Weather.... late 2009

[johnw]

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

[johnw]

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

[Martinr]

The Shipping News. Very good film but, much better by far, is the book.

[Maggi Young]

........ 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.

[Maggi Young]

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?? 

[Martinr]

Eh.......No

[Lori S.]

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.

[Maggi Young]

Well done, Lori!

 
 
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 .

[David Nicholson]

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  )

[Lesley Cox]

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.

[Paddy Tobin]

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

[cohan]

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 

[cohan]

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

[Tony Willis]

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!

[Lori S.]

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