Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: Andrew on January 01, 2009, 09:54:21 AM
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Good King Wenceslas looked out,
On the feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about,
Deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shown the moon that night,
Though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight,
Gathering winter fuel.
Neale
Not even a frost here, dull with a nip in the air.
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I thought it was 'brightly shone the moon that night'?
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We were being shown how the moon shone, I think..... either way, flippin' cold and wet here!
Happy New Year!!
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No frost here either
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The weather has now broken and the temperature is up to -1. It is a grey, dank day and not nearly as much fun as it has been over the past few days. Next week the temperature is forcast to rise to +2! Now, where are my shorts?
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mentioning shorts I just saw a guy going to the shop in polo shirt, shorts and flip flops. Looking at the two thermometers I have the average for today is +3.5
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An interesting drive home last night from the party.
Looking down the street this morning. This batch is likely to stay for awhile.
Over 50cm in Cape Breton and still snowing there. Dogs have hair up there.
johnw - -5c and gusty.
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Quite an impressive dump you've had there!
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Hitch told me when I saw him in February that the problem with snowdrops, in high snow areas, is they try to grow under the snow and it ruins the flowers
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Now, where are my shorts?
I also saw a man out in t-shirt and shorts walking his dog this afternoon!
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I thought it was 'brightly shone the moon that night'?
This was my reference (along with the other verses) :-
http://www.allchristmaslyrics.com/good_king_wenceslas_lyrics.htm
like many things, it's probably changed over the years.
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Mine comes from 'Carols for choirs' by Jacques & Wilcox; OUP 1961. I suspect the Google version to be a misprint?
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Ah, Cape Breton, frozen land of the Bearded Ladies...... ??? ::) ;D ;)
( with apologies to all the beautiful Cape Breton ladies of my acquaintance...... none of whom, I sincerely hope, are reading this :-X )
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Now, where are my shorts?
I also saw a man out in t-shirt and shorts walking his dog this afternoon!
Are these guys a)drunk,
b) pathetically trying to look butch,
or c) simply feeble-minded, following a nasty head injury?
Perhaps it is a tragic combination of all three?
::)
Gotta feel sorry for 'em, really.
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Maybe not trying to look hard but cool - no pun intended
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If you live in Newcastle a 't' shirt counts as a winter overcoat, at least if you are under 30 yrs and out on the town - male or female. I wonder what they wear in summer?
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Hitch told me when I saw him in February that the problem with snowdrops, in high snow areas, is they try to grow under the snow and it ruins the flowers
Mark - Hitch may be in that snow belt around the Great Lakes where it snows all winter long or at least every time the wind blows across the lakes.
Growth under snow doesn't seem to be a problem here as we usually have alternating bare ground and snow cover. I suppose frostless ground followed quickly by winter-long snow cover just might cause sub-snow growth. In any event the drops have never been marred here even when brief late snows come in March and April.
I look forward to his catalogue.
I hear Cape Breton will also get a period of rain on top of all the snow. This causes a pancaking effect = snow-sheet of ice-snow-sheet of ice-snow which is notorious there for pulling lower branches off shrubs as it melts.
johnw
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I dont like dogs in coats
Cha shoirbh triubhas a chur air cat!
johnw
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I Goggled it and I like it!
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Now, where are my shorts?
I also saw a man out in t-shirt and shorts walking his dog this afternoon!
Shorts are not uncommon here all winter long, mainly university and high school fellows, the odd kilt. Women would never be so foolish yet they do have high heels to answer for - not so pretty on ice.
johnw
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Can't compete with John W in Nova Scotia but it feels cold over here in Wolverhampton
A dusting of snow with -4C the last two nights and around zero by day.
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Cyclamen coum thinking it's not a good day to open up
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You're having it much worse than here, Diane.... your poor little cyclamen! Brrrr!
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Indeed not, John, and ......
Cha dèan cat miotagach sealg ::)
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I like that also
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Days like this make it important to have nut and fat feeders for birds
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What's a 'far' feeder Mark?
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I'm still goggling at those two statements. ;D
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I'm still goggling at those two statements. ;D
this site has them
http://www.hp.europe.de/kd-europtravel/gaelic/proverb.htm
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Indeed not, John, and ......
Cha dèan cat miotagach sealg ::)
Good one Maggi.
johnw
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"What's a 'far' feeder".
That's the one the neighbours have which means the birds get fed and you save money!
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oops, fat
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I looked in vain for one about chocolate :)
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It is really cold here in somerset at the moment. It hasn't thawed for about seven or more days. The ground is absolutely solid. I'm having to break the ice on the bird bath every morning.
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I'm still goggling at those two statements. ;D
this site has them
http://www.hp.europe.de/kd-europtravel/gaelic/proverb.htm
I take it Gaelic people don't have false teeth then? 8)
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We had a bit of drizzle yesterday but it then froze again and is still well below zero. The result is that everything is covered in ice, even the roads that have not been gritted (2nd Jan - public holiday). Fortunately we have a lot of stubble fields around us so were able to take a long walk and only had to cross the road twice.
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A grim, grey cold day here yesterday with little frost but never got properly light all day. Today, blue sky with watery sun, no frost but a biting wind.
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We had a bit of drizzle yesterday but it then froze again and is still well below zero. The result is that everything is covered in ice, even the roads that have not been gritted (2nd Jan - public holiday). Fortunately we have a lot of stubble fields around us so were able to take a long walk and only had to cross the road twice.
And you would all have laughed your heads off at the way I inched gingerly across the road in both directions - still it was great to get out, and we returned home to freshly baked bread.
Our big concern is how our bulbs are doing under the fleece in the little bulb house. The outdoor cyclamen will survive (we hope) but we suspect the pots are frozen solid. :'(
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Well we thought the blizzard was over this time yesterday but the snow just kept falling.
A chilly -6c here at 11 am. We have to plunge any outdoor frame pots in sand or wood chips to prevent root kill. I am surprised to see to pots standing unprotected in the UK cold. Do the plants lose roots?
I am sick of winter already.
johnw
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In recent years it has not been a problem here in Aberdeen to have unplunged pots lying overwinter.... but one of these days...... yup, we'll be in big trouble. :o
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I'll give you my answere in a month or two, John. Normally we get away with only minor losses but our current weather is exceptional. I am anticipating a lot of empty pots to wash shortly.
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David - Fingers crossed that you aren't washing emptied pots this Spring.
Now to figure out just how to get to the greenhouse.
johnw
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I looked in vain for one about chocolate :)
Lesley, I would hate you to be missing out..... here you are..... from the Irish Gaelic rather than the Scots, but hey, this is an international Forum........
Tá a luach ar ghach éinne agus beidh mise sásta le seacláid.
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Your snow looks very nice in the sun shine
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While we have had cold weather here over the Christmas period, I have been able to go outdoor everyday and work in the garden. The soil is not frozen, wet and heavy though so that shovelling is tiring work. Today I began making a new compost bin as the old one had reached the end of its days - it had been made from wooden pallets and they had rotted; made a good bonfire though. New ones should be installed before the weekend is over.
Paddy
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Cé gur fiú ór í tá sí sásta le seacláid
Paddy
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Cé gur fiú ór í tá sí sásta le seacláid
Paddy
Why, Paddy, I believe that is the truth, indeed :D
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Wow, John. Nice to see that the owner of that poor half submerged red car dug it out sometime in the interim. So much snow!! :o Well to me at least. ::)
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And to save anybody googling, the above means, "Although worth gold, she is happy with chocolate." Not to be found on the Scots Gaelic site.
Paddy
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Are you fluent in Irish, Paddy?
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Comfortable, Mark, but not a native speaker.
Paddy
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Well thanks a bunch Maggi, but.....
(Assuming Paddy's translation is of his reply to yours. :)) And Paddy, if I'm worth gold, it's gold I want, thanks.
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Tá a luach ar ghach éinne agus beidh mise sásta le seacláid.............
Everyone has their price and mine is chocolate . 8)
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So not above rubies then?
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Lesley, just got your reference last August to Modest Mussorgsky (Night On A Bald Mountain)!!!! Thanks to a crossword I was doing today. No-one else will have the faintest idea what I'm on about. Apologies for being a musical ignoramus. ;D
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Can't remember the reference at present but I was probably moaning about broadcasters playing "Night on Bear Mountain" instead of (correctly) "Night an a BARE mountain." Whether either the bear or the mountain was bald, I can't say. ???
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A grim, grey cold day here yesterday with little frost but never got properly light all day. Today, blue sky with watery sun, no frost but a biting wind.
So you probably won't commiserate with us poor unfortunates in the Southern Hemisphere who have suffered through 2 weeks without rain and temperatures in the 30s(oC) then?
cheers
fermi,
spending more time watering the garden than re-potting bulbs!
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Can't remember the reference at present but I was probably moaning about broadcasters playing "Night on Bear Mountain" instead of (correctly) "Night an a BARE mountain." Whether either the bear or the mountain was bald, I can't say. ???
I was talking about Snowdon in North Wales and how I've always fancied spending a night camping on the mountain, and you said something about Modest Mussorgsky which I totally didn't get but forgot to query.
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30C, I could cope with that, blerdy cold here today ;D
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If you can get hold of Disney's Fantasia there is a wonderful animation of Night on Bald Mountain complete with Demons. My grandchildren like watching it on video. It's a two cushion job with lots of twitching and jumping about. An adult is required to be present or they are off out the door.
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Today on the west coast has been beautiful. Unlimited visibility and flat calm with wall-to-wall sunshine. Although the temperature peaked at +2C it did not feel cold. I prefer this to our usual mild but wet and windy weather.
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Have everyone in the UK seen what's coming from the east? Local news says expect minus double numbers
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It's -14C here now and the temperature is falling.
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Not good. I hope this isnt the hard winter we, in the UK, haven't had for a very long time
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We have had mild winters here too and I have been foolish and left a lot of plants out in my garden that certainly will not like this kind of winter. I wish we had a covering of snow at least.
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I wonder what the composer would have thought, him being a modest fellow?
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Bald mountain?
Please allow a modest question:
Is the mountain not Blåkulla or Brocken where the witches go frolicking with 'you know who' on the walpurgis night?
By the way: This being a weather thread. We had -21.5°C last night with only 15cm of snow. I wonder how much I lost. :(
Göte
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Although the correct translation is bald, the meaning is bare, i.e. devoid of trees. This tells you all you need to know. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_on_Bald_Mountain Perhaps the whole work (missing out this particular movement) could be played at the Early Bulb Day?
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This being a weather thread. We had -21.5°C last night with only 15cm of snow. I wonder how much I lost.
Göte, I hope you have not lost much... is there any comfort in thinking that any losses would be even worse if you had such temperatures without even that small amount of snow? ???
I think we went to around -7 last night but the forst is lifting today..... well, right now it is!
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There are several versions of Night on a Bald Mountain on YouTube.
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Our cold spell seems to have finished now as we finally manage to push it away southwards - hope you all enjoy the present ;D.
The only protective measures we take against frost in the greenhouses is to cover the plants with fleece when the cold spell starts. I did this a week and a half ago and have only just removed the fleeces today! The fleece does not stop the pots, wether in the plunge or on the bench, from freezing but does slow this process down and gives protection to the foliage.
A week and a half is a long time for the plants to be smothered in this way and I noticed that some Townsendia seedlings had a black mould on their leaves. To help prevent this going further I lightly sprayed all the pots with a copper sulphate fungicide.
The BBC tell me that we are in for a period of relatively milder weather for a while now so this should help the plants settle down again whilst I watch what grows and what doesn't.
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By the way: This being a weather thread. We had -21.5°C last night with only 15cm of snow. I wonder how much I lost. :(
Göte
Göte - I would think everything below the snow will be fine. That's a goodly amount. Do you have tender shrubs above the snowline? I would be interested to hear what they might be and how they fare.
johnw
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Here in frozen north Kent where we had 5cm of snow yesterday, the temperature has not risen above freezing for two days. I have just, very reluctantly, driven to the Chemist and the temperature was -5C. While you might be used to this in Scotland, temperatures as low as this have not been felt for years.
I just hope it kills all the aphids.
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Ian was down and back to Dundee to talk last night... home safe with the temp. around minus 6 ...
tonight we only need to go a couple of miles ( if that) to the ABerdeen SRGC meeting, where he is giving a demo on powerpoint construction. So many bad colds and bugs around that many are unable to come out in this weather, thank goodness it is not too bad at the moment. Our Group has members from a sixty mile or so distance in every direction except east, so bad weather can, understandably, have a bad effect on attendance.
Ian's having a three-talk-week to start the year.... Thursday night he's at the Friends of the Cruickshank Botanic Garden at the University in town (Aberdeen)..... he gets his favourite subject for that one... Erythronium! Could be ten inches of snow by then, of course ::) ???
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This forum is a challenge to find out.
According to tradition in some parts of Europe witches gather once every year to a witch sabbath on a mountain where they meet the Devil with whom they have a pact. The dance back to back and perform various XXX-rated abominations. To get there, they ride on brooms or other suitable sticks.
Swedish witches go to Blåkulla which is assumed to be on an uninhabited island in the Baltic. They do so on the night to Friday before Easter day.
In Germany they go to Blocksberg in the Harz and I believe on April 30ieth.
Slavic witches go to Lysa Hora meaning indeed bald mountain (and I get the impression at midsummer) There are several of these mountains scattered in the former Soviet Union.
The piece indeed tries to depict such a witch sabbath. The bald mountain is not just any naked mountain but the specific place where you meet the Devil. Therefore it is called 'A night at Blåkulla' in Swedish since nobody here knows what Bald Mountain is and the place actually has a name in Swedish. Similarly you will find references to Blocksberg in connection with German recordings of the piece.
I would have assumed that there would be a similar place in British folklore?? Or do British witches stay virtuously at home? :o
Göte
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Or do British witches stay virtuously at home?
Göte
This one does, mostly!!
See these links for the poem "Tam o' Shanter" by Robert Burns.... this tells tales of Witches dancing and attacking a poor passer-by!
http://www.robertburns.org/works/308.shtml
http://www.robertburns.org.uk/Assets/Poems_Songs/tamoshanter.htm
It is written in Scots, though, so it may not all be clear to you!
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Göte, I think that all the Witches in Ireland go to Dáil Éireann (Dáil Éireann = the Irish Parliament)
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It was zero here last night.
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But Britain HAS no mountains, only little hills, so the witches and their Lord wouldn't find somewhere to do the appropriate dances. ;D
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It was -7 on my side of town, sorry I mean 'City'
Jean
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-4c here at 1800 hrs, never got above -2 here all day. Most unusual for the west coast.
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It was -7 on my side of town, sorry I mean 'City'
Jean
I was measuring at 8 a.m., so it must have turned after midnight? +3oC on the way back from Lucy's violin lesson in BofA at 8 p.m. tonight.
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We are +2.5c just now.
Jean
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We are +2.5c just now. Jean
Luxury! We haven't had as high as that, night or day for a week
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Their Lord did find somewhere to dance on Halloween, if you read Tam o'Shanter. When our children were young, I used to take them from Kirk Alloway to the Brig o' Doon on Halloween. We would walk the route that Tam took and then charge across the bridge before the witch could get us. Exciting stuff !! Even scarier in the dark with a half gale blowing. The pictures are of Kirk Alloway where the De'il and his hellish legions were holding a Sabbat, and the Brig' Doon where Meg lost her tail to Cutty Sark.
To those interested, there is a wonderful set of paintings by Goudie of the Tam o' Shanter tale on the website of our local gallery.
www.goudie.co.uk/gallery.html (http://www.goudie.co.uk/gallery.html)
As it is Burn's 250th anniversary on the 25 January, there are lots of associated events taking place in Scotland, although he really belongs to us locally.
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When Burns came to Dunblane he decided he liked the place. He was staying in the Stirling Arms Hotel at the time. When he went back to pack his bags to come and live here he promptly died. :(
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Ah, but then what exactly is a witch? Technically, all practicing members of certain religions are witches (Wicca, or at least some forms of Wicca, for example), be they male or female. In those faiths there is no such thing as a "warlock", which is a Christian creation (as is the Devil.... no such thing in Wicca and most of the "nature worshippers"... so there is no way most of witches could actually BE worshippers of the devil). I just mention this as not all witches are bad folk..... some of us are rather nice really! ;D
Just some musings from a rather frazzled "man in Canberra". 36'C-ish today, after similar yesterday. While it could be a lot worse, it was still bad enough for us thank you very much. First really hot days of the summer. :-\
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36'C+ here today, currently around 25'C at 10:30pm. ::)
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-6c here at 9am this morning.
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Ah, but then what exactly is a witch? Technically, all practicing members of certain religions are witches (Wicca, or at least some forms of Wicca, for example), be they male or female. In those faiths there is no such thing as a "warlock", which is a Christian creation (as is the Devil.... no such thing in Wicca and most of the "nature worshippers"... so there is no way most of witches could actually BE worshippers of the devil). I just mention this as not all witches are bad folk..... some of us are rather nice really! ;D
Couldn't agree more, Paul. I'm anti religion generally but one of our best friends is a Wicca witch and she's lovely.
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+5c here in Ayr. Feels like summer
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-12C here at the moment with a freezing rain warning for the county. >:(
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-12C here at the moment with a freezing rain warning for the county. >:(
Helen, for the sake of dim Folks like me, could you tell us what the time was WITH YOU, when you made this post? I have frightful trouble working out time zones!! :-[
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Maggi, it is still -12C here and the current time is 11.22 am, I see the current time in Aberdeen is 3.22pm, so you are 4 hours ahead of me.
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In last days in Żary we had -20 *C at night and about -16/14 *C at a day. Today is much warmer, only -7. ;) I wish these temperatures will last very long here. Before these frost I have lost quite many plants on my rock garden. They simply rotten. Now the frost is for me like a relief.
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Helen, you are not as far behind me as I thought you might be! :P Shows how poor my geography is ::)
It has been a bright day day... got up to a nearly 4 degrees C.... now around 1 C and feeling damp as well as cold.
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-3c here at 12:45 pm Atlantic Time (1/2 an hour later in Newfoundland). To come this afternoon - 5-10 cm of snow, freezing rain and then heavy rain.
johnw
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There are many definitions and this is one of the cases when languages do not overlap properly.
The Swedish word is 'Häxa' and this is a more narrow word than 'Witch'
A 'Häxa' is an evil, usually old, woman who may try to eat Hans and Greta when they have been properly fattened. She will also cast evil spells and have a servant in the shape of a hare who milks other peoples' cows. She has got her magical powers by a pact with the Devil and she meets him on a yearly basis as explained in earlier posts.
In those times the Devil existed and you were required to belive in him.
For more info see 'Malleus Maleficarium'.
She will have marks on her skin in a hidden place where the Devil has tapped a little blood.
A search for such marks was one of the procedures in 'Häxprocesser' (witch trials) - a very interesting search if she is young and beautiful.
Another test is to throw her into water. If she floats she is a häxa and will be burnt at the stake and if she does not float she drowns.
After enough questioning with what is now called "extended interrogation techniques" some of the women actually confessed having *** with the Devil.
A very few might even have tried to contact him.
All this is totally and truly horrible but the mindset that created these superstitions and following persecutions are unfortunately still with us.
Of course someone who practices certain nature religions have nothing in common with medieval satanists - female or male
The problem is that we tend to use the same word.
Someone who is a native English speaker (OK OK Scottish) might be helpful and explain what words we should use.
Göte
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I'm are only some 50 kilometers from Helsingborg, but max low this winter has been -10 between Sunday and Monday. It's not that bad. Like every year I have some new experiments in the garden, this year some Serapies lingua. We'll see if they are hardy in a couple of months.
Kind regards
Lars
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I went to clean a patio area yesterday afternoon using a pressure cleaner; stopped to collect son from school and eat dinner; returned to the patio to find the water hoses had all frozen. Pity the blasted things hadn't frozen earlier and I wouldn't have had to freeze the hands off myself doing the job at all.
We are experiencing a most unusual cold spell here in Ireland, haven't had such cold weather in years nor such a prolonged period of cold. It is beautiful weather for walking as the fields are all dry and the ground hard underfoot. When/if the fog lifts and the clouds disperse it is also a time of the most marvellously clear and bright light.
-7 C as I went off to work this morning. The heating wasn't on when I arrived as an electrician had done some work over the holiday period and had changed settings on the system so it was a cold start.
Paddy
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Winds are coming from the south by the weekend
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I'm are only some 50 kilometers from Helsingborg, but max low this winter has been -10
Hi Lars,
It went down to -16C here but only for a short time. We have -8C at this moment. I live 25 km east of Helsingborg and it always gets a bit colder here away from the sea. You grow Serapias lingua outside :o Good luck Lars, they are lovely orchids.
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Like every year I have some new experiments in the garden, this year some Serapias lingua.
Well, Lars, you have just suggested your Forum title to me : Lars..... The Fearless One !! :o
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The generally accepted modern meaning of a witch, is a women who has dealings with evil spirits, who practices the black art of sorcery and who acknowledges Satan as her master. This definition probably came into being in the 17th century when the Churches had one of their periodical purges against anyone who thought or acted differently from the prescribed religious teachings. Women were the easy target as "Eve" had committed the original sin and were obviously more likely to fall for Satan's wiles.!!!
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... women were obviously more likely to fall for Satan's wiles.!!!
Didn't realise he had more than one! Oh, my spelling!!! ;D
Posted by Anonymous from Wolverhampton.
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Posted by Anonymous from Wolverhampton.
Didn't know you'd moved in next door ;D
Just realised there have been 827 828 posts on 56 pages about the weather in 7 days. 8) 8)
that's more than about snowdrops :D
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Just realised there have been 827 828 posts on 56 pages about the weather in 7 days. 8) 8)
that's more than about snowdrops :D
Was just thinking that meant there WAS hope... when I realised that was a heck of a lot of posts, even for this Forum...... OOPS! Seems like we're mumphin' about this year's weather in last year's pages!! :-[
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Well, I've hd a shift around of these pages to join them with the pre-existing 2009 page..... I se that we are still up to post 106 or so..... good grief! ::)
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This morning it was foggy and freezing (- 7°C) ; this was the result:
1) Eucalyptus gunnii
2) Euonymus
3) Frozen grass
4) Lonicera caprifolium
5) Salix integra 'Flamingo'
6) Salix Matsudana
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Cool. 8)
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Excellent pictures Wim, particularly the Salix integra 'Flamingo'. Some of the crystals in the more closeup shots just look so intricate. Great Stuff!! 8)
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Thanks,
here are two more to celebrate my senior (at age 28, not bad ;) ) membership of the forum
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We havent had any rain now for over a month but that will end this weekend
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Wim, those are glorious photos 8)
Minus 2 degrees C here at 13.30 hrs this afternoon..... beautiful bright sunny day ....but very slippy underfoot :P
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This morning it was foggy and freezing (- 7°C) ; this was the result:
Beautiful show Wim !! 8)
As we only live 30 km or so from one another (we should try and meet in the forthcoming months), we had the same wonderful phenomenon here as well but as I'm working (....) sadly, no pix.. :'(
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Hello Luc,
I certainly would like to meet you. But maybe we should wait until the weather is getting warmer. Unless you're going to the Snowdrop gala at Cathy's?
Greetz
Wim
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The frost has gone and it is +7c here,feels like spring,with the first of the crocus flowering in the garden. Wind and rain forecast for the weekend.
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30km and you have never met!? I've met Wim or was it a different Wim?
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I've never met you Mark, so it should be a different Wim.
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Maybe I thinking of the wrong name. Who collects Buxus in Belgium?
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That's Wim Vanhoutte, who's a big Snowdrop collector too.
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Yes that's him. He hasnt been about in the forum for long time
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30km and you have never met!?
There's no cheap flights between Wim's and my place Mark !! ;D
Goes to show that this Forum does bring people together - before Wim posted here (not so long ago) I didn't know of his existence. Now at least we'll be able to set something up.
I'm not going to the Snowdrop gala at Cathy Portier's Wim - we'll have to work something out sometime in Spring when there's something to be seen in the garden. ;)
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Back to the weather. Mild here this morning, but 20 miles down the road it was -2oC at 8.40 a.m. Yesterday, on my way home, I had to run the gauntlet of passing not one, but two active gritters on the M9 at 4.05 p.m.. The outside temperature was +5oC! ::)
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Temperature went below freezing last night, in spite of met office saying it wouldn't. David has taken fleece off plants in alpine house and in the bulb house... Given that I had to chuck three house plants in the front porch which had died because of the frost I do wonder it our plants and bulbs have survived - oh well there is nothing I can do to make a difference so I'll just have to wait and see :-[
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Like every year I have some new experiments in the garden, this year some Serapias lingua.
Well, Lars, you have just suggested your Forum title to me : Lars..... The Fearless One !! :o
It's very easy to be fearless on behalf of plants. For some strange reason i'm a lot more interested in the plants I'm told i can't grow than the ones i have proven i can grow. So, if i can grow something under glass and there is a remote chance it could survive in the garden, I have to try. I can name quite a few plants that i have proven isn't hardy, but i have sucesses, too.
Kind regards
Lars - the fearless one 8)
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This morning about 9 h. we had still -9 C., but very clear weather, without wind!
Here some plant pictures and one made in the afternoon behind our house.
Aster
Daphne
Garden
Miscanthus
Pinus 1
Pinus 2
Veratrum
Magnolia
Skating
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So many people skating - That ice must be quite strong :-X
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It is just like summer here today,9c with rain at times.
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It is just like summer here today,9c with rain at times.
Well, 9 degrees with rain at times DOES describe most of OUR summers pretty well, I grant you that! :P
We had about 4 degrees today, damp and pretty windy. It was down to minus 12 last night. Raining now so perhaps it will stay warmer... or perhaps it'll freeze later
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We are likely to have some frost tonight but tomorrow's forecast is for afternoon temperature approaching 10C with rain coming in for Monday until at least Wednesday. In the 20 years we have lived in Devon we have never had as much frost as we have had this week. Rarely does the ground freeze as hard as it has been this week, and never before have I had 4 degrees of frost in the greenhouse.
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After a night with -10 again, it was all day about -3 C.
As it was a free day there were much more skaters and they had a wonderful
time because almost no wind and sunny.
Here some pics. of today.
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I remember the skaters on the canals in Germany when we visited our son one winter - even the little children were good skaters... we watched from the sidelines so as not to totally embarrass ourselves :)
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I am not sure if I should put this photo here or on the Orchid page but this was taken at 3.30 on Saturday afternoon and after 2or 3 nights at minus 8 I have found out that Disa are not as tender as people say, as I was getting so many I decided to move them to the Tomatoe house after they had finished not expecting so bad frosts it was not lined so they had to put up with fleece and one layer of Weed suppressent fabric with an old soil warming cable hanging under the bench. The temperature went down to minus 3 but the plants are fine, I will not try the same next year.
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Oh, my, Derek, that was a risky business..... I hope that you don't get any colder weather..... :-\
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No, this is not Scotland, I took this picture yesterday in Waiblingen. The small herd and especially the
2 calves are everbody's darling.
The weather is unusually cold, much colder than in the last years with night temperatures of -13°,
a rockgardener friend from Eastern Germany even had -26°! It is good, that there is a snow cover
which gives some protection for our plants.
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Wow, We Scots get everywhere, don't we..... some of us are cuter than than others!
Rudi, where in Eastern Germany does your friend live who had - 26 degrees? So, cold! What depth of snow does he have?
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A friend from Numansdorp, Holland sent these photos. We very rarely see this type of frost on the trees, quite spectacular.
It's cold when the web freezes.
johnw
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Another from Numansdorp, Holland.
johnw
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What a beautiful picture Derek. I've left one Disa out in my unheated greenhouse. It was one that jsut came up in a pot of moss. The growth is still under the moss and i haven't looked at it, but i suspect that the temperature in the greenhouse has been somewhere in the region of -7c, leaving little chance for it to survive, but I'll wait and see.
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10C but with a strong gale from the South West that makes it feel much colder; dark enough to need the light on to read, and chucking it down to boot. Typical Devon day really! :(
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Frost has gone since this morning - +4°C here at noon - snow rapidly disapearing - rain announced for tomorrow... now wait and see to find out about casualties... :-\
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I saw on the Scottish news that two Rugby players, ( New Zealanders), had collapsed with hypothermia during a game at Irvine, on Saturday. I thought that Kiwis were made of sterner stuff ! To be fair, it was a miserable day with 50mph winds and driving rain but that is par for the course here in January. I was down near the beach and noticed the football pitches were occupied fully. We must have a genetic link to Highland cattle, ( and Geordies ), who are unphased by these conditions.
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And you have to remember that you're currently conditioned to winter, whereas the kiwis bodies are conditioned to summer. If you can't even have the courtesy to provide decent weather, perhaps you should move the games to somewhere else? ;D ;)
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Maggi,my friend gardens near Dippiswalde, about 20 km from Dresden, elevation about 350 m. The height of snow
was 25-30 cm, some losses are expected.In our region the rivers start to freeze, an event which happened 20 years
ago for the last time. Lucky me to have the forum with the pictures from the southern Hemisphere to warm and brighten
up these cold times and many thanks to all the friends for the good work.
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And you have to remember that you're currently conditioned to winter, whereas the kiwis bodies are conditioned to summer. If you can't even have the courtesy to provide decent weather, perhaps you should move the games to somewhere else? ;D ;)
Paul,
We are conditioned to winter for 52 weeks a year !!
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Tom,
I can only imagine how quickly you'd melt in the 38'C forecast here tomorrow. :o And we are by no means the worst Aussie state capital, with Adelaide forecast 41'C today I think.
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Tom,
I can only imagine how quickly you'd melt in the 38'C forecast here tomorrow. :o And we are by no means the worst Aussie state capital, with Adelaide forecast 41'C today I think.
We have the central heating on most of the year. 38oC!!? I think the south of England hit that mark for the first time ever a couple years ago? Hasn't been near that since! Most years we don't even reach 28oC. :(
And you have to remember that you're currently conditioned to winter, whereas the kiwis bodies are conditioned to summer. If you can't even have the courtesy to provide decent weather, perhaps you should move the games to somewhere else? ;D ;)
Acclimatisation is a mind thing: you either feel cold or you don't. It's what you get used to. Hypothermia as a body thing: you are cold physiologically. Being out of kilter with your norm regarding time of year will have little effect. Body fat, shape, wearing adequate clothing will reduce chances of suffering from hypothermia. The 'Nicki' (a big brother contestant famous only for whining "I'm so cold". Spoilt brat!) situation is probably nearer the point, i.e. they felt cold and were thus miserable because it wasn't what they were used to and perhaps they were not wearing enough proper clothing. It's a bit like people saying they have 'flu, when in actual fact they have a bad cold. The £20 note trick sorts that question out. "Mum, I can't go to school because I've got the 'flu!" "OK, there's a £20 note on the lawn. It's yours if you go and get it." Well, if you can you haven't got the 'flu
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Northern Europeans typically find Portugal (especially north Portugal) absolutely freezing during the winter because many of us don't have heating. The temperature in my flat was 10ºC this morning and now, with a radiator on, has now gone up to a heady 12ºC. But I just put another fleece on and get on with life :D It's very easy to get used to feeling cold and often I don't feel comfortable in warm, centrally-heated houses in the winter.
Very cold winters and very hot summers are typical of much of the Iberian peninsula, especially central Castille. Madrid is at an altitude of nearly 700 m (over 2,000 ft) and I believe that Rafa lives at around 1,200 m (some 4000 ft) - hence the snow!!
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The temperature in my classroom right now is 24oC. When I started teaching room temperature was typically 20oC. If it hasn't reached 16oC in classrooms we are (should be!? ::)) sent home. There is no upper maximum. :(
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The problem with the Scottish climate- especially on the west coast - is the wind and the damp. You will lose body heat much quicker in these conditions than on a windless, colder day. Strangely enough, it is the fit athletic types that succumb to the cold probably due to the lack of body fat. I should be OK if an ice age returns ! I have experienced temperatures of over 42c in the Arava desert and the Dead Sea area in Israel without too much discomfort because the heat was bone dry. The worst heat I have felt was in Gibraltar in a temp. of 37c with the Levanter hanging over the rock. It was like being in a sauna bath with no relief apart from swimming in the sea.
My experience of houses in the Med. region in winter is that they are cold because they are designed to be cool in Summer. Tiled flooring is fine in hot weather but not pleasant when the temperature drops. Large airy rooms are not the best for conserving heat in a building without a source of heating.
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Anthony
It's interesting to see how time have changed. At primary school in the late 1940's, we often had no heating in the classroom. We sat with our coats, gloves and balaclavas on in the classrooms and accepted this as the norm. Sending the kids home would have made no difference as the chances are that there would be no heating there either. The only times that the schools were closed was when the outside toilets froze over.
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very beautiful pictures :o
These pictures are from yesterday evening
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I love skies like that. What is happening in the second photo?
Very unusual day here today. Blue sky, 5C but very warm. No need for a coat or heat in the car
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Tom, and I bet you remember the frozen milk bottles as well - even after the milk monitor had stacked them against a radiator!
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According to the automatic weather station a few miles from home the temperature reached 40oC there at 2pm and is still around 39oC at present. I'm still at work where we have air-conditioning!
cheers
fermi
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Tom, and I bet you remember the frozen milk bottles as well - even after the milk monitor had stacked them against a radiator!
I remember warm milk, and then the evil milk snatcher took them all away. >:(
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I love skies like that. What is happening in the second photo?
an UFO? :D
I don't know Mark,maybe some clouds decided to snow
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and now for some real winter weather---Environment Canada has issued a "Wind Chill Warning" for today.
can you guess why?
almost -40C with wind chill here in my bit of the Ottawa valley.
and it will continue cold (or colder) all week.
Ottawa itself holds the record for the world's coldest capital city and out here in the peripheral areas, it is even colder.
not a day one wants to be out anywhere--but in my case it can't be avoided; as i have scheduled appointments all day long.
better warm up the mukluks before i head out.
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Go safe, Kristl! Thinking of you kindly :-*
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Our thoughts ...(shivers) are with you Kristl ! ;D
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Currently 0C here, snowing, big fluffy flakes at the moment.
Going down to -23C tonight with a windchill of -31C
Not quite as bad as Kristl's temps.
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almost -40C with wind chill here in my bit of the Ottawa valley.
and it will continue cold (or colder) all week.
And we get in a snit if the temperature is -6˚C for any length of time!
Take care Kristl :)
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although i know that some folks living in really cold climates find it *very* amusing to hear complaints of cold in what we would consider nearly tropical winter temperatures, I think it is all relative, isn't it?
i think what i hate most about the really bitter, contact-freeze type of cold is the multi-layers of clothing required to bear it.
even with all the innovations in fabrics, were it not for my layers of thermal underwear, wool socks, hat, mittens, mukluks and the very expensive but unbelievaly warm life-time down jacket I invested in 20 years ago, I would not be able to stand it. one can hardly move in that outfit. and nearly faints coming then to an inside space.
with the coming of spring, you can't help but feel you've lost 20 pounds!!!!!
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Kristl our winter cold, when it comes, tends to be a wet one not dry like in north America
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i think what i hate most about the really bitter, contact-freeze type of cold is the multi-layers of clothing required to bear it.
Kristl - I feel the same way. If you can believe it it is +4C here today and everyone is running around with umbrellas. Tonight the low is expected to be -13c. What's worse than multi-layers are the skates required to go with. It's all downhill for the next 4 days. I hate this too.
johnw
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.....down jacket...................with the coming of spring, you can't help but feel you've lost 20 pounds!!!!!
Who knew that a duck was so heavy?? :o ::)
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.....down jacket...................with the coming of spring, you can't help but feel you've lost 20 pounds!!!!!
Who knew that a duck was so heavy?? :o ::)
Well, Maggi, if you remember your Monty Python, it does weigh as much as a witch! ;D
cheers
fermi
feeling a bit cooler with a predicted 28oC after yesterday's +40oC.
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Well, Maggi, if you remember your Monty Python, it does weigh as much as a witch! ;D
cheers
fermi
feeling a bit cooler with a predicted 28oC after yesterday's +40oC.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail! ......
....what make you think she's a witch?
.... she turned me into a newt.
......A newt?
.......Well, I got better!.....
I'd forgotten about that !
More need of a waterproof than a down coat here tonight.... cold and wet, yuck! :P
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better warm up the mukluks before i head out.
I've been wondering all day but afraid to ask in case mukluks was some sort of highly personal anatomical thing, so just looked them up in the dictionary. Very disappointed it wasn't something ruder. :(
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I've been wondering all day but afraid to ask in case mukluks was some sort of highly personal anatomical thing, so just looked them up in the dictionary. Very disappointed it wasn't something ruder. :(
ah, a man with an active imagination; although some would say that is an oxymoron ;)
as it turned out neither heated mukluks nor down jacket were necessary for the level of cold yesterday; the -35C +/- without any wind chill, felt quite average and bearable to me. as a friend said "what's the big deal; it's January in Canada, after all".
and all the weather prediction did was force me to waddle around for hours like a stuffed duck!!!
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It snowed about six inches here yesterday. The high was -6C, but it got down to -15C overnight. The roads still haven't been plowed yet, as usual. I'm not the only Ohio citizen (http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/031105/snow-in-ohio.gif) to notice this problem.
The snow is fine and fluffy, so it's great for the plants in the ground. Next year I will try to minimize the number of pots I have to overwinter; I'm finding it stressful to care for so many these days.
I put a jug of really hot water in the cold frame the other night, and it seems to help a lot. Then again, my cold frame is a custom job made of pine slabs and an argon-filled window. :D
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I'm not the only Ohio citizen (http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/031105/snow-in-ohio.gif) to notice this problem.
;D ;D ;D
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Typical Irish weather here today,120klm winds and heavy rain,some sunny spells. Can't get into the greenhouse, if it is still there,must go and check.
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Strong winds started here a couple of hours ago. It's forecast to get a lot worse over the next 12 hours with torrential rain as well. I think the greenhouse will make it but I'm doubtful about some of the fence panels!
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Trees down here. I had to squeeze the car under one of them this morning to avoid a long detour. More scary was a sheet of corrugated iron on the road; wouldn't like to meet that on a dark night!
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My greenhouses are still intact, but a lot of my pots and containers have been upended. The forecast says that it should pass by midnight. Hope they have it correct this time.
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OOps, I talked about the weather in the wrong thread ;D Yea its really wild here at the mo, wonder if I should turn off the computer ??? ???
NO, silly idea ;D
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Good heavens, Jo, turn OFF the computer? That's a bit drastic, isn't it? :o
That being said, the wind is building now, and if the rain starts and I think there's any chance of an electric storm I will turn the pc off then.... just before I head under the dining room table! :P
OOps, I talked about the weather in the wrong thread
We're British, Jo, it's programmed into our genes to talk about the weather EVERYWHERE!
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Haha Maggi,
Seriously though, If there is lightning it can knock out a modem by hitting the telephone wires if you don't have anti surge on the phone. My son Jack lost all his downloaded music that way, shame......... ;D ;D ;D
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Too right, Jo, I could write a long list of those I know who have had their modems knocked out by thunder and lightning storms . :'( We unplug the TV etc and Microwave too. Can be an expensive mistake to leave them.. in money terms and in time and bother, as your son found ..... shouldn't you be showing the lad a bit more sympathy? .....or is his taste in music just so ghastly that it was a blessing to be shot of it ? ;D
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You got it Maggi, His punk era as I recall :-X
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133 MPH winds in Scotland yesterday 1mph les than hurricane speeds
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Coo, we have a largish elm down this morning, with all the rain making the ground soft I don't think it could cope.
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Not here.
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Coo, we have a largish elm down this morning, with all the rain making the ground soft I don't think it could cope.
Bad news, Jo. Has it done a lot of damage to surrounding area/plants? You seem to have really had the brunt of the storm down there... lucky escape for most of us in Scotland, I think .
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Seems it may have been worse in the west of Scotland. :P
Just got this from a new report......"A woman in her 30s was killed by the high winds in Northern Ireland when a tree fell on her car in Downpatrick, Co Down." ....... a tragedy which saddens me .......
and this ....
"Coastguards based on Scotland's Kintyre coast rescued a 22-year-old surfer after he drifted a mile out to sea in near-hurricane conditions" ...... something which infuriates me.... what sort of fool goes surfing in such weather conditions? :o
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Many trees down over here and clutter on the roads
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It was very windy here last night but not as bad, I feel, as the weathermen had been telling us it would be, we have had much worse. All my fences still in situ but pots stacked on the patio waiting to be washed and put away are liberally spread throughout Ivybridge. Coming back home late this afternoon Tor Bay was full of shipping seeking shelter. Haven't seen a local news broadcast yet so don't know what the general effect of the weather has been.
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"Coastguards based on Scotland's Kintyre coast rescued a 22-year-old surfer after he drifted a mile out to sea in near-hurricane conditions" ...... something which infuriates me.... what sort of fool goes surfing in such weather conditions? :o
Maggi - I have two friends here who have sons that are surfers. One is sponsored by a surfboard company year round. They catch the best waves in Hurricane season and in winter. Seemingly intelligent fellows...on the street.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=WyF2lDSyoSU&feature=related (http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=WyF2lDSyoSU&feature=related)
johnw
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Lightening struck a tree in the children's playground of a school a few miles from here. Destroyed all the electrics and badly damaged the school and six houses nearby. Nobody injured.
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It's snowing heavily here right now. Hopefully tomorrow I can get photos of snowdrops in snow for this year's Christmas card.
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Having enjoyed two bright days here, though it rained last night and was very frosty all day today, we were feeling quite pleased with our weather... then I read about three people killled today in an avalanche in the Scottish mountains.... bad news indeed. The avalanche was on Buchaille Etive Mhor, (3,352ft in height, known for its distinctive pyramidal shape)very popular for walkers, climbers and skiers.... nine people ( in two groups ) were caught up in the avalanche on the Coire Na Tulaich area of the mountain, at about noon today (Saturday 24th January)
The mountain report site gave the risk of avalanches in Glencoe as "considerable". Today's risk was rated as category three, on a scale of one to five.
It never pays to underestimate mountain risks :'(
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A colleague is a rock climber and knows The Buchaile well and would agree with your last statement. There are no accidents in mountaineering, only mistakes. It pays to do your homework (see http://www.ochils.com/) I was at his (Johnny D - scroll down) 40th birthday bash at The Counting House in Edinburgh last Saturday. The rock climbing faternity know how to party! 8) Fortunately I managed not to be in any of the pics, so far. ::)
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There are no accidents in mountaineering, only mistakes.
David & I were pretty serious mountaineers for years and personally I would say there are accidents and mistakes. The people who were avalanched yesterday on the Buchaille should not, IMHP, have been on the mountain there was a clear warning of a very high risk of avalanche... but at the end of the day it was their choice. However, we have set off in good weather in winter on a mountain to have the temperature suddenly rise by several degrees part way up a route - in those circumstances there is not a lot you can do. David has always said if he had started climbing when he was younger, and living near Sheffield, he would undoubtedly have killed himself!
Now we are older, probably no wiser, but not fit to do some of the things we used to... in fact our interest in the wee small flowers stems from our days on the mountains; needing an excuse to pause for breath I would say what's that flower to David... we got more and more interested and now we walk to be able to see the plants :)
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There are no accidents in mountaineering, only mistakes.
David & I were pretty serious mountaineers for years and personally I would say there are accidents and mistakes. The people who were avalanched yesterday on the Buchaille should not, IMHP, have been on the mountain there was a clear warning of a very high risk of avalanche... but at the end of the day it was their choice. However, we have set off in good weather in winter on a mountain to have the temperature suddenly rise by several degrees part way up a route - in those circumstances there is not a lot you can do. David has always said if he had started climbing when he was younger, and living near Sheffield, he would undoubtedly have killed himself!
Now we are older, probably no wiser, but not fit to do some of the things we used to... in fact our interest in the wee small flowers stems from our days on the mountains; needing an excuse to pause for breath I would say what's that flower to David... we got more and more interested and now we walk to be able to see the plants :)
Heading out on to the mountain even when the risk of avalanche is low is dangerous, as you say, the conditions can change. This is a judgement thing. Buchaile Etive Mor is a magnificent mountain, but, like all mountains, needs to be treated with respect and warnings heeded. It is really sad when fatalities occur.
When you ask David "what's that flower?" does he reply "eh?" ;D
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I 'eard that, pardon ::)
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Crumbs. I can remember that TV programme too!
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When you ask David "what's that flower?" does he reply "eh?" ;D
More like 'what?' Followed by one of the plant book appearing... thankfully he carries the sack for both of us these days :)
We had a great wee walk this afternoon across the fields around us, only a short bit on the road (at one time walking on our wee lane was safe - not any more to many incomers who do not understand the rules of a single track road). Nothing to look at in the way of plant life but jsut a joy to be out in the open air ;D
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Just reading about ten killed in an avalanche in Turkey and many killed as a result of the storms in France and Spain ......some truly badweather around .... I hope all forumists are safe.
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Two brothers from County Antrim died in an avalanche in Glen Coe at the weekend
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Today was a brilliant 'spring' day. In the car and van no heat on and no need for an over coat. 11c and from mid morning all Galanthus and Crocus wide open. No need for windowsill forcing.
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A great day here, too. Weeding and digging in the garden in shirt sleeves (over a thermal vest!) in the sun. And we have our first Crocus (chrysanthus Romance) out in the open garden. If I didn't know better I would think that winter was over. It is days like this that make the winter feel shorter and should be savoured.
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two days on the run with no rain during daylight hours and a bit of sun for a few moments.It has been so exciting but back to normal tomorrow and the rest of the week heavy rain and gales.
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Dull, with periods of light drizzle for most of today, until around 1630 (knocking off time!) when the sun came out.
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Two brothers from County Antrim died in an avalanche in Glen Coe at the weekend
I saw that they were brothers from Irleand when the names were released of the 3 dead climbers...... horrible coincidence that they're from near you ....... the third chap was also called Murphy, I think, but he cannot have been related.... bad enough for someone to have lost two sons at once... :'(
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One was from Carrickfergus and one from Portrush
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not weather but it's 16.10 and the sun is still sunny outside who-hoo. We have gained almost an hour since December 21st. My greenhouse now gets an hour of sun from 3pm.
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Have you seen what is in store for next week? :o :o :o
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Not yet. What is about to hit us?
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two days on the run with no rain during daylight hours and a bit of sun
It always helps to have good weather when you're on the run, Tony. Preston Jail? Which wing?
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Winter weather comes in from the continent for those in the east but we get wet from the Atlantic
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Not yet. What is about to hit us?
Icy blasts from the continent, driving away the wet weather.
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Yesterday we had 45.7C - nearly a record and similar forecast for today.
Lovely to see the Monarch butterflies that use our courtyard with ponds to get out of the heat. About a dozen or so fluttering around.
Pat
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Yesterday we had 45.7C - nearly a record and similar forecast for today.
I thought you might like to read this quote from an e-mail I received today from Alan Grainger in Kentucky ... What a contrast!!!
Sorry I didn’t get back to you before now. We are in the depths of winter in Ol’ Kentucky.
Ice storm put our electric out yesterday....not likely to be restored before Friday. Don’t have the luxury of gas, so it’s bloody primitive!!!!!
Those ice storms are something else. You can hear tree limbs snapping off all over the place.....sounds like gunfire. Went to work this morning....just like driving at Brands Hatch. Chicanes everywhere. Apparently 375,000 homes in the state without electricity. The second highest power outage on record. Have just experienced my very first “State of Emergency” declaration. (Just means tough sh*t....fend for yourselves while we figure out what the hell to do!!!!!!).
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Yes the world is certainly getting a belting weatherwise. We are supposed to have this sort of heat for a week. How are you Fermi and Otto??? You are getting this weather too. I am just hoping bulbs and rhizomes are far enough under ground to survive the baking.
Pat
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Pat
Might the Oncocyclus iris benefit from the extra heat? Must be more like home. :)
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Sorry I didn’t get back to you before now. We are in the depths of winter in Ol’ Kentucky.
Ice storm put our electric out yesterday....not likely to be restored before Friday. Don’t have the luxury of gas, so it’s bloody primitive!!!!!
Now if we could just send some of the ice to Australia and the heat to Kentucky...
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Art I am just scared that we will get a summer downpour after all this weather - the oncos are probably loving the heat but if the rain comes???? I have not covered the beds for years and have a lot more beds now which are irregularly shaped.
A daughter is heading back to London on Saturday after nearly a fortnight of record temps while she has been home.
Pat
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Yesterday we had 45.7C - nearly a record and similar forecast for today.
Lovely to see the Monarch butterflies that use our courtyard with ponds to get out of the heat. About a dozen or so fluttering around.
Pat
Don't you Aussies call the monarch butterflies 'wanderers' Pat?
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Yes the world is certainly getting a belting weatherwise. We are supposed to have this sort of heat for a week. How are you Fermi and Otto??? You are getting this weather too. I am just hoping bulbs and rhizomes are far enough under ground to survive the baking.
Pat
Hi Pat,
we had 42oC yesterday which drained the life out of everything after a week around the 40o mark and a minimum last night of above 22oC (but a lot hotter inside the house without air-con!)
Like you I'm worried about a downpour now which could finish off some of the dry climate bulbs which are planted out; the potted ones are now re-potted and under cover.
I can escape to work where we have air-con, but I've cancelled my clients for today as its too hot for some of the frail aged to be coming to exercise class! I still have to go out to see one lady about her new walker - I hope they have cooling in their house!
cheers
fermi
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'twas a dark, dank and miserable morning, chucking it down, and two old codgers (He and She, both with heavy colds) are seated at the breakfast table. The light needed to be on, and yet again the paper boy had failed to deliver thus ensuring that He's normally sunny disposition in a morning was somewhat limited! Both are clad in dressing gowns, She in Peacocks, cheap but stylish, He in vintage 1970's Marks and Sparks on the grounds that any other dressing gown ever manufactured brings on his eczema.
He: it's like Blackpool illuminations in here. She: well I though you would want to read the paper. Thus followed and extreme and expletive laden discourse about the lack of moral fibre in paper delivery persons today as opposed to those in the 1950s. Thus having put that part of the world to rights he began to spoon some syrup into his bowl of porridge.
She: are you going to have some porridge with your golden syrup. He: I'm only ensuring that SuperGord doesn't have to bail out Tate and Lyle, he's bailed out every other bugger. She: well when you've finished put that dressing gown in the wash you've enough porridge down the front of it to feed all Dharfor for a fortnight.
She: what are you going to do today? He: Ian's sown his lily seed, I haven't sown mine yet. She: you can't go out there in weather like this. He: but Ian has sown his. She: but Ian isn't sixty six (nearly) and coughing and sneezing all over the place, I'll put you a bed in that bloody greenhouse. He: well if you did I might get a good nights sleep without someone coughing and sneezing in my ear all night.
He: well, perhaps you're right, I might make some marmalade. She: we've still got six jars left from the last lot you made, you didn't like it and the kids said it might be good for stripping paint.
She: would you go down the village and get me a bottle of Lucozade. He: when my cousin Alan was at University he used to work at Lucozade in holiday times. He told me that it was made in massive vats, 99.9% water, a shovel full of glucose, and three shovels full of some deathly yellow colour stuff, and a spray of carbon monoxide, and cost less than a pound to make the vat full, yet Tesco will charge about £2. 50 for a bottle. She: do I take that for a no then. In any case I think you'll find it was carbon dioxide. He: ah well, you went to Grammar school and got chemistry 'O' level.
He: well OK then I'll get you some. Do you remember when we were young and were feeling grotty on days like this we used to ring in with a 'sicky' and stay in bed all day. She: well we were young, and you didn't need a fortnights notice then. Whatever did she mean!
It's stuff like this that has made Alan Bennett a fortune!
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It's stuff like this that has made Alan Bennett a fortune!
It is indeed, David.... though I think Mr Bennett has a good Agent :-\
It's stuff like this that has brightened my day, and cheered many others, too, I don't doubt! :D
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You should write a movie script Dave !!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
Now who would be the fitting actors to play the He and She parts ?? ;D
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David
I recognise the scene! There are some mornings so miserable that it seems a better idea to stay in bed and try again tomorrow. The news seems to be nothing but bad, it's either the professional gloom merchants on the BBC or interviews with "celebrities" I have never heard of. Then I think- I was born when WW2 was in full swing and I was about 15 before life started getting easier. My parents had a much tougher time in the depression of the 1930's and their parents had to put up with a Victorian work regime, no health service or unemployment benefits. To get it in perspective, times have been a lot worse. Even this winter is not as bad as we used to get in the 1950's/60's.
At this point my wife has decreed that we are going out for a healthy walk - if I were a dog I would lie in front of a coal fire and snooze the afternoon away.
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You should write a movie script Dave !!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
Now who would be the fitting actors to play the He and She parts ?? ;D
I'd never get round to it Luc, like most things ;D
As far as the actors are concerned if I were to play He, then I think Meryl Streep would make a good She, but then, with He's luck he'dd probably get Margaret Rutherford (that'll take you back in time) or Hermioine Gingold. Don't know if you have seen the television programme 'Grumpy Old Men', it's one of my favourites, I really connect with them, but a chap called Arthur Smith, very laconic, could play He a treat.
Tom, we must be brothers ;D
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I was thinking of Patricia Ruthledge (? ... Mrs Bucket) as a She...
;D ;D ;D ;D
and I think you could then play "He" David ??? ;D :P
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Luc, if I'm in bed and having someone coughing and spluttering in my ear then I'd go for Angelina Jolie rather than Patricia Routledge anytime ;D
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you're very ambitious David.... ;D :P
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David, the older the fiddle-------------------------- :)
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I was thinking of Patricia Ruthledge (? ... Mrs Bucket) as a She...
;D ;D ;D ;D
and I think you could then play "He" David ??? ;D :P
???
Luca aren't you a little plagiarizing today?? ::) ::)
But we from the lowlands seem to have some equal thoughts.
Just my thoughts came up when HE had still his former Avatar.
Have a look here,reply 56 ;D ;D ;D
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2463.msg64764#msg64764 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2463.msg64764#msg64764)
David,
did not know we have such hidden talents here.
and about Angelina Jolie, well I wouldn't need a fortnights notice anymore then :-\ :-\ 8).
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David
Would you know what to do with Angelina Jolie ? You need something more substantial such as Sophia Loren or Tina Louise. This may awake some dim memories. My healthy walk turned out to be a 61 mile drive ! Four miles inland we hit lashing rain and winds so we kept on driving and ended up in wife's favourite store - TKMax. This was my healthy walk, and exercise taken was removing money from my wallet.
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Luit and Tom, perhaps I should try starch on the porridge and not golden syrup? :o
I get dragged around most stores Tom but haven't (yet!) been subjected to T K Max, perhaps my time will come.
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Luit and Tom, perhaps I should try starch on the porridge and not golden syrup? :o
Salt man... salt! dear god what is this world coming to!
Oh and I can even get David through the doors of T K Maxx, mind you I'm also about to teach him the art of blogging :)
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Luit and Tom, perhaps I should try starch on the porridge and not golden syrup? :o
Salt man... salt! dear god what is this world coming to!
Oh and I can even get David through the doors of T K Maxx, mind you I'm also about to teach him the art of blogging :)
Don't think salt would have the same effect really :P
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Snow is forecast for my trip to Harvey's. I dont imagine there will be many photos taken :(
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Nothing wrong with TK Max - lots of potentially uesefull gadgets to ponder over :D
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salt and brown sugar in my porridge
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I remember my landlady's porridge when I was a student. One lump or two? :P I know it is supposed to put hairs on your chest, but I seemed to be fed them along with the porridge too. ::)
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Anthony back to the monarch butterflies - yes they are wanderers too.
Fermi - lots of oldies are ending up in hospital here after all this heat. At least the snakes are not out in this heat - or lizards.
You always know when it is going to be a very hot day by all the flies that are in the dark corners outside when you get up.
Slightly cooler this evening.
Pat
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I heard today on the radio that fifteen old folks have died in Australia during this current 40 degree plus weather. :(
Here it's just getting colder.
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Agreed Maggi and blowing a hoolie... I had to rescue the bedding off the rope before it made the great escape and ended up on the other side of the field. None of the weather forecasts seem to be talking about strong winds but then they are rarely correct ;)
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Back to winter again here in Kirriemuir so like last year I post a picture of me with my grandchildren taken this morning, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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You're looking a little pale Ian, but I like your hat. :)
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You're looking a little pale Ian, but I like your hat. :)
I thought he was looking a bit fat - but Ian is the President, so I wondered if I should comment or not?
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You're looking a little pale Ian, but I like your hat. :)
I thought he was looking a bit fat - but Ian is the President, so I wondered if I should comment or not?
I wouldn't care what they say Ian. With that build you won't fall over in icy conditions ;)
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Thank you all as you know I have an hour glass figure just a shame most of the sand has got stuck in the middle. I am sure that very soon these extra pounds will melt away. ;D We have had a lot mopre snow about 6 inches roads very bad untill after lunch however my grandchildren love gettiong out on the sledge. I add another picture, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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Very cute Snow Babies, Mr President !
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To avoid a case of the "shack nasties" I went for a walk this afternoon in Sutton Park. We live about 200 yds away and it is one of if not the largest Park of its kind in the UK being about 8 miles round. The park was given in perpetuity by a local lad one of Henry VIII's Bishops. This land was at this time a chase formerly used for hunting. The boar and deer are gone but we have ponies and it is still largely natural. Bishop Vesey invited the King to hunt here and following the successful mutilation of many dumb animals the town was granted a Royal Charter. Because it is so close we don't go in as much as we should and tend to drive into the Welsh Marches or the Peak district for our walks but it is still a lovely place close to a large City
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The name is very apt, "Coldfield".
Paddy
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I struggled to decide whether to post this here under weather or in the 'I'm so happy' thread. It's been a long time since I saw decent snow and while this still doesn't class as a good snowfall it was pretty and, for once, I got home before it was fully dark (just). Certainly hides all the jobs that haven't been done so far this winter.
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Regardless of the chaos or bother the snow causes, it is photogenic and Martin's dusk shot even makes it seem colder
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Night time view of the garden.
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Super pictures, Ian x2, Martin and Mick.
Here's my contribution in the "who's had the most snow competition"
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Mick, is that a snow covered cycad on the right of the gazebo??
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I don't think cycads are hardy in the UK?
Here is Lucy's snowman outside the front gate. She rolled the bottom half up the hill from her primary school at 3 p.m. today, with the help of some friends.
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I don't think cycads are hardy in the UK?
Neither did I Anthony, but I am wondering what the plant is. ???
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A big fern.
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A Tree fern, Dicksonia antarctica, from what I can see.
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Hi All, the snow pictures are just great a bit dissapointed in your nude snowperson Anthony poor soul must be freezing at least get a hat and scarf. The snow is still heavy here so will see what morning brings, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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A Tree fern, Dicksonia antarctica, from what I can see.
Well now I am even more curious, I woudn't have thought those would be hardy there either. :o
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From watching Gardener's World I remember Alan Titchmarsh wrapping all his tree ferns to protect them from our winters. They are very expensive to buy and were very well wrapped.
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Mine are well wrapped, although I was rather late this year. :-\ The trick is to buy as tall a plant as your pocket will alow. This usually means B&Q when everything is half price in their sale. The taller they are the more chance of surviving as it raises them above the ground frost. Also, at less than a foot growth in 10 years, they are not likely to outgrow their place in the garden. My two are 8' and 3' tall and securely bubble wrapped.
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Paddy you are right Coldfield is very apt nothing higher east of here till the Urals and as far from the sea as you can get on this island
There is however a large area of open woodland around here which gives a lot of protection from strong winds so we do alright in that respect
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Mick, is that a snow covered cycad on the right of the gazebo??
Helen the gazebo is actually the greenhouse.
Correct Anthony it is a tree fern purchased from B&Q in their half priced sale, with the added bonus that Mandy said it looked like it was dying so they reduced it by half again.
We didn't wrap it this year, or last as I remember.
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Mick, is that a snow covered cycad on the right of the gazebo??
Helen the gazebo is actually the greenhouse.
Oh really? How cute is that, I want one!! ;D ;D ;D
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Helen,
Here is a link to the post when greenhouse was first put up.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5.msg11#msg11
Cheers
Mick
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Thanks for the link Mick, the archives are like buried treasure.
I have a small greenhouse and am getting some great tips for cooling it in summer.
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Rain in Dunblane this morning, but still 3" of snow on the ground; 3oC in Falkirk, 20 miles down the road, and the snow has all gone.
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Raining here too but not much above freezing... threat is for snow starting tonight for rest of week but can we believe them?
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I feel cheated - we had a half inch of snow lying for two hours and then it melted ! The temperature today is 5c, with a few patches of blue sky as I write this.
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Thin snow flurries on and off all morning here with sunny intervals inbetween. Doesn't feel particularly cold outdoors.
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I was one of very few people who made it to the surgery this morning. Fortunately for me the phlebotomist also made it and I had an early appointment. Hope the courier who collects blood samples makes it or they will want more! :)
We had 7 inches of snow and with the low temperatures the local roads are really treacherous.
Fingers crossed conditions will improve as I am supposed to be viewing Snowdrops on Saturday & Sunday
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Though only 2C and no sun this morning, when I came out I could smell that the weather is changing. :D
Will have to wait after Sunday however (Full Moon)! :-\
Forecast fot coming night still -4C, but tomorrow sunny weather and 3 to 4c.
Still a layer of ice in the channels (since a week).
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Some images from East Lancashire (Northern England) this morning ... from the garden and from Healey Dell nature reserve which is but a few hundred yards from our house.
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Luit
I am interested in your comment about full moon on Sunday.
My moon calendar gives full moon as being Monday afternoon. I guess that we are one hour appart in time zones - does this make so much difference to the time of the full moon?
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David, I thought I wrote after Sunday, which declares what I meant.
Since the end of December when a sort of real winter started it was, when I
remember right, just New Moon.
Since then we had intervals of a fortnight with changing weather. Frost started around
New Moon and a bit higher temps 2 weeks later, then after a fortnight it started
about freezing more, again with New Moon. But never a really severe winter.
Therefore I meant, that we have to wait till Full Moon for real changing weather.
But it is of course possible that we get another fortnight's interval before it really
changes.
Normally real winter weather disappears (here) after several days with stormy
weather, which until now never happened since mid December.
Let's wait and see ;)
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Here's may larger tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica) and a small kermes oak (Quercus coccifera) in this morning's snow.
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Some of our neighbours' children decided to 'execute' Lucy's snowman. How nice of them. >:(
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Here's may larger tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica) and a small kermes oak (Quercus coccifera) in this morning's snow.
Here's what a larger tree fern looks like in Winter in Southern Scotland.
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Two men died in a fall on Snowdon in North Wales in bad weather the other day. As I said last year, it's not much of a mountain by international standards but deceptively dangerous, especially in bad winter weather. Trouble is, it's such a popular tourist attraction that it's viewed as an easy stroll for anyone in a pair of trainers and a shower-proof jacket. These two were on the very easiest and mosy popular track by the railway, as wide as a motorway, yet they still managed to fall. :(
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Hi Cliff, great pictures of the stucture and shapes, not a buttercup in sight, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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http://www.mwis.org.uk/synoptic.php
The Cairngorm Mountain web site has just posted some links to various mountain weather services. Included is this link to synoptic weather charts for the area from the Mediterranean across the north Atlantic to the east coast of America. I cannot read these charts but I know that some forumists find them interesting.
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Snow and snowing in Aberdeen today. Radio said this morning that our city centre was snarled up at rush-hour because of the snow.... and there was I thinking that the city always got snarled up at rush -hour..... except in the School Holidays, when so many fewer 4x4 vehicles are absent! :P
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We are stuck inside as heavy snow again, I have filled the bird feeders twice this week already. A picture of some visitors just great to watch them with Siskins, Blue tits amongs athers, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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More please...
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Fantastic pic of goldfinches Ian.
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I really love how dapper the Goldfinches are... they've been mobbing our feeders too.
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After weeks of absence my goldies are back.
Brilliant day here today and warm enough poloshirt only
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This week several goldfinches and siskins visited the feeders, for the first time this winter.
However our STAR visitor was a female house sparrow (Passer domesticus) 8)! Although there is a small population around the nearby village they rarely venture out here. Recently too we had collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) for the first time although they are fairly common in urban areas.
Creeping suburbanisation?
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Ashley I would guess you dont normally see them because of a lack of suitble food in your immediate area. They are everywhere now and have recently reached America
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Quite probably Mark. Farmland hereabouts is mainly beef and dairy rather than arable, moderately intensive and not especially insect-friendly. Our garden and an adjacent strip of mixed woodland act as a refuge.
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Hi more snow today and I spent most of the afternoon clearing our road, I went to Kirrie to buy more sunflowers for the birds what a joy to watch them we had visits from 2 bullfinches and a Woodpecker, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Sorry posted wrong picture Ian.
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A slight dusting of snow on top of what's left in Dunblane. James, his two cousins and my brother in law went to the Rangers - Inter Milan match tonight. Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. :o I wonder how the likes of Beckham, Ronaldinho and Kaka coped with the cold? A creditable 2 - 2 draw with the Rangers goalie man of the match.
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Ashley I would guess you dont normally see them because of a lack of suitble food in your immediate area. They are everywhere now and have recently reached America
Mark,
Please tell a little bit more about the migration of the doves to America - didn't notice that here.
Gerd
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Gerd it was on one of the birding web sites I read that but Googling just now it seem the invasion started with 20 birds that escaped from a pet shop on the Bahamas in 1974
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/JFO/v064n04/p0477-p0489.pdf (http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/JFO/v064n04/p0477-p0489.pdf)
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/diversity/2003winterbird.pdf (http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/diversity/2003winterbird.pdf)
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Thank you Mark, always something new to hear about!
The collared dove is in my region less frequent than it was about 20 years ago.
Gerd
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Once they romp across America they will eventually get back home.
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Went to Troon harbour to take this bird in the snow. All the snow had melted by the time I got there! Every year one or two of these gulls winter in Troon harbour. Despite their name, they breed in Greenland and overwinter in Iceland with several coming down to the U.K.and Ireland.
We have a wintering flock of about 400 Common Eiders who jostle among the returning fishing boats for scraps and waste.
They have now started displaying en masse and in a few months will disperse to off-shore islands to breed.
Iceland gull Larus glaucoides
Common Eider Somateria mollissima
I think I posted this in the wrong section. I meant to show a picture of Arran in the snow. It's several years since I have seen the snow down to sea level
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I love the uhhh-ohhhhh sound eiders make
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What's all this talk about snow, we have had no snow here this winter yet.
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Nip across here, Michael, you can come and share ours!
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I'll send you some with 'Sophie North' Michael. ;D
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WE had snow today but it didnt more than seconds on the ground. 10 miles away the motorway was closed and 15 miles away in Belfast they were having a hard time. Strange thing weather.
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Question. How do the operate Airports and Motorways in places that get snow for up to six months each year.?When get one shower of snow everything grinds to a halt.
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Did you see the Russian 'crab' 'eating' snow on the news on Monday?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emandernie/3199043355/in/photostream/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/emandernie/3199043355/in/photostream/)
Belfast City Airport was closed yesterday for snow clearance
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Drifts up to 4 feet deep here, no movement in or out for 3 days!!!!!
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Snowed in here as well. Almost no traffic on the roads today. The county is running out of grit and said as of midnight last night they would only grit major routes, then we got another six inches of snow in the night, which has covered all the ungritted roads. Part of our 25-year-old Strawberry Tree has broken off due to weight of snow and is now blocking pavement - not that it matters as everyone is walking on the snow-covered road.
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Just a smattering of snow here today yet 25 miles away the A38 one of only two main roads into Devon/Cornwall has been closed on a steep hill all night. Thus: no newspapers yet again and the local supermarkets have rationed milk to 2 litres per sale as they have no deliveries today. One of the largest gritting lorries I've ever seen has just been down our road, a short cul-de-sac on a residential estate. Question: Why? There is no trace of snow on the road. I'll go out and sweep it up and bring it up for you Martin.
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And we in the southern part of Australia had around 45C again today and the coolest forecast for overnight is 30C or there abouts. This heatwave that has lasted more than a week is hellish when you can't open up the windows and doors for cooling evening breezes. :( >:( It is due to come to an end tomorrow evening - then mid 20Cs next week - Yeah!!!! 8)
A daughter left here last Friday on a 40C+ day and two days later from London sends me photos of snow outside their flat!!! ???
Pat
And north eastern Australia getting record floods!!! :'(
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Drifts up to 4 feet deep here, no movement in or out for 3 days!!!!!
Really? Good grief!
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We could use your grit, David! I had to help push six cars up the hill while clearing up where our Strawberry Tree split and a quarter of it fell onto the pavement - luckily only small side-branches landed on the neighbour's car bonnet! People just don't know how to drive on snow. The number of times I had to shout 'put it in a higher gear', 'stear into the skid' etc. ::)
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There should also be a law stating that all Volvos, BMWs and Mercs stay off the road. :( I even had to overtake an Audi 2.0 Turbo Diesel which was going nowwhere fast on the way up the hill towards my house, and it was front wheel drive. I suspect he hadn't turned his traction control off? ::)
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Pretty steep up your road, Anthony, and even steeper on the bit up to Sandy and Anne :o
Gentle enough hill outside us..... unless you're pedaling up the thing on a bike! Snow falling heavily for last couple of hours..... soon 4x4s will be sliding all over the place as the Mum's go out to get the kids from school. :'(
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Another sunny day here in Ayr. Temperature peaked at 4c. The roads are bone dry but there is a biting east wind blowing. In the shelter from the wind the sun actually has some heat in it.
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'stear into the skid' etc. ::)
Heard that one before. Hard to do when you in a 360 degree spin at 80km/hr.
johnw
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While out for a walk with Lily, just had to stop while a parked car slid down a sloping drive, across the pavement and into the road. Poor little car was obviously frightened, its alarm was going off ::)
Luckily just a tad too late for the bulk of the school children coming along the road, it all happened so quickly there could have been very nasty consequences.
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'stear into the skid' etc. ::)
Heard that one before. Hard to do when you in a 360 degree spin at 80km/hr.
johnw
You obviously have an exciting driving style, John. Hope you didn't dent the Aston Martin. ;D Not many people doing 80km/hr up and down our road today, just sliding slowly around. The four wheel drivers didn't half look smug though.
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Of course, you have to know if you have rear or front wheel drive, because opposites apply, i.e. you stear out of the skid for front wheel drive. A friend of mine 'lost it' just past the green wellie shop near Tyndrum. Hit a patch of water in his BMW M3 and the back end went. The car hit a wall and summersaulted down the road. When it finally stopped, the right way up, there was no engine or wheels left attached to what was left of the body. Both he and his friend walked out. The first thing he did was to check to see if his Rolex was scratched. ::) Wouldn't have happened if the car had been front wheel drive, but then it certainly is a good advert for the strength of the 'cage'.
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One 4x4 driver I saw today was certainly feeling safe enough... she was chatting on her phone.
I''d book the b*****s, I really would. >:(
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A couple of pics from the very snowy Stroud Valley this evening (actually from around the woods in an area of a small side-valley near our house called The Heavens, where everyone and their dog was out sledging yesterday and today):
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I was very tempted when posting the second pic in my last posting to label it 'View across my back lawn to the shrubbery and woodland garden'. Talk about wishful thinking! :-\
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You obviously have an exciting driving style, John. Hope you didn't dent the Aston Martin. ;D Not many people doing 80km/hr up and down our road today, just sliding slowly around.
Most cars you see in the ditch here are 4 x 4's.
The worst driving weather here is the first light snowfall of the year,. The ground is warm and the snow turns to ice as the tires compress it.
My spin: the Aston Marton is fine. Actually it was a very light snow that had melted a half an hour before. I had just left a friend's greenhouse and was driving along the coast, came to a curve where there was snow across the highway, it had sneaked through a windbreak. The pavement was wet, car went into a vicious spin and luckily I found myself stopped in the driveway of the only house on the road. One second later a gravel truck passed me in the opposite direction, the very side of the road that I was then on.
Been a bit cautious ever since, I wasn't so young then.
johnw
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About 40 years ago we were going to Benmore in January, after a period of heavy frost. I was bowling along on a dry sunny day towards Loch Eck, doing about 50mph, when I came round a bend and bumped up onto a solid sheet of ice covering the road. I took my foot off the accelerator to slow down gradually, when I hit a patch of lumpy ice left by a logging tractor coming on to the road. I started a swerve, instinctively hit the brakes, and I was away for a toboggan ride. A bend was coming up fast and I had a choice of putting the car through the trees into the Loch or into the ditch. I chose the ditch and amazingly the car ploughed a furrow and stopped with no damage. I thought that it had taken about 30 seconds to do this and Cindy said that one minute we were driving along and then we were in a ditch. She hadn't time to get frightened.
We continued on our way and spent the day in Benmore. On the way back, we ran into a blizzard and just made it before the road was closed. When I got back to Glasgow I could not get out of the car for 15 minutes due to delayed shock and whiplash effect. I learned a salutary lesson that day - the follies of youth !!
The next time we were in the same spot, I realised that in mid-winter, the sun could not shine on the road because of the mountains on either side of the loch, so the ice could not melt sufficiently before the temperature dropped below freezing at night.
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Tom and John, your close shaves reminded me of one we had in Cornwall a few years ago. With two small children in the car, we were following another car down a narrowish lane when the driver in front slammed on his brakes and did an emergency stop at the entrance to a farm shop advertising fruit. I was going to slam into the back of him if I hit the brakes and couldn't go round him as he started to indicate right into the farm shop driveway after doing his emergency 'ooh, a farm shop!' stop and I'd have hit him side on if he turned. I had to swerve onto the grass verge, which then sloped up so that our car ended up alongside him with our wheels level with his windows. The look on his passenger's face as we appeared on top of the bank next to her was one of sheer horror. I just reversed back down onto the road, and drove on past him after a couple of appropriate hand gestures.
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More snow overnight and the temperature is not supposed to go above freezing today with more snow forecast... still it is a piece of cake in comparison to my memories of Aberdeenshire in the mid 70s.
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-6oC at 7.45 a.m. today.
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Howdy All,
A rather rare visit here to the SRGC for me at the moment. Just dropping in for a couple of minutes (literally) to post here in case any Aussies are reading....
Commiserations to those in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales who have been having the dreadful heatwave. Thankfully we haven't been as bad as many of you (Pat... 45'C!! :o Ouch! :-X).... we've only had 39.6, 40.0 and 40.0'c the last 3 days. Darn hot enough for me though. At least we haven't had the dreadful bushfires that have ravaged Victoria, with around 85 I think now confirmed dead and close to 700 homes lost..... here's hoping that the NSW fires don't add to that toll as well. For those who are interested.... Australia was forecast as officially the hottest place on the planet for this weekend. It hit 48'C in western parts of Vic and NSW yesterday (Saturday). Our 40'C was bad enough here thank you!! Melbourne had it's hottest day on record yesterday (that is 150 years of records) at 46.4'C I think.
And to the opposite extremes... up north in Queensland, more than 60% of the state is flood affected, with some areas having record floods today, on top of record floods on Thursday/Friday after more torrential rain yesterday. Our country is a bunch of extremes, that is for sure.
So.... to anyone who is affected by any of these my heart, and those of so many others, is with you. Hopefully none of our readers are directly affected or know people who have been directly affected by these fires.
And... my heart goes out to all those those stranded in London etc by the snowstorms causing traffic chaos etc. The world is a very mixed up place right at the moment weather-wise.
Hopefully I'll get time to get back up here regularly again soon. This will be my only post for this evening, and in fact the only topic I will be reading. Too darn hot to sit at the computer, even at 10pm. ::) ;)
All the very best everyone.
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Temperature has now inched up to 0˚C still with the sun shine it looks bonny and David and I enjoyed a walk in the Culbins earlier. He is now labeling up 200 plus packets of seed sent to us by the Bainbridges' as he is giving a talk on growing for showing on Wednesday - well we 'think' he is, sort of depends on the weather to be honest :-\
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Bit cold here. This is not a new species of crocus but a chrysanthus. Water has dripped from the greenhouse roof and frozen in its throat. The Helleborus thibetanus has collapsed nightly and most days picks up but not today
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The snow here is now solid with minus 6c. the first picture is clearing the road, wind blowing snow made drifts up to 4 feet in places the other pictures are Eranthus guinea gold beside a stone and primula whitei just looking out, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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Hi Paul nice to see your post. By the way there is a fire near Resedale so I hope Fermi is OK.
I heard and then rang a friend with a rose nursery at Coldstream near Melbourne.
His garden and house is fine but the neighbour across the road lost his house and John's potted roses are gone and his paddocks either side and behind are gone. Someone mowing at Yarra Glen started the Yarra Glen fire. Fancy mowing on a 40C+ with hot winds to 100kh.day. Why the heck can't these people just read a book!
Pat
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Thanks for your concern, Pat.
Our place was not in the path of the fire but the area ia devestated and some very depressing sights driving to work this morning. The fire has flared up again this afternoon but appears to be well away from Redesdale, so we think we'll be okay.
Any snow that can be sent to us would be much appreciated!
cheers
fermi
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Hi Fermi, great to hear from you that you are all o/k we saw the fires on TV very frightening and just a disaster for all who have lost everything. cheers and look after yourself, Ian the Christie kind.
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-10C here right now and the promise is it will go up to the dizzy heights of -2C!
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Zero Celsius here, but a couple of inches of fresh snow in Falkirk. It was -2oC when I left Dunblane at 8.15 a.m.
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We got some snow for real. Should be enough for skiing. :) It tries fairly sucessfully to flatten my Rhododendrons :(
-2 to -10°C. This is nothing compared with the -21.5°C with next to no snow we had in December. :-\
Göte
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Some serious panic buying going on in the supermarkets down here as people stock up for the snow storm that's supposed to develop tonight. No bread, no flour, no fruit, no veg, no spuds, no pasta. Luckily, still plenty of chocolate and wine.
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I trudged across to the shop earlier to get milk and dogfood ....clean forgot the chocolate , and a cheque I was meant to post! Oops!
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I trudged across to the shop earlier to get milk and dogfood ....clean forgot the chocolate , and a cheque I was meant to post! Oops!
It's the cold addling the brain cells...
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It was pouring down when I got up this morning and it hasn't stopped all day/evening. Just back home from taking my son to the railway station and driving conditions are terrible. The local news showed flooding all over Devon and Cornwall. If this lot turns to snow as it proceeds North then some of you are in for some misery. Floods are not a problem for me being nearly 400 feet (122 meters) above sea level.
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We had a big thaw today after a week or more frozen. No snow left in my area
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I really didn't believe it could be pouring rain one minute and turn into a snow blizzard the next, but that's what the weather forecast was for tonight and half an hour ago it did just that. Already an inch of snow on the road (not gritted because the county's running out) and about eight inches forecast. I'm not going to see the snowdrops here at all! :(
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Saturday 7th February was a glorious day. I took Heidi up the hill from our house, towards Dykedale farm, which is now a group of dwellings made from the old farm buildings. The views across to the Braes of Doune windfarm and Red Kite country are stunning. I had a Sigma 150mm macro lens on my camera. I took some more closer to home, and the last one is from behind the house, at the start of the track up the hill. The apex with the 'dish' and the one next to it are oor hoose.
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Nice photos, Anthony. We need more wind farms like that in the UK. Lots more. Maybe with the credit crunch and collapse of the financial systems the government will have to rethink its plans to rely almost entirely on a new generation of very expensive nuclear power stations and start putting some serious backing behind increased alternative energy sources like wind and wave power.
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I totally support wave power but some of the big wind farms are a huge eye sore in our beautiful Scottish countryside... about time they put some down in England. They are also very noisy and not good for the bird life
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I totally support wave power but some of the big wind farms are a huge eye sore in our beautiful Scottish countryside... about time they put some down in England. They are also very noisy and not good for the bird life
We have some quite big windfarms down here but I agree we should have more rather than stick them all in Scotland. Of course you can also put them off the coast (though some people don't like that idea).
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We have more than enough in Lancashire already thanks Carol. They are now attracting more visitors than local beauty spots (see last image).
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We have great potential for wind, wave and tidal power in Nova Scotia. The Bay of Fundy has some of the highest tides in the world. At the same time the Bay is a haven for birds, whales and marine life. I often wonder how these powers can be harnessed without pureeing all the wildlife nearby.
johnw
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We have great potential for wind, wave and tidal power in Nova Scotia. The Bay of Fundy has some of the highest tides in the world. At the same time the Bay is a haven for birds, whales and marine life. I often wonder how these powers can be harnessed without pureeing all the wildlife nearby.
johnw
We have the same quandry here with the Severn Estuary, which also has a huge tidal range (such that we get regular tidal surges that produce the famous Severn Bore, a wave that moves upstream fast enough to - just about - surf on).
A huge barrage across the entire estuary would play havoc with the local ecosystems for wildlife, especially wading birds (Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust is on the estuary) but alternative proposals are being put forward for a series of smaller bay-like barrages up the sides of the estuary where especially high tidal ranges occur. It's a balancing act, like the wind farms question.
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Martin - A quandry it truly is.
They put a tidal dam on the Annapolis River back almost 30 years ago. The river flows through the richest farm land in the province. A good portion of this land was created by the early Acadians who constructed by an elaborate system of dyking. Now the banks of the river are collapsing, the soil is not being replenished or leached by frequent tidal overflows. The latest trials are to begin shortly with smaller circular turbines being placed near the bay's shore. Hopefully these will be less catastrophic but one wonders.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Bay_of_Fundy_-_Tide_Out.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bay_of_Fundy_-_Tide_Out.jpg&usg=__NxJhdyaniGQV2x_K8U-ql481SnM=&h=1704&w=2272&sz=1097&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=_4FeMfXQFxpCeM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3DFundy%2Btides%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Bay_of_Fundy_-_Tide_Out.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bay_of_Fundy_-_Tide_Out.jpg&usg=__NxJhdyaniGQV2x_K8U-ql481SnM=&h=1704&w=2272&sz=1097&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=_4FeMfXQFxpCeM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3DFundy%2Btides%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapolis_Royal_Generating_Station (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapolis_Royal_Generating_Station)
johnw
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We have some quite big windfarms down here but I agree we should have more rather than stick them all in Scotland. Of course you can also put them off the coast (though some people don't like that idea).
They've started doing this very successfully up here and it really does make sense to me
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Wind farms are a contentious issue. In Ayrshire, we are surrounded by them. I doubt that they can ever contribute more than marginally to the nation's power requirements. A side effect that has recently arisen is that they interfere with radar used in Air Traffic Control if placed in the wrong location. Some ear-marked sites have had to be abandoned because of this.
Wave power appears to be feasible, but does anyone know what will happen to the coast line if barriers are placed out at sea altering tidal flows? On a selfish note, it's the next generation's problem. I'm OK with nuclear power !!
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Winter has returned to Kirriemuir with 6 to 8 inches of snow very bad roads, a few pictures from the garden, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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Super images, Ian ... love the little white shrub in the final picture! :D
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Hi Cliff, it is a Snowdrop ;D cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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I get the drift, Ian ... !! ;D ;D ;D Could have been a mass of leucojums, I suppose?
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I expect there will be many home done Christmas cards coming out of Scotland this year.
Today we have had sunshine all day. No need for heat in the car and believe or not I had the fresh air vents open
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The only cards I send these days are e-cards... better for the environment and a lot cheaper ;D :o ;D
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but you cant beat a card that is not mass produced
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I am sure that you can produce an excellent e-card with your own pictures, Mark?
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I have just viewed the weather report and forecast following the evening news and see that the east of England has temperatures of 3 - 4 celcius while we had 10 - 11. Around midday I was working in the garden in my T-shirt, perfectly comfortably.
The only down side of the day was the number of thorns in my hands from pruning a large berberis.
Paddy
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That I do David but I also get one printed most years.
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The snow is melting fast here, thanks to a very dark, wet day..... everything looks miserable and unhappy though. :(
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The snow is melting fast here, thanks to a very dark, wet day..... everything looks miserable and unhappy though. :(
Our snow is just about gone but everything has that flat, half dead look to it... however the Crocuses are fairly leaping out of the ground and into flower along with a wee Iris we spotted yesterday, we lost the label years ago and can't remember what it is... I'll get David to take a pix a post for i.d.
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Your snow is melting and here the next snow is coming. Now we have more than 1m snow and we expect 50cm today!
A pic from Saturday. All my flowering Galanthus and Cyclamen are under deep snow. And now I am thinking on an avalanche.
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Utterly beautiful, Hans ... but you would rather see flowers!! :D
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For the last two days the temperatures have been up and I have been able to garden ;D Hopefully today is going to be fine and I can clear more of the garden and reveal the hundreds of bulbs that are bursting forth. Amazing how quickly Crocus respond to an increase in temperature, and finally the reticulate Iris are making an appearance.
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10oC on my way into school today after the long weekend holiday.
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Hans H. ... I spend all winter thinking of you and your avalanche mountain..... I was hoping that this year you might be safe, but still the danger continues with the new snow. I hope you stay safe! :-*
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Amazing how quickly the snow disappeared here overnight. Pots of crocuses in the frame have gone from buds to open blooms in 2 days. I hope some survive for Dunblane on Saturday. The honey bees were out today so there may not be any pollen left but I do not want to take them into the greenhouse too soon in case they get too warm and go over quickly.
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More rain! This is why I hate February- Thank goodness for Dunblane Early Bulb Day!
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we have just had three great days with temperatures in double figures and, I'll whisper quietly, no rain for a week!
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We have also had temperatures in double figures -13C this morning. :(
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More rain! This is why I hate February- Thank goodness for Dunblane Early Bulb Day!
We've not seen any rain since Saturday afternoon when it basically washed the snow away. Sunday was grey but good enough for getting out for a walk. Today it was around 11C at warmest though it certainly felt warmer yesterday with all the strong sunshine.
David has been taking pix of all the bulbs as they spring into flower, and yes 'spring' is definitely the right word.. you walk round the garden and they are not there... an hour later 'boing said Zeberdee'.
We're looking forward to seeing all our pals at Early Bulbs (but are they looking forward to seeing us?). Just hope the weather doesn't turn so warm that all the snowdrops up here are over before the Moray Snowdrop Day on 28th.
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This is not entirely related to weather.... but it can't have helped much.....
A tree described as one of the largest of its kind in the world has toppled over after dying of old age and fungal attack.
The Luscombe oak in Exmouth, Devon, had a girth of nearly 8m and was one of the county's oldest trees - 250 years old apparently.
The giant fell to the ground in Phear Park last weekend and had been attacked by fungus as well as the ravages of time.
Poor thing, I know how it feels.
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Maggie, you wrote:
More rain! This is why I hate February- Thank goodness for Dunblane Early Bulb Day!
You can have my weather if you wish -2 to -20 :( Snow on the roof that could avalance down to the pedestrians. >:( Snow on the roads. >:(
But also snow in the ski tracks :) Unfortunately snow on the ice on the lakse so skating becomes impossible.
Göte
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In the morning a view to my house and my Alpine Garden (only 435m over Sea!) with Cypripedium, Galanthus,...I think they will flower in May or June.
One green house is under snow (in the middle of the pic you can see it).
Now it has started to rain.
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wow! lots of snow--we have rather a lot for us, but this is still, after all, a rather dry climate, and winter more so--we have around a foot to a foot and a half (30-45cm)of snow on the ground,after some warmish weather has compacted it; depending where you look--more around buildings/work areas where it has been shovelled off paths, less around the base of spruce trees (some bare) and variable in the bush ('forest' forest is a city person's word, in this area...lol)...
more snow mon, tues, wed--so we may see another 10cm or so...nothing like the heavy snowfalls in warmer, wetter places--i joke that the snow we get in 3 days is no more than montreal can have in a couple of hours!
overall, february has been colder than january, though still not extreme by local standards--we have had days near/above freezing, and daytimes of -10 to -15--m afew more of those coming in the next few;
on the plus side, the sun is much stronger now--there is some melting in sunny spots even on days below freezing, and it is now light enough to work outside (not gardening for a long time yet!) till around 6:30--thats already a 2 hour improvement over the shortest days, where i had to come in by 4:30; midsummer we are light til around 10:30..
cohan
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The football match was cancelled
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Today we have a wonderful winter weather.
A view out of my house and to the mountains where now is nearly 4m snow. The street to my house is closed, some smaller avalanches have arrived the street.
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Johanne & Cohan,
All this snow must shorten your gardening year significantly. Here, we have had dry and sunny weather with temperatures approaching 10C for the past few weeks so we have been outside in the garden everyday clearing away remains of dead herbaceous plants, some pruning on shrubs, deadheading hydrangeas, splitting and moving herbaceous material and freshening up the soil. I even cut the grass last week - this is a bit earlier than normal but we have had dry weather and the ground is dry enough to drive the lawnmower on it.
Paddy
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Today we have a wonderful winter weather.
A view out of my house and to the mountains where now is nearly 4m snow. The street to my house is closed, some smaller avalanches has arrived the street.
Your world is beautiful but rather dangerous, Hans. At our SRGC Meeting last night, we saw some wonderful photos of stunning views and flowers in the Austrian mountains..... very different to your view today.
Shame about the football match..... did anyone find the referee ;)...... did anyone search, even? ;D ;)
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For the first time this year we have had a temperature in the teens. At 3pm it was 13C
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The football match was cancelled
How can you tell? They might have had a fantastic match under the snow? 8)
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Today we have a wonderful winter weather.
A view out of my house and to the mountains where now is nearly 4m snow. The street to my house is closed, some smaller avalanches have arrived the street.
very nice, and much more snow than i have, even after a couple days more of snow--this is still a rather dry winter region--much less precipitation than most of eastern canada, for example; there have been a lot of avalanches in canada too, but that's quite far from me, especially in british columbia, where the pacific air drops a lot of moisture in the western rockies before it can cross the highest peaks, to my side..
paddy--i bet my growing season is shorter than hans' although he probably has a wait for all that snow to melt; i think there is snow in every month on the record books, though i have never seen that--but snowfall in late may (when it is green and trees leafed out) is not at all unusual, and again by midaugust, though in august its more likely a few flakes on a dreary day than the big dumps we can have in may;
so frost free is really only june, july and part of august--obviously with significant variations from year to year, and sepetember can be very nice, even if we have had an early frost;i think i had an armeria flowering in october last year, though we had had significant frosts for a long time--yay for alpines!..
i dont intend to grow much outdoors that will cause me to worry about the length of that season, apart from vegetables, and even then, i'd rather grow the more tender stuff under cover..
a major part of my gardening and plant passion will always be indoors, as long as i live in cold climates...lol..a few ofthe cacti are starting to flower and bud on my windowsill, and i am getting into a few south african wintergrowers, so there is always something to be interested in..
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Today we have a wonderful winter weather.
A view out of my house and to the mountains where now is nearly 4m snow. The street to my house is closed, some smaller avalanches have arrived the street.
Johannes where are you in Austria? David & I have walked and climbed there many times.
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Did you notice the BBC has changed its on-line weather info style... I found the old version much easier to understand :( And they are threatening us with more snow... the bulbs are just starting to look bonny
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Dont tell too many people. They will all want a share!
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Carol,
my house is in Ebensee (435m) near Traunsee (lake) between Höllengebirge and Totes Gebirge (Upper Austria). The highest mountains are so 2000m.
Maybe you know "Dachstein" (3000m) which is not far away.
Many wonderful Alpines grow there!
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horizon to horizon blue sky, yeah right! :-\ but at least it's a warm day
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Been nice here, Mark.... got up to about 11 degress at mid day..... sun gone now and wind increasing, looks likerain is on the way. :(
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Dont tell too many people. They will all want a share!
You are welcome to a share of, or even all, the snow we are due to get ;D
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we had a few cold days (cold for us, our warm days in winter would be cold for many of you...lol)
we were near -30C at night, and with windchills, not much better in the day--shoevelling around the mailbox the other day, i felt my cheeks could easily have frozen with a few minutes(that was my only exposed area--eyebrows to chin, with coming around the sides!
yesterday was much better--around -5C, with a bit of a dip again today -11..but above 0Cdays by monday, hopefully..
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Today at 12:30 a gigantic avalanche has arrived my house and the garden. There are some demolitions, but the best is that I have survived. I think I have lost my seeds and some pots with plants.
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Dear goodness, Hans, thank heavens you are safe! Such danger from the avalanche.... I was afraid that there would be such a happening this year.
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That looks a very close shave Hans. Take care. We will be thinking of you.
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Be careful Hans.
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Dear Hans, what a nightmare! I am so glad,that you are not injured. Hope, that you didn't loose
too many of your precious plants.
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We are thinking of you, Hans. Look after yourself - you can always get more plants.
David & Carol
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Today at 12:30 a gigantic avalanche has arrived my house and the garden. There are some demolitions, but the best is that I have survived. I think I have lost my seeds and some pots with plants.
wow! scary..good you are ok!
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Very glad to see you were unharmed Hans !
Hope after the snow melted not too much damage will be revealed !
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I am relieved that you - and your house survived.
We all loose plants and have no seedling but usually it is our own fault - not an avalanche.
I am sure that if you call for lost treasures, many of us will come to your help if we can.
Take care
Göte
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Heaven, Hans!!
So glad to know that you (and your house) are safe!!
Here we had temperatures up to 30ºC on Friday (t-shirts, no socks), yesterday it was only 10ºC mid-morning but then suddenly up to 20ºC at lunch time. Clear sky so 2.4ºC this morning.
i.e. typical Spring-ish weather round here!
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Just now seeing this thread.
It's rather frightful, Hans!
Last year Emma, now the avalanche... :o Is this "normal" at that place?
Good you are OK!!!
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It has been a bright day here in Aberdeen but all afternoon the wind has been gusting heavily and now it is pretty unpleasant, though still dry. I don't know how widespread these gales are across the country but I hope all today's Show Exhibitors and Visitors get home safely from the Blackpool Show. :-\
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Now we have removed the most dirty snow out of the garden. For one month it is always raining and snowing. At the mountains here is nearly 6m snow and there are gigantic snowdrifts (higher than 15m). Many alp shakes are under snow or destroyed from avalanches.
This is not normal, but we feel the climate changes. Today here is no rain and no sun (10°C).
Hans
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8am saw us in the kitchen back door wide open enjoying the sun, I suggested to David it was time to let the stove go out during the day and just light in the evening. John Owen, Askival's current custodian, had stayed overnight and after breakfast we all wandered around the garden. Suddenly the cloud came over the wind got up and brrr. back indoors to add another layer before we continuing our perambulations. It got windier and winder with strong gusts that really rocked you - I was soooooo glad the stove was still in ;D
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a few shots from march in west central alberta..we have had snow, drifting, -30C cold, and some days above 10C (finally!) tomorrow we have rain turning to snow forecast..
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Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ;D
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after a few days of 10C and lots of melting in areas along paths and by the house in sunny spots (still over a foot of snow over most of our 6 acres though, and much higher where its been piled up from shovelling) it snowed all night with maybe something like 15cm by the time its done( a few flakes now, but the storm warning has lifted)--at least they took snow out of tomorrow's forecast!
we were out shovelling for some time, and nearly finished, when a the neighbour (they have a working farm) came over with a small 'cat' (tractor kind of thing) to help out--it was appreciated, and they did some areas we wouldnt have got to, and all a bit wider and cleaner--but would have been even more appreciated about an hour and half sooner!!
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In Zary, there is almost full spring. Temperatures around 10*C at day and 3*C at night. In short period, there should the temperatures should rise even to 16*C. Most of my spring plants have already started flowering in one or two weeks all spring species will be in full blossom. If I haven't put a 40 cm cover of snow, they probably would be ending flowering... :/ I wish there were normal harsh and freeze winters as they used to be.
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In Zary, there is almost full spring. Temperatures around 10*C at day and 3*C at night. In short period, there should the temperatures should rise even to 16*C. Most of my spring plants have already started flowering in one or two weeks all spring species will be in full blossom. If I haven't put a 40 cm cover of snow, they probably would be ending flowering... :/ I wish there were normal harsh and freeze winters as they used to be.
you know, if it were that simple, i wouldnt mind some climate warming...lol of course, its not that simple, and likely to just mean climate chaos as much as anything! the danger of those early warm temps is a late cold spell...
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Full on winter up here in the Swiss Alps the skiers are singing their heart out but this blackbird was wondering what the day would bring at 7.30 am in March!
And below was a relation singing his heart out in April 2007!
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Lovely images, Robin ... it hasn't taken long for you to settle in to this very welcoming forum! :) :) :)
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Thanks to you Cliff and Alan and everyone who has welcomed me as a newbie :D It took a while to get to know the site but it is so full of treasures (?!) that I feel very honoured to be part of and more than willing to attempt even if the skill level is somewhat :o overwhelming.. the beautiful photography calms my butterflies!!!!!!
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will someone please turn off the wind!! A few weeks back temperatures in the teens ruined the last of the Galanthus and winter flowering bulbs. Now while Narcissus are at their best and Tulips are starting all the moisture is being sucked out of the flowers.
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The wind is whipping up the clouds down here in Valais too but the snow is finally retreating to the mountain tops and Spring is arriving!
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according to Sky news spring returns on Tuesday and too late for spring migrants that are already here
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The weather this month has been very unseasonal - much too warm and dry! Windows open day and night, no socks, t-shirts ... Probably better than a good summer in Scotland :P ;D :D Anybody want to swap?
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yes. Is tomorrow OK?
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My rock watch tells me that the weather is changing and moss green is everywhere...
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The wind is whipping up the clouds down here in Valais too but the snow is finally retreating to the mountain tops and Spring is arriving!
What a fantastic view! Just what I need to inspire me to book those flights :) Took a look at the Zermatt webcam archive yesterday .... hope there are more sunny days in late May this year ???
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A morning of sunshine and these wild violets were enjoying sunbathing but the weather is so changeable and there is more snow forecast for tomorrow in the Alps!
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12 degrees just now that I'm willing to share for some rain. Never happy am I?
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12 degrees just now that I'm willing to share for some rain. Never happy am I?
no rain yet this year, but lots of snow! another few inches last night, you're welcome to a truckload of that ;)
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waaaaaterrrrr
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waaaaaterrrrr
There's plenty here in Valais, Mark, the Rhone is fast flowing and full of icy water from the mountains :)
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Sunny and 19oCelsius here yesterday!
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We actually had a storm come through here this evening and got a bit of rain. Quite a heavy downpour.... 12.5mm. Great stuff!! To give you an idea of how dry it has been, up until today we'd had less than 20mm in total since late January. NOT good! :'( So today's half hour downpour was well more than half the last 2 months put together.
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19 here today. Rain promised for later tonight
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Rain now falling which should revive the plants in pots. Just like last year Crocus leaves are turning brown very quickly
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So don't you actually hand water things? Or is the concept alien enough in your climate that you rarely do it? Oh to not have to spend so much time watering!!!!! ::)
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I tend not to ::) but would rather go out with a bucket of water and plunge pots for maybe 10 seconds each
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Mark,
Such an alien thought to not have to water. Here, nothing would survive in our gardens without artificial watering!!!! Except plants suited to summer drought of course. ::) It really is amazing to think about not having to water. Such a luxury!
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First real Spring rain that has come our way and the smell of the earth is wonderful...that's the difference between watering and rain :)
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Last week the company who run our school and the head teacher came up to science to check the efficiency of the dark tinted heat reducing film they had put on one of the south facing windows. Using an IR detector from the physics dept. the temperature radiating into the room was recorded at 56oC! An untinted south facing window recorded 32oC and a similar but north facing window 200C. Funny how the people who dreamt up this film don't actually know that if you put a dark tint onto a window it absorbs and transmits heat very efficiently, in during the day and out during the night!
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Last week the company who run our school and the head teacher came up to science to check the efficiency of the dark tinted heat reducing film they had put on one of the south facing windows. Using an IR detector from the physics dept. the temperature radiating into the room was recorded at 56oC! An untinted south facing window recorded 32oC and a similar but north facing window 200C. Funny how the people who dreamt up this film don't actually know that if you put a dark tint onto a window it absorbs and transmits heat very efficiently, in during the day and out during the night!
Funny how a lot of people getting paid to do a job are completely useless, though, Anthony ..... these are no different! Hmm.... should I copy this to the Moan, Moan area? :-\
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So don't you actually hand water things? Or is the concept alien enough in your climate that you rarely do it? Oh to not have to spend so much time watering!!!!! ::)
so paul, if you arent getting (much) rain, where does your water come from--i mean in the bigger picture? relict aquifers? rivers from rainier areas?
my primary/only gardening for years has been inside the house, so of course handwatering, and dealing with runoff is always a pain... so i hope to have outdoor gardens that require very little watering! no problem in a year like last, where there was so much rain over summer that i only occasionally had to water some plants i had sitting out in 2 and 4 inch pots!!
overall, i'm hoping to water only transplants, anything temporarily in pots, MAYBE some veggies..rock gardens i expect to cope on their own once established...lol
'normally' mid-late summer is dryish here, though the last couple of years have been wet, and some climate change models predict wetter summers in the western part of the province (thats where i am, and it has been even wetter farther west)..
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Looking out my window 2 minutes ago. >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(
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Helen, maybe this picture will cheer you up a bit, that's what's coming for you in a couple of weeks too:
This is a view from my window yesterday evening:
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Thanks Wim, it does cheer me up, your prunus is beautiful. :)
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helen, yesterday i thought your forecast looked much more miserable than ours, now i'm not so sure:
yesterday was 13C, warmer in sheltered sunny spots-i sunburned sitting outside at a family gathering;
today high of 6C, snowing currently, with forecast for 5cm today, 5-10cm tonight, and 5 tomorrow morning... goody! it was getting so dry--NOT! we've had a lot of melting, but by no means all the snow was gone yet, and ditches full of running water, fields with lakes.... oh well, sunny after tomorrow and 16 by the end of the week....
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Cohan, when I looked at the Calgary weather a few days ago it was all sun and great temps, unfortunately, the forecasts change by the hour.
It hasn't stopped snowing here since Saturday night, it does look like it has almost finished now.
Good news is it is 'supposed' to be nice here for the next week, but I take that with a grain of salt.
It's currently +4 here at the moment, but no sun since Saturday.
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Cohan, when I looked at the Calgary weather a few days ago it was all sun and great temps, unfortunately, the forecasts change by the hour.
It hasn't stopped snowing here since Saturday night, it does look like it has almost finished now.
Good news is it is 'supposed' to be nice here for the next week, but I take that with a grain of salt.
It's currently +4 here at the moment, but no sun since Saturday.
in the end it turned out much better than it sounded--we got a couple cm at most yest early afternoon, and most of that melted during the day a little skiff in the evening and a couple more cm this morning..the heavier amounts seemed to be going much farther north, edmonton area etc...now the sun is halfway out, and most/all of the new snow should be gone soon..
being halfway btwn edmonton and calgary(couple hours to either), we sometimes have weather similar to one or the other, and often quite different from either, esp re:precipitation..i actually cant get a weather report that exactly reflects where i live, since i am not in a town or city--i usually check the weather for rocky mountain house, which is the town where i work--but since they are around 30km nearer the mntns, they often get significantly more precip than we do...
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Storm brewing up valley, soon we'll be in the clouds - rain is welcome in the garden and the wild flowers will be refreshed ::)
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I put the shade paint on the greenhouse today folks so expect St Swithen to do his worst.
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Cloudy with sunny spells and the rain has encouraged the rock plants to revive and all winter coughs and colds are forgotten but the Tussilago farfara is there just in case....and the butterflies love them ;)
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The thermometer today swung between 20 and 21c for much of the afternoon. I could like in these temperatures every day provided it rained every night for an hour or two! ::)
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Mark,
You are SO spoilt when it comes to rain. ;D ;D ;) ;)
You would HATE living here. :o
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Still virtually no rain here but the trickle of melt water has given life to the mountains and there are bursts of yellow and green everywhere :)
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Wow, what a view!
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The gorge view was taken from the edge of the mountain road - it's incredibly deep and the bridge I am leaning over is the highest in Europe! ;D
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The gorge view was taken from the edge of the mountain road - it's incredibly deep and the bridge I am leaning over is the highest in Europe! ;D
EEEEEK! :o Rather you than me, Robin!
April showers today here in Aberdeen.... which wouldn't be SO bad, except the re is a very blustery wind and some of the heavy showers have hailstones ...... poor flowers! :'(
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great views, robin!
maggi--hailstones! yuck! we are prone to those too, though we havent reached that weather yet...
we've had a few days in high teens-20C, though still at or below 0C at night; tomorrow high of 5 with snow, and thurs high of 2 with overnight low -10....
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We had hail here on Tuesday. Fortunately the particles were about 5 mm in size, so they didn't damage any plants. I've never seen so much, though. It was like a downpour of little glass beads, and the racket was tremendous.
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Mark,
You are SO spoilt when it comes to rain. ;D ;D ;) ;)
You would HATE living here. :o
Paul,
waddya mean? We've had a whole 8.4 mm of rain today! Woo Hoo! ;D
cheers
fermi
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We had snow starting yesterday morning and continuing through the night - about 10cm and a low of -10C. It got to 20 C the day before.
And people actually say they like the climate here... Words fail me.
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Fermi,
We've had a bit of drizzle here this afternoon, but most (as usual) looks like it will go through south of us and then off to NZ. I wish you'd all (Lesley included) stop stealing what little rain comes this way. ;D ;)
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And again...
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Totally in the clouds here today and the first 'real' rain since the snow...the garden and mountainside is welcoming the shower and the birds are very busy pulling up worms. More forecast all week and then we hope for sun and everything will really start growing. I hope the weather improves for you Lori - is the amount of snow you are experiencing abnormal for you in Calgary at this time of year ? ::)
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In the clouds still, but not on cloud 9, wet and miserable except for the plants who love April showers/mist/torrents - maybe I should have been born a plant ???
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We've had the coldest morning for this time of year since the 1950's apparently!
The weather station at Redesdale shows we went down to -0.1oC with an apparent temperature of -3.6oC!
Winter has arrived!
cheers
fermi
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It was chilly here too this morning but it is now a sunny glad to be alive day seeing we had 65mls over the weekend. The only other 'rain' for this year was 3mls in early March. Now it is plant, weed, plant while there is warmth still in the soil.
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Robin, the amount of snow is certainly abnormal. We had record snowfalls this winter (and the first time we've seen continuous snow cover ever in parts of the yard). Sadly, I can't say the timing of the snow is unusual though... we usually get some snow in April, and even a week of horrible weather/snow in early May... but the amount, the length of the cold spells and the temperatures have been worse than usual. (This week, the average highs/lows were supposed to be +14C/-1C, but were running at 0 to +2C and -5 to -10C.) The forecast is to get back to averages now - hurrah!
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we have been about the same as lori, recently, some lows to around -12C, though i think we got less snow recently--although we had day after day with snow flurries, sometimes suddebnly dumping a couple of centimetres...the original snow from winter is still not all gone in some shady spots where there were deep drifts, though other areas have been bare for many weeks (between new snowfalls)...
next few days are forecast for lows above freezing(imagine that!) and highs in the mid-high teens C
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Howdy All,
I just wanted to pass on best wishes to anyone affected (or who know anyone affected) by the awful wildfires hitting the Santa Barbara area in California. Apparently the winds, instead of dying down as they had been expecting, have increased and made things much worse. According to our news this evening the fire front is now heading straight towards Santa Barbara itself, so hopefully something happens and they are spared. Fires are something we here in Australia go through each year at least somewhere in the southern states, so we feel strongly when we see others going through the same thing. Here's hoping that everyone gets out in time who needs to, and that the darn weather calms down a bit and the fires can be brought under control. :(
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Yes, Paul, I've just heard a news report of many thousands of folk being "asked" to evacuate the area..... very frightening and I hope the fire is soon contrilled, or better yet, quenched.
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Yes, Paul, I've just heard a news report of many thousands of folk being "asked" to evacuate the area..... very frightening and I hope the fire is soon contrilled, or better yet, quenched.
tonight's news sounds better from there..hopefully starting to be more controlled., some people were returning 'home'..
there are fires in north/north central alberta (an hour or two north of me, or more) too..fortunately nothing as extreme as that, but homes have been lost, and communities evacuated...less densely populated areas than santa barbara, though!
we have started to get our first rain of the year--for some of you, probably hard to imagine that we have no significant rain for many months--all snow for a long time, then spring is rather dry ..rainy season really starts in june..
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Yesterday we experienced the first hailstorm of the year. After a nice mother's day trip by car we were caught in a
hailstorm 6 kilometers away from home, the noise in the car was like sitting in a drum. A look in the garden was
not amusing, some plants were undamaged, but other ones did not look so good.
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Big hailstones.... and quite some damage to the Cyps, I see, as well as general bruising. I hate hail! It goes right through Trillium foliage..... horrible.
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No hail here but it has been windy for weeks now with gales from the East for the past two days.
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It's been quite windy for the last few weeks here too... :-[ no rain of any importance for 3-4 weeks now - getting very dry... :(
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Just been watching time team on TV this evening...... it seems that it almost always rains at least at some point in their 3 days of work. It amazes me!! ;D
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Damp and drizzly, you could say it was sluggish start this morning :o
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Paul, if this was the latest series it was probably filmed in the early part of last (NOT!) Summer.
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Actually, this one was copyright 2009, which is the newest we've ever seen of them. We get a lot of old ones at times, but this one was recent about them finally finding Roman Temples (4 of them) at one site. They only had light drizzle in this case, didn't effect them in the slightest, but there always seems to be SOME sort of rain. I wish we'd get rain in any 3 day period, at least for a few months!! ;)
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Glorious sunshine all day today. Too cold to sit outside though. Another frost expected tonight.
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We had three/four good days in a row .... now it's grey again.... I suppose that was summer ??? :'(
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Another bright and sunny day here. We went down to Aviemore to see Iain Brodie at Auchgourish Garden and then had lunch outside the pub. It was very nice and warm. Back home it is still sunny but there is that bloody cold easterly wind!!!!
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-4 C last night... the prediction caused many trays of seedlings to be hauled into the protection of the garage yesterday evening! Also hail during the day yesterday... it was piled up 3" thick in neighborhoods to the NE of us. Small hail but no damage at our place, and at least it didn't snow!
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Today started rather grey and there are a few clouds about now which look like they might have some rain in them, but it was basically a pretty good day..... nice enough for a diversion when tending the neighbouring childrens' bunny rabbits.......
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-4 C last night... the prediction caused many trays of seedlings to be hauled into the protection of the garage yesterday evening! Also hail during the day yesterday... it was piled up 3" thick in neighborhoods to the NE of us. Small hail but no damage at our place, and at least it didn't snow!
not sure quite how low we got-yesterday was chilly, as is today, rocky mountain house only got down to -1, they have -4 forecast for friday....
snow on the ground early today, i'm told, didnt see it..
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Thursday was sunny and still 17oC at 5 p.m. Yesterday was torrential rain and 7oC all day!
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Really clod then Anthony. ;D
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Gorgeous morning with snow-capped mountains piercing the clear blue sky and only traces of cloud - the meadow flowers are opening by the minute to embrace the warmth of the sun and butterflies and bees are busy, busy...in the absence of anything mechanical ( A ban on working on Sundays still thank goodness) the birds are singing away - this is the best sort of weather for everyone!
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sigh... you're making us all green with envy Robin... ;)
Heavilly overcast here - showers predicted for later in the day... no snow capped mountains... :-\
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Well, after gales and downpourrs on Friday and pretty much wall to wall wet misery on Saturday, for the preparation and duration of the Aberdeen Show; today is bright, quite breezy, but sunny and warm enough to enjoy a walk in shirtsleeves. ::)
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Heavy showers on and off (more 'on' really) all day, cold and, yet again, very windy. Just checked Maureen's diary and she has recorded nine days in May, so far, on which it has rained and 12 on which there has been a strong wind. Is it March really?
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Well, after a gorgeous weekend, and 25 deg C yesterday, a north wind blew in, in the evening, bringing snow, as predicted. -1 deg C overnight, and the thin snow melted off within a few hours, mercifully. Misty, cold drizzle all day, so nothing new on the blooming front! (We have already had hail 5 times this spring, and as 5 is supposedly the average for a summer here, does that mean we'll have no more hail this summer?!? :P)
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Sunny day thank goodness as I'm off to see the narcissus fields up above Montreux ;D
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similar to lori--warm weekend--i got some veg seeds in sunday;
but where lori just got light snow and drizzle, we got rain from 10pm ysterday and our snow started after midnight and kept on without stop til early evening--we got at least 15-20cm though there was melting underneath all along...
10cm more forecast for tonight (none falling now..), and light snow through tomorrow afternoon..
here are a couple shots from this morning early /aft--
-looking out of the van in the yard toward a shed
-just up the road
-a couple shots from a town just over 40km away where we went before work today...
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Crivvens! We are just getting days of torrential rain. [Memo to self: drill holes in the bottom of the wheelbarrow.]
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Chucking it down (again)
Very windy (again)
Peed off (again)
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David,
I'm making a four day trip in the UK from Thursday onwards (Wisley - Pershore - Ashwood nurseries - Aberconwy - etc... ) I hope you're saving some sunshine for then... ;D ;D
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Have a magnificent tour, Luc ... please pass on my best regards to Keith, Rachel and Tim at Aberconwy (only saw them on Saturday at Southport Show, but never mind :D) ... please remember to bring at least two huge empty cases with you. ;D
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David,
I'm making a four day trip in the UK from Thursday onwards (Wisley - Pershorer - Ashwood nurseries - Aberconwy - etc... ) I hope you're saving some sunshine for then... ;D ;D
Not a good forecast Luc, you could get heavy showers most days but you might just get lucky and miss them. We are visiting friends in Norwich from Thursday onwards so it's certain to be pretty poor in Eastern England and it wouldn't surprise us if the sun was 'cracking the flags' here in the South West. Now, that's a new phrase for you!
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Thanks Cliff !
Don't worry about the empty cases... everything is taken care off.. ;D ;D
I'll definitely bring your message to the Levers !
Too bad Lancashire is not exactly "on route..." ;)
David,
If I see any "suncracked" flags I'll let you know.. ;D
Thanks for the new expression - I'm always eager to learn ! :D
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Is Olu Deniz on the itinerary, Luc? I leave for sunny Turkey on Friday ... ;D
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David,
I'm making a four day trip in the UK from Thursday onwards (Wisley - Pershore - Ashwood nurseries - Aberconwy - etc... ) I hope you're saving some sunshine for then... ;D ;D
Happy hopping, Luc!
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Is Olu Deniz on the itinerary, Luc? I leave for sunny Turkey on Friday ... ;D
ANOTHER holiday, Cliff ??? :o
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It has been WEEKS, Maggi ... anyway, this one is for little Ollie ... we are simply sherpas.
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It has been WEEKS, Maggi ... anyway, this one is for little Ollie ... we are simply sherpas.
Yeah, yeah.... you mean the child is being used as an excuse for you and Sue to have a bucket and spade holiday? I get it! ;)
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Happy hopping, Luc!
Thank you Maggi - I'm sure we'll have fun - just hoping it stays dry... (outside.. ;D )
Is Olu Deniz on the itinerary, Luc? I leave for sunny Turkey on Friday ... ;D
I'm afraid not Cliff - unless we find a pub of that name.. ??? ???
Have lots of f(s)un in Turkey ! I'm sure that will result in another great series of pix on your return !!
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If I see any "suncracked" flags I'll let you know.. ;D
Thanks for the new expression - I'm always eager to learn ! :D
Just to complete your education Luc, it's very much a Northern England expression, maybe just Yorkshire. It comes from the days when in the industrial parts of the North there was row after row of houses in terraces all without gardens and the frontages of the houses were paved with millstone grit paving slabs (flag stones-flags).
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Thanks David - always a good thing to have some background information.. ;)
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Have a great trip Luc and may your only problem be how to get all your new plants in the car boot.
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Thanks David ! Same to you on your trip East ! ;)
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Just catching up. We had very bad hail two weeks ago. In my garden it destroyed all the tulips, Trilliums and Hostas. The latter two had their leaves shredded
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Mark,
Ouch!! Not a good look, is it? Commiserations. :'(
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Sorry to hear about your computer connection probs, Mark..... but your hail damage is worse than any of those other probs.... what a mess!
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The Tulips, clusiana cultivars and Gavota, had their heads either broken off or bend over. The damage to large leaved plants in Margaret Glynns garden is terrible. Where leaves weren't shredded they have brown marks where the hail must have destroyed cells in the leaves. We had flash floods yesterday but overall the weather has been really good over the last two weeks with temperatures in the high teens.
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The Tulips, clusiana cultivars and Gavota, had their heads either broken off or bend over. The damage to large leaved plants in Margaret Glynns garden is terrible. Where leaves weren't shredded they have brown marks where the hail must have destroyed cells in the leaves. We had flash floods yesterday but overall the weather has been really good over the last two weeks with temperatures in the high teens.
sorry to hear :( we had some hail a week or so back, but no damage-most things arent that advanced, and i guess it wasnt hard/large enough to damage the small rockery succulents i have sitting out in pots..
the more than 6inches of snow, though (maybe 10?) did some damage to the pulsatilla flowers, oh well..
cohan
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Cohan, I hardly dare tell you it's 27.5 degrees C here today - much hotter than normal over the past 2 days. I've been in and out all day gardening whilst the dog is 'hunting' (in her dreams!) in the cool of the chalet ;) Hope the weather improves and warms up for you soon ;)
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Cohan, I hardly dare tell you it's 27.5 degrees C here today - much hotter than normal over the past 2 days. I've been in and out all day gardening whilst the dog is 'hunting' (in her dreams!) in the cool of the chalet ;) Hope the weather improves and warms up for you soon ;)
thanks--we haven't been bad at all--low 20's the last few days, though still some chilly nights near/just below freezing, and next few days similar -19-23C days, nights 3-9C..
things are greening fast...
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Trying to work out what those dark green patches next to the trees across the Callendar Road from my class room. They weren't there yesterday! I have been told they are called 'sha-dose' and are connected with that strange orangey-yellow round thing that has appeared in the sky? Can't remember what it is called? ::)
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Anthony,
It's called "an active imagination". ;) You're in Scotland, you never actually see the SKY do you? :o
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Here we had yesterday more than 34° C ....very unusual for this time :o
last night a lot of rain ,thunder and ligthning ....and the wetherforecast says very bad wether for this afternoon ( a serious warnung with hail ,storm and more )
In last week we had a very bad hail shower near of us ( 10 km ) ....a friend of mine who lives 3 km from me had 8 holes in his greenhouse -here only a bit rain
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After yesterday's heat wave (29-30°C) we had bad thunderstorms also during the night. I just got lots of rain, but only 40 km from here people were bombarded with hail the size of tennis balls...
Huge damage on houses - cars - etc... don't even want to talk about gardens... :-\
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Ouch. That doesn't sound fun at all. I hope no-one was killed? Awlasy possible if outdoors with hail that size.
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No people injured Paul (not by the hail anyway), the storm occurred during the night so most people were safely inside. They showed some of these "balls" on tv and they were measured between 6 and 10 cm diameter... :o :o
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Butterfly weather here, they're everywhere enjoying the sunshine and the wild flowers ;D