Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: Maggi Young on October 31, 2009, 10:31:04 PM
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Here we are on the last day of October, Halloween ..... and thankfully, the rain has stayed off for all the little guisers out this evening of magic and mystery......our house was visited by any number of fairies and skeletons, wizards and witches in training and there is now a lot less chocolate and fruit in the place than a few hours ago. Given the amount of rain we have had lately, I would have thought the traditional evening of guising would have been a complete washout.
I was so pleased that the weather held that I nipped out myself to enjoy the early evening air,
....that was when the unfortunate accident happened......
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Happy Halloween!
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only one set of kids calling at the door this year.
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We had a fair few; mostly telling jokes, but one mini-choir and one violinist! Thank goodness the days of spending hours hollowing out a turnip are gone! :P Pumpkins are so easy!
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Mercifully, none at all arrived here. We wouldn't have minded as the local kids are all known to us, about 20 families in a smallish country area. I'd laid in bananas, apples and Moro bars especially. I'll have to eat them, now. Dammit. ;D
It was a lovely evening too, mild and balmy.
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All the Mums will be thankful that halloween was last night and not tonight..... rain is really heavy and fierce wind blowing too.... if out tonight the cutest two year old "pumpkin" who came yesterday and sang us "Bob the Builder" would have been blown away! The rain has been ghastly today.... if I wanted to live in a climate like this I would move to the west! :P
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if I wanted to live in a climate like this I would move to the west! Tongue
Maggi,I live in the west in a climate like that. :)
We have a saying here,it will be a dry day if it doesn't rain between the showers.
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I know, Michael... and I sympathise! You do have it rather milder than us , though ::)I don't know how you can thole all this flippin' water falling from the sky? :o
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Evolution Maggi, we are starting to grow web feet.
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The sad part is that they are going to start charging for water. Did you ever hear the like of it, we have trouble keeping it out of the house,from coming under the door or running down the walls,and they want to charge us for it. :)
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The sad part is that they are going to start charging for water. Did you ever hear the like of it, we have trouble keeping it out of the house,from coming under the door or running down the walls,and they want to charge us for it. :)
That is what they call adding insult to injury , Michael. Shameful! >:(
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I saw on TV that Aberdeenshire have 200% of the average rain fall in October. We had lashing rain all day
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Hmmph! Only 200%.... trust me ... it feels like much much more :'( :(
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That would normally be two thimbles full?
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Hi
No guisers here :(, I think everyone has been washed away, so like Lesley l had to dispose of the CHOCOLATE myself ::)our road up to our house has turned into a river, here's a picture of the golf driving range at the bottom of our road last week, and what you can't see there were sad golfers hitting their balls in the water ( I think one of them was my husband ) cant understand their logic. Can someone post a picture of a Sun just that I can remember what it looks like.
Angie :)
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Angie, I don't think anyone can remember far enough back to think what the sun looked like, but there are sunny-looking flowers here.... it's close!! http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4352.0 8)
Also, I recommend the Crocus pages... they are full of little rays of crocus sunshine!
Gladdens the heart!! ;D
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Thanks Maggi
You are right Maggi , little rays of sunshine are exactly what they are 8), that's brightened my day, thanks to everyone for posting these gorgeous pictures.
Angie :)
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Just for you Angie, not sun but blue sky last Wednesday, so rare recently I had to photograph it - Followed by my cold frame and my brother's garden this morning. The clay pot at the back is a 7 inch one. You can see a tidemark on the wall where the maximum height of the water was. My bulbs are well and truly watered!!
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Hi Roma
Thanks for the blue skies, 8)I ordered some rare bulbs today its a pity I couldn't order a sun as well. Hope all your plants will be okay in the coldframes.
Thanks Roma.
Angie :)
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Not a good sight, Roma. How are pony fields?
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Bulbs should be OK, Angie. This has happened before and the water goes down quite fast. There is hardly any water at the other end but it is on a slope so it gets deeper towards the bulbs.
Maggie, the ponies are learning to swim. No it isn't that bad but is very soggy and every dip in the ground is full of water. A small field in the corner where the gas pipe went through had not been grazed all summer and had long grass dying back ,lots of broom and small gorse bushes (they ate them right down last year). I started putting them there for about one to two hours a couple of weeks ago and have gradually increased till they are on there full time now. It is fine to have somewhere they can graze without being up to their knees in mud all the time.
Maybe this should be in the Wildlife thread. Hamish rolling and Hamish getting up. A few weeks ago before the rain.
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A fat happy pony in the sunshine, what could be nicer ? Hamish has missed a career as a Thelwell model, hasn't he? ;D
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Roma Hamish is lovely, looks as if he was enjoying the sun on his back, then next time l am out that way I will look out for Hamish, it will be nice to say hi to him.
Angie :)
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Roma,
Hamish is adorable!! ;D Definitely destined for a career in modelling.
To all you lot in Scotland, I hope you aren't too badly flooded. Reports on our news here this morning that areas of England and Scotland with severe flooding due to torrential rains over the weekend. Hopefully all affected are OK and the damage isn't too bad. I can see from the pics that Roma's bulb frame has taken a hit, but I hope that things improve for you all.
Here, we've had little bits of rain which have made things a little easier here, but we could do with a bit of minor flooding to be honest to put some more water into our dams. It isn't as bad now as it was a few months ago, but we need to get everything refilled, particularly the water table underground. Still way too dry. ::)
It just isn't fair is it..... the rain should be shared around more equally between the people who need it. ;D ;D
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Paul, there has been nasty flooding in some places, especially Stonehaven, 15 miles south of Aberdeen and Huntly, about 45 miles north..... waist high water swirling about the place.... horrible as you might imagine for those folks affected.
It is at times like these that I am truly grateful for living at the top of a hill. This area has lots of watery connections.... Springfield, Springbank in local names gives a clue.....there are places nearby here where water is bubbling out of garden walls where the ground level changes and down the hill it is springin up at the edge of the road... all from the natural springs..... so ironic when you are desperate for the wet stuff.
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Hi Paul
I agree Paul, we have had our fair share of rain and I for one wouldn't mind sharing it with you or anyone else that would like it ;D. I haven't had any damage here as we are high up but the lady at the bottom of road was having her lovely cottage garden and home pumped out by our fire service this morning, my heart sank for her when I passed her door :(.
Never mind everyones postings and pictures keeps us smiling here in Scotland.
Angie :)
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Glad to hear that you in the east got away without too much trouble. We were thinking of you all. In west Moray we missed the worst of the weather and there was just minor flooding of fields. A nice looking morning today.
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Weather is no longer seasonal by which I mean that we have have flooding in spring or summer (or autumn for you in the north at present), rather than in winter when one might expect it. Drought here is now often from winter through spring and summer with some rain in autumn if we're lucky. Eqinoxial winds were the norm for us with hot, gale force nor'westers in March and September but they are just starting here today, and the forecast says the gales will be strong enough in Otago and Canterbury to fell tree and take roofs off. Not the same as when I was a girl. :D
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Just about 5oCelsius as I took Heidi for her evening walk. I checked on my return, as just before I'd left the house a gritter lorry had driven past! Certainly it was cooler than last week, but surely not that cold? A hedgehog on the Hydro lawn seemed to agree! ::)
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Quite cold outside tonight. The grass feels a bit crisp in places. Still it's better than all the rain we've been having. I've just been to check on the ponies now the fireworks have stopped for the night. There was a big display at Thainstone Agricultural Centre less than two miles away in one direction and several smaller ones in all other directions at varying distances. I don't know how stressed the ponies get but they seem ok now.
I notice the Forum is still on British Summer Time. Get's confusing when I see someone has posted a message an hour ahead of where my computer is.
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I notice the Forum is still on British Summer Time. Get's confusing when I see someone has posted a message an hour ahead of where my computer is.
Roma, we discussed this point the other weekend when the clocks changed... it seems we all have to set the forum clock individually to our own time zone in our profile page.....I have done yours for you now. ;)
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Hi Roma
Yes its real frosty out there but like you say its nicer than having all that rain that we had Nice to hear that the ponies are ok, it must be terrifying for them, when I had my ponies I always went out two or three times to reassure them that everything was ok . Now I only have a dog ( golden retriever) but he is getting old and his hearing is gone so the fireworks don't bother him anymore,but saying all this when I open a bag of sweeties he hears that.
Hope your bulbs have dried out now.
Angie :)
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The owners of the riding stables above Bridge of Allan (4 miles away) actually had a firework party (on Thursday night) whilst a colleague of mine's two daughters (P7 and S3) were having riding lessons. Needless the say the horses reacted and dumped both children onto the turf. They do say common sense is the least common sense. The angry father took his wrath out on some halfwit who had deigned to park in one of the only passing places on the road down from the farm into Bridge of Allan. The fact that five cars on each side couldn't get past left the numpty totally unmoved ("it doesn't say you can't park here?"). My colleague (after suggesting what kind of idiot he was) offered to fetch the farmer's forklift truck to shift the offending car. The owner then soon moved it.
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No fireworks sold here except on August 1st Swiss National Day and then the display in Martigny is unbelievable up at the castle. Meanwhile since the full moon on Wednesday which lit up the sky we have had cold, freezing, wet, cloudy awful weather and gets dark at 4pm. Nothing growing anymore :(
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Anthony
You always get one ::)
Angie :)
Robin
I know how you are feeling we have had weeks of wet weather and it gets you down :(, but thankfully you come on this forum and not only do you see nice plants but also you meet nice people, maybe the sun will be out tomorrow for you.
Angie :)
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You are so right, Angie, the Forum is a great source of inspiration and it's great to see what everyone else is growing - so this is the time when those in the SH can really cheer us up with a feeling of sunshine :) However, I have to say, I get great pleasure from knowing that your seedlings are so well looked after in your greenhouse as well and the promise of what is to come next year is also good to look forward to ;)
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I notice the Forum is still on British Summer Time. Get's confusing when I see someone has posted a message an hour ahead of where my computer is.
Roma, we discussed this point the other weekend when the clocks changed... it seems we all have to set the forum clock individually to our own time zone in our profile page.....I have done yours for you now. ;)
i tried having mine set to my own time for a while, but found it more useful to know what time it is for most of you folks (i.e. britain/europe) when i am posting, then i have an idea if replies are expected soon or not; often i'm posting when most of you in europe should be safely tucked in bed, encounter some of the southerners then... ..i already know what time it is here, anyway ;)
weather here has been interesting--after the early cold snap in oct which froze the leaves on the trees (note--the leaves should have been already down at that time, they were still on because of late heat in aug/sept!) the leaves have been gradually drifting down, and november has been showing some very nice days--more sun and some higher temps than oct! we were over 10C several recent days, when our normal high now would be 1C!
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Thanks Maggi. I do remember reading about the time change but it hadn't registered that I had to do something about it myself and now I would have no idea where to find the original post.
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Nae probs, Roma!
It has been bright and rather pleasant here in Aberdeen today,which I said was about time..... which made Ian lecture me on my complaints about the amount of rain we have had lately :-X :-[
He maintains there have been quite a few decent days.... but I just get overwhelmed with the wet dark days.
I saw reports of further flooding in the New South Wales area of Australia the other day.... so the other side of the world is getting too much water ,too. Not funny when one thinks of the damage caused by floods and the likes of Paul who is pleading for rain..... :(
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A sort of Guy Fawkes version of road rage Anthony?
Here we had ONLY (as if it were OK for such a thing to happen) one house burn down on that night but a spark from a public display fell into the 40 min supply of fireworks in the North Island and ignited the lot at once and that caught scrub which burnt out a spit of land. Public were safe across a river but the organizers had to run for their lives.
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Maggi,
The mid north coast of New South Wales (Coffs Harbour region) have been flooded 5 times this year so far. Parts of the region had 500mm of rain in 48 hours this week (nearly 400mm of that was in 24 hours), more than we get in a year nowadays, in fact well more compared to some recent years. Our long term average I think is 550 or 600mm a year I think, but we're having well less than that the last few years. ::)
Forecast of between 29 and 31'C each day this week, no signs of rain. Not good!! ::)
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Sorry to hear you have such a desperate rain situation, Paul. Do you have restrictions on watering, imagine you do?
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Paul T
Lovely weather for you to have ;D. Do you get hose pipe bans over there or do you have any other means of water. We just take water for granted and are able to hose our plants as much as we want. We had beautiful blue sky yesterday but because of that the temperature dropped to -3 last night so we have a frosty start again today. I don't mind the frost as we usually get a lovely sunny day much better than a grey gloomy day.
Keep posting your lovely pictures and maybe some of your garden over there, it keeps our spirits up seeing what you have in flower.
Thanks Angie :)
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We have permanent water restrictions here. We can only use hoses every second day between certain hours. No sprinklers permitted at all (but dripper systems are allowed). I do have a couple of small tanks which I use for spot watering as needed. We're actually in not that bad a position right now..... we have slightly more water in our dams than at any time in the last 12 months, so that "should" mean we won't go to the next stage of water restrictions this summer. Fingers crossed. If we do, that is no use of fresh mains water for watering gardens, which would be catastrophic in our climate. We try to recycle all we can in the house to offset my water usage in the garden as well. You learn to live with it all, if you want to garden. ;D
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Hi Paul
I too would watch how I use my water at home my plants would have to come first, coffee and washing dishes would be way down my list. Seriously though it must be a worry. I shall keep my fingers crossed that you don't get anymore restrictions.
Angie :)
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Not exactly weather, but related.
We had snow on 28th October 2008 yet the following pictures were taken on November 1st. Admittedly the Cruickshank Garden is only a mile from the sea and they probably didn't get as much snow as I did further inland.
The second group of pictures of the same trees was taken on November 7th this year. The wind and rain we have had this year has brought the leaves down more quickly.
Sorbus sargentiana
Tilia henryana
Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii'
Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii'
Sorbus sargentiana
Tilia henryana
Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii'
Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii'
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It was so dark here yesterday the street lights stayed on all day
Nice looking trees, Roma. Very like weeping Ash
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Roma,
I am delighted to see Tilia henryana in your shots as I have never seen a mature specimen previously and I have a young plant in the garden, about ten years old. Great scent from the autumn flowers.
Paddy
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Paddy,
This is the first time I have seen flowers on the Tilia henryana. It was in the garden before I retired 6 years ago (gosh is it that long?). I think it may have been planted about 10 years but it could be longer.
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Weather here is yuk. 38.2'C here today, with a relatively mild red dust storm all afternoon and evening. Forecast 38'C tomorrow (it was forecast 37'C today). If we hit 39.something (I can't remember which percentage it is) we break the record for November. Still, could be worse.... could be in Adelaide where they had 43'C today, which I think IS a record for November for them. I think anything over 40'C doesn't really make that much difference...... you don't feel any worse as you're already half dead by 40'C. ;D Forecast about 20'C overnight tonight, which is going to be an uncomfortable night. What in heck happened to Spring?? :o :o :o :o :o
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Hi Paul,
Its funny how us over here are wishing we could have weather like you (have sun nearly every day) , we don't think how hard it must be for you folks trying to garden in that heat.
I have a good friend that went back home to America ( Texas ) and she sends me pictures of gardens over there and I get so jealous but a couple of years ago I went over for a visit thinking I shall help her with her new garden, so she left me too it, after cutting her grass I was finished, I had never felt so drained, of course she came to the rescue with a nice cold drink and said gardening isn't so easy as you thought is it Angela. I had to agree and no longer give her a hard time.
So Paul I hope it doesn't get to much hotter for you, but I am still am jealous of your weather and your plants.
Angie :)
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Paul,
It is such a laugh reading your grumbling about the weather because we are here grumbling about ours as well. Here we have gale force winds and torrential rain. Our road is flooded and we cannot get out. The place is saturated and it is a day for the indoors but the consolation is that we will spend much of it cooking and baking and enjoying the fruits of our labours.
Paddy
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I have just come back after 8 days in Plymouth which gave me a chance to compare the weather in a large partof the UK.
In Stafford - 300 miles south - it was much warmer and drier than when we left home and the season was about 10 days behind us up north. Leaving there on Monday 9th, there had been an overnight frost and we had to endure about 100 miles of fog on the M6/M5 which stayed with us to Sedgemoor. We stopped again at Totness, near Exeter in sunny, warm conditions. It was the same when we arrived at Plymouth. The next two days made up for it with gales and heavy rain. The TV and local press were hyping it up to Hurricane force. To me, it seemed no worse than what we regularly get in Winter although warmer. It was what the Shetlanders or the Hebridean population would refer to as a fresh day !
There were still plenty of plants and shrubs in flower and leaf locally so I reckoned that they have about 3 weeks more "Summer" than we have in Ayrshire. One day we had 17c. The day we left it was warm and sunny at 9am with a temp. of 15c, It was sunny all the way to about near Liverpool but when we diverted to Martin Mere to have a look at the Bird Reserve, the rain started and a cold westerly wind was blowing. Our joke of a Motorway system had almost solid roadworks from Lancaster to Carlisle. We stopped at Tebay near Shap in a gale, thunderstorm with rain and sleet - temp 3c. Back in Scotland it had cleared up and was dry when we got home. We had taken 11 hours to get home and travelled 517 miles.
Since Monday, it has been continually grey, rainy with a semi-gale. All things back to normal!
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Angie,
This sort of weather is to be expected, but not for at least after Christmas. It is the fact that it is happening so early, while so many things are still in full growth that is causing the problems. And of course because we humans aren't exactly used to it at this time of year either.
Paddy,
I'll thank you very much to stop laughing at my expense. :P :P It's too darn hot to do any cooking here. Just the thought of adding an oven to this heat is aweful. It is 11:30pm at present and we're just under 23'C, which is cooler than I was expecting it to be at this time of the night. We're only forecast down to 20'C tonight, so I think it looks like we might get a bit lower than the forecast. Fingers crossed. We could do with a bit of the rain, even a touch of minor flooding here..... would be great for the water supply levels, and it just sounds so deliciously refreshing (says a frazzled overheated person sitting at their computer! ::)).
Maybe we can just halfway trade.... you can have some of our heat and we can have some of your rain? I'm happy to supply the sunshine if you can arrange for shipping it to you and shipping your rain back to here? ;D ;D
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Oh, Paul,
You have my sympathies but it is humourous that we complain of such opposite conditions.
Paddy
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"It was what the Shetlanders or the Hebridean population would refer to as a fresh day!"
This is what Andrew Fraser said to me on Sunday.
Weather baffles me sometimes. How can England be battered by high winds but we have a lovely blue sky with a slight breeze?
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Pity we couldn't share the weather out like we do with our plants. Its really windy here but no rain as yet.
Mark my husband has a guy that works for him and he comes from the Shetlands and he laughs at me when I complain about the gales we are having, he says you are only having a light breeze ,he said that's why there isn't much trees up there, didn't know if I should believe him, any one from the Shetlands on our forum.
Angie :)
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Weather baffles me sometimes. How can England be battered by high winds but we have a lovely blue sky with a slight breeze?
You should be so lucky ;D
It's just the direction the low pressure system is coming in from (ie. from the south west) that is causing you to miss out (at the moment!!) further south I bet Michael and Paddy are copping it, and those in north west England and south west Scotland. No rain here yet, but has been very grey and overcast all day with a strong wind (or a fresh breeze-whatever turns you on)
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A little to the north of us the weather has been horrendous, with torrential rain and 'a healthy breeze' - we have escaped the worst so far today (after heavy falls over the past 48 hours) and, apart from some strong gusts, we have been virtually dry all day. This is, of course, not expected to last as yours truly is giving a lecture this evening to an unsuspecting camera club in Atherton (poor souls) and the downpours will surely strike as I carry in my equipment. :D
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further south I bet Michael and Paddy are copping it
My usual route to work has been closed for several days now due to floods and a substantial rockslide :o
All part of the fun on the edge of the Atlantic at this time of year ;D
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Lovely day. Breezy (!), dry, warm, even a little sun. I'll take this any November. Going to rain again tonight :(
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Lovely day. Breezy (!), dry, warm, even a little sun. I'll take this any November. Going to rain again tonight :(
Hmmmmm..... are you sure you're not just standing under a strong light by an open window, iann?? ;) ::)
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Lovely day. Breezy (!), dry, warm, even a little sun. I'll take this any November. Going to rain again tonight :(
Manchester? Can't be, surely ;D
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Heavy rain here and 16c, very murky= wet and humid. Took the dog for a walk and what was not wet with rain was wet with sweat. Had to change every stitch of clothes.
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Appalling here in lancaster (not far north of Cliff). My many colleagues who live in Kendal have left work early to go home - if they can. And poor Susan has just had a 40 mile commute to Ulverston to work a night shift but thankfully she just phoned to say she has made it despite numerous flooded stretches of road. We have a group meeting in two hours but don't know what the turnout will be like! As I'm on foot I expect to get rather soggy!
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I know there are sceptics out there, but I actually mowed my lawn today. For the second time in November! The wind dried everything out nicely. There were always low black clouds off to the north and west but we haven't had a drop during daylight hours and the river is back to more normal levels. My thoughts for the people only a few miles away who are having real problems.
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I know it well Ian. Before I was recruited for missionary work here in Devon we lived in Bury for a spell and often had good days whilst "The Homeland" on 'tother side of the Pennines was having a shocker (and vice versa!)
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street lights on all day here again. 7cm of rain
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street lights on all day here again. 7cm of rain
you had a "lovely blue sky" at 1252, make your mind up ;D
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Despite the efforts of the local corporation workers we have been unable to get out our road today as it is flooded. Maybe tomorrow as the rain is easing at the moment.
Paddy
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I have never seen rain like it! Bad smash on the M9 at Stirling this morning. Outside lane just a river at Bannockburn coming home tonight. South west Scotland to have 100mm rain tonight on top of the 100mm they've had in the last 24 hours. 12oC (yes Paul, you don't need to use the apostrophe) this evening! Start work of The Ark on Saturday!
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Start work of The Ark on Saturday!
Too late, Anthony, colleague at the BBC, who lives in Stonehaven, has his nearly built already.... just having trouble sourcing female giraffe to complete, he tells me.......... :P
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I was only having a giraffe! ;D
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I was only having a giraffe! ;D
Yes, but is it female, and can you send it to Peter.... sharpish???
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Anthony,
I am not aware of the code for "not using the apostrophe" and I really can't be bothered copying and pasting from elsewhere to put the correct one in. I'm assuming that everyone understands the use of the apostrophe as a standing for the degrees symbol? I'm sorry if it is bothering you.... I really wasn't aware it is a problem.
Paddy,
I too find it amusing that we're complaining about the exact opposites. You may not want to hear the following though...... at around 11am this morning it was already 45.4 degrees celsius (that is degrees centigrade to our American readers) and just before 12:30pm it was 38.3 degrees celsius. I think our record temp for November is looking seriously in danger of being broken. Add to that it is quite windy, with raised dust etc. I think the only thing that might slow the temperatures a bit is that cloud is building and we have a chance of a thunderstorm this afternoon. Tomorrow is forecast relatively cool at only 33 degrees celsius.
So to me it is nice to hear about your rain and cool.... to remind me that it DOES happen! ;D Isn't this forum great. 8)
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We ended up with 38.9 degrees celsius today, which apparently equals the record November temperature for Canberra. The higher temp I had heard must have been wrong. It was that temp around 1:20pm, and the only reason it didn't get higher is we had a line of thunderstorms go through. Didn't cool down much at my place, but the airport (where the official Canberra reading are taken) dropped by 10 degrees in 10 minutes. After the storms went through we ended up back up to 35 degrees later in the afternoon, so I dread to think what we would have had if the storms hadn't gone through. :o
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Paul, do you not have the B I U
S..................supsub etc above the smiley faces above the text box? Just click "sup" type "o" within and bingo o. :)
As a teacher, "can't be bothered" is something I meet Monday to Friday. It also covers Scotland in litter and clutters up my kitchen with school bags, dirty plates, coats, shoes and anything else the kids can't be bothered tidying away.
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Record rainfall yesterday in Cockermouth in Cumbria - 314mm! That's over a foot! :o
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5AJ1NF20091120
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Anthony, the one o' clock news gave the rainfall at 374mm in that area. This is an amazing amount of water in 24 hours.
Tragic that a policeman was swept away following the collapse of a bridge in the area. The news has just announced that his body has been found.
Paddy
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Due to the rain Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, is at it's highest since records began. Although we have had some sun, according to the news, we have had rain every day for a month
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Paul, do you not have the B I U S..................supsub etc above the smiley faces above the text box? Just click "sup" type "o" within and bingo o. :)
As a teacher, "can't be bothered" is something I meet Monday to Friday. It also covers Scotland in litter and clutters up my kitchen with school bags, dirty plates, coats, shoes and anything else the kids can't be bothered tidying away.
Anthony,
Thanks for the info, despite it being so patronisingly delivered. ::) I had not realised there was facility to do that. The "can't be bothered" was referring to other things elsewhere in the past where it was suggested opening up the Windows Character Set, and then cutting and pasting it, a somewhat irritating process which could easily be erased by simply using the apostrophe, which I still think is perfectly understandable by virtually everyone on this forum. :-\
On to more relevant matters...
374mm is something like 2/3 of our average annual rainfall!! :o :o I saw on the news last night there there was flooding in the north of England and southern Scotland. With that sort of rain it is quite understandable. :'( Rain every day for a month is just something so alien to here. ;D Here's hoping that no-one else is killed by the floods.
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Very sorry for all those that have had so much rain over the past few days. :o :o :o
Only had a couple of light showers here all week. :)
Eric
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The rain here in Aberdeen just now is torrential ..... sparing a sympathetic thought for those poor folks faced with flooding in the last few days.... they will be right back at square one again.... not that there was much chance of anything else, given the continuing rain across the UK.
The news said earlier that 1800 bridges in Cumbria are thought to be in serious danger of collapse.... that's an awful lot of bridges. :'(
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Don't want to be frivolous about the poor folk in Cumbria but when someone mentioned Noah's Ark I wanted to remind folk about The Lord asking Noah to build another , yea a second ark and this time to fill all the decks with goldfish it was to be the first multi storey carp ark!!!!!
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They're talking here on our news that the rain in the UK is a one in a thousand year event?
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How the **** would weather men know what happened 1000 years ago. It will happen again next year
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LOL Gwen
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Yes, we saw TV coverage of the flooding in Cumbria, last night. Truly appalling with roads and bridges washed away, while Sydney has 40C. It was 30C here yesterday until 10.30am then 10 mins later the temp had plummeted to 13! as a southerly blow came up the country.
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Mark,
There are events that are termed 1 in 100 or one in 500 year events etc. The larger the event, the less common it is. Given the 374mm in 24 hours, I am sure that there are rainfall records stretching back an awfully long time to compare it to. If this rainfall event is big enough, it goes into the higher and higher categories. Unfortunately, as our weather patterns continue to change like they are, many of these previously 1 in 100 year events will become 1 in 10 year events as they become more commonplace. Whatever the cause of global warming (whether mankind has caused it or not, it IS happening at the moment) it is destined to create more extreme weather patterns, so these become more commonplace than they used to be. Sad, but unfortunately true. :'(
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How the **** would wether men know what happened 1000 years ago. It will happen again next year
Probably asked tree fellas Mark?
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The thousand year figure has been repeated ad infinitum by the politicians and the media, but the Environment Agency has backed away from it. Even if it were verifiable and correct, it would be once in a thousand years at a particular location. Remember there were "once in 400 year" floods in Hull two years ago and "once in 400 year" floods in Boscastle two years before that.
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'Return Periods' are very dodgy figures to bandy about. When I first started as a hydrologist with, the then, River Purification Board, we had a flood event in Elgin that was labeled as a one in fifty year event. We had three more equal events that same month! Since then, mid eighties, Elgin has had numerous more significant flooding events.
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How the **** would weather men know what happened 1000 years ago. It will happen again next year
Mark, I've just been re-reading "McBeth the King" and according to the late and great Nigel Tranter it rained almost continuously in Scotland in the year 1057 so maybe once in a thousand years isn't so off the ball - for fictional purposes anyway. We've had several "once in 100 year" floods in NZ over the last 5 years. Weathermen are prats, the lot of them. ::)
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minus 7 forecast for Scotland tonight. I hope you all have your plants wrapped up
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All covered up and cosy in their beds ::)
Angie :)
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minus 7 forecast for Scotland tonight. I hope you all have your plants wrapped up
We had -5oC last night, but it's close to that now, and I'm just back in from a walk with Heidi! It's amazing how local it can be. I left the house this morning at 8.15 a.m. and it was -2oC. Four miles down the road near Stirling it was +1oC, and another 10 miles down the M9 it was +3oC! It was +2oC at my destination (20 miles by the shortest, but not quickest, route). My journey time was about 30 minutes.
BTW. Just after my walk I happened to click on a documentary about testing F16 aircraft at Lossiemouth. The commentator called it Lassiemooth! ::)
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Just been out to see what the temperature is here 23.52hrs .....minus 4 . Brrrr!
Lots of moisture in the air so black ice will be a problem on the local roads, I would think. :(
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BTW. Just after my walk I happened to click on a documentary about testing F16 aircraft at Lossiemouth. The commentator called it Lassiemooth! ::)
Well Anthony, what should he have said? Being Scottish, I'd be surprised if the name were pronounced Lossiemouth. ;D
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First day of summer here gave us 10C. 11C predicted for today ??? But we've already been up to 30C a few weeks ago. The weather has gone to pot entirely.
I heard today that in both Greenland and the Antarctic, icebergs are calving at an unprecedented rate and at the same time, and sea levels are expected to rise dramatically as a result. The big conference in Denmark, to start shortly, will no doubt come up with the usual totally useless solutions to controlling climate change. All possible actions must be taken by everyone, so long as they don't effect "us" whoever the "us" happens to be.
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First frost of the autumn here last night but all gone from cars and roofs by 0930 and by 1600 it was back to the wet stuff again with strong winds.
Maureen's rainy days record shows 26 wet days in November, a record month since she started daily records in 2004.
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BTW. Just after my walk I happened to click on a documentary about testing F16 aircraft at Lossiemouth. The commentator called it Lassiemooth! ::)
Well Anthony, what should he have said? Being Scottish, I'd be surprised if the name were pronounced Lossiemouth. ;D
It's always been "Lossy Mouth" as far as I am concerned, but then the Scots are famed for turning beautiful names into verbal mince, so I could be wrong. Here's some examples: Blantyre becomes "blan'urr"; Camelon becomes "Came Lun"; Anstruther becomes "Ainster" and Auchtermuchty becomeshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaMWgt_4jLA
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We just say 'Lossie', even though that is the name of the river.
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and Auchtermuchty becomeshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaMWgt_4jLA
Yes, right. :o
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We just say 'Lossie', even though that is the name of the river.
I'll buy that David. ;D
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David there was a hard frost last night and this morning it was lashing here
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It was -5oC here this morning. Sleet this evening with slush making the pavements and roads treacherous. :P
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It snowed about 4 cm here starting Friday afternoon, and the temp dropped from about 0 C to -5 C... as usual, road crews were conspicuous by their absence. (Every small snowfall virtually paralyzes the city... nothing new there.) By the end of the work day, the icy road conditions turned the trip home for many into a several-hours-long affair, e.g. 3 hours for a 40 minute bus ride! The "winner" on our floor seemed to be one young woman - it took her 5 hours to get home! After abandoning the bus, which was stuck in traffic on one of the main routes due to cars that couldn't make it up hills or around accidents, she had to walk the remaining 25 or so blocks. The local news reported over 580 car accidents!
As for me... (hmm, maybe I should put this in the Whine & Complain thread)... I had taken Friday off, as my sister was here visiting, so we were out and about in the downtown area, then took a very looooonng drive to a restaurant not too far away. So, coming out of the restaurant a couple of hours later after a very nice chef's menu, I slipped on the icy road (remember? No road crews) and fractured my ^$%#@$*&%# wrist! And then, made the 20 minute drive home in 2 hours in crawling, bumper-to-bumper traffic!
If I ever again hear anyone say again how much they like the climate here, I will be forced to beat them about the head and shoulders with my cast!!! >:( >:( >:(
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;D ;D Should we put out a Radio warning in your area, just to warn people of impending beatings? :o
Commiserations, Lori. A broken wrist cannot be an easy injury. :'(
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Lori - Sorry to hear about the nasty fracture. It seems the first snow on warm ground causes a rash of accidents even here. It's a wonder any of us survive the climates of this country, I often wonder what the h... I'm doing here.
Today I drove to the Annapolis Valley dressed accordingly. The temp gradually dropped as I was walking through a garden. We wandered around for an hour and my teeth started chattering but the gardener seemed oblivious. Saw a lot of interesting plants though, nice Acer davidiis, Ilex x Sparkleberry at its peak. By the time I got in the car and turned the heater on full blast it was 0c with a stiff wind blowing. It looked like fog ahead but it was very fine snow blowing about but melting as it hit the ground. As I drove over the last hill before the coast the ground was white just where I had planned to stop to gather some Bayberry branches - gave up as too slippery in shoes. I was happy to get back to the coast but the temp started dropping here and it is now just at freezing but feels like -20 with the humidity.
Looks like the entire country is in for a bit of cold in the next few days. Heavy rain on Thursday here with a high from 14 to 18c, a real roller coaster ride from now on.
johnw
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Oh Lori, I'm so sorry to hear of your accident. I know a broken wrist can be very painfil as well as a blasted nuisance. I wish you well for a speedy recovery (6-8 weeks until you lose the plaster?). And to all our Canadian and American friends, you be careful out there - as someone said. And wrap up warmly. (Teach your Granny, they yelled in answer).
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Lori - your post was the first one I read this morning. Looking out the window at the grey skies and after a horrible night of high winds and rain i thought what a day, but reading your post I have stopped feeling sorry for myself and I am thinking of you. I hope your wrist doesn't take to long to mend and its not to sore .
I do think Canada must be a amazing place to live a is so beautiful. keep cosy today.
Angie :)
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Don't think of it as a broken wrist Lori, more of a chore avoidance mechanism :P Hope it's not paining you too much and that you keep that kind of weather on your side of the pond.
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Lori, am so sorry you fractured your wrist, I hope it heals quickly and cleanly for you. :)
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I never understand why the citizens and authorities in places, which generally do have lots of snow in winter aren't more prepared for snow. We have not had any major snow here yet, but by law we had to have our summer tyres changed for winter tyres from November 1st. What are people thinking taking cars out that will not cope with snowy roads when surely the forecast predicted snow?
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Poor Lori,
hope you are soon mended!
Simon, can you imagine the outcry there would be in the UK if someone even suggested that the populace might make such preparations for bad weather as to buy and fit winter tyres?!!!
In a country which can have the rail system crippled by " the wrong sort of leaves on the line" it is a vain hope that the people might accept any responsibility for their own well-being in winter conditions. No, it is expected that the "someone" must provide every last comfort, make every provision for personal safety etc.....most folks nowadays don't even have the sense to go put on an extra jumper when they feel a bit cold..... bunch of brainless wimps, moat of 'em!
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I never understand why the citizens and authorities in places, which generally do have lots of snow in winter aren't more prepared for snow. We have not had any major snow here yet, but by law we had to have our summer tyres changed for winter tyres from November 1st. What are people thinking taking cars out that will not cope with snowy roads when surely the forecast predicted snow?
The trouble is our weather is totally unpredictable. No point in changing to winter tyres when you may only get one fall of snow.
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Poor Lori,
hope you are soon mended!
Simon, can you imagine the outcry there would be in the UK if someone even suggested that the populace might make such preparations for bad weather as to buy and fit winter tyres?!!!
In a country which can have the rail system crippled by " the wrong sort of leaves on the line" it is a vain hope that the people might accept any responsibility for their own well-being in winter conditions. No, it is expected that the "someone" must provide every last comfort, make every provision for personal safety etc.....most folks nowadays don't even have the sense to go put on an extra jumper when they feel a bit cold..... bunch of brainless wimps, moat of 'em!
I fully agree, Maggi. It should be up to the individual to be more prepared and to leanr how to drive their car on snowy roads- even if snowfall is very infrequent. People ahould alo accept that snowy roads are a lot easier to drive on with the right tyres and a suitable decrease in speed, than roads covered in salted, gritted slush. I always wonder what happens to all the rock salt after it has served its purpose? What effect does it have on salt levels in the local environment? Luckily it isn't used here and if your car doesn't move in deep snow- well you don't go anywhere ;)
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When I got my first car which was a long long time ago we used to put chains on the tyres when it snowed.
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Thank you for the words of sympathy! Grrrr, this is mainly an annoyance, really! Oh well, much better for such a thing to happen now than in gardening/hiking season.
Snow tires became compulsory in Quebec last winter, not sure if that is the case in any other province... I believe it was in the aftermath of a really horrific accident. The backlash, oddly enough, was that all supplies were diverted to Quebec, and it became impossible to get them here! We were happy to get some this fall, though, and I certainly feel better having them. (If only my boots would have had super winter traction! ;D)
I was surprised to learn that it is actually illegal to drive through the mountain parks here without snow tires or chains "whenever the roads are covered in ice and snow". (The bit of the No. 1 highway from the east edge of Banff to Lake Louise is excepted.) Have never heard of it being enforced, although perhaps if you do have an accident, you are ticketed. ???
http://www1.travelalberta.com/en-ca/index.cfm?pageid=93
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someone may have said this already but the UK aslo comes to a standstill when we get snow. Gritting now only happens on main roads. My mother hates snow and ice.I have never broken anything fingers and toes crossed.
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We only get snow about once in ten years if we a lucky/unlucky and then it only lasts about two hours.
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someone may have said this already but the UK aslo comes to a standstill when we get snow. Gritting now only happens on main roads. My mother hates snow and ice.I have never broken anything fingers and toes crossed.
Depends where you live? They certainly grit ours, and it isn't even a minor road. Certainly car types cause problems in snow and ice - BMWs and Mercs because they still insist on the prehistoric "rear wheel drive" and by design are useless in these conditions.
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Maggi,
Are you serious about the "wrong sorts of leaves" on the track causing train problems?
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No, Paul, it was an excuse given for train chaos in Autumn a few years ago....in England somewhere, not a place of wild weather at all.... caused by "the wrong sort of leaves on the line"..... I kid you not... you really couldn't make it up! :P
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I know that you can grow up "on the wrong side of the tracks", and hanging out with the "wrong sort of people", but I didn't realise that there were good and bad leaves as well. Do the wrong sort of leaves hang about and beat up "nice" leaves that venture too close to them? ;D
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I know that you can grow up "on the wrong side of the tracks", and hanging out with the "wrong sort of people", but I didn't realise that there were good and bad leaves as well. Do the wrong sort of leaves hang about and beat up "nice" leaves that venture too close to them? ;D
In the modern parlance, Paul ...
'Hey man ... D'ese leaves r well bad ... dey r sicker more' Oak K Yew beech, man. Respect!' 8)
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Cliff,
No respect. The standards for this board have really fall'n!! The whole place is in Ash's as we speak. ::) The jokes are getting cornusier and cornusier as time goes on. :P
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Balsa ... ;D ;D ;D
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You need acting classes..... that was a really wooden delivery, Cliff.
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Certainly car types cause problems in snow and ice - BMWs and Mercs because they still insist on the prehistoric "rear wheel drive" and by design are useless in these conditions.
[/quote]
I have found the opposite to be true. For the first 8 years of motoring I had the standard rear wheel drive car - Ford Anglias and Morris Minor Traveller.
Back in ancient times-(1960's)- we had weeks of lying snow in the Glasgow area. I could get up snow covered roads by the simple expedient of engaging the hand brake,choosing second gear and controlling the rear wheelspin by manipulating the handbrake. I admit that the steering was iffy but no more so than in a front wheel drive model. Time and again I could get up hills that defeated mini minors. Another tip was to put a 1cwt bag of sand in the boot over the rear axle. Since 1973 I have been driving front wheel drive models and my few encounters with snow on the roads have left me floundering on hills unless I could get up a bit of speed before the grip was lost. My current car has traction control along with anti-lock brakes. Maybe this helps but I would rather that the snow stayed on the hills where it looks pretty! I think that Gote would be the person to give a definitive opinion on this subject
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You need acting classes..... that was a really wooden delivery, Cliff.
This has got me stumped ::)
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I think that Gote would be the person to give a definitive opinion on this subject
Is there a lesson I missed, while learning elocution? Something along the lines of:
"The snow in Europe falls mainly upon the Sweden" perhaps.
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Certainly car types cause problems in snow and ice - BMWs and Mercs because they still insist on the prehistoric "rear wheel drive" and by design are useless in these conditions.
[/quote]
I recall only getting stuck in the snow once in my old 1970 VW Beetle. It only refused to start once, someone had stolen my distributor cap so we pushed it home.
Never tried a headon collision with gas tank to the fore, the gas heater was enough of a threat with the occasional backfire by the driver's window. :o
johnw
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I was not implying that nowhere else got heavy snow but that the Swedes and Finns are among the best rally drivers, being more experienced in Arctic driving conditions than the UK population. As such, they are probably more qualified to judge on the merits of front wheel/rear wheel drive cars.
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Any car that needs 1 cwt in the boot so it can grip the roads should never have got off the drawing board. I was once asked to sit in the open tail-gate of a Volvo estate to enable it to drive up a hill (the Old Doune Road in Dunblane). It still failed. Wouldn't have had that problem with parents' first car, which was a half-timbered Morris 1000 traveller. It wouldn't have made it up the hill on a dry sunny day! A couple of years ago a friend was driving (too fast?) past the Green Wellie shop at Tyndrum in his BMW M3. He hit a patch of water. The being rear wheel drive, he couldn't steer out of the skid, hit the ditch and wall at the side of the road and somersaulted the car several times. When it came to rest the engine and wheels had all gone, but both he and his passenger were fine. Good advert for the strength of the inner shell.
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Well the Finns may drive more of the winning cars, but shouldn't we also ask the French, Italian and Japanese as manufacturers from these countries make the top winning cars? Which came first the rally car or the rally driver? ;)
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I'm not a great fan of VW beetles, especially the two abandoned in our yard (Roger can't bear to part with any vehicle he's ever owned) but I have to admit it is the only vehicle that will go on any mountain track anywhere we've been, even the deeply rutted or boggy tracks which are our lot now that NZ Electricity Dept (no longer extant) maintains them, and not bothered by snow either. My Morris mini rarely let me down though I used chains on that in snow.
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So, here's a winter driving phenomenon that is near and dear to the hearts of we hardy northerners.... "square tires". Anyone know what it means?
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Almost flat?
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No. Any other guesses?
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Tyre chains? Big and bulky making the wheel feel as if it is square.
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No, nothing to do with tire inflation or chains.
It's when a vehicle has been parked out overnight in extreme cold, and the rubber of the tires freeze, such that there is an imperceptibly flattened area where the tires rested on the road. When you start driving the car, the flattened area on the tires cause the wheels to bump and clunk along until the road friction heats them up again.... "square tires". ;)
It seems to have to be -40 C or worse for this to happen. What a country!
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I'm not a great fan of VW beetles, especially the two abandoned in our yard (Roger can't bear to part with any vehicle he's ever owned) but I have to admit it is the only vehicle that will go on any mountain track anywhere we've been, even the deeply rutted or boggy tracks which are our lot now that NZ Electricity Dept (no longer extant) maintains them, and not bothered by snow either. My Morris mini rarely let me down though I used chains on that in snow.
I can recommend a Lada Niva, ours has taken us up various dirt, mud and rock tracks of mountains throughout Bulgaria and Greece. She's a noisy little thing but she's a go-er. ;)
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No, nothing to do with tire inflation or chains.
It's when a vehicle has been parked out overnight in extreme cold, and the rubber of the tires freeze, such that there is an imperceptibly flattened area where the tires rested on the road. When you start driving the car, the flattened area on the tires cause the wheels to bump and clunk along until the road friction heats them up again.... "square tires". ;)
It seems to have to be -40 C or worse for this to happen. What a country!
Crumbs! Thankfully, this is not something with which we should ever have to contend. :-X
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No, nothing to do with tire inflation or chains.
It's when a vehicle has been parked out overnight in extreme cold, and the rubber of the tires freeze, such that there is an imperceptibly flattened area where the tires rested on the road. When you start driving the car, the flattened area on the tires cause the wheels to bump and clunk along until the road friction heats them up again.... "square tires". ;)
It seems to have to be -40 C or worse for this to happen. What a country!
Had this happen once when staying inland from here. It was -25F at about 8am. I thought I had driven over telephone poles. The car really seemed to jump up in the air.
johnw
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It makes you appreciate our weather, Maggie!
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We just fit floats instead of chains on the cars for the winter :)
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No, nothing to do with tire inflation or chains.
It's when a vehicle has been parked out overnight in extreme cold, and the rubber of the tires freeze, such that there is an imperceptibly flattened area where the tires rested on the road. When you start driving the car, the flattened area on the tires cause the wheels to bump and clunk along until the road friction heats them up again.... "square tires". ;)
It seems to have to be -40 C or worse for this to happen. What a country!
Had this happen once when staying inland from here. It was -25F at about 8am. I thought I had driven over telephone poles. The car really seemed to jump up in the air.
johnw
-25oF reminds me of the scratches on my Grandfather's thermometer recording winter temperatures in the 1940s. They are all in Fahrenheit. Nothing as low as that though. I am from the generation that had to relearn temperatures when the weather forecasters changed from oF to oC, and then had to change from Centigrade to Celsius. I still convert back for a hot sunny day (28oC = 82oF) not that we ever get that hot! More like 16oC = 61oF at best! ::)
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I read in today's paper that in Russia, the weather is warmer than usual, up to 10C days and so polar bears are not going into hibernation. I hope they're growing extra thick coats. :)
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Polar bears hibernate?
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Isnt there another word, Anthony? According to Seaworld/Busch Gardens only female Polars bears hibernate but other web site say they dont
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This site says pregnant females den up and enter a state "similar to hibernation" to have their young.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear
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Polar bears "hibernate" when bearing young, but I think otherwise they don't. Certainly if you watch the documnetaries, the polar bear mothers emerge with their cubs to show them the outside world for the first time. I think in the process she loses something like a third of her body weight in feeding the cubs up to that point, I can't remember exactly how much. Males and non-breeding females wander the ice flows etc.
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Just another day in paradise... (The first photo is from yesterday at 10am... snow and blowing snow caused limited visibility all day and frequent white-outs.)
Another ~130 car accidents since yesterday! The 20 cm or so of snow that fell was formed into the most impressive long curving cornices, up to thigh-high, wherever the wind velocity dropped due to fences, trees, roofs. They look nice but have to be shovelled away... fortunately, they had not yet turned to concrete-like hardness, according to Stuart who did the shovelling! Not too cold by the thermometer (-10 C) but high wind chill. Today it has cleared by mid-afternoon though the wind continues to howl (second photo).
On a very shocking note, 5 houses burned down completely and another two were damaged in a neighborhood near here. The fire started at 3:45 am and firetrucks couldn't get down the streets; one got stuck, and residents were out trying to help dig out and haul hoses and so on; the high winds pushed the flames from house to house. :o
Luckily we don't have to go anywhere 'til Monday morning when the roads should be relatively back in order! Surgery then to install a plate, screws, whatever assorted hardware they want to get rid of, into the wrist, then 6 weeks in a cast (to answer your question, Lesley). (Sheesh, and I didn't even really think it was broken until the x-ray!)... "chore-avoidance mechanism" indeed, David! ;D The third photo shows the activity example I intend to follow for the next while... ;)
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Apparently polar bears may also be turning to cannibalism
http://www.livescience.com/animals/060612_polar_bears.html
There was a report in the paper recently that 4 separate incidences of cannibalism have been recorded this year. :'(
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soon there could be none.
Did anyone watch the programme about the baby mammoth last night?
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What with all these problems affecting the wildlife from climate changes etc and the threats to those Bats from tree felling and Red Kites from poisoning (see Mark's posts in the Wildlife thread http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4624.0 ) I wonder we've got any animals left! :-X >:(
Then there are the gardeners killing mice and slugs.... it's murder out there, i tell you!
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soon there could be none.
Did anyone watch the programme about the baby mammoth last night?
I saw it, remarkably intact and cute but I missed hearing what's its last dinner was.
Disturbing new today of polar bear cannabalism of young ones due to food shortages. The locals up there say it was not uncommon in the past.
johnw
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lori--sorry to hear about the break :( i broke my wrist in may 08, which was supposed to be my first full gardening season here..needless to say didnt get much done...
i used to live in edmonton, farther north in alberta, and people there used to joke about calgary (where lori is) trying to avoid snow removal by waiting for a chinook to melt it.. edmonton is much farther from the mountains, besides being north, so really does not get the warm pacific systems in winter that calgary does....
i spent one winter in montreal, which was the most snow i've ever seen, and they are very good at dealing with it--i remember leaving nightclubs at 3 am, i was walking, but those driving would guess which white mound was theirs, and brush off enough snow by hand to get the shovel out of the trunk, and proceed from there..
toronto, by contrast, at least the downtown parts near the lake, is rather poorer at it, and was nationally ridiculed for having to call in the military to clear streets after a major snowfall some years ago...
the problem for cities dealing with snow removal is that they cant be sure how much snow there will be, or when, and in order to have enough money and workers ready at a moment's notice would have to have a huge fund standing idle, which may or may not be needed in a given year... toronto had cut that standing fund, and thats when the snow came!
out here, although rural roads can easily drift over, roads are cleared faster than one might expect, and the highway we travel to work 30km away is usually fairly clear, though sometimes visibility is poor; the last 2 days we decided to stay home due to snowfall and blowing snow, but we rarely do that
...the state of roads and sidewalks in nearby towns is another matter :(
i agree many of the traffic problems could be avoided with winter tires (which are actually recommended below a certain temp--i forget, 7C? regardless of whether there is snow) and slower driving! limits here range from 90-110kmh on highways, but average speeds are more like 120-130....
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Thanks, Cohan. Yeah, we lived in Edmonton too, for 4 years... much more "normal" approach to dealing with winter there, such as actual road maintenance and snow removal!
i used to live in edmonton, farther north in alberta, and people there used to joke about calgary (where lori is) trying to avoid snow removal by waiting for a chinook to melt it..
No joke... That's the absolute truth! I can't believe there is another city in North America of anywhere near this size that is managed worse!
PS Okay, I promise I'll quit complaining now!
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This site says pregnant females den up and enter a state "similar to hibernation" to have their young.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear
Yes Lori. No bears actually hibernate as their body temperatures remain normal. Interestingly, animals that do hibernate need to raise their body temperatures to have a proper 'sleep' before dropping back into hibernation again.
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John the baby mammoth was eventually aged to 1 or two months old. They took out it's milk tusk and first tooth. In it's gut they found milk and plant matter. The expert said elephant and mammoth young eat their parents dung to get essential gut bacteria. They also found mud in it's lungs.
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I read a book some time ago that put forth the premise that aboriginal man was responsible for the extinction of the mammoth... an interesting read; can't remember the title.
Has anyone done the one of the polar bear sighting trips to Churchill, Manitoba? We thought about it, back in the days when you actually took the train across the muskeg to Churchill (now it seems they fly you to Churchill from Winnipeg)... but never did it.
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"Any car that needs 1 cwt in the boot so it can grip the roads should never have got off the drawing board."
Well, if we broaden "car" to automobile in general, then the statement would rightly include all pick-up trucks*. (*Excluding those with 4-wheel drive.)
I don't suppose these are popular there, I wouldn't guess, except for commercial hauling usage... ? They are immensely popular in these parts, who knows why? (Hell, we've owned 6 of them ourselves - shocking when I think of it! At least we've used "justified" them by hauling lots of bulk garden supplies, construction materials, bikes, etc., as well as camping in the back... not sure why most other people here own them, other than that they simply like big trucks!) Anyway, they are rear-wheel drive and utterly useless in poor road conditions... even with several bags of sand in the back across the rear axle. (The supply of sand does come in handy, though, to provide some traction, as it's frequently needed. ;D) I was reminded of this as I gazed out the window yesterday, watching all the trucks fish-tailing around the corners.
On the other hand, the Prius we just got is great but difficult to haul a yard of mulch in. ;)
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soon there could be none.
Did anyone watch the programme about the baby mammoth last night?
I saw it, remarkably intact and cute but I missed hearing what's its last dinner was.
johnw
Oh, so it wasn't wandering the streets of Antrim?
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Lori I think your break must be much worse than mine was, back in 1979. It was a clean break called someone's fracture. Can't remember who the someone was. I was plastered for 8 weeks (what a lovely thought ;D) but the day after the plaster came off I was carrying full cans of water to water my seeds so the healing was very good. Never a suggestion of pain from it since even in horrid weather when Roger's ankle break of 40 years ago plays up "something awful." I do wish you well with yours. A chair by the fire is probably the best place with winter arrived. :)
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... a clean break called someone's fracture.
Colles? (I was looking into such things the other night.)
I was plastered for 8 weeks (what a lovely thought ;D)
;D ;D ;D
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Thanks Lori. Colles looks right or rather, sounds right. Don't think I saw it written down. I just turned quickly in my sitting room, somehow caught my foot on the carpet and went down. Put my hand out to break the fall and SNAP. The same sound as when you snap your thumb and middle finger together. I knew instantly that it was broken. That was back in the halcyon days when you didn't have to wait for ages before someone noticed you in the waiting room at the hospital.
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Lori I think your break must be much worse than mine was, back in 1979. It was a clean break called someone's fracture. Can't remember who the someone was. I was plastered for 8 weeks (what a lovely thought ;D) but the day after the plaster came off I was carrying full cans of water to water my seeds so the healing was very good. Never a suggestion of pain from it since even in horrid weather when Roger's ankle break of 40 years ago plays up "something awful." I do wish you well with yours. A chair by the fire is probably the best place with winter arrived. :)
mine was a bit messy too--first went to the nearest hospital, where it was cast, but not really straightened or anything... when i went back after a week as requested, got a second doctor, who didnt like the look of it and sent me to a bigger hospital in the nearest city,, they decided i needed surgery, which meant laying about half a day waiting for an overnight sugerybed; after my ride had gone back home, they decided to do it the next day as a day surgery instead, so sent me off again, back the next day to be put out completely as they re-broke and inserted a pin--luckily i had no idea how long that pin was til they pulled it out weeks later!
i was never able to use that hand at all for the entire healing period, which i've mercifully already forgotten--4weeks? interstingly, they didnt restart the clock after the re-break and surgery...
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Yikes, what a lot of rigamarole! The "rebreaking" bit sounds fairly appalling too. :o
I suppose I might be in the same situation too... I'm just supposed to get there at 6:30 am and "get in the queue", I gather!
EDIT: Well, to clarify, I was told I'd get bumped if there were emergencies, which is certainly reasonable...
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Lori I think your break must be much worse than mine was, back in 1979. It was a clean break called someone's fracture. Can't remember who the someone was. I was plastered for 8 weeks (what a lovely thought ;D) but the day after the plaster came off I was carrying full cans of water to water my seeds so the healing was very good. Never a suggestion of pain from it since even in horrid weather when Roger's ankle break of 40 years ago plays up "something awful." I do wish you well with yours. A chair by the fire is probably the best place with winter arrived. :)
mine was a bit messy too--first went to the nearest hospital, where it was cast, but not really straightened or anything... when i went back after a week as requested, got a second doctor, who didnt like the look of it and sent me to a bigger hospital in the nearest city,, they decided i needed surgery, which meant laying about half a day waiting for an overnight sugerybed; after my ride had gone back home, they decided to do it the next day as a day surgery instead, so sent me off again, back the next day to be put out completely as they re-broke and inserted a pin--luckily i had no idea how long that pin was til they pulled it out weeks later!
i was never able to use that hand at all for the entire healing period, which i've mercifully already forgotten--4weeks? interstingly, they didnt restart the clock after the re-break and surgery...
Sounds like my friend's experience, she broke it in Prague and had it set in the hospital there. The next week a Doctor friend who was away at the time saw it, x-rayed and and re-set and pinned it himself.
When she returned to Nova Scotia all was fine until several years later when the screws had to be removed. They didn't have the exact tools here with a peculiar bit head, the med system even arranged to send her to Prague for removal which would have cost an already taxed system a bundle. In complete frustration she suggested maybe the screwdriver bit could be sent to Halifax which was done as a simple procedure, the bit returned for the cost of postage. ???
johnw
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My God! People say the NZ health system is in disarray but maybe we're not so bad after all. My break was set by an immigrant Polish doctor and for some reason he had a reputation as a bit of a quack and when I said who'd set it, people kept commiserating and say "oh you poor thing, it will always be a problem" and other like comments. But in the event, I was very happy. The Polish doctor is still there in the Tmaruhospital and highly thought of now, even affectionately I believe.
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my surgery ended up being more than a week after the original fracture--first off, i didnt go to the hospital the same day...lol (btw, i broke it pruning an apple tree when the ladder fell, and it was wrist and arm, i think...) then the follow up doctor then surgeon in another place the next day, and actual surgery day after that!
the part i was never exactly sure about: it was all about the angle the wrist was at, and while they all seemed sure the initial doctor had not corrected it it had still somehow gone from beeing out by 15deg to being out by 9 by the time of the surgery (those numbers may be totally off, i dont really remember, but the idea is that after a week in the cast that supposedly didnt correct it, it seemed to be noticeably corrected compared to the original x-ray..oh well, they seemed to think i needed the surgery; it was unclear whether it was to be a screw or a pin-really a wire, surprisingly long--when i saw it come out i realised why any movement was uncomfortable...lol
all sounds unpleasant, but they put me right out for the surgery so i felt nothing, and pulling the wire out felt like nothing, surprisingly..
good luck with the surgery, lori...
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Crikey! I hope the snowy weather has abated somewhat, because after these tales of broken limbs and assorted troubles, poor Lori is most probably heading for the hills in fear! :o :P
Here in Aberdeen our next door neighbours need access to our seed frame area for a builder to repair the wall that is letting rain water into their house extension ----it's a long story.... would be better in moan moan moan... but I'm trying to lower my blood pressure >:( :(
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Maggi Have some Chocolate,
Derek :P
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Derek,
Luit says I eat too much chocolate.... so I'm having a cup of hot chocolate to drink, instead..... very soothing. :)
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all sounds unpleasant, but they put me right out for the surgery so i felt nothing, and pulling the wire out felt like nothing, surprisingly..
good luck with the surgery, lori...
I was an absolute wimp about getting the plaster off and refused to let them use the little circular saw, absolutely certain it would bite into my flesh. So they used a gadget like a pair of lopping shears and yes it hurt as it was pushed under the plaster but at least I knew it was temporary and my arm wasn't being shredded.
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Here in Aberdeen our next door neighbours need access to our seed frame area for a builder to repair the wall that is letting rain water into their house extension ----it's a long story.... would be better in moan moan moan... but I'm trying to lower my blood pressure >:( :(
Tell your neighbours to forget about the wall repairs and build an indoor spa in the wet area. ;D
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Maggi Have some Chocolate,
Derek :P
I'd give up chocolate, but I'm no quitter!
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Lesley, I'm having a tough time resisting telling them to forget about breathing, permanently >:(
Think I need a packet of crisps...... ::)
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Only one Maggi ::)
Angie :)
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Well, I didn't say how BIG a packet, did I now!??? ::) ;)
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Ah, so that was the "Maggi Sized" crisp packet I saw at the supermarket...... the one that had a health warning on it requiring that you need a forklift for lifting purposes (or you might hurt yourself lifting it, hence the health warning). Right next to the "Maggi Sized" chocolate bars. :P :P
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Here in Aberdeen our next door neighbours need access to our seed frame area for a builder to repair the wall that is letting rain water into their house extension ----it's a long story.... would be better in moan moan moan... but I'm trying to lower my blood pressure >:( :(
oh boy! that sounds like trouble :( hope it can all be resolved smoothly..thankfully i dont have neighbours near enough for that sort of thing, though for a while in the summer they had cows wandering about here every morning...
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As we only grow 'weeds' here, our neighbours are permanently bewildered by us not wanting their cows, goats, sheep, chicken and turkeys wandering willy-nilly across our land. ::)
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We've had lots of sunshine here in the normally rainy Pacific Northwest, mainly because we are in the midst of a severe (for these normally mild parts) cold wave. The temperature has been below freezing for the past 4 days and the past 3 nights have been in the single digits (deg. Fahrenheit). The night before last it was 7 deg. at the official Eugene airport weather station, 5 degrees F (-15 deg. C) at my house. They say this is the coldest weather in our area since 1993.
I think there are going to be a lot of dead New Zealand natives in our gardens this coming spring, since most of the Pacific Northwest from Eugene north to Vancouver is, statistically speaking, in zone 8b (annual low temps between 15 and 20) or even zone 9a. But every few years we have a "zone 7" winter that keeps everybody in line. I noticed that the ice on the nearby pond is 6" thick, and the leaves on my 20' tall evergreen Michelia wilsonii are looking quite brown. Even the inside of my garage, normally my refuge for tender plants in pots, is below freezing.
So, it seems like there is a mighty strong bit of cold air over the arctic right now, and it is finding its way south here and there. If you live anywhere in the northern regions it is likely to be paying you a visit some time soon...
Ed
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ed--this confirms what i often think when i hear about pacific north west coast north america folks planting things which can take only the warmish winters of recent years--sooner or later they will be kept in line, as you say..
unless you have contingencies to cover/move inside, those cold systems will slide down from the north occasionally, unfortunately :( hopefully you dont lose too many precious things...
here in alberta, we have been having some of that arctic air too, of course its more expected here than where you are, but its still been well below normal..
we had a couple of warm days yesterday and today--around -10C, but saturday's forecast high is -26C, and we had about another 5"/12cm of snow yesterday, although only an inch or two was forecast.. and more for each of the next 5 days..sun is out right now, against forecast :)
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A forecast high of -26'C :o :o :o :o
Totally mind numbing from my point of view.... and Yes, I realise there are others on the forum who probably get even lower.
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Late yesterday afternoon I found myself driving up the south shore heading home and trying to outrace a huge winter storm advancing eastwards. The day started off very cold with a low the night before of -7c. By afternoon it was still -3. As I drove up the coast I heard reports from 45 minutes behind me of two snow ploughs and 3 tractor trailers off the road on a notorious hill, cars backed up and whiteout conditions. I got home at 4:45pm and within an hour a full fledged blizzard was underway here. By 9 there was 8cm of snow down. By midnight the winds were exceeding galeforce, rain mixed with snow. This was the strongest blow I can recall since Hurricane Juan flattened the city. All night long the house shook from stem to stern and this is one sturdy old Victorian from 1883, even the bed was shaking; ominous sounds from the yard, I imagined the frame lids flying about and decapitating every plant in the yard. Just before sunrise it was over but every inch of lawn was covered in twigs and branches. The temperature was +9c and at mid afternoon today I thought what a glorious day with the sunlight streaming horizontally, everything so green and fresh looking - just like the UK at this time of year. Within an hour the sky darkened and suddenly it was raw and bone-chilling again. Now at 11pm it is 4c and will barely get to that by morning. What a climate.
This morning I heard it approached -15c near Eugene, Oregon.
johnw - now 12:15am and snowing.
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A forecast high of -26'C :o :o :o :o
.... and Yes, I realise there are others on the forum who probably get even lower.
It was -27 C on Monday morning here, and I was told by a gentleman at the hospital who had driven in that morning that it was -37 C at their farm near Bentley, about 100km north of here...
I'm sure you realize by now that we who live in these god-awful climates take a sort of sick, perverse pride in pointing out how dreadful it is. ;D
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A forecast high of -26'C :o :o :o :o
.... and Yes, I realise there are others on the forum who probably get even lower.
It was -27 C on Monday morning here, and I was told by a gentleman at the hospital who had driven in that morning that it was -37 C at their farm near Bentley, about 100km north of here...
I'm sure you realize by now that we who live in these god-awful climates take a sort of sick, perverse pride in pointing out how dreadful it is. ;D
paul--there are places that get lower than me, for sure, not sure if there is anyone on the forum that i've noticed in any of those places...lol..usually, i will have lori beat by a few degrees at least, though occasionally we may reverse..
lori--bentley is not so far from me (maybe around 45mins? east and a bit north), and we were probably not far from low -30's to -40C that day, i spoke to someone west of rocky mountain house (i.e. just past where i work) and she mentioned her themometer stops at -40C(what good is that? ;) and it was at the bottom
...there are a couple of thermometers here, but i dont know if they are any good, so i dont usually look at them...lol..i usually get temps from the town where i work, which is about 30k from here, and cannot be assumed to be quite the same..
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Late yesterday afternoon I found myself driving up the south shore heading home and trying to outrace a huge winter storm advancing eastwards........
Thank you John, we shall probably get the remnants of that one early next week. I just couldn't cope with the kinds of winter temperatures you Canadians get. After weeks of never ending rain (only three dry days since mid October) we have a spell of high pressure for a change. Very still and high cloud with always chance of a weak sun breaking through for a few moments. In many parts of the UK these conditions usually bring fog and yesterday what started as a pretty nice day was ruined by a belt of fog drifting up our local river valley which, for a couple of hours made it difficult to see across the road, but it departed as quickly as came.
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A big swathe through the north of the US had blizzard conditions yesterday (I think?) according to our news here. Lots of footage of cars slowly drifting sidewards all by themselves etc. Not fun at all I would imagine.
I find these discussions fascinating, because it is a window into a climate that is just something I have never experienced, nor something I am likely to experience much more than a potential visit one day. It is interesting to hear people's experiences, and I just love John's blow by blow account of racing the storm in the afternoon.
Thanks all. Great stuff!! 8)
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Thank you John, we shall probably get the remnants of that one early next week.
David - Pleased to pass it along. ;D
A skid of snow fell overnight. Up too late watching Blackadder's Christmas Carol.
johnw
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Always nice to hear what's coming our way- as long as the UK and western Europe don't take too much water out of the system we could be set for a lovely white Christmas. ;)
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A skid of snow fell overnight. Up too late watching Blackadder's Christmas Carol.
johnw
Meri Kweznuz John!
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A skid of snow fell overnight. Up too late watching Blackadder's Christmas Carol.
johnw
Meri Kweznuz John!
Thank-you Anthony. A wonderful programme to get into the Kweznuz spirits.
johnw
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A skid of snow fell overnight.
What an apt description! ;)
I just couldn't cope with the kinds of winter temperatures you Canadians get. After weeks of never ending rain (only three dry days since mid October)...
I don't think I could cope with weeks of rain! While the winter temps and length of winter are definitely trying, at least the Canadian prairies get a lot of sunshine. It's all what one is used to, I guess!
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as lori said, albertans would start to complain very loudly if we had even one week of rain, nevermind weeks or months!
not that we dont complain about snow and cold ;) talking (and complaining) about the weather is a national pastime... funniest to me are those that complain about both summer heat and winter cold; my suggestion is that they should move into a(n indoor) shopping mall....
john, luckily we havent had your winds--the drifts would be up to the roof..
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those that complain about both summer heat and winter cold; my suggestion is that they should move into a(n indoor) shopping mall....
That would be me. I only operate hapilly between 62 and 67F, the more fog the better.
Alas I also detest shopping malls, I'd rather crawl into a coldframe. :D
johnw
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i think i need your secrets for coldframe construction, if you are able to keep it between 62-67F ;)
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Lori, Cohan,
What are your amounts of daylight like? Daylength?
Here is a chart of our sunrise and sunset for the coming days: You will see that for today we will have 7hours, 33minutes and 54 seconds of sunshine - that should be qualified to say the sun will be above the horizon for that time though it may not actually shine on us.
Paddy
Length of day Solar noon
Date Sunrise Sunset This day Difference Time Altitude Distance
(106 km)
12 Dec 2009 08:32 16:06 7h 33m 54s − 1m 08s 12:19 13.5° 147.288
13 Dec 2009 08:33 16:06 7h 32m 52s − 1m 01s 12:19 13.5° 147.273
14 Dec 2009 08:34 16:06 7h 31m 57s − 54s 12:20 13.4° 147.258
15 Dec 2009 08:35 16:06 7h 31m 09s − 47s 12:20 13.3° 147.244
16 Dec 2009 08:35 16:06 7h 30m 28s − 40s 12:21 13.3° 147.230
17 Dec 2009 08:36 16:06 7h 29m 54s − 33s 12:21 13.3° 147.217
18 Dec 2009 08:37 16:06 7h 29m 28s − 26s 12:22 13.2° 147.204
For an interesting item on the winter solstice see: www.newgrange.com/ where you can see details of a prehistoric monument here in Ireland, constructed to mark the winter solstice.
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Thanks for that Link Paddy. Newgrange is high on my "places to visit before I get too old" List.
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Compliments of the Season to all you weather watchers. Here on the Black Isle the world is white.We have filigree frost on the ferns, twinkles on the twigs, rime on the rhododendrons, glitter on the grass, hoarfrost on the hedges but the Heucheras are looking very pretty in their winter decor
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Our weather forecast was correct for the first time this week, we now have 5cm of snow ;D
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Compliments of the Season to all you weather watchers. Here on the Black Isle the world is white.We have filigree frost on the ferns, twinkles on the twigs, rime on the rhododendrons, glitter on the grass, hoarfrost on the hedges but the Heucheras are looking very pretty in their winter decor
Ah, Gwen, it is a delight to me that the cold weather is not cramping your alliterative skills ;D 8)
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Paddy, I was surprised to see you get an hour less sun than we do here.
I'm on the other side of Canada to Lori and Cohan and sun has been pretty scarce lately.
December 12
# Sunrise: 7:57
# Sunset: 16:32
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Helen, time to get your globe/atlas out. The Atlantic, and the Gulf Stream gives us a climate a lot milder than our latitude says we deserve. The South of England is at about the same latitude as Sept Iles on the St Lawrence & the North of Scotland is at about the same as Churchill in Hudson's Bay :o
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Paddy, I was surprised to see you get an hour less sun than we do here.
I'm on the other side of Canada to Lori and Cohan and sun has been pretty scarce lately.
December 12
# Sunrise: 7:57
# Sunset: 16:32
Helen,
You are obviously further south than we are here. Looking at a map of Canada, I see that you are not too far away from Newfoundland. There are very strong historic connections between my area of Ireland and Newfoundland and, listening to a television programme recorded in Newfoundland recently, it was remarkable and amazing how the accent of people in Newfoundland was so very close to the accent of this region here.
Paddy
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Maggi..... I am impressed by any gal who can use 5 syllable words so early in the morning and how about this for a glacial glamour girl in glad rags? She is one of our garden birch trees due east of the house so when we look at her we are pointing in your direction I think
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Martin, my map reading abilities are woeful, I am not sure if this is due to the fact I spent most of my life in Australia and Canada is back to front!! ???
I am also directionally dyslexic ??? ???
Paddy,
My other half tells me Newfoundland is @300-350 miles north east of us as the crow flies. I would love to visit there one day before I get too old and decrepit.
The Shipping News is a movie filmed there in 2000, the cinematography is awesome, you might enjoy it if you get the opportunity.
It's interesting to hear that the Newfie accent is very much like your region.
Do Irish accents differ much from place to place?
I spent 8 months in the north of England in 1980 and was amazed at the different dialects from town to town.
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You are obviously further south than we are here. Looking at a map of Canada, I see that you are not too far away from Newfoundland. There are very strong historic connections between my area of Ireland and Newfoundland and, listening to a television programme recorded in Newfoundland recently, it was remarkable and amazing how the accent of people in Newfoundland was so very close to the accent of this region here.
Paddy
Paddy - When we were in Dublin we stopped to ask a policeman standing on guard in front of a government building. We had to ask what the complex was that he was guarding. The name on the sign was in Gaelic and English but the English was too close to the Gaelic, wish I could remember what the sign said. We had a very long chat and he mentioned that tourists from Newfoundland on several occasions had asked him the same question. He was certain they were Irishmen pulling his leg but was finally convinced otherwise.
Helen - Get yourself to western Newfoundland, the drive from Stephenville to St. Anthony is unforgetable and you can botanize roadside the whole way.
johnw
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i think i need your secrets for coldframe construction, if you are able to keep it between 62-67F ;)
I wish it were that warm with an outdoor air temp of -3 at 11 am this morning!
johnw
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The Shipping News. Very good film but, much better by far, is the book.
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........ how about this for a glacial glamour girl in glad rags? She is one of our garden birch trees due east of the house so when we look at her we are pointing in your direction I think
We were feeling the cold here until seeing this picture.... now we realise that your frost is much heavier than ours.
The outline of a birch does lend itself to making a fine tracery with the frost, doesn't it? All sugar icing and delicacy. 8)
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All this talk of Canda brought this to mind.....
"On the back of a carton coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh Canada
With your face sketched on it twice"
Ring any bells with anyone?? 8)
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Eh.......No ???
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Joni Mitchell... she was a friend of Stuart's sister, growing up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
-24 C here right now and supposed to drop to -28 C by afternoon, with expected wind chill of -34.
Approaching the shortest day of the year, we have today 7 hours and 59 minutes of daylight:
Sunrise: 8:31
Sunset: 16:30
No sun though, as fluffy snow continues to fall.
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Well done, Lori!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QZioxCg20I
I am a huge fan of Joni Mitchell, or Joan Anderson as she was called when she first appeared on Oscar Brandt's Canadian TV show .
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Me too, I've fancied Joni Mitchell for years :-[
For visions of Canada you MUST listen to "Hymns of the 49th Parallel" by K D Lang. It's marvellous and I'm listening to it as I type this.
Beautiful moody pics Gwen.
Coldest day of the year here today. A beautiful blue sky for most of the day with some high white cloud but a cold little breeze and a maximum day time temperature of 7C (positively tee shirt and shorts weather for the Canadians I guess ;D )
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While I firmly believe the sole purpose of weather is to give gardeners in particular something to complain about, I'm so ashamed of any complaining I've ever done and will refrain in the future. What with Canada's winter, Devon's non-stop deluge and Australia's heatwaves, li'l ole NZ has the best of every possible world, weather wise, with enough cold for cold-loving plants, enough sun and warmth for the heat lovers, enough rain (usually) for those who need it and enough dry for those who need that. What more could I ask for? Well, something else now, to complain about. ???
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Helen,
Accents here in Ireland change from county to county with some being very distinct indeed. Thankfully, many of these accents still persist strongly when the mid-Atlantic accent has become more commonplace here.
John, I am not surprised by the comments of the Garda with whom you talked. For us to hear the Newfoundland accent is like listening to someone from the older parts of town - and Mary is from the very old genuine centre of Waterford, Ballybricken.
What might have been written where the Garda was standing, Dail Eireann?
Paddy
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nice to note the canadian singers/songwriters getting some far-flung fanfare (that was for maggi ;) though not as extensive as gwen's...
nice shots, gwen, winter has to be good for something :)
paddy, my day is just a few minutes shorter than lori's-local weather says
sunrise 8:41
sunset 16:26 for a daylength of 7:45
sun seems to be shining now, though it only reaches about halfway up on the row of spruce trees which are maybe 40m from the house..
more snow forecast for tonight, finally clearing tomorrow..
low of -37C tomorrow night, then high of +3 by thurs!
lesley, you may be right, i think i wouldnt complain about your climate ;D
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i think i need your secrets for coldframe construction, if you are able to keep it between 62-67F ;)
I wish it were that warm with an outdoor air temp of -3 at 11 am this morning!
Helen - Get yourself to western Newfoundland, the drive from Stephenville to St. Anthony is unforgetable and you can botanize roadside the whole way.
johnw
sounds very balmy to me :) today's forecast says 'Temperature steady near minus 26'. though it hadnt yet reached that...lol i told hristo i would be putting on a bikini for +3 on thurs (no i wont actually, and no there would be no photos if i did ;)
i've been interested in newfoundland's flora since seeing a 'recreating eden' episode which i think was about the founder of alpines mont echo? and included some snippets of newfoundland botanising..of course mont echo stopped mail sales just as i was coming into the market ;)
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Paddy that was an interesting link. The video was excellent and now I am a little more educated.
Great joy here it has not rained for two whole days and might not tomorrow as well.This will be approaching a record for the last two years. Very cold been down to freezing!
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i've been interested in newfoundland's flora since seeing a 'recreating eden' episode which i think was about the founder of alpines mont echo? and included some snippets of newfoundland botanising..of course mont echo stopped mail sales just as i was coming into the market ;)
Alpines Mont Echo in Quebec still seems to be open for direct sales (a co-worker visited there last(?) summer). Since I don't watch TV, I haven't seen the show you mention, and did not know of a Nfld. connection - this must be the episode:
http://www.recreatingeden.com/index.php?pid=8&season=01&episode=11
Ah, ha - from 2004:
http://www.bnargs.org/Maria_Galetti.htm
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John, I wish!!
David, Anything from kd ( after the torch and twang stuff) is fantastic. She has the most unique and sublime voice ever.(for me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaHZNTd-YVY
Lesley, do you have a spare room?
Padddy, do you have an Irish equivalent to Geordies?
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Paddy, do you have an Irish equivalent to Geordies?
Proud natives of the People's Republic of Cork ;)
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At present Helen, alas I don't. Or rather, it is fully occupied by books floor to ceiling on three sides, window and computer on the other. A great heap of papers-to-be-sorted in the middle. ???
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For visions of Canada you MUST listen to "Hymns of the 49th Parallel" by K D Lang. It's marvellous and I'm listening to it as I type this.
I'll second that, David, and Helen!
Neil Young is another hero in this house and KD Lang's version of After the Gold Rush
is one of the few instances of someone equalling his feeling for a song. That woman has an incredible voice... rich and irresistible. Such a great album...... every bit as good as her own works.
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What might have been written where the Garda was standing, Dail Eireann?
Paddy
Paddy - It was the Department of the Taoiseach. That had us stumped.
johnw
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Helen - Are you blowing away up there? I heard the big bridge has been closed to high trucks for more than 40 hours due to the wind. It's not due to re-open until noon tomorrow. They said the winds were strongest on the New Brunswick side.
It's a beastly -4c here with a stiff wind.
johnw
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Lori - I was talking to Maria a couple of days ago. Alpines Mt. Echo is officailly closed. She will be selling the remaining plants at a few NARGS and local sales. She is coming here for our rare plant sale in early May. Very sad to see it go. Maria and I and a few others went to that very part of Newfoundland I just mentioned, she knows the place inside out and was a great source for some of its rare plants.
As everyone knows running a nursery is more than a full time job and the packing and shipping the plants is very time consuming. Now she will have the chance to travel more, another of her many passions.
johnw
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We've had fog and temperatures hovering around 0oC for the past couple of days.
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Lesley, I can help you chuck out all the books etc, you can get a laptop and use it elsewhere. Edgar can help set it up.
Problem solved, spare room available ;D
Maggi, now I know you are a Neil Young fan you rock even more!!!
One of my alltime favourite NY songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvb65dCMjZI&feature=related
As a session singer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZLOtcUXq_k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYV6PAckr5w&feature=related
John, still here, the wind has been really awful , am so glad it hasn't been snowing at the same time.
Paddy, I think I will go looking for a sound file.
;)
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John, still here, the wind has been really awful , am so glad it hasn't been snowing at the same time.
Helen - Still blowing here and I see the bridge situation is showing no signs of improvement. May rain here tomorrow so maybe.
http://www.straitpass.com/conditions/ (http://www.straitpass.com/conditions/)
johnw
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Alpines Mont Echo in Quebec still seems to be open for direct sales (a co-worker visited there last(?) summer). Since I don't watch TV, I haven't seen the show you mention, and did not know of a Nfld. connection - this must be the episode:
http://www.recreatingeden.com/index.php?pid=8&season=01&episode=11
Ah, ha - from 2004:
http://www.bnargs.org/Maria_Galetti.htm
as john mentioned, i had heard elsewhere they/she was closing completely..
of course out here, we dont have cable, so i dont see that show anymore, but there were some very beautiful episodes
--i didn't like the way cable tv rates are structured--all the channels i thought were worth paying for were in the second or third tiers, and you had to pay for everything below in order to get them... oh well, no problem out here ;)
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Helen - Still blowing here and I see the bridge situation is showing no signs of improvement. May rain here tomorrow so maybe.
http://www.straitpass.com/conditions/ (http://www.straitpass.com/conditions/)
johnw
John, the wind has died down, the bridge is open, the sun is shining, yayyyyy!!
Snow this evening, sun tomorrow then snow from 16th -21st, I hope that is just the crazy weekend forecast.
Currently -15C
Cohan, it is the same with satellite.
You have to pay for basic digital before you can have anything else, and even then they bundle the channels up into themes. You pay for 7 to get the one you want.
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Snow this evening, sun tomorrow then snow from 16th -21st, I hope that is just the crazy weekend forecast.
Currently -15C
Helen
Good news about the bridge.
Still stuck at -5c here. Hoping it will get milder here as I have to bareroot alot of lilies this week which means the hose and frigid water.
johnw
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Still stuck at -5c here. Hoping it will get milder here as I have to bareroot alot of lilies this week which means the hose and frigid water.
johnw
John, my hands have gone numb just thinking about it. :(
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David and Tony,
Mary and I are heading off next Sunday night to be at Newgrange for the Winter Solstice. However, we won't be in the chamber - I believe only 50 people are allowed in each year, 10 each day on the five days around the 21st of December. These lucky 50 have been picked by lottery from an application of approximately 30,000.
John, the "Department of the Taoiseach" refers to our prime minister - the Irish term is 'Taoiseach'.
As Ashley has pointed out, the Cork accent is very distinct - VERY distinct - though I must tell you that Ashley lives in West Cork where the accent is not so ear piercing.
Paddy
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Four nights in a row with temp at -10C in our caravan shelter........ so much for the warming effect of the Beauly Firth..all very scenic but we should have moved to the Canaries!!!! Does a thick frost coating protect vegetation as a coating of snow is said to do ? VEry nice viewing the garden from the house!!!!!
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...........As a session singer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZLOtcUXq_k
....................
Emmylou Harris is another of my heroines, I have everything she has ever recorded. "After the Goldrush" is one of my all time favourite albums Maggi.
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David, do you mean Neil Young's album or did Emmylou also have an album of the same title?
Wrecking Ball is one of my alltime favourite albums, had almost forgotten about it. I think it's about time I dragged it out and started playing it again.
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Slightly colder than us, Gwen. For the last three days the temperature has never gone above -2C and going down to -7 at night. The appearance of the frost is just wonderful The forcast is for cloud to roll in later tonight and for it to warm up a little - at the moment I am not convinced!
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David, do you mean Neil Young's album or did Emmylou also have an album of the same title?
Wrecking Ball is one of my alltime favourite albums, had almost forgotten about it. I think it's about time I dragged it out and started playing it again.
No Helen, I meant Neil Young's album "After the Goldrush".
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Speaking of cold weather, I don't believe there are any forumists from Edmonton, Alberta, but nonetheless...
From Calgary Herald article:
EDMONTON — Sunday marked the coldest Dec. 13 in Edmonton’s history.
Environment Canada recorded a frigid -46.1 C, or -58.4 C with wind chill, at the Edmonton International Airport at 5 a.m., Environment Canada meteorologist Pierre Lessard said.
The old record of -36.1 C was set last year, he said.
Edmonton is 277 km north of here.
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Does a thick frost coating protect vegetation as a coating of snow is said to do ?
Oddly, it does, or at least a coating of ice does. In Central Otago where NZ's best stone fruit are grown, apricots, cherries, peaches etc, some orchardists spray their blossom with water in early evening. The water freezes and makes an ice coat around each flower and protects it until next day, sometimes for days at a time if the temp doen't go above freezing point.
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Lovely clear frosty night tonight for watching the Geminids. I saw seven in twenty minutes! 8)
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David and Tony,
Mary and I are heading off next Sunday night to be at Newgrange for the Winter Solstice. However, we won't be in the chamber - I believe only 50 people are allowed in each year, 10 each day on the five days around the 21st of December. These lucky 50 have been picked by lottery from an application of approximately 30,000.
Paddy
i've read about this place... should be very cool to be there for the solstice..
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Speaking of cold weather, I don't believe there are any forumists from Edmonton, Alberta, but nonetheless...
From Calgary Herald article:
EDMONTON — Sunday marked the coldest Dec. 13 in Edmonton’s history.
Environment Canada recorded a frigid -46.1 C, or -58.4 C with wind chill, at the Edmonton International Airport at 5 a.m., Environment Canada meteorologist Pierre Lessard said.
The old record of -36.1 C was set last year, he said.
Edmonton is 277 km north of here.
youch! i'm not sure about this morning, but yesterday's minimum for Rocky Mtn House was -31.2; -38s forecast for tonight and tomorrow night..
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-58C with wind chill? This is Antarctic. How can people bear to live in such a climate? :o :o ???
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-58C with wind chill? This is Antarctic. How can people bear to live in such a climate? :o :o ???
Apparently good Primula collections at the Devonian Gardens in Edmonton. Probably Meconopsis too. 8)
johnw
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-58C with wind chill? This is Antarctic. How can people bear to live in such a climate? :o :o ???
not that i wouldn't rather it were warmer, but on the plus side, we have a lot of sunshine, even in winter (when i moved to toronto, i thought the sun went behind a cloud in september and didnt come out til may!), and wet and cold are two different seasons, generally..
anyway, the only places in canada that have mild winters have very wet gloomy winters, and or mucky, or both, and the mildest being coastal, they are also prone to gales, so really, we dont have any good options, only the choice to pick which kind of unpleasant weather you can best live with...lol
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Apparently good Primula collections at the Devonian Gardens in Edmonton. Probably Meconopsis too. 8)
johnw
Likewise above the Arctic Circle in north Norway. (space here for shivering smiley)
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the christmas trees are all decorated ;D
... some quick shots around the yard, and a few on the road..
no time to load them here, right now, so just a picasa link..
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/December112009#
there's been a bit more snow since those were taken, and the piles of snow near the house and by the van look higher in person--around waist high now..
this morning somewhere around -39..warmer by midweek, near/to freezing..
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-39o.... Mmmm, toasty! (NOT!) :o :o
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-39o.... Mmmm, toasty! (NOT!) :o :o
maybe not exactly toasty, but the sensation of deep cold on the skin can be burning ;)
at one stage (somewhere before numbness and necrosis?..lol)
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- 6°C out here this morning..
Starting to feel a bit Canadian... ::) ;D ;)
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- 6°C out here this morning..
Starting to feel a bit Canadian... ::) ;D ;)
yes, like september here ;)
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;D ;D ;D
I thought it would remind you of Summer Cohan... ;D ;D
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;D ;D ;D
I thought it would remind you of Summer Cohan... ;D ;D
lol--no, no, we never get below -5 in summer ;)
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First frost of the year here - down to a mighty 1ºC this morning. We only have frosts on clear nights, so as soon as the sun comes up, bye bye frost.
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our frosts never came
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39 c yesterday raining today, had over an 1in aready and still pouring,looking good bye Ray
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39 c yesterday raining today, had over an 1in aready and still pouring,looking good bye Ray
wow, we are close to opposite ;D although we have got very warm now--today was at least -10C
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And I'm something like 800Km from Ray and we have had 39oC today, and supposedly forecast rain for tomorrow. Oh I would LOVE us to get an inch of rain, but I think I would just be dreaming. We'll be lucky if we get much at all, but hopefully for change we'll get a decent drop. So dry, windy and dust blown in from west of here. Shocker of a day.
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-39C...
cohan what about snow? We have had -30C three nights. It's about -25C now. And there is no any snow. :o I said good by to my collection. (http://forum.cofe.ru/images/smilies/weep.gif)
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I can't imagine what would be worst -39 or +39. Only -7 here and quite a lot of snow.
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-39C...
cohan what about snow? We have had -30C three nights. It's about -25C now. And there is no any snow. :o I said good by to my collection. (http://forum.cofe.ru/images/smilies/weep.gif)
Olga, we typically have no lasting snow cover through the winter here and temperatures in the range you mention (we are just going into a melt again). It's the norm here and I have few losses each year. It might be different for truly marginal plants that actually depend on snow cover...
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Snowing here in Falkirk!
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Promised 20 cm of snow tonight - it is only going to be -4 C but when you have become used to unseasonal warm days, that feels much colder. Brrrr...
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Snowing here in Falkirk!
must be quite bad..... they had a weather/road warning for the Falkirk area on the radio :P
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Snowing here in Falkirk!
And in Chorley! We have had to put the heating on for a few hours a day.
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-39C...
cohan what about snow? We have had -30C three nights. It's about -25C now. And there is no any snow. :o I said good by to my collection. (http://forum.cofe.ru/images/smilies/weep.gif)
olga, right now we have around 30 cm of snow on the ground in most places, though it tends to be much shallower in wood areas;
i have a more lasting snow cover usually than lori, but we can easily have -20 or colder before the snow, and when we sometimes get melting in february, we can have exposed areas and -30 or worse again..
i'm just beginning planting here, so dont know much about what can take the exposure and what cant, i am encouraged by lori's experiences, but i also belong to a group of people from alberta, saskatchewan and manitoba, mostly, and some of them are always worried about adequate snow at the beginning and end of the season--they grow a lot of lilies, daylilies, irises etc...
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Flutter of snowflakes hit South Eastern England:
BBC News suggests necessity for sufficient safety measures commensurate with a least a minutes warning of nuclear attack:
Meanwhile the rest of the country smiles sagely and just gets on with it 8)
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i also belong to a group of people from alberta, saskatchewan and manitoba, mostly, and some of them are always worried about adequate snow at the beginning and end of the season--they grow a lot of lilies, daylilies, irises etc...
WOW, pointless worrying even in our climate!!!
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Had an email from Marcus in Hobart this morning. 33C yesterday down to 12 today and pouring rain. It's just 26C here and such a strong nor'west wind. I'll have to hold Teddy down when he goes for a walk today. He'll be blown away. Weather forecasters are telling us to tie down everything. It was hard to keep my little car on the road when I came home from town an hour ago.
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i also belong to a group of people from alberta, saskatchewan and manitoba, mostly, and some of them are always worried about adequate snow at the beginning and end of the season--they grow a lot of lilies, daylilies, irises etc...
WOW, pointless worrying even in our climate!!!
that's what i think! i might wonder and hope with new plants of unknown hardiness, i might even put branches around to cut wind and hold snow, but once they are out there, i will NOT be worrying about temperatures and snowfalls/melts! that's all part of hardiness, and if i want to grow stuff that's not hardy, i will grow it under cover..
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cohan and Lori
Thank you for calming me. :-*
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The Met Office got it right.
The photos show my front garden with at least 10cm of snow. The red car has been abandoned at some time. My bungalow is at the bottom of two hills and the right hand one is steep and impossible until gritted. Need to go out later.....
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And I hear that Paris itself (in France that is, not Texas) got a rare dump of snow today as well.
Unfortunately we only got 4mm of rain, somewhat disappointing when others are talking about pouring rain and over an inch etc. :'( Ended up sunny most of today after the rain skipped us. >:(
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The Met Office got it right.
The photos show my front garden with at least 10cm of snow. The red car has been abandoned at some time. My bungalow is at the bottom of two hills and the right hand one is steep and impossible until gritted. Need to go out later.....
Your garden looks great Art... and not a weed in sight ! ;D ;)
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Temp was -6oC when I left home at 8.10 a.m. -2oC half an hour later at work.
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The Met Office got it right.
The photos show my front garden with at least 10cm of snow. The red car has been abandoned at some time. My bungalow is at the bottom of two hills and the right hand one is steep and impossible until gritted. Need to go out later.....
Your garden looks great Art... and not a weed in sight ! ;D ;)
Luc
There were none in the front garden before the snow :) The back garden is another matter :(
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cohan and Lori
Thank you for calming me. :-*
hopefully everything will be fine :) nothing you can do till spring, anyway! hope you get some snow and milder temperatures !
good luck to everyone with winter weather! we are much milder now, but maybe more snow over the next few days-hopefully we will avoid the freezing rain forecast further north..
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Some snow showers last night. Cold enough that they just accumulated, but not as cold as they forecast. Then today I don't think it got above freezing. -6C at 9pm this evening and I imagine it will go lower. Cold for England! At least it has dropped the humidity in the greenhouse. Dewpoint at -7C and any humidity has now frozen out on the glass :)
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Not very nice in Medway.
One of my chums looks fed up :-\
[attach=1]
And the other looks bloody freezing :o
[attach=2]
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I think you need to go out there and put a jacket on your chums they do look freezing ;D
Angie :)
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Ouch, is that what a brass monkey feels :o
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The second one certainly seems to be holding onto something! ::)
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Photo of snowy "allium bobs", our first snowfall on Dec. 6, 2009. Some people thought this view was niviculous.
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Mark - A wonderful symphony of snowballs!
johnw
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A strange beginning to winter here. The snow we had last weekend melted on Monday and Tuesday, then we had heavy rain. It snowed again on Thursday and Friday and the temperature on Friday around midnight was -10C. Saturday midday was -6C. Saturday at midnight was +2C and everywhere the snow was melting. At some point in the night the wind changed direction and froze the running meltwater solid. It is now -4C, but it is raining! The rain is freezing onto the icy ground. ???
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A strange beginning to winter here. The snow we had last weekend melted on Monday and Tuesday, then we had heavy rain. It snowed again on Thursday and Friday and the temperature on Friday around midnight was -10C. Saturday midday was -6C. Saturday at midnight was +2C and everywhere the snow was melting. At some point in the night the wind changed direction and froze the running meltwater solid. It is now -4C, but it is raining! The rain is freezing onto the icy ground. ???
sounds like western alberta temperature swings, and eastern canada precipitation patterns!
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Mmm it gets better it snowed after lunch and put about 15cm down then dropped to -15C overnight, yet they say we will be back up to +6C by Friday ??? The warm air from the Mediterranean and cold from the Baltic are really fighting it out this year!
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No journey to work for me today! Susan unfortunately had to go in. She waited on the platform for two hours, starting at 0530, for a train, eventually managed to persuade the station staff to open the waiting room for the last half hour. She reached work four hours after leaving home. (it is only 36 miles).
I am working at home but just stopped for a brew and went out to take some pictures. We had had about two inches of snow on sunday but it was melting by yesterday afternoon, however last night we got around four inches which is not going anywhere quickly (like Northern Rail apparently). Maybe Susan can see our garden in daylight if she looks on here at lunchtime. A couple of pics:
Whilst uploading these I noticed the distinct sag in the roof of the fruit cage after negligently forgetting to remove the netting. I just went out and stood under it with a broom gingerly poking it. You can guess what happened. Pity Susan wasn't there, it would have made her day...
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Garden looks good in the snow Darren - as mine does. Trouble is when it melts your garden will still look good ....
I remember the dramatic effect of snow on the in-laws fruit cages last winter. Lowering clouds of snow - quite literally! Fortunately I was not able to get underneath ;D
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Just nipped out and took four images - snow still falling - at least my Ranunculus are snug under this chill mid-winter blanket.
MY GARDEN AT NOON TODAY.
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I admire Sue's determination to get to work inthis weather....how many others are so dedicated to their employment?
Pity she wasn't there to see Darren's snow shower.... she might have had the camera handy and given us all a laugh! ::)
Tony, as good a demonstration of a "blanket of snow" as I've seen! 8)
Cliff, very similar scenes here..... sky is a little bright at the moment, perhaps.
Don't you love the way the snow makes those fab hats on the pots? :D
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Susan is very dedicated Maggi, but also her employers think flexibility is something to be shown by employees and not themselves so she didn't feel she had much choice. And she has been scheduled approximately 10 hours work today and also tomorrow too.
Tony - yes that is pretty much what it looked like before the broom. It was quite clear afterwards but then I looked like the second of the statues from our friend in Kent! Susan, being a girl and therefore more sensible, would probably have told me 'don't go under there'.
Hope it eases off soon Cliff. We had another shower after I took my pics but the sun is shining now.
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I guess the Chinese and the US blocked the Kopenhagen agreement on reduction of carbon dioxide emissions after following this thread....
Who on earth can still believe the Earth is warming up ?? ::) ;D ;D ;)
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I'm jealous, we've had two very light snow showers :(
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If only it were that simple. Our forecast for tomorrow is for temperatures up to 15C in some parts of the country, with a temperature of 3C on the peak of Musala -the highest mountain in the Balkans. They warned against the danger of avalanches caused by strong winds. Given the amount of snow some parts of the country had over the weekend one can only imagine there will be a lot of rivers running at full flow!
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If only it were that simple. Our forecast for tomorrow is for temperatures up to 15C in some parts of the country, with a temperature of 3C on the peak of Musala -the highest mountain in the Balkans. They warned against the danger of avalanches caused by strong winds. Given the amount of snow some parts of the country had over the weekend one can only imagine there will be a lot of rivers running at full flow!
my impression of climate change is that we should expect the unexpected, and forget about 'normal' weather..all the once a decade and once a century weather seems to be more common..
stay away from rivers ;)
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Hi all, I love winter as when the snow comes it creates such a different landcape. A few pictures from the garden today, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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I'm jealous, we've had two very light snow showers
Where are you, Martin? The snow was getting funnelled in here especially this morning, but I guess not getting any further.
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Luc,
That's the phallacy about Global Warming...... it has to be called Global Climate Change as it is just that the weather will become more extreme. Extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme storms etc. The fact that there are unusual cold snaps actually supports it, not denies it. ;D
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39C today with 24C forecast for tomorrow in these parts. And rain in the morning!!! Hence the reason for bulbs & rhizomes in paperbags in boxes - this will be the third repeat of this weather pattern this spring/summer.
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-5C here this morning,most unusual for this area. I think I can say goodbye to a lot of my South African bulbs.
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I hope not Michael. Will keep my fingers crossed. Mine coped with -4C a couple of years back when a heater failed.
DISCLAIMERS from yesterdays posts.
My Beloved has now read my posts of yesterday and has pointed out that:
a) Her bosses were very good to her yesterday to assist in making her travelling easier and,
b) Though being a girl, and sensible, she would have apparently told me to go into the fruit cage and then given it a damn good shake.
That's me told. ;)
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Darren,the bulbs in the greenhouses should be OK as the heaters are keeping the temperature at 3c,it is the bulbs planted out in the garden that I am worried about.
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Oh well Michael - will still keep my fingers crossed and hope they will be OK.
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Luc,
That's the phallacy about Global Warming...... it has to be called Global Climate Change as it is just that the weather will become more extreme. Extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme storms etc. The fact that there are unusual cold snaps actually supports it, not denies it. ;D
The average world temperatures are going up and have been since the Industrial Revolution. I don't think the coldest winter in the UK for 20 years will change that? Scotland's summers are going to get colder and wetter; England's are going to get warmer and drier.
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Anthony don't say Scotlands summers are going to get colder :'( and they surely cant get much wetter.
Michael I hope you wont lose any of your South African Bulbs. I too will keep my fingers crossed and hope they will be OK.
Angie :)
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Iann, I'm just outside Derby and, as I write, it's......raining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(
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Luc,
That's the phallacy about Global Warming...... it has to be called Global Climate Change as it is just that the weather will become more extreme. Extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme storms etc. The fact that there are unusual cold snaps actually supports it, not denies it. ;D
The average world temperatures are going up and have been since the Industrial Revolution. I don't think the coldest winter in the UK for 20 years will change that? Scotland's summers are going to get colder and wetter; England's are going to get warmer and drier.
i guess its often hard on the ground to discern overall temperature trends-in many parts of canada, we don't always feel the rising average winter temps (though statistically they are) but the (more?) frequent swings we surely notice...lol--i guess one need to look at number of cold days etc, not just the extremes..
my area is supposed to have wetter summers with expected climate change trends, and the first year i moved back here (07) was the wettest in 50 years, but this year was dry; we also expect a longer growing season, yet this year there was frost in every month!...
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This seems to be the definitive web site: http://royalsociety.org/General_WF.aspx?pageid=5322&gclid=CIrGtdud7Z4CFWlr4wod513HJA
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Luc,
That's the phallacy about Global Warming...... it has to be called Global Climate Change as it is just that the weather will become more extreme. Extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme storms etc. The fact that there are unusual cold snaps actually supports it, not denies it. ;D
The average world temperatures are going up and have been since the Industrial Revolution. I don't think the coldest winter in the UK for 20 years will change that? Scotland's summers are going to get colder and wetter; England's are going to get warmer and drier.
Anthony, I read somewhere that one of the effects on the British climate will be to alter the Gulf Stream flow and that we would loose its modifying effect on our climate, and get colder and wetter. Is this theory still in vogue?
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Michael, you may well be surprised at the reaction of some of your Soutyh Africans to -5C. I regularly get that here and only a couple of Massonias didn't like it. The general run of Fressias, Ixias, Lachenalias, Romuleas, Gladiolus, Sparaxis, Oxalis and many many others cane cope very well.
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Anthony, I read somewhere that one of the effects on the British climate will be to alter the Gulf Stream flow and that we would loose its modifying effect on our climate, and get colder and wetter. Is this theory still in vogue?
I think that was a hypothetical worst case scenario David? Contrary to popular belief, the Gulf Stream follows the eastern seaboard of America. It is the North Atlantic Drift, the current that is one of the northern extensions of the gulf stream, that affects Europe. It was supposed that the increase in cold water from the melting ice at the North Pole (Winnie the Pooh has a lot to answer for) that would stop the current, or at best, divert it south. I've not heard anything lately on this theory.
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Lesley, I am glad to hear that about the south Africans as I have lots of the ones you mentioned germinating now. My answer to adapting for climate change ;D
Susan
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Mmmm. I hope they do well for you Susan though I'd be surpised if the east coast of Scotland comes to resemble South Africa very closely. Good heavens, we'd have Maggi and Ian planting out gladiolus species instead of erythroniums :D
Rhododhypoxis are a good indicator. They have proved very hardy here so if you grow those outside, many others should be OK as well.
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Its become a popular pastime for many people (and an obsession for some!) to swarm during every colder than average month and proclaim that global warming is dead. It is very easy to forget at times such as this that the other 11 months of the year were all warmer than the average for 1961-1990 (except the south of England in January) and Scotland has had a particularly warm year relative to the average.
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-8oC outside our north facing back door 5 minutes ago (11.20 p.m. or 23.20 GMT, not what it says on the post!). ::)
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We had an OK day until 5.30pm. Bins frozen closed and Nerines stiff as boards.
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We were about 6C yesterday, and about 8C today, with the sound of dripping from melting snow everywhere. Kyustendil in western Bulgaria- not far from Serbia and the Western Border Mountains- reached 17C!
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-6C here this morning and no snow cover. Everywhere else in the country would appear to have snow but as usual there is none here. Even a few inches would have given some protection and stopped the soil from freezing solid. :'(
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-6C here this morning and no snow cover. Everywhere else in the country would appear to have snow but as usual there is none here. Even a few inches would have given some protection and stopped the soil from freezing solid. :'(
i was talking to simon about this issue of soil freezing, the other day ( of course michael, no comparing your climate or plants to mine, very different set of expectations)-as i always find it interesting to see flowers coming out of snow--this can happen here, but either it has to be an early snow in the fall, or the snow has to be gone first, the soil thaw and plants sprout, then the snow come back for the plants to poke out of; before the snow melts in spring, and often for some time afterward (not to mention, before the snow arrives in fall!), the soil is frozen solid much deeper than most plant roots will go, so there could be no early plants poking up out of winter snow pack...lol
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Do you have a soil thermometer, Michael? Temperatures of -6C only freezes the surface here- so the bulbs may not be affected- though I suppose if they have leaves up that may be a different matter. I have Crocus laevigatus still flowering here, which were caught it an 'icy glaze' we had over the soil surface following freezing ran after our last warm period.
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I have just been into the garden and dug some parsnips for tomorrow's dinner! Our freeze started before the snow came but there was about an inch of snow over the veggies this morning. Last night the temperature dropped to about -10C and has just risen to the tropical -6C. The top skin of earth was a frozen crust but below that it was fine and loose. I am hoping that this is true of the rest of the garden and wish it were of the pots.
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That's the main reason why we don't/ can't grow in pots here.
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That's the main reason why we don't/ can't grow in pots here.
Simon
We grow in pots here. However they take an extraordinary amount of care and protection. The pots have to be plunged to the rim in fine wood chips or sand in the cold frame. The frame is then lidded and covered in white poly to prevent heating up when the sun shines. Even then borderline plants may get killed if the temperatures stay very cold for weeks or months on end. A few years ago the mild weather continued into late January and things like Hellebores started to grow, then winter arrived and wiped out half of them. The same plants in the ground made no such mistake though the Trilliums were not so smart - they did survive much to our amazement, a bit singed on the tips.
I wouldn't rule out root damage on an unprotected pot below -2c here, -2c at night with the temperature rising above freezing the next morning might be okay.
Even the troughs have to be set on the ground by early December.
I bet Michael's tender bulbs will be fine in the ground with his -6c low.
johnw
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We had -11oC last night.
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and I had -8. Coldest night in a long time. Somewhere in the UK had -15 last night
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I put this in the southern hemisphere topic, but thought it might be worthwhile putting it in here as well.
Since Christmas morning we've had more than 2 inches or rain at my place so far..... absolutely fantastic!! The 36mm in the raingauge this morning (24 hours to 9am) is the largest entry for a day in over 12 months. The 52mm so far for this "rain event" is also the largest in over 12 months. We got 63mm one day early last December, and 72mm in total for that rain event. The last rain event that delivered over 2 inches or rain before that was January 2007. So this has definitely been a decent bit of rain. We need to it keep going for a couple more days at least though, with some nice followup as well. At least this should put some moisture into the soil, at least to a degree.
Definitely a nice present for the Silly Season!! ;D
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I put this in the southern hemisphere topic, but thought it might be worthwhile putting it in here as well.
Since Christmas morning we've had more than 2 inches or rain at my place so far..... absolutely fantastic!! The 36mm in the raingauge this morning (24 hours to 9am) is the largest entry for a day in over 12 months. The 52mm so far for this "rain event" is also the largest in over 12 months. We got 63mm one day early last December, and 72mm in total for that rain event. The last rain event that delivered over 2 inches or rain before that was January 2007. So this has definitely been a decent bit of rain. We need to it keep going for a couple more days at least though, with some nice followup as well. At least this should put some moisture into the soil, at least to a degree.
Definitely a nice present for the Silly Season!! ;D
that's really great news! i hope it continues ..
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The roads are like skating rinks here this morning,and I can't get out to visit my daughter 120 miles away,which I do every year on ST. Stephens day. can't even walk on the footpath. The Council haven't bothered to grit the roads for the last three days. ???
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We haven't seen a gritter since Christmas Eve. Usually they grit the pavements too, except on the days when they are littered with wheely bins and recycling boxes (Mondays in Dunblane)! ::)
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Grit the road ? Please explain. bye Ray
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Grit the road ? Please explain.
The Council have Trucks with a gadget on the back like that which the farmers use to spread fertilizer, and on frosty mornings they spread a mixture of sharp sand (GRIT) and salt on the roads at about 5-30 am to melt the ice and provide some grip for the tyres.
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Warnings every 20 minutes on the radio.don't drive and don't even attempt to walk on the footpath. ??? ???
Who voted those idiots unto the council.? :( :( :(
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Grit the road? Please explain.
The Council have Trucks with a gadget on the back like that which the farmers use to spread fertilizer, and on frosty mornings they spread a mixture of sharp sand (GRIT) and salt on the roads at about 5-30 am to melt the ice and provide some grip for the tyres.
We had more snow this afternoon, but a gritter went past the house half an hour ago so the road isn't too bad. Our gritters also have a snowplough on the front Michael. http://www.saltsense.co.uk/deicing_home.htm They spread rock salt which is mined in a couple of places in England and also in Northern Ireland. http://www.saltsense.co.uk/aboutsalt-prod03.htm
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Our road to my house which is a private road ( which means we don't get any help from our council ) is just like a mirror all the way. I questioned myself about buying another 4X4 vehicle but I am glad I did as there would have been no way of getting up our hill which is a mile of sheer ice.
I have seen many years of deep snow but cant remember us having it so icy.
I do hope all my plants will be OK.
Angie :)
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they also use some combination of sand and salt on roads here--not nearly as much salt is used as in eastern canada, more sand here, as its colder, and they typically arent trying to melt away all the snow with the salt as they do down east, just give traction on a varying layer of packed snow below...
main highways usually clear off quite well, as the speed of vehicles blows most of the snow off as it falls, at least on the main tracks, and they do plow and sand as well...
side (gravel) roads get plowing, and an occasional bit of extra gravel(thats a new thing) but being narrower and less traffic, are much more at risk of being drifted over if wind and snow coincide..no salt or sand on these...
worst roads are inside towns/cities, where traffic is not fast enough to blow the snow off as it does on the highways, and yet heavier traffic packs the snow in making it harder to remove, and more slippery..roads in the nearest city have been a mess for weeks...
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The roads and highways are "sanded" with gravel around here - it's very hard on windshields.
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Salt is useless below about -17oC (0oF) as that is the temperature at which brine - a salt solution - freezes (Gabriel Fahrenheit's scale serves no other useful purpose). The last time we had temperatures that cold was the winter of 1995/96. The demise of outdoor curling ponds in Scotland can testify to the lack of cold winters being the norm. Forty-odd years ago I could have visited over half a dozen curling ponds in spring looking for newts. They've all since dried out, been filled in or become over grown.
The roads and highways are "sanded" with gravel around here - it's very hard on windshields.
I've never noticed any damage to my windscreen caused by rock salt, so perhaps we are lucky?
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of course we also get the large chunks thrown up in the windshield :( particularly caused by the numerous speeders in large pick-up trucks who pass in tight quarters (this is probably 3/4 of the driving population here) and by the large transport and other oil/construction vehicles, all of which also speed (until they get to the truly gargantuan sizes where they are simply incapable of speeding) and their weight digs down into the pavement pulling up sand/gravel/salt to throw at you even when smaller vehicles are not throwing up anything...
the problem of debris being thrown does not go away in summer either--no doubt remnants of the sand/gravel are there most of the year, but we also have a lot of traffic coming onto the highways from dirt roads, so there is a source of mud and gravel all year.... you see more cracked windshields than not, around here..
as for salt temperatures, i think they use chemicals other than natural salt which do melt at lower than natural temperatures, but still, that is the reason, i'm sure that there is less use of salt here than generally warmer toronto, for example (where it is overused--often just resulting in thick slush, which is not always better than snow!)
so that's why F has 0 in such an odd place...lol
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6°C here today and wall to wall sunshine,feels like a heatwave. -6°C forecast for the next few nights.
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We had 8" of snow overnight. Bit of a thaw now.
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Our road service doesnt salt paths. The local hospital has to mobilise it's own staff to spread salt. The local corner shop owner is so tight he doest buy salt for the entrance. Very dangerous because there is a steep slope to the door. My mother fell there a few years ago but wouldnt take it any further
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Here's a pic of the gritter taken from our lounge. They only did one pavement (= footpath) with a much smaller vehicle early this morning.
Lucy and I went sledging up the hill this afternoon, with Heidi. Lucy tried to play dead, but Heidi wasn't fooled.
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Our road service doesnt salt paths. The local hospital has to mobilise it's own staff to spread salt. The local corner shop owner is so tight he doest buy salt for the entrance. Very dangerous because there is a steep slope to the door. My mother fell there a few years ago but wouldnt take it any further
cities here have laws requiring residents and businesses to keep their sidewalks clear, not sure about the smaller towns; city equipment will likely do some main street sidewalks, but apart from that, its up to property owners/residents etc.. not that they always do, and fines i think are not applied often enough to make people do a better job...
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That's a very fetching coat that Heidi's wearing Anthony. :) I tried to get Teddy into one back in the winter but he preferred to eat it.
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Warnings every 20 minutes on the radio.don't drive and don't even attempt to walk on the footpath. ??? ???
Who voted those idiots unto the council.? :( :( :(
Presumably you did Michael? :D
Our grit trucks don't add salt because it causes rust (so I'm told) to the undersides of vehicles. I sprinkle it on my back footpath in winter and as it washes off in rain, it acts as a neat weedkiller to the edges of the lawn. I believe some kind of synthetic stuff is now used to prevent freezing roads though.
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I agree, Lesley- no salt on the roads here so much less corrosion on the car than I was used to seeing in the UK. Are there any environmental impact studies into detrimental effects of so much salt on the area around salted roads?
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Presumably you did Michael? Cheesy
Not me Lesley,I usually spoil my vote, could not vote for the gombeens that they put up for election.
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Any cars imported from the UK are always carefully examined and washed down before sale, for salt contamination and corrosion.
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Simon, in about 1980 the A9 trunk road was routed round the edge of Loch Alvie, near Aviemore. We, at the then River Board were sure that there would be salt contamination of the loch and undertook to monitor during the winters Monitoring took place for several continous winter after the opening of the road and then at irregular intervals until the present day. We were pleasantly surprised not to find any impact at all. Monitoring has also taken place of groundwater around the large stockpile heaps of salt at roads depots. Again, surprisingly, no impact was found.
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I agree, Lesley- no salt on the roads here so much less corrosion on the car than I was used to seeing in the UK. Are there any environmental impact studies into detrimental effects of so much salt on the area around salted roads?
Our weather is so variable that when it is frosty or snowy the roads need to to salted and gritted otherwise nobody would get anywhere. Jack-knifed lorries blocked the A9 north between Dunblane and Auchterarder this morning purely because the roads hadn't been treated overnight. Some very unhappy bunnies on the news this evening. :-[ The rock salt they put on the roads round here is as mined with nothing added. It hasn't really much effect on habitats near roads, except for the spread of Danish Scurvy Grass along motorway central reservations. They must think it's the splash zone on a sea shore? In lands that have guaranteed snow there would be no point in gritting. I assume cars and lorries would be fitted with appropriate tyres or have chains fitted for the season? This Christmas has been unusual. Normally we get a couple of days snow twice a year.
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That's a very fetching coat that Heidi's wearing Anthony. :) I tried to get Teddy into one back in the winter but he preferred to eat it.
Heidi's Christmas present. She doesn't pay any attention to it.
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:-[ The rock salt they put on the roads round here is as mined with nothing added. It hasn't really much effect on habitats near roads, except for the spread of Danish Scurvy Grass along motorway central reservations. They must think it's the splash zone on a sea shore? In lands that have guaranteed snow there would be no point in gritting. I assume cars and lorries would be fitted with appropriate tyres or have chains fitted for the season? This Christmas has been unusual. Normally we get a couple of days snow twice a year.
i'm not sure exactly what they put on roads here, i know the stuff commercially available for home use is usually something other than basic salt --supposed to be non-corroding etc..
there are campaigns to encourage people to get proper winter tires, and i'd suppose most people do eventually, (mandatory in at least one province) maybe in cities more try to get by without
-chains arent usually used these days in populated areas, but may be carried for extreme spots--my brother just had to make a mountain crossing in a truck pulling a sawmill on the way back (23 hour trip from here into b.c. and back) and he needed chains in the high passes..
i'm not sure if its still the case, but it used to be that used cars from eastern canada were not popular here--rusted out from salt..
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Thanks, David.
I suppose it is all about being prepared and preparation costs money, and the precautions you take may not be needed so not many people bother. Too many people drive too fast in bad weather conditions. So I wonder if the drivers of those jack-knifed lorries will learn anything from the experience.
Maybe it is just a feature of the modern world wherre the lorries have to get to their destinations as quick as possible because some supermarket needs to have 'fresh' bread delivered from the other end of country. Or people need to visit family several hundred miles away even though it may not be the best weather for it.
There was a story on the news last year here of a sudden snow storm which came down from the Central Mountains 'unexpectedly' and hit the main road from Sofia to some of the Black Sea resorts where the wealthy have their holiday villas. There was a lot of traffic on the road heading to the coast and from what you could see most of the cars were 4X4's, but the drivers were ill prepared and army tanks had to be sent in to rescue them- quite laughable really. The same day saw a story of tourists stranded in the mountains who had food airlifted in- they were only cut off for 3 days. Who on earth goes up into the mountains in winter without preparing for snow?
The mountain passes here, if they are open, suggest they are impassable without tyre chains in snow. So I guess if you want to try without it is at your own risk. We don't quite have the idea of a 'nanny state' here -yet ;)
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Remember your Shakespeare... When icicles hang by the wall......... it seems many a long year since we had to tell the children to beware of icicles hanging from the house roof in case they, the kiddiewinks, were impaled when the frozen fringe fell to the ground ....... well this year is a vintage icicle year ... our longest so far is 30 " this is a record for our house here in Scotland so far and they do look handsome. Sadly the feeder trees where we hang out peanuts, sunflower seeds, fat balls and niger seed are seriously oversubscribed by all manner of birds and this morning a fine fat Wood Pigeon had laid itself to its final rest beneath the peanut dispenser It is a miracle the way the tiny things, wrens, tits etc survive the night in these low temps
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Strange things afoot here........
The extremely warm November and early December, followed by a week or cooler weather then this rain, has confused a few things. I have 2 different clones of Urginea maritimum flowering now, something like 3 months earlier than usual. ::) I guess they think it is autumn. Boy, are they going to be in shock when the heat comes back. The first stem on one clone was already up before the rain started, so it wasn't just the rain that triggered it. It is usually in full flower when the second clone starts sending up a spike, but the first flwoers haven't even opened on the first and the second clone has a spike emerging (it I think WAS triggered by the rain). The weather is definitely confusing things, that is for sure. :-\
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I wonder if you will have reblooming in autumn?
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A few Shortia & Berneuxia shots from today. Despite their apparent good looks the ground is frozen down at least 15cm and this is not apt to change until late March. Temperature +5c and sunny after a long cloudy stretch.
johnw
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I have 10 tiny (pin-prick size) Shortia seedlings from John's seed, sown over grit and no sign of liverwort. :D They are snug in my tunnel, out of the sun.
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Paul your climate is almost unbelievable. A few days ago so dry with bush fires in NSW and elsewhere. Now flooding in NSW.
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Here's some pics of today's walk to The Gathering Stone on Sheriffmuir.
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The children are just back from a trip to the pantomime in Edinburgh (oh yes they are) with their aunt and uncle. They left Dunblane at noon with the temperature of -7oC and arrived in Edinburgh 35 miles away where the temperature was +2oC and the pavements and roads were clear and dry.
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The -14C we had last night probably puts paid to my experimenting with South African Bulbs. Apart when like Anthony we had 8in snow it hasn't risen above -8C for a week, most unusual for us recently. Everything outside has been under 1 ft of snow apart from the 1st night, but things in the shelter have taken the full brunt of the cold, interesting to see what happens.
Susan
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Keeping our fingers crossed for you Susan .... :)
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Super pictures Anthony, and like Susan we await to see what survives outside under the frame covers minus 12c today with freezing fog last night so here is a very wintery picture taken this afternoon, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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The -14C we had last night probably puts paid to my experimenting with South African Bulbs. Apart when like Anthony we had 8in snow it hasn't risen above -8C for a week, most unusual for us recently. Everything outside has been under 1 ft of snow apart from the 1st night, but things in the shelter have taken the full brunt of the cold, interesting to see what happens.
Susan
Susan - I'd assume your wonderful field planting will be fine with a foot of snow. Wishing you the best of luck with all the rest, many precious items I'm sure.
We are to take the plunge in the next few hours. Ground frozen and they say -10c tomorrow night and a howling gale, high -8c, BUT upwards of 50cm of snow on the weekend. That should keep the frost in the ground for a very long time.
johnw
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Nine o'clock in the evening, -10C outside and snowing, again. There are certainly going to be some empty holes next year.
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Measured our tap water temperature last evening 4C, straight from the main supply, no wonder it hurts to drink it.
Brian Wilson
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Sunny here today and 20C outside in the garden, with only a little slow left on north facing slopes. Our nearest mountain- about 15km away and visible from my window as I type has lost much of its snowcap. I stands just over 1500m.a.s.l. and normally has snow from November to March. I guess there won't be much skiing up there this winter- well unless...
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Nine o'clock in the evening, -10C outside and snowing, again. There are certainly going to be some empty holes next year.
Had a good look out in the garden today I think I to will have a lot of empty spaces for next year :'(. Can anyone remember it been so cold and frosty this time of year in Aberdeen.
Angie :)
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A friend phoned her dad today in Kishorn on the west coast of Scotland and he said it had been down to -16c and had been very cold for more than a week. Kishorn is damn near Inverewe. Is that possible? He grows some very tender plants there.
johnw
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wow, simon 20C!
today's high here is -20C, below average, but nothing shocking, we've seen colder new year's eves..
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Partial eclipse of the moon tonight @19-22 the first time on New years eve since 1600
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John, -16 and prolonged freezing on the west coast is unusual (correction, used to be unusual) but does happen. I expect that Inverewe will have taken some hits like the rest of us but, I hope, not too many.
Michael, we have a total eclipse of the moon, or maybe it is just the snow clouds!
Did you note that this is a 'blue' moon?
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Here is a better pic.
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Great pix, Michael....
and here's a link to a song about a blue moon..... one of my favourites!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qXIfK4iJg8
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-20C I gues not a good night to be out lighting fireworks- shoud be about +9C here by midnight- my warmest New Year's Eve in a long time!
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It was -11oC on our car thermometer when we left our friends' house less than an hour ago. Lovely full moon. Just catching up on emails :-\
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-20C I gues not a good night to be out lighting fireworks- shoud be about +9C here by midnight- my warmest New Year's Eve in a long time!
even in my city days of going out lots, i was never too fond of doing so on new year's eve--tended to find the revellers a bit much...lol
we were off work today, and apart from going into the bush on the acreage for firewood (oh yeah, we also had to go out this morning to put a heater in the pumphouse and replace a bulb in the heat lamp as the mechanical water pump had frozen, as it does a time or two a winter when a bulb goes out, or the wind is fierce from the wrong side), not going anywhere today, a quiet evening at home with pizza and bubbly juice ;) and i'd be afraid to set off firecrackers with so many spruce around!
overnight (its still light now) will be lower than -20--supposed to be around -25 with windchill of -37! but i remember colder winters with below -30 often when i lived in edmonton; they have an outdoor celebration in the city hall square, but i never went...lol
we havent seen +9 in some time!