Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: Maggi Young on March 21, 2011, 01:35:23 PM
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Well, I'm not counting any chickens before they are hatched because I know well enough that we can have frost and snow even on the 12th June in Aberdeen
(though thankfully that does not happen very often).... but today is really lovely.
Bright sunshine, temp. got to around 20 degrees C in the sun at lunchtime.... around 17 or 18 degrees now. Quite breezy but still shirt-sleeve weather.
Actually, this would qualify as a darn good day in Summer in Aberdeen so for Spring it is quite delightful!
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we're cloudy but 15 just now.
White has given way to yellow which is very quickly changing to other colours
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Nice here at the moment also :),wish I could have said the same at the week end,took Jan to Brugge(Friday) for her Birthday,and it absolutely poured down :-[
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Snow flurries here in NY this morning 37 F
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Winter officially changed to Spring at 1921 hours in Kentucky last evening. It was 80 degrees (26C) at 5pm and 69 degrees (20C) at 6am this morning....but wait !!!! Thursday it's going to be 47 degrees (8C) going down to 32 degrees (0C) overnight.
More swings than Blackpool Pleasure Beach !!!!
But still.....the trilliums are in leaf, as are the dicentras and epimediums. Hepaticas in flower, erythroniums in bud.......who cares about the weather.....bring on the plants.
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Maggi it certainly felt good today in Aberdeen, long may it continue.
Sunny Aberdeen seen from the bottom of my road.
Crocus I planted down the road. Bags were reduced to 50p a bag. I bought 5 bags, wish I bought more now.
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What wonderful pictures, Angie, and idea of planting along the road. Very nice. We are not that far from sunny Aberdeen, but we haven't had anything near your recent spring days. This last weekend we had 7-8 C and sun, which at least brought some of the crocusses out, and with them a sense of spring. My C. korolkowii hails from last year's Discussion Weekend, the Dutch collection.
Spring certainly has started late here this year, and last week even the blackbirds gave up and started singing at sunset in spite of quite wintery conditions. But importantly, from today we will be getting back all the light we have done without this last half year.
Knud
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Hi Knud
Isn't it lovely to hear the blackbirds sing. A couple of weeks ago the blackbirds in my garden were singing and it was freezing, I felt so sorry for them.
You live in such a lovely place, some day I hope to see it for myself.
I hope my crocuses bulk up as they are so nice when the sun shines and that's not very often in Aberdeen.
Hope it gets warmer with you soon. We probally will be back to cold wet conditions soon. :-X
Angie :)
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Yes, Angie, blackbirds singing is almost reason good enough to work in the garden evenings. They keep at it here until early to mid July. A few years ago I was in Edinburgh early December, and it was quite cold. Late one evening I walked through Princess Street Gardens, where there was a winter's fair on, with lots of lights and activity, - and a blackbird singing! I was very surprised, and thought at first it must be "piped" through some loudspeaker, but no, there it was high up in a tree. We have them here during winter, they never sing at that time, but they do enjoy the apples in our old Brambley tree.
This part of Norway is a nice place if you don't mind the climate, and it is worth a visit. Be sure to let us know if you make your way. We are close to the sea (live on an island), nice beaches, beautiful farmland, and fine mountains where the alpine flora is not rich like many places, but interesting. The second picture is taken from the north of the island with a view to the mountains. Many people do mind the climate, though, rarely a real winter, and very rarely a real summer. The plants seem to like it, in particular many of the alpines, I suspect that their growing season is exactly that: not a real winter and not a real summer.
Knud
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Hi Knud
That's a beautiful view. My friend lived in Norway for seven years and then moved here to Aberdeen. She said she much preferred Norway. She is now in America but still has good friends in Norway. She always said that I should make a point if going for a visit and I would love the scenery. I will email her and ask where she lived.
I feed my blackbirds with apples they seem to love them. I also bought some apple trees so hopefully I will get a crop this year for them.
You will have to post some pictures of your garden in spring. I was at Maggi and Ian Young's the other day and I couldn't believe the colour in their garden, mine is disappointing at this time of year. Another week or so it should start looking better. I never used to be into alpine plants but when I ran out of space I started looking at smaller plants and now I am hooked onto alpines.
Look forward to see some pictures soon.
Angie :)
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A powerful storm passed over yesterday with hurricane force winds on the coast causing a lot of flooding and an avalanche that swept away a house and two dead. This morning, many people on the coast are without electricity...
Here's a picture from the house yesterday:
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Oh dear, Stephen, that's not the sort of Spring weather we hope for, is it?
Striking photo, though.
Knud, what a view .... I can just picture Barbara planting her tree seedlings to enhance it even further!
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it's days like today when I really love my job :D
drops now replaced by drifts of Scilla bithynica
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Sunny Aberdeen seen from the bottom of my road.
Crocus I planted down the road. Bags were reduced to 50p a bag. I bought 5 bags, wish I bought more now.
£2.50 very well spent :) :) :) :)
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Stephen, that's awful. Here we are having some lovely weather for this time of year and you on the other hand have had a terrible storm. So sad to hear that two people are dead.
Toni I like a bargain, just wish I got more only made it half down the roadside.
Angie :)
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17C here today - phew! brought out lots of bees and butterflies
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+1C today, forecast for next five days says from -3 to -11. Depth of the snow ~60 cm. The positive thing is the legth of the day, 12 h 32 min. The Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) came a week ago. :)
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Maggi, you are absolutely right, given half a chance Barbara would have had a nice mixed forest growing there in a few years. Sadly, that field is not ours to plant, it is part of a public green space, about twenty minutes walk from where we live. However, it did belong to the farm my father came from, and where I have my family name from. My grandfather and his father would not have liked a forest there, they spent five decades until about 1910 clearing the fields for farming, hence the big stone walls.
Angie, interesting to hear of your friend's experience of Norway, you have to tell me, when you find out, where she lived. Many years ago now I lived four years in Scotland, in the dear green place. I really enjoyed it then, and still today I think I would find it difficult to chose one or the other, if I had the choice to make.
I too had a peek at Maggi and Ian's garden today, in the Bulb Log. Wonderful, what more can one say, other than Look (and read) and Learn.
Commiserations, Stephen, I am so glad that 'thing' missed us with half a county. Hope you get better spring days soon.
Knud
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The Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) came a week ago. :)
Our rooks will have eggs now.
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+1C today, forecast for next five days says from -3 to -11. Depth of the snow ~60 cm. The positive thing is the legth of the day, 12 h 32 min. The Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) came a week ago. :)
Do your rooks migrate or just move to the coast? I know we get an influx of Jackdaws and Hooded Crows from the east in winter, but I thought rooks stayed in the same place all year?
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Thanks for the weather commiserations. After 3 days the fjord is still like that, but I can hardly see it now as there's a white-out (blizzard) now as winds have turned to the North West and a Polar Low (Arctic Hurricane) is developing within the main storm :'( I prefer the snow as it's not so wet underfoot....Yes, Panu, it's good that the days are now longer than everyone else (apart from you!).
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Stephen, they migrate from Southern Sweden, Denmark and western parts of Europe. Occasionally few specimens overwinter here at the landfill.
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Interesting! They stay here all year.
Here's the March and February observations in Fennoscandia (you can see our isolated population which is the furthest north all year in Norway; all breeding locations are in and around the city - Trondheim):
http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=745&year=2011&month=3 (http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=745&year=2011&month=3)
http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=745&year=2011&month=2 (http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=745&year=2011&month=2)
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For some reason both links show the present situation. And it´s snowing >:/
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Panu: You probably have to select the month yourself then - it worked for me
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Still the wind is raging and the snow is coming down and we are promised up to 0.5m more by Monday. I heard on the weather forecast that SCOTLAND is to blame (someone needs to be blamed) - something about a blocked high pressure system. On behalf of Norway, could I kindly ask you to clear the blockage, please..... :)
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Putting call in to Dynorod right now, Stephen.............. ::)
Not too sure how it can be us blocking high pressure .... it's not that great here.Which is not what the eejit on the TV wetaher told us it would be, I'm sure....
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You're turning it the wrong way ??? The blizzard gets worse, now horizontal snow...
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You are living the wrong place, Stephen! We had nice weather yesterday and although we got 1cm sleet this morning it has all gone now and sun is shining ;D Not really warm, about 6C though. You Btw you didn't mention that almost 100 roads were closed due to bad weather! (However I did some garden work) ;D ;D) All the previous ice-covered lakes are now open here and boats are on the fjord.
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Stephen the high pressure over us is leaving next week and bringing in rain from the south west for us.
I dont want the rain but the plants are begging and crying for water
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The first Rhododendron is out, Magnolia stellata buds are bursting open. This can mean only one thing. A hard frost in the middle of the coming week ::)
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I was a garden this week and was shown a white flowered Rhododendron that was smothered in flowers. Smothered yes but they had been heavily frosted and now brown.
Possible frosts for N Ireland and Scotland next week.
I'll add here my R. Lady Alice Fitzwilliams is dead. Since I got mine I have never seen it for sale again. Anyone know a source?
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Angie, I think your crocus planting is beautiful, and that's the thing - they don't LOOK as if they've been planted, just happen to be there naturally. I hope you can do more of your roadway, as they'll become a real amenity in years to come and perhaps part of the reason visitors will come to Aberdeen, to see Angie's crocuses. :)
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Thanks Lesley. I wished I had bought more when they were at a bargain price. I like a bargain. I will get more and finish the rest of the drive and hopefully next year it will look better.
Angie :)
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phew! it's 19c here righ now at 3.50pm
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phew! it's 19c here righ now at 3.50pm
What? barely nine degrees here... and getting duller by the minute... rain likely, I reckon. :(
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Drizzled most of the day here and just about making 11C.
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April Fool! Only joking ;D
It's 15c just now
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29 ºC maximum here in the early afternoon - and no April Fool's Joke :o :o
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Mark, you're a horror! I walked right into that! ;D
Chloe, I'd catch the next plane but 29 is a bit too hot for me! :-X
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I'm actually wondering if the forecast for tomorrow of 13C is an April Fool or not... :) Still snow in the garden and the most days with lying snow in the lowlands this winter here since records began apparently..
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April Fool! Only joking ;D
It's 15c just now
Remind me to step on your foot when (if!) we meet.
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The thermometer hit 9C today, the "warmest" so far this spring. Not much to boast of though but some of the spring plants are catching up.
Here Cardamine enneaphylla.
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David and Maggi it was 19c this afternoon. I should have enjoyed it but I was in the shed making swift boxes all day ::)
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David and Maggi it was 19c this afternoon. I should have enjoyed it but I was in the shed making swift boxes all day ::)
You weren't very swift then? :P
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LOL ;D
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Hi,
Today the temperature made it to double digits centigrades for the first time this year, and when it rains it pours; it reached very nearly 15 degrees C - very nice in spite of the strong wind. Many bulbs which have been in bud for weeks opened up, among them this Bulbocodium vernum.
Knud
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We finished daylight saving (summer time) last night. It already feels as if winter is closing in. Just 13C here this morning, and that's in the house!
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We finished daylight saving (summer time) last night. It already feels as if winter is closing in. Just 13C here this morning, and that's in the house!
Did you forget to turn on the heater? - or do you save energy ;)
13C is almost summer temp here! (outside) The mean temp for the warmest months (July, August) is barely above 13C. The mean for last month was 3.2C.
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Hi
A really dry dry dry spring start here in eastern France, as it seems to be more and more the case every year now. Still looking for some consistant rain over the last 2/3 months ( sometimes only 40/50mm for the driest places since january 15th).
The vegetation begins to explode in the lowlands, due to the first summer -yes- days, with temperatures sometimes already around 23/25°C, but the rain lack will soon become problematic if that goes on this way. Rivers are already showing summer level, with very very very few snow left to melt in the mountains...
Hoping for some rain this evening and tomorrow morning, before weather trend says we begin a further 15 days dry period with high above normal temperatures...
I want my spring back, not yet summer!!! >:(
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I would gladly offer some rain if I could, Philippe ;D march has been the wettest for 25 years and April is following up that trend :(
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Well, the forecast was correct and we had temperatures in the mid-teens at the weekend, and with heavy rain in the night most of the snow is now gone and the first flower is out, as usual a Hepatica transylvanica. I also heard my first Robin and Chaffinch singing yesterday and even a butterfly (Tortoiseshell or Comma) was coaxed out...
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Can anyone arrange for water to be dumped on my garden during the night?
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It never got above 21C here all day. ;D
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we werent far behind I'm sure but I didnt check the temperature. It was our hottest day so far
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High today "only" 30 ºC (compared with 32.5 the other day). Portugal is having a very hot April this year indeed :o :o
At least our football is also pretty hot ;) ;)
In case anybody is thinking "well, that's Portugal, what do you expect", 3-4 years ago I went to the UK in April (car ferry from Spain), regretted having taken only boots and not flipflops, got sunburn visiting Wisley, and when I drove back into northeast Portugal it was 4ºC and raining at midday.
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It never got above 21C here all day. ;D
I think we weren't far of that either. I am already dreading the thought of our normal temperatures returning. I had to water the garden today. We are on very shallow soil, it's all broken rock just inches under the soil so it dries out very quick.
Angie :)
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It never got above 21C here all day. ;D
Well, here it almost never gets above 21C even in summer!! Haven't crossed the 10 mark yet either :-\
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19c here today. If there was hight cloud I think we could have had 21 or maybe more
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This will keep Fermi and Will happy
I just heard on TV that April so far has had temperatures 60% above normal
They arrive here on Monday for a very full 5 days
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This will keep Fermi and Will happy
I just heard on TV that April so far has had temperatures 60% above normal
They arrive here on Monday for a very full 5 days
They won't want to come home then. Temps in the southern hemi are about 60% BELOW normal, and wet with it. We had first snow on Saturday night on the hills around Dunedin, and a light frost this morning.
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I don't think they're due in Ireland until NEXT Monday... it could be snowing by then! :-X
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Maggi dont put a damper on the weather
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We've just had a pretty heavy April shower here... after Ian has been watering all day :-X
Garden needs it though.
Thank goodness the weather was dry for the Alpines 2011 conference... otherwise there would have been a lot of VERY wet delegates as we tramped back and forth from the residences to the centre.
we were worried about fermi's chest but it was Will who had a terrible cough...... hope we can heat them up nicely again soon!
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I'm desperate for water down south. No real rain for some weeks now. For once, I'm hoping it pours over Easter :( Here's hoping it chucks it down for the Royal Wedding
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Tony I'm with you also. I dont know when the last big down pour came. I'm not complaining because I love it but my plants are suffereing. The weather forecast is for record breaking April temperatures this weekend. Fingers and toes crossed for Fermi and Will
Today we had our hottest day of the year - 22c.
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Mark is that -22 c ;D we are having our usual pea soup weather for this time of year. Maybe Maggi is in full sun, across the river and away from the coast is a different world. One thing there is no chance of my plants suffering drought conditions. Hope today is as nice Mark.
Angie :)
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Sun's out here now, Angie. There hasn't been enough rain to do much good. It has perked up some plants which were wilting but flowers are going over so fast. Off outside now to water the coldframe. The hinged lids do not allow water to reach any pots not close to the front wall.
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Hi Roma, sun is nearly out here :D. I like Ian had just finished watering part of the garden yesterday when we got a good heavy shower. But the ground was really needing it. I do feel sorry for you folks that have had no rain.
I have been struggling since I came back from the conference with my back so I am glad I didn't have to water all the garden. , my back has been real sore . I blame the hard bed or maybe it was all that food I had consumed, probally my back had a lot more work to do holding up my full tummy ::) ;D anyway I am away to water the greenhouse, pity I couldn't just open the roof when the rain comes.
Angie :)
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Hi Angie,
what you need to save your back is a nice big cistern in your greenhouse and a pump connected to a hosepipe and lance. Then watering is a doddle. The water can come from your greenhouse guttering (you do have it???) or a hosepipe. Best to leave it for 24 hours to get rid of the chlorine and reach greenhouse temperature. :) :) :)
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We are also desperate for rain here. The driest March for over 50 years followed by a hot April with only two short showers that I can remember. Local moorland fires during nesting season have been devastating and, with people planning Easter barbecues in the hot weather, are likely to continue.
Flowers are going over so quickly, the ground is rock hard and the air very dusty. Our records show the first apple blossom coming out 3 weeks earlier than last year so that we had cherry, pear, plum and apple blossom out all at the same time. Very pretty, but there are not enough insects to get round all that lot at once!
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Scorcher here today also. Beaches in Morecambe were packed when I went past ealier - and that never happens even in August... ;)
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150 fires have been set alight in the Belfast hills. Near my house a field of gorse was set on fire yesterday
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Hi Angie,
what you need to save your back is a nice big cistern in your greenhouse and a pump connected to a hosepipe and lance. Then watering is a doddle. The water can come from your greenhouse guttering (you do have it???) or a hosepipe. Best to leave it for 24 hours to get rid of the chlorine and reach greenhouse temperature. :) :) :)
Maren will pass this information on to my husband ;D, yep the greenhouse has guttering.
Darren I am jealous we had mist in the morning then the sun came through but it was still cold as the wind was coming straight of the North Sea :'(
Angie :)
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Today +4 and some wet snow :/ However, the snow has melt and the first crocuses bloomed a week ago. Length of the day 15 h 45 min.
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So far April has been one of the warmest for 100 years here in Southern Norway. Down in the valleys the temp has reached 20C and more several days now and even here in 950m almost all the snow has gone and the temp reaches 12-16C in the daytime. Back home it is warm too and I am looking forward to see the garden after a week with this weather! No problems with drought yet but they are warning for wildfires.
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This is supposed to be a snowcovered bog in 1200m above sea level!
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Interesting weather over the past 12 hours here in Berea. Sherba and I have spent all night in the basement waiting for a tornado to hit....which fortunately it didn't...but now we are watching lakes form on what used to be the garden. Wettest April for a long, long time. Anyone suggest some nice water plants?
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Interesting weather over the past 12 hours here in Berea. Sherba and I have spent all night in the basement waiting for a tornado to hit....which fortunately it didn't...but now we are watching lakes form on what used to be the garden. Wettest April for a long, long time. Anyone suggest some nice water plants?
I believe trout farming can be profitable, Alan.......
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So pleased you and Sherba HAVE a basement to shelter in Alan, should the need arise. We see appalling pictures on TV news of homes and whole towns demolished by tornadoes. I can't imagine living is such an area where they not only happen from time to time but seem to be expected on a regular and frequent or annual basis. Like Australian bushfires. Why do people build there?
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We've had an early summer for the last week with temperatures of up to 26 Celsius. Most unusual in April in England. Then came a little thunderstorm, and a few drops of rain. I was working at the nursery and observed with pleasure the rain going into the butts. I drove home down the hill to Bourne End, and there the road was flooded, with water bubbling out of the street drains. It must have rained heavily somewhere. Had a job getting home through the water which was 9 inches deep in places. :o :o :o
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So pleased you and Sherba HAVE a basement to shelter in Alan, should the need arise.
Basements are almost more important than the rest of the house Lesley in many states. Why do people build there? Too many people, not enough land. And then why do people live near rivers, on mountain sides, in earthquake zones etc. I guess we think we're immune to such catastrophes till they happen to us.
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Slight frost last night and Rhododendrons 'Princess Anne' and calostrotum 'Gigha' which were covered in flowers are all brown. :'( :'( :'(
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We are now on our second tornado warning of the day. The first one was downgraded to severe thunderstorms...big deal....they're just as scary.
Don't anyone ever complain about rainy Manchester again.
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Hope you keep safe, Sherba and Alan. :-*
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Thanks Maggi.
They have had a number of tornadoes touch down in Alabama today and the weather front is on its way up here via Tennessee. We have had around 4 inches of rain already in the last 24 hours. The cats and dogs are drowning. I don't have any facts to back it up but we've probably had more rain so far this year than the whole of last year. There are still three days to go in April and it is heading for the wettest April ever in Kentucky. Ironic that I started a xeric bed this year!!!
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We are now on our second tornado warning of the day. The first one was downgraded to severe thunderstorms...big deal....they're just as scary.
Don't anyone ever complain about rainy Manchester again.
Just to comfort you slightly buddy, it hasn't rained (properly) in Manchester for WEEKS and WEEKS and WEEKS!!! :D
Keep safe ... can we send you any bog plants? ;D
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Ireland will soon have 40 shades of brown ;D
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Ireland will soon have 40 shades of brown ;D
The SW is green Mark ;), and breathtakingly beautiful on this perfect April morning.
I've lived here most of my life, but am delighted by it each and every year.
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So very sorry to hear about the terrible destruction that has been inflicted on Eastern and mid-America. We hope that all our alpine friends are safe - (Alan and Sherba would you please confirm?) - and that the dreadful weather quickly abates.
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Although I often complain about the weather here - with hard frost, much wind and rain, that is nothing compared to what other members of the forum experience!
Today I have nothing to lament. On the contrary - we haven't had a single night (or day) of sub zero temps in 30 days and the last 14 days we have had excellent weather. The mean temperature the last month is 2.6 degrees C above the normal ;
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So very sorry to hear about the terrible destruction that has been inflicted on Eastern and mid-America. We hope that all our alpine friends are safe - (Alan and Sherba would you please confirm?) - and that the dreadful weather quickly abates.
I'll second that.
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I've had to water the garden and troughs twice this week. I was resisting but on Monday many plants were flat and trough plants had collapsed
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Mark my gardening is struggling as well now, I don't have much depth of soil. We are on broken rock here. I can't remember Aberdeen being so dry in April before. We haven't had the high temperatures like down south but we have had mostly sunny days. As I am high up it also gets windy here which doesn't help.
Hope you get some rain soon, off course through the night would be perfect.
You need to remove your scarf now and go back to the sunny picture. ;D ;D, you look a bit cold ;)
Angie :)
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Angie I meant to ask Fermi to take a new one but I forgot
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Wasn't Fermi and Will lovely. I bet they loved Ireland, I did ;D
Angie :)
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Definitely.
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Wasn't Fermi and Will lovely. I bet they loved Ireland, I did ;D
Angie :)
I have never visited Ireland although Fiacha Fionn Ola mac Feredach, Rí na h'Éireann is my 44th great grandfather ;D
I would love to visit the green island!
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Wasn't Fermi and Will lovely.
Angie :)
I thought it was Kate and Will.......or was that someone else the whole of America has been talking about today? They've spent all week over here showing everyone how to drink tea with their pinkie pointing outwards from the cup. Did anyone in England EVER see ANYONE drink tea like that?
Thanks for your concern folks. Sherba and I are fine although I had to cancel a doctor's appointment in Lexington yesterday because I would have been driving directly into the storm. No complaints from us though.....but our hearts do go out to those in Alabama who were hard hit yesterday.
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The TV news pictures we've seen in recent days looked as bad as any earthquake and of course the loss of life has been shocking. It seems these worst events happen in areas where generally poorer people live, for some unfathomable reason. Like Christchurch here, the SW of the States will surely take years rather than weeks or months to resurrect. As for Haiti, can it ever be rebuilt and those poor people get their lives back?
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On the news last night they told us in one recent 24 hour period the fire servive had 1000 calls about grass, gorse and forest fires
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The sun may be shining but there was ice on the windscreen of the car at 7 am today!
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23c right now :o
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A drop of much needed rain now.
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Followd by a tremendous flash and a clap of thunder-but only one-so far.
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The rain that has fallen here in the last few days has been much. The Spanish plume returns tomorrow with record highs again
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We finally got decent rain yesterday with fantastic thunder and forked lightning. It was 6pm and the street lights came on
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For Maggi from the New Forest
Spring is full of discoveries.....
but altogether exhausting!
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Ohhhh! What a cutie.... what a wonderful place for a Westie to expore in the sunshine.... tiring though, as you say.... handy there was a lap to rest in, I think!
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Imagine Poppy And Lily are enjoying Spring discoveries with you too!
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The weather has been so good lately that most of their discoveries have been of sunny spots to snooze in! The colder weather in the last few days has perked them up to be more adventurous..... but spring sunshine to snooze in is too big a treat for them to pass up on. 8)
Rolling in fallen cherry blossom and chasing dandelion clocks is pretty hard work, you know.... and so the old girls need their rest and so two hours walking and several hours sleeping it off are therule around here. :)
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The weather has been so good lately that most of their discoveries have been of sunny spots to snooze in! The colder weather in the last few days has perked them up to be more adventurous..... but spring sunshine to snooze in is too big a treat for them to pass up on. 8)
Rolling in fallen cherry blossom and chasing dandelion clocks is pretty hard work, you know.... and so the old girls need their rest and so two hours walking and several hours sleeping it off are therule around here. :)
Maggi I drove past your house the other day and couldn't believe all the cherry blossom, it was like a sea of pink. I can imagine the girls rolling in it :D
Angie :)
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You drove past? :o why did you not come in?
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Sorry Maggi was taking Elizabeth S. to a hospital appointment, next time I am passing I will call in past if you don't mind.
Angie :)
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I might have known you were busy on an errand helping a friend!
You're welcome any time, Angela.....you know I'm ready always for a coffee!
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King Winter still lingers some places! And a rainy day too. . .
Taken through the car window when we crossed some of the mountains the last days.
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Almost summer, 13 degrees now. Sunrise 3:39, sunset 22:54, length of the day 19 h 15 min :D
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Almost summer, 13 degrees now. Sunrise 3:39, sunset 22:54, length of the day 19 h 15 min :D
Brilliant, I wonder when the sun rises here in Aberdeen. I have never been awake early enough to see it happen ::)
Angie :)
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Will somebody tell the thrush that wakes me up at 5.30 a.m. singing from the next door neighbour's TV aerial that it's NOT SPRING! >:(
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around 4.30 Angie http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=305 (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=305)
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Thanks Mark that's great I will keep that link. I have never been awake that early. Maybe Anthony you could send the thrush over here and I might see the sunrise ;D
Today two trees down, one large shrub, two Rhododendrons blown out the ground and for the rest of the garden I really don't want to look. :'(
Angie :-[
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I'm not surprised at that damage Angela.... we're getting it very gusty here too.
Fresh leaves flying everywhere but I hope that's all, apart from the Delphinium horizontalis. ::) :'( The blue poppies are holding up so far.
Ian has just got back from his swim.... thank goodness for that.... though he might have been blown to Norway in this gale.
Saw the news of terrible death toll from the tornado in Missouri in the States... we should think ourselves lucky, I know.
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Just looked at the BBC weather forecast for the local area which says winds of 20mph! What rubbish.
It is easier and more accurate to look outside and see the six missing fence panels and after walking across the bog(lawn) barely able to stand in the wind I see a large clump of Dracunculus vulgaris is ripped off. We had torrential rain at lunchtime but so far no glass missing from the greenhouses.
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I was promised some rain from Norway if I could find a way of getting it here! This is pretty much the driest spring I remember here in the South-East - no real rain since February and with the hotter and windier weather of May the garden is becoming really parched. We expect this in August but not now. Having said this the plants we grow are pretty well suited to drought; the times of trying to grow primulas and meconopsis are well past! A few things have been stimulated to flower such as Scilla hyacinthoides and the curious Iranian Pelargonium quercetorum, and I imagine many of the bulbs might flower very well next year.
A friend who has kept weather records for the Met Office since the 1960's says April was the second driest he has recorded, after 2007 which had no rain at all! But this time March and May have had virtually none either.
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Still no way to get some water from me, Tim? I am promised rain every day the next 10 days so I have much to share ;D Last night we had strong wind too tearing flowers and leaves off the plants. This evening the rain had stopped but the sky was very gloomy and the clouds had a unnatural colour - Grímsvötn ash from Iceland!
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Seems like the new volcanic ash cloud has closed Scotland's air space again.
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I've been wondering how our Arilnut John, is faring, in Kansas. It was one of the worst hit states by those appalling tornadoes, along with Arkansas, Missouri and the Mid West generally. Hope he is OK.
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He was online this morning (UK time) Lesley, so I would hope he's okay.
The scenes of the tornado damage across the States is frightening indeed.
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I could hardly believe the devastation caused in just a few seconds in the city of Joplin. We were shocked at our single Auckland tornado a week or so ago but really, it was nothing. Living with the knowledge that these things are endemic must be very hard on the nerves, like continual earthquake aftershocks.
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How bad has May's weather been?
Yesterday I was out doing an environmental impact assessment - wildlife survey - on a farm that hopes to get a wind turbine. The cattle were still in their sheds yet the grass was long and lush. I asked why. The cows went out in April which was earlier than normal but had to be brought back in because they were making a mess of the fields due to too much rain
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Lesley, I feel especially sorry for the people who have to live in trailer parks in tornado-prone areas (and anywhere else for that matter). Seeing what a big twister does to a trailer park is horrific.
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Thank you for your concern my friends. I am fine and no twisters have been within 60 miles or so of me.
The Joplin one was very bad, deadliest tornado in U.S. since 1947. It really doesn't wear on me too much.
I have been just minutes behind a tornado that crossed the highway I was traveling on and
had seen 2 others in the lightning flashes to the side of me 20 miles before. They are terrible things tho.
John B
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It's been a long time that spring has turned into summer here in France.
The drought is getting worse and worse every day now, the half of the land is already concerned by more ore less important water supply restrictions. If nothing changes soon, this will lead or is already leading into a situation which we didn't have for centuries. So far from the climate change here.
Here in the Vosges, we aren't yet concerned by this "administrative" drought ( untill now no restrictions), we, lucky we, even had some rain in the past few days, and the plants still look ok for the moment. But it's just a matter of time, I think, untill our stream runs dry in the garden, a thing that almost never happened in the last 40 years, only once in 1976, again in 2003, 2009, and perhaps 2011 now? Is it still worth growing alpines now, in a climate which was once comparable with the one of north norway on sea level, and seems now to get year after year drier and warmer? :'(
I'm really really anxious about the way things are going to turn this summer. A summer which hasn't even officially begun yet
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A week ago is was lashing in N ireland and a week later the garden is bone dry. Geraniums are wilting but the swifts love it
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Some rain at last in Kent! We decided that the dog needed a good bath (great fun to watch him afterwards!) and then the rain came down and he decided to do some digging in the garden! Today the rain has been quite steady and penetrating and both garden and gardener are sighing with relief. However, we probably need another week or two's worth to soak down deep.
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A friend in Cambridgeshire got much needed rain last night. Here the rain lashed all day
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Heavy rain here today - and we didn't need it!
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Tim glad you got some rain. I was just thinking the other day when the temperature was 25c here in Aberdeen how do you manage your gardens down south. I am on very shallow soil and my soil is really dry and we have had rain.
I was hoping it was going to rain last night but nothing.
Hope you get some more rain, preferably at night.
Angie :)
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We went for a walk a few days ago through a field of wheat where the cracks in the soil were over an inch wide! It reminded me of stories from bulb enthusiasts in California who could see choice bulbs sitting at the bottom of cracks in the dried clay soil. We do have quite a good climate for bulbs here too! The rain has stopped for a while but has been enough to perk everything up and should make it easier to start taking cuttings. Thanks Angie.
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Oh yes, I can just see it. Dog freshly bathed, having a good shake and a roll in order to retore the status quo. Rain comes, garden gets really muddy, dog decides to dig. Chocolate dog. Just as well we love them isn't it?
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Why do dogs do that? When we bathed our Lab it would bolt of of the door and rub himself along the hedge or roll on the grass
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Heidi's three today so she got a new collar (not my idea) same as the old one but cleaner - bright pink from EZYDOG.com. Took her on her long early morning Tuesday walk and she found something disgusting to roll in. It was mingin'! :P I suspect she's trying to disguise her own scent?
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Dogs communicate mainly by scent. If you wash them you remove their individual smell so they quickly try to re-establish this after you have removed it by washing them. I have seen dogs roll in cow pats or even dead animals. What is disgusting to us is Chanel 5 to a dog !
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Dog scent, boy you should smell my dog at the moment. I have washed him the best that I can do with a cloth. He had a stroke on Friday night and is struggling a bit. The vet said give him a couple of days and see how he gets on. He still can't walk on his own just flops down but he looks 100% better, but only time will tell. Hopefully he will be able to get a bath soon, the he can roll himself in something :-X
Angie :)
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Here's Heidi's new collar. She's enjoying the winter weather - 20oC and sunny today!
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Anthony she looks so proud of her new collar.
Today I am enjoying our summer weather 11c and raining, can't believe it was 25c on Friday.
Angie :)
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East Anglia got some much needed rain yesterday
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30,5 oC in shade, the official weather station says 29,5. This is how I like it :D Sunrise 2:43, sunset 23:54. Practically it doesn´t get dark. The mosquitos are back, and there is a lot of them :/ Not many gnats... yet.
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Sunrise 2:43, sunset 23:54. Practically it doesn´t get dark.
... Any confused bats in Finland, Panu? :D
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Heidi looks very smart in her new collar. Dog reg time next month. >:(
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Dog reg time next month. >:(
Yep. They should reintroduce it into the UK!
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Seriosly speaking, I´ve once seen a bat here :/ I like the temps, but sleeping is hard. Inside temp is 27, at least now I have fan and mattress on floor. Last night I couldn´t really get sleep after 2:30 ::)
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27 (o Celsius?) would be uncomfortable even with a fan! :o
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99 F here today 6 miles from Mid-town Manhattan.
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Not experienced that outside a sauna. :o
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7pm and a very chilly 7c brrrrr
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Chilly here too. Last night the temperature went down to 8 ºC and today the high barely scraped 19 ºC, compared with the 30s a week or so ago. We would really appreciate some rain, in fact.
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Same here, chilly and the rain has finally stopped, back to wearing the fleece. Arnold there is no need to be greedy half that temperature would do you, the other half you could send over here ;D
Angie :)
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I went out bird watching this evening and my light summer fleece wasnt enough
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This afternoon I saw a sun halo/sun dog which is caused by very high ice crystals
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When the hail was bouncing off the roof today those ice crystals were rather closer to the ground!
Super photos, Mark.
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You (they) don't have dog registration in the UK? We've had it here for many years and it is supposed to keep an accurate record of who has what and what could be dangerous etc. Some breeds are prohibited altogether and needless-to-say, those who have such dogs fail to register them, which is an offence but the owners have to be caught before anything can be done about it. It is also, of course, a very lucratuve tax gatherer for local councils, though of course they do fund the pound and SPCA to some extent. Teddy and Cain have a green disc each this year. It changes each year so it can be seen at a glance whether strays are registered or not.
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thanks Maggi. It was all luck because I had to point the camera with out looking in the same direction because of the sun
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You (they) don't have dog registration in the UK? We've had it here for many years and it is supposed to keep an accurate record of who has what and what could be dangerous etc. Some breeds are prohibited altogether and needless-to-say, those who have such dogs fail to register them, which is an offence but the owners have to be caught before anything can be done about it. It is also, of course, a very lucratuve tax gatherer for local councils, though of course they do fund the pound and SPCA to some extent. Teddy and Cain have a green disc each this year. It changes each year so it can be seen at a glance whether strays are registered or not.
Dog licensing was abolished in the UK in 1988. Prior to this dog licences were mandatory, but the requirement was widely ignored, with only about half of owners having one. The final rate for a dog licence was 37 pence, reduced from 37½p when the halfpenny was withdrawn in 1984. This figure was an exact conversion from 7/6 (seven shillings and sixpence) on decimalization in 1971. The revenue went to local authorities. I think it should be brought back!
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If the final rate was 37p, you'll get a nasty shock when you register Heidi. :o As well as ordinary registration, we have a version for "approved owners" (at about half price I think) but that requires all sorts of extra things like fully fenced sections with dogs on a lead at all times they're off site and other rubbish. You may as well keep your dog in a glass cage.
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She's registered until the end of June, so we've had a partial hit already.
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You (they) don't have dog registration in the UK? We've had it here for many years and it is supposed to keep an accurate record of who has what and what could be dangerous etc. Some breeds are prohibited altogether and needless-to-say, those who have such dogs fail to register them, which is an offence but the owners have to be caught before anything can be done about it. It is also, of course, a very lucratuve tax gatherer for local councils, though of course they do fund the pound and SPCA to some extent. Teddy and Cain have a green disc each this year. It changes each year so it can be seen at a glance whether strays are registered or not.
Dog licensing was abolished in the UK in 1988. Prior to this dog licences were mandatory, but the requirement was widely ignored, with only about half of owners having one. The final rate for a dog licence was 37 pence, reduced from 37½p when the halfpenny was withdrawn in 1984. This figure was an exact conversion from 7/6 (seven shillings and sixpence) on decimalization in 1971. The revenue went to local authorities. I think it should be brought back!
There should be one for cats, about a £1000 a year might be right :P
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With a mandatory microchip with a soluble long lasting contraceptive coating.