just now, the national team anyway and led by a South African too. Poor old S.A. :'(
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Well, it's official: the dullest August on record!
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Everywhere? Our local news said it was N Ireland's dullest and wettest August since the 1950s
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David
Your being so cheerful keeps ME going. In your place I would have moved years ago.
We were promised thunderstorms with lashings of rain yesterday - almost nothing :( ::) :( I put off gardening and watched the cricket - between the heavy rain showers falling not many miles from me. This was after my team managed their first point in the Premiership - it is all positive now ::) ::) ;D
Arthur, I wanted to move back to Yorkshire when I first retired, but Maureen wont leave her babies (they are in their 30s for God's sake!). Having heard the News yesterday we should be seriously thinking of moving to Scotland. Prospects of no Council Tax, and free health care for the elderly!!
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Guess what? It stopped raining today and the SUN came out! 8) :D I even ventured out into the garden/water feature and weeded my puddles. I'm seriously thinking of going into rice production.
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I'm seriously thinking of going into rice production.
Expecting some advice from Paddy then? It's within his field! :D
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Oh Cliff!!! ::)
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37° here and no rain for a couple weeks. And the forecast is "extremely hot and dry autumn". I have to convince myself to grow cacti. ;D
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17°C here today and lots of wind and rain.... ::)
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Are any forum members seriously affected by the widespread flooding in the UK, being reported here on our news? One reporter was saying that even down in London it was heavier rain than she'd seen. Nopthern England, Wales etc being affected with thousands of homes evacuated. Here's hoping that no-one we know is affected too much. :o
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I don't know if forumists here in north east england have been too badly affected, Chris B is away so I can't check with her but she's higher than I am so should be fine - I had about 6" or 20 cm of rain on the 5th and 6th of September and my local town (7 miles away) has been very badly flooded. On the drive into work today there are roads still closed, the Newcastle metro system is badly affected by flooding and there are huge amounts of water draining off the fields. It's not actually raining today but you could wring the air out so it's not exactly drying too much either. We've got more rain forecast this week. On the other hand compared to people who've had their homes or businesses flooded I can't complain.
If anyone would like to send some warm sunshire our way - we'd love it.
Sue
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If anyone would like to send some warm sunshire our way - we'd love it.
If only I could, I would do it happily. Last night there was a little storm here with some rain, but now sunshine is back again, I'm going to post it to everybody who needs. ;)
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Thanks Kathrine - I'll send some rain over to you in exchange ;D
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Glorious spring days here, but I'd send you some happily if you could send us some rain!!!!!
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At our local group meeting tonight, we learnt that Mike and Pearl Dale who are the show secretaries for the Newcastle autumn show, which will take place on 11th October, were severely affected by the flooding. They will be getting even more help with the organisation than usual this year, but currently have no telephone connection.
Arrangements will be made over the next few days for those who are entering plants in the show to communicate their entries: email will still work, although will probably be redirected automatically to someone else to deal with, details of phone numbers will be made available for entries on this website and on the AGS site, and will also be publicised at the AGS Loughborough show and SRGC discussion weekend which are both taking place the weekend before.
We'll let you know more when we can.
Peter
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We've had none of the rain here in Dunblane. Quite a pleasant September holiday weekend.
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Peter, this is bad news about the Dales....flooding is just so ghastly.... hope they are soon back to normal...pass on good wishes from Ian and I if you see them, please.
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Maggi,
I think Mike will be in touch with you by phone shortly (when he has dried the phone connections he hopes) to arrange for something to be posted prominently on the website. Ironically the AGS journal arrived today with the details of contacting them to enter plants for the show.
Anthony,
The weather was very localised. I drove up to Glasgow airport on the Sunday after the previous day's deluge to collect my daughter and conditions were atrocious to Dunbar with extremely poor visiblility, diversions off the A1 due to flooding and the A697 due to landslips. By the time we reached the airport the sun was out and we had a very pleasant lunch by Loch Lomond before driving back, by which time she (daughter) was wondering what the fuss was about!
Peter
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Sunday was our first September day without rain and we travelled up to Billingshurst in West Sussex to spend the night in order to give us a full day at Wisley on Monday. Monday was dry and reasonably pleasant and it was a pleasure to walk around the Garden I always enjoy, whatever the season. Colchicums and Cyclamen were in their full glory and it would have been nice to post some pictures had I taken a spare set of batteries for the camera! I managed one very out of focus shot before my batteries called it a day. The Alpine House looked, and smelt, lovely- a credit to Paul and his team.
The journey home on Monday evening was dry too, until we got to Exeter, and then normal weather applied! Still it's got to be better than the poor folks in Morpeth got. Today-heavy drizzle, grey skies and a Dartmoor mist until the sun came out at 1815 and by 1845 it was raining again. Promises of the tail end of the latest hurricane on Thursday and Friday-ain't life fun!
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Just in case the work of the Scientists at the European Centre for Nuclear Research, with their research project near Swiss-French border with the Large Hadron Collider really DO cause the end of the world/universe as we know it, when they progress their proton collision experiment.... I'd just like to say it's been great knowing you all! :-*
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For once, the west coast of Scotland has got off lightly during the past week. On Saturday I looked out my window to the N.W, saw blue sky and took off. About two hours later and a 5 minute ferry trip from Colintraive, we were on the Island of Bute. As the day wore on, the sky became bluer and bluer. We toured round every road on the island and had coffee and a bun in Mount Stewart gardens. We did not visit the house and gardens as time was pressing. We stopped at a viewpoint overlooking Arran and I watched the Royal Navy's latest destroyer undergoing sea trials off the measured mile on Arran. When we finally left Bute, we took the long way back via Strachur and stopped at the famous Creggans Inn for a meal. As it is our forty third wedding anniversary next week, we decided to celebrate in advance although drink was off the menu as I was driving. The journey back was in sunshine all the way until we crossed the Erskine bridge just as the sun was setting Some days are better than others.
Attached are a few pictures for those who have seen nothing but rain recently
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Reply to you on Thursday, Maggie, or not!
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David, I think, though they switch the collider on on Thursday, it will take about two weeks to get everything up to speed and for the actual collisions to beginso :-Xthere's still time for last minute parties and chocolate!
To Tom and Cindy... very best wishes for your forthcoming anniversary....hope you get another such lovely day to celebrate it! 8)
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Just in case the work of the Scientists at the European Centre for Nuclear Research, with their research project near Swiss-French border with the Large Hadron Collider really DO cause the end of the world/universe as we know it, when they progress their proton collision experiment.... I'd just like to say it's been great knowing you all! :-*
You're just worrying about all that Swiss chocolate disappearing into a black hole, Maggi.
Of course it's always possible that there's been a long series of Big Bangs with each one caused when a civilization within the universe developed enough science and curiosity about the Big Bang phenomenon to build a machince to replicate one...
I can't help thinking about those nuclear bomb scientists on the U.S. Manhattan Project who didn't know whether the first nuclear detonation would create a runaway nuclear reaction that would destroy the World...and yet they set it off anyway!
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Well, we're still here............
Or at least I am.
No sign of the chocolate yet ;D
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I'm here also but logging in from a parallel universe
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;D ;D ;D
No black holes sighted yet here either... however, I can offer some Belgian black chocolate !!!
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Well, just in case the world did , I ate all my chocolate stores last night, so I am now in desperate need of re-stocking my cupboard or life will no longer be worth living anyway!! :-X
We are having a better day here.... actually some sunshine so we have made a pleasant walk with Lily and Molly, who came today for a haircut........so I suppose I could be running the "dog parlour at the end of the universe" ::)
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As Maggi said earlier, it'll take at least a couple of weeks to get the collider up to speed and start getting results. So don't uncross any fingers just yet. ;D
The weather's finally warming up and drying out a bit here. No problems with flooding here, apart from (you may have heard it on the news) the poor bloke who was buried alive just down the hill from us when a mud-slide filled the gas pipeline trench he was working in. :(
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Been raining heavily here since 1430 and the wind has got up too. Have you seen your forecast for tomorrow Martin? :(
Am I the onlly one who was horrified at the costs of setting up and maintaining this 'big bang' equipment? The sums involved would have gone a long way towards solving starvation problems in the 'Third World'; significant funding for cancer and other serious illness research; and providing hospitals, doctors and nurses throughout Africa. At least the results of my funding scheme would be instantly tangible rather than a philosophy of "well we don't know what will happen but it will be nice to find out".
Oh, and if there is a Pound or Euro or so to spare I suggest it be offered to the BBC as an inducement not to report anything further about the forthcoming Presedential election in that big country just over 'the pond'. After all we have enough of our own politicians to put up. ???
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Been raining heavily here since 1430
Didn't know that records went back that far ;D ;D ;D
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That is a good one, Art!! ;D
Been a bit damp here this evening, from 1700 hours.....not heavy rain though.
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Art,
;D ;D
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No rain here today and the sun was shining for most of the time, just a few clouds. ;D
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We had a few hours of much needed rain overnight and then it has been mild, sunny but windy today.
Nice to be out in but drying for the outdoor pot plants.
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NO RAIN HERE TODAY!!!!!!!! Cloudy with the odd bright spell.
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Last night's red sky from my front gate. Note the handy post box! I could see the hills, so it rained over night!
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Great shots Anthony.
Very heavy rain here, again, over night ruined Colchicums and Crocus
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My weather has been extremely pleasant thank you. Hardly a drop of rain in Oz and just a brisk shower at home last night, needed, and sunny today. What are you all complaining about?
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Lesley
Welcome back - I know we had some post from Oz, but you are now operating from your home base. Hope Roger did mange to capture some images while you were away.
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Atrocious day here, rain from dawn and it is still raining at 20-45hrs. I have been watching the water rising at the bottom of the garden and slowly making its way toward the back door. Hope it stops soon.
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Here's a week's worth of rain!
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Only in Barrow, Anthony ... :)
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Enough there to put out a Furness Cliff!
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It's the 21st November... it is 16.25hrs and very dark outside... the temperature is dropping rapidly and it is snowing... as it has been, on and off, for at least twelve hours.....I think winter has come to Aberdeen :'(
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Been out in the garden and the greenhouse most of the day today which has had the odd sunny spell and a reasonably pleasant 12C. If the Weather men get it right it looks as though the South West should miss the worst of the cold snap.
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Been out in the garden and the greenhouse most of the day today which has had the odd sunny spell and a reasonably pleasant 12C. If the Weather men get it right it looks as though the South West should miss the worst of the cold snap.
You are SUCH a comfort to me, David....... :-X I have just taken my day-girl spaniel back home...it's flippin' perishin' out there! Both Figo, the young spaniel and Miss Lily, our westie both trot happily through the white stuff, snuffling about gleefully and generally enjoying the snow.... I trudge along thinking that life in the banana belt.... ANY banana belt, gets more appealing every year :P
Earlier I had Jean Wyllie on the phone.... "been a lovely day down here" she says, from Dunblane..........
gee, thanks for that news, Jean, David..........
[attach=1]
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Our 'Banana Belt' has fared a little better than Aberdeen. It has been dry so far and the temperature even rose to 3C. I see that snow is forcast here for tonight then a bright but very cold day tomorrow. Then on Sunday we have a severe weather warning for rain!
Just inland the raids have been bad with serious conditions in the Rothes/Craigellachie area. Well, it is nearly Christmas.
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Yup, those inland "raids" are a bummer and no mistake.... but who knew they extended beyond the border reivers? ;)
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OK, dear, perhaps that G&T was a bit early. How about 'roads' and 'Border Ravers'? ;D
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Just inland the raids have been bad with serious conditions in the Rothes/Craigellachie area. Well, it is nearly Christmas.
Vikings? ??? Still? ;D
cheers
fermi
in Goa, where an afternoon siesta is still de rigeur due to the heat! Be careful what you wish for!
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Raining again! The snow will soon be gone and it will be back to mud again.
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Snowfall! :o
Can't remember the last 25 years we had snowfall so early 22./23 November! :o
When we got snow then late January/February.
I hope a bit for a white christmas but also that next week frost and snow is gone!
I still have to lay crocus corms and others I purchased cheaply from a local garden center at the end of the bulb sales season. :P
But I'm also not sure this early snow fall is a sign for a coming strong winter or just opposite with green christmas and +15°C as usual?
Maybe just the cognition remains that weather is caotic and not realy predictable::)
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Fermi, it has been warm here, early to mid 20's and that is all I can stand, so you are welcome to the heat of Goa. Hope you are having a wonderful time.
We are waiting for rain - it has been promised for a while but does not seem to eventuate. The garden is very dry, not helped by the fact that there seems to have been an almost constant wind.
Susan
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Same here Susan, another hottie today, 27C so far and a strong nor'wester with it. HATE days like this.
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Maggi,
Great to see Calvin making an appearance in the forums, and looking so very handsome as well! ;D
David,
Your weeks worth of rain in the wheelbarrow is about a year's worth here at the moment I think. At least it seems like it. How many inches or rain did you have to get that much in the wheelbarrow?
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My wheel barrow lies outside, very lazy of me I know, and it was over flowing when I emptied it
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Has David got a wheelbarrow full too?
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Er Sorry, that should have been Anthony I was talking to, not David. Having one of my regular "senior" moments, which is never good for a 39 year old. :o
In all seriousness, I reckon that leaving a wheelbarrow outside here it would never fill up as it would keep evaporating between rain events. I think our average for the year is around 600mm of rain, but not entirely sure about that. Currently I think we're around 450mm, so looking like we'll end up well short or average yet again. ::)
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I re-emptied it yesterday as it had filled up again. We had an inch of snow and I went for a walk up the hill from my house towards Sheriffmuir. Loads of rabbit, deer and fox footprints.
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Maggi,
Great to see Calvin making an appearance in the forums, and looking so very handsome as well! ;D
Yes, Paul, but a little embarrassing since we have just got a new South aFrican Forumist called calvin! I hope he is not offended by our use and delight of a cartoon character with his name?!! :-[ :-\ ::)
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Hmmm... well perhaps I should say it was lovely to see the new forumist Calvin has joined us, and the (not related in any way to the other Calvin) comic Calvin as well? ;D
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Very cold last night with reports of -7oC. Certainly it was -4oC at 14.00 GMT. Here is the web of Zygiella x-notata on the trampoline.
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Hi it is baltic here as well with minus 5 c here are some pictures from the garden, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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Hydrangea flowerheads seem to show the frost nicely.
We had heavy frost on Saturday morning,
Paddy
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Not exactly weather, but has to do with the sky :)
This special sight was seen from Israel at about 6:30 PM: the moon, Jupiter (above) and Venus.
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Miriam,
This is the view I had looked forward to for this evening from our living room window as we have had Jupiter and Venus for the past few evenings but not the nice moon to go with them. Unfortunately, we have a cloudy sky this evening and I haven't the view. Tomorrow, perhaps.
Thanks for your photograph.
Paddy
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Great views of both planets here last night
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Miriam, a delightful cheery photo... and very clear, too. 8)
We're "missing" the moon at the moment :-X
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Miriam,
By coincidence I have just been at a meeting of a local camera club and one of the members had a photograph just the same as yours, taken this evening in the south of Ireland.
Paddy
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Miriam,
By coincidence I have just been at a meeting of a local camera club and one of the members had a photograph just the same as yours, taken this evening in the south of Ireland.
Paddy
suddenly the world seems smaller and we're all that much closer together..... I like that feeling! 8)
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It's amazing the effect perspective has - here in South Africa the moon was perfectly aligned midway between Venus and Jupiter...
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And here in Australia it looked like a nice smiley face (although I forgot to go out and look at it!) :o Apparently in the US the moon was in such a position as to make it look like a frown instead of a smiley...... maybe that was arranged by their financial markets to suit the occasion. ::)
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Morning. More snow this morning in Lincolnshire but thankfully the sun has appeared a few moments ago 8)
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Looks pretty from indoors, Rob..... but there won't be enough snow for the Girls to build snowmen, i think?
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Nice, I wish we had some snow.
Now, the only thing we get is rain, rain and... rain. And then the temperatures are flirting with the freezing point so it get's really slippery especially on a bike (which a lot of people experienced last week)
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We had an inch this morning in sunny D. None in Falkirk though :-\
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from here the planets sat under and to the right of the moon,very interesting to see and fortunately a freezing clear night
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Our first proper fall of snow this year and my first opportunity for a number of years (usually in the office) to get out with the camera before the thaw, the children and the cars have ruined the pristine white ...
Walked three hundred metres down the road (through chill early morning mist) to our local beauty spot; Healey Dell and spent a couple of hours relishing the peace, the eerie silence and the stark beauty of this grey-white wonderland ...
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Amazing how strong colours are blanketed by the grey of the mist and the white of the snow ...
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Sorry ... only two or three batches more ...
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... they are all colour images ... they haven't been converted to greyscale ...
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Final batch from Healey Dell in the snow ...
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I guess Sue kicked you out of bed again Cliff! :(
Nice pics though.
All we had today was VERY wet sleet.
John
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Looks pretty from indoors, Rob..... but there won't be enough snow for the Girls to build snowmen, i think?
Perhaps a small snowdog?
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All the autumn pics were magnificent Cliff but these are Sooooo chilly :o :o
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Beautiful pictures as always Cliff!
So good, can feel the silence you were walking through.
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What is Snow ? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never see it hear. Just rain, rain and more rain.
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The snow never left us today. Lovely clear night. here is the moon, Venus and Saturn at 8 p.m. tonight. Notice the new moon cradling the old in her arms.
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Super pic AD.
Too much 'other' light round here to get a decent shot.
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The pic was taken on my front door step. Just out of shot (below the pic) is a large sodium street lamp. This morning, as I set off on my way to work, it was -7oC at 8.15 a.m.
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That's pretty cold for a large sodium street light! :P
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::)
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Y'all just love your snow - why? You'd think living in countries that get a lot of the stuff you'd be sick of it - lovely pictures though... :)
Can you believe that the pictures attached below were taken by a friend of mine not too far from where I live last winter - amazing, as we rarely get snow in these parts and then only high up in the Drakensberg:
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Huh. What snow. Kids are most upset at being promised 8" and getting none! :-\
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None of the forecast eight inches of snow here, either... it poured with rain all night and happily the temperature has risen above freezing or we'd be in a right icy mess....instead we're just in a wet mess :P
I loved Cliff's cold, atmospheric snow pix.... I thought they wre very "filmic"... especially the one with the long stairway... where I was absolutely thinking a remake of "The 39 Steps"..... but, on balance.... if a choice is offered, I'll take Rogan's snow with sun and bright blue skies ;) ;D
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Thanks Maggi ... I must admit I would prefer to take my camera to South Africa, given the chance.
We have gained a further three inches of the white stuff overnight but the thaw is now quite pronounced, as i discovered to my cost when I went out to scrape the snow from the frames and the greenhouse roof ... :D
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Well, Cliff, since we've discovered in another thread ... http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=249.new;topicseen#new .... that Rogan's brother is a guide inthe Drakensberg..... perhaps a trip, with your camera, could be on the cards, eh? ;D
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Does he do finance as well, Maggi? What a gent!
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Does he do finance as well, Maggi? What a gent!
Now that really would be fantastic, Cliff!
With the further reduction in the bank rate, and the knock-on effect to onterest rates, I can certainly say that I will have to content myself with enjoying the travel pix in the Forum, since my savings will be hard pressed to even keep up with my chocolate habit for the foreseeable future :'(
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The 'chocolate habit' makes you sound like a nun Maggi.
Can it be true?
John
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When we were in Forres yesterday I noticed two or three parents coming out of shops carrying sledges! :'( Ah well, it will probably snow sometime this winter.
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Johnny, I could never lay claim to being any kind of bird of "pray" ;)
When we had our first snow, the other week, a colleague at the BBC had been trying to find a sledge for his young children but nowhere seemed to have them in stock then.... one of the Potting Shed panellists said she'd spotted some on sale in Dumfries.... but Pete thought that a bit far to travel........Forres is nearer!!
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The 'chocolate habit' makes you sound like a nun Maggi.
John
Maggi is certainly the Mother Superior of the SRGC, John.
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I've seen more snow in pictures on the Forum this week than we have had for real in the last five years or so. Did I read that many schools in Lancashire were closed this week because of snow? Gone are the days when I walked to school, in the outskirts of Huddersfield, by walking on the tops of walls through some feet of snow!
Mind you, if we get a couple of centimeters of snow down here, apart from on the heights of Dartmoor, the whole place grinds to a halt.
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I only had to walk up the hill from South Parade to Spring Grove the winter of 1962-3.
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You were a "Townie" !!
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Our snow didnt come either. We were told up to 4 inches 10cm. The cold snap has ruined all my Nerines sarniensis flowers and my recently acquired bowdenii x sarniensis 'Zeal Giant'. Giant it is.
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You were a "Townie" !!
I was only in Huddersfield for that year whilst at school.
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6˚ tipping it down with rain and blowing a gale... at least it waited until it got warmer to be wet and windy, yesterday it would have been a blizzard >:(
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We had heavy rain last night followed by a hard freeze
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bowdenii x sarniensis 'Zeal Giant'.
??
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Luit that's what I read recently
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http://www.rhs.org.uk/WhatsOn/gardens/rosemoor/archive/rosemoorpom03sep.asp
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Clif,
Fantastic snow pics. Just love the composition of some of them. You've got an excellent eye for choosing the right pics to take, something I am aware I lack somewhat! ::) You've nailed them all beautifully. Given we had around 30'C yesterday I am particularly appreciating the rather chilly feeling that accompanies your pics..... might have another look at them mid afternoon today just to cool down a bit!! ;D
Thanks everyone for the pics. Gotta love a bright sunny day with snow like that, set off beautifully by the in-ground pool surrounded by snow. :D Looks so strange to see the pool reflecting the blue of the sky, when it looks so cold. ;)
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Very cold here today. 1c all day meant the frost never lifted and tonight there is a hard frost again.
I'm near sure I read in the Daffodil Year Book about 'Zeal Giant'
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Wasn't there an article in the last 'The Garden'? See my link above.
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The last 'The Garden' is the one out now featuring Epiphyllums, Prunus and pitchers.
Bob Brown says bowdenii x sarniensis also
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Luit & Mark,
I cannot comment on the accurate naming of Nerine 'Zeal Giant' but I can attest to the fact it lives up to its name. The flowering stem is approximately 60 cm and the flowerhead is approximately 15 - 20 cm across. I bought a bulb about 3 years ago and it has flowered each years since and has produced several offsets which have yet to flower. Mine is pot-grown in a cold glasshouse.
Paddy
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Luit that's what I read recently
www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/plant_groups/nerine.asp (http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/plant_groups/nerine.asp)
Hardy Nerine Study Day.
page 47 - 53
Happy readings!
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Bob Brown was prominently there too... :-\ ;)
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Well, for the shortest day of the year it wasn't a bad one here in Devon or indeed in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. We took a quick trip up the M5 to pick up Maureen's Mum from Ledbury in Herefordshire and brought her back down with us to spend Christmas here.
When we left home the car was showing an external temperature of 15C and the sky was patchy blue and it only dropped by one degree all the way up the motorway. When we drove back into the drive earlier this evening it was still showing 12C.
On the borders of Devon and Somerset fields were full of sheep with new born lambs and the first reports I heard on the local news broadcasts of early lambs were at the beginning of November.
As we turned off the M5 onto the M50 near Tewkesbury the chain of the Malvern Hills was on our right and with the sun at a low angle at this time of the year and shining directly onto the face of the Malverns it was a sight to cherish. The Malverns are my favourite hills standing proud over the Severn plain. As mountains go I suppose that these days they are nothing to shout about with Worcestershire Beacon being the highest in the chain at 425 meters. For a chain of extinct volcanoes they are now gentle and welcoming and still provide an airy walk without any fear of vertigo. Think though what they must have been like 600 million years ago when they were formed from igneus and metamorphic rocks in the pre Cambrian period (a bit before my time, Cliff might know though :P) If you would like to see more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvern_Hills
This part of Herefordshire and Worcestershire is famous for growing mistletoe and many trees at the sides of the road had heavy clumps of it. In the early part of December each year a mistletoe fair and market is held in Tenbury Wells wher growers meet to sell their crops with buyers from all over England and Wales coming to buy. This year crops were heavy and prices cheap to the extent that growers were virtually giving crops away. Price of a sprig of mistletoe at my local Tesco = £3. Something wrong somewhere!!
Ah well, Spring can't be long now.
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Price of a sprig of mistletoe at my local Tesco = £3. Something wrong somewhere!!
That does seem a bit steep... did you ask if they've reduced the VAT?
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Did think about telling them where to stick it but then thought holly might be more appropriate ;D
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David - re: Tesco project
Ilex auiqfolium 'Ferox' might be appropriate as there are spines on the upper sides of the leaves as well. Second thought, the leaves are on the small side.
johnw
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David - re: Tesco project
Ilex auiqfolium 'Ferox' might be appropriate as there are spines on the upper sides of the leaves as well. Second thought, the leaves are on the small side.
johnw
;D ;D
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I meant to add this Link about the Malverns and forgot. It shows the whole chain. Sorry, but I said they were my favourites :-[
http://www.malvern-hills.co.uk/panorama.html
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re: Nova Scotia
We are having a bit of weather here. The winds started in the evening last night and snow started around 8pm. The winds here in Halifax were clocked at a sustained 93 km/hr with gusts to 120. The house shook from top to bottom for most of the night. Mercifully we only got a few inches of snow but the wind is still blowing. The power was out from 8:30 am until a few minutes ago (6 hours), temp -3c. The power crew could not go up in their buckets due to the fierce wind, as well their trucks were unstable due to the icy streets. A brave linesman in this section clearly went up anyway. Still 84,000 homes without power and the temperature is plummeting.
Yarmouth clocked 140 km/hr and Cheticamp in Cape Breton which is routinely hit by les suetes clocked 190 km/hr! The doors were blown off the funeral home there. (Awaiting some clever comments on that.)
-8c tonight and above freezing from Wednesday onward.
from the internet: "damaging local winds are known as Les Suetes, derived from the word for southeast: sud est. These southeasterlies are created when a frontal inversion causes a funnelling effect over the Cape Breton mountains. As the winds rush down the side of the highlands, strong gusts develop which have been recorded to exceed 150km/h (94 mph)." Someone will have to update that.
johnw
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I hope the winds arent coming our way! It's a nice 11C outside just now
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re: I hope the winds arent coming our way!
The winds are still here and headed east. They'd better not turn back west.
johnw
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Big thunderstorms moving in from the south, here this evening. There was even a fairly respectable tornado 100km south of us, at least judging by the picture they showed on the news tonight. Not something we commonly see here (thankfully), just the little dust devils in summer. I hope the storm bearing down on us doesn't produce any twisters within the city. They still wouldn't be anything like those in the US have to suffer through every summer.
As long as we get some more rain out of it I'll be happy. 8)
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There's a low flying bright white UFO in the sky outside my house today. Has anyone seen anything like it before?
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It's a phenomenon called a solar glimpse, Mark ... cover your eyes and it will disappear.
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I caught a glimpse of it too, but when I tried to get it on photo it was almost gone :-\
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Such colour, Gunilla! I almost feel warm enough to take my gloves off! ;)
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Alex in another thread was talking about Crocus flowers elongating. It's little wonder when the sun is so low in the sky
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Sun! What sun? :'(
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We had sun today. Beautiful sunset too. :P
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Sun set here was also very good with many layers or oranges and reds on the horizon. If only I had a digital camera during my sun rise sun set addiction. I have 100s of slides. Maybe when I go digital SLR I'll start again.
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32'C here today.... plenty of sun. You can have some if you all like? Just come and collect it yourselves!! ;) For the next few months we'll be having MORE than enough sun, that is for sure. ::)
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Just been to the Cairngorm Mountain web page where it advises temperatures of -10 in Aviemore, -7 at Glenmore, -4 in the car park 640m) and +0.3 at 900m. A classic temperature inversion and it must be a beautiful day for walking on the Cairngorm plateau.
Here in Forres it is about -5 with some shifting fog.
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David,
It sounds positively heavenly at the moment!! Nearly 9pm and still above 25'C here. :-\
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The fog burned back later this morning and we walking for a couple of hours across the local fields. We had a really great time with the sun shining and everything covered in hoar frost. Got back just in time before the fog returned.
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Wonderful pictures David !!
We had - 4°C last night here in lower Belgium - but a very dry frost with cold Eastern wind - not very inviting for walks... and no hoar frost either. :'(
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David it was cold your way last night. We have a very white frost around 11pm but this morning it was almost gone
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Frosty yesterday but milder today. No sun, but the golfers were still out on Dunblane New Golf Course at 4.15 p.m. today.
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David,
beautiful winter impressions you caught with your camera.
Just arrived home from a long walk in the fields with full sunshine and terrific long-sight to our hills but accompanied with frosty continental wind!
Brrrr...
...I contribute posting a winter impression of the sunset Dec 23rd.
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It was magical being out in the frozen world - everything was frosted, including the remains of a dandelion seed head... As David said we walked for a couple of hours across the frozen fields and along little paths temperature was around -5˚C but almost flat calm, we managed to grab the window of opportunity though as the fog rolled back in not long after we got home. We both have memories of being in St Anton in Austria on January when the temperature in the actual village was well below freezing and with total shade you did not want to move around. However, one you got up into the sunshine it was fantastic...
Happy New Year to you all
Carol
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Beautiful images everyone ...
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A former student sent me the following pictures of Mount Rainier. Lucky man, lives in Portland so it is on his doorstep. The cloud formations are called lenticular clouds and are produced by air flowing over the mountain being pushed up until moisture condenses out. Locally they are a sign of rain within 24 hours as the air flow is moist. The shape depends on the air flow. The images were originally posted on a blog at http://www.komonews.com/younews where are more equally spectacular pictures.
[attach=1]
[attach=2]
[attach=3]
[attach=4]
[attach=5]
Brian and Maureen Wilson
Aberdeen
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Superb photos from your former student, Brian, thank you for sharing them with us...... 8)
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Stunning views Brian - thanks for showing !!
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This is where the other photos are
http://www.komonews.com/younews?keywords=lenticular+clouds&searchType=yn (http://www.komonews.com/younews?keywords=lenticular+clouds&searchType=yn)
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6pm - ..... -7 C already.
-15 C predicted (!)
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After a chilly Christmas (clear but below freezing at night), today I opened the windows to warm up - it was 22ºC outdoors but only 13ºC in my unheated flat!
I loved your frost photos David! Where I live we only have a frost if the sky is clear and it disappears as soon as the sun comes up.
Chloë
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Thank you Chloe,there's plenty more frost out there still. It is wonderful for a day or two but this cold weather is now going on for too long. It is currently -10 and has not been above -4 all day; we never get prolonged cold like this. I don't suppose that there is any point in worrying but I know that we must have lost many plants and bulbs.
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It was too cold here today to work comfortably while cutting back and general tidying. I wouldn't want to be in Northants tomorrow morning
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Sunburn weather here. My nose is peeling - and other, less prominent places.
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Still +3C outside here about ten minutes ago.
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Hang on.... I'll get a torch and go out.......
8.17 pm....... there, that didn't take long.......just on 0 degrees and dropping ....been all the way up to nearly 4 degrees today!
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6pm - ..... -7 C already.
-15 C predicted (!)
Good grief, Giles, put as many clothes on as you can.... especially socks..... can't have you end up as an ice sculpture.
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I just went out also. We are on the way up, "the only way is up, baby", it's +8C
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6pm - ..... -7 C already.
-15 C predicted (!)
That reminds me of Oxford in the winter of 1981/1982. That was damn cold! But it was fun to have no school and to go sledging on Boars Hill :D
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I just went out also. We are on the way up, "the only way is up, baby", it's +8C
Are you sure you didn't drop the thermometer in your coffee before you took the reading? ???
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Hruska with one ice cube :D
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It's supposed to be -15oC in the north east tonight.
My car thermometer was reading -0oC ::) at 2.00 p.m. today.
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Dear Chloe,
That is seriously spooky as I was in Oxford then too (and yes it was 'very' cold, and the college central heating broke down too!!).
No ice sculptures here though: 4 blankets,2 duvets, hot water bottle and bed socks!
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Dear Chloe,
That is seriously spooky as I was in Oxford then too (and yes it was 'very' cold, and the college central heating broke down too!!).
No ice sculptures here though: 4 blankets,2 duvets, hot water bottle and bed socks!
It's odd that I don't remember feeling particularly cold. My main memory is of the frost growing thicker (or longer!) every day!
But even spookier is that my mother was from Northampton :) :)
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dee dee de dee, dee dee de dee........ eek!
That winter was more than 25 years ago.... you were young ( hell, apart from the few who weren't born then, ALL of us here were young then!!) ... the young don't feel the cold.... in the same way that in 1972 I didn't feel the heat of that lovely summer ......now I alternate between freezing to death and melting in a hot fug.....life's a bitch and then you die......
[attach=1]
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This morning, frost on the car, one of my thermometers reads 0 and the other +2
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Today's Press & Journal advises that there is a ridge of high pressure over southern Scandinavia and that this is pushing a cold central European airstream over northern Scotland. The worst bit is that forecasters predict it will last into the middle of next week :(.
It is quite bright now and about -5 so we are about to wrap up and go for a walk. No gardening to be done here for a while yet.
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+2C here at the moment with a very cold wind. There was a fairly heavy frost first thing but all gone now although the ground is still fairly hard. Greenhouse managed to stay above freezing though.
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Currently -7, calm and sunny but magical walking weather.
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I really like your photo of the trees.
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David, lovely pictures. In the whole of my life I have never before seen trees covered with so much frost.
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In my pre teens we had weather like that or colder. There was hill where we used to slide down on cardboard. This was a year round event. I remember this period of cold because there was a lot of snow, hard frosts and freezing fog. While we play ice formed on our long hair. Long because the fashion was the long shaggy cut. Anyone remember?
I also remember rooks and jackdaws, Corvids, being active after dark. With the help of a black Lab I caught mice that were under the snow. He would poke his nose under the snow and plough through it. Mice would jump out and run over snow. I kept them in glass fish tanks in a rough green house made from corrugated plastic. The tanks had soil, twigs, moss, food etc to keep them happy. They were always gone the next day. I suppose they jumped out. I also saw barn owls when I went across the fields looking for foxes and badgers out in the snow
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Some lovely Scottish frost photos here too http://teach77.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/i-love-winter/ (http://teach77.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/i-love-winter/)
Warmish and wet here.
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I like David's lollipops. ;D
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I think we must all be going soft. It is cold but nothing like what we used to get. I have vague memories of the winter in 1947 in Glasgow. I was never out of a balaclava and wellies until March. The worst point was fuel rationing - we were rationed to one bag of coal a week, power cuts and a gas supply that was no more than a "peep" - a Glasgow expression that means a flame that can barely be seen. Central heating meant one coal fire in the house.
To quote MontY Python, " coal fire, bloody luxury but we were happy then"
As a young adult, the winter of 1962/3 was a beauty. Loch Lomond froze over and I can remember walking out to Inchcailloch island. At that time I was working in a whisky bond in Dumbarton. We could not have any heating due to fire risks and the temperature was -15C inside the warehouse - sticking your hands into over proof whisky hurt! We used to stand outside for a heat. It was only -10c in the open. You have to realise that there were no smokeless zones and the accumulation of smoke from coal fires and factory pollution could give smog that could last for a week.
The last cold spell was about 27 years ago. It was so cold in Ayr that the sea froze over for about 100 metres from the shore and the river Ayr resembled the Baltic with ice flows choking the river.
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1979 was the year the Lake of Mentieth froze to a depth of over 10" and over 1000 competitors had a 'grand match' in the last Bonspiel. There were even cars on the ice! Our last big freeze was January 1996 when the school heating broke down and we were farmed out here there and everywhere in Falkirk almost until Easter. :o
Here's some pics taken around about 4.30 p.m. today near the Gathering Stone on Sheriffmuir.
Still and hour and a half 'til the bells. 8)
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27 years could be the year that the sides of Lough Neagh and Lough Beg froze. I walked out to Coney Island on Lough Beg on the ice. Very stupid because I cant swim. Shooting was banned then, I used to shoot, so the birds could try to find food in peace. My dad told me about the cold winter of 62/63 when the two loughs froze solid. Drivers too short cuts across Lough Neagh 12x22 miles.
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I was at the Bonspiel on the Lake of Menteith in the winter of 62/63. Although I had never played the game before, my colleague was a member of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club and I was dragged along to make up the numbers. We played against the Howe of Fife and I cannot remember much about it except it seemed to be an excuse for drinking copious amounts of whisky ostensibly to keep out the cold.
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Great spooky photos, Anthony.... if Heidi didn't have that smart red coat on, she'd pass for a ghostly hound indeed in that lighting! Helps you find her in the gloaming, too!
Can't resist showing you Lily, doing her Christmas coat photo shoot....
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I dont like dogs in coats but that is cute
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Most dogs are like us, nowadays, Mark... they live in centrally heated homes, so they don't have the coats and constitutions that they once would have had... a coat is no bad thing in such cases..... a whippet without a coat in even a UK winter would be a dead whippet, pretty quickly! Santa suits notwithstanding, a joke for two minutes indoors; Lily has a rather natty quilted red tartan waterproof coat for bad weather wear .....and very chic she looks, too. :D
Edit on 7th Jan 2009 : discovered that posts are still running here when there is in fact a new thread open for Weather 2009 .... willl split those off to the new page!