December Daily Weather - Tis the Season Part 3

Rusty: little Rustie is a very smart puppy--glad she is the right pup for you!
Celia: "Jack Frost" is certainly nipping around in your area!
Bernie: good looking tv cabinet--the lady was surely pleased with it?
Ric: glad you and Robyn had a good time with the family and made it back home without any problems from the weather.
Kelli: enjoying the photos from the animal park. We didn't make it to that park when we went to see the San Diego zoo.
Rann: at my house, when I was growing up, we got toys from
Santa and the other gifts, such as clothes, etc., from our parents. It was the same way when I had small children, too. Different families do different things about that--some homes get all their gifts from Santa--just depends on the particular family. and then there are more and more families, like Marylyn's, that don't celebrate the "Santa" part of the holiday, preferring to keep things focused on the true meaning of Christmas, which, after all, is "Christ's Day".

Today Sunny
Right Now 47°F
Feels Like 43°F
Wind: From S at 8 mph
Humidity: 55%
UV Index: 1 Low
Sunrise: 7:12 AM CT
Avg. High: 51°F
Record High: 76°F (1967)
Tonight Clear
Overnight Low 32°F
Wind: From WSW at 6 mph
Max. Humidity: 76%
Sunset: 5:00 PM CT
Avg. Low: 30°F
Record Low: 7°F (1996)

This ceramic tree has been in my family for almost 50 years. It was made for my mother by a friend of hers and when my mother died, it came to me.

Mau we have the same tree.
Made by my exMIL 35 years ago or so...... given to my DM


Ric

How nice, Ric! My aunt had a tree just like it, too, only hers was pink! (She was really big into pink--even had a pink aluminum tree for years--with pink ornaments all over it! LOL) I'm not sure what happened to that pink ceramic tree when my aunt died unless my sister gave it to one of her daughters.

edited to ask a question: Ric, do you know where I can get more of those gold (look almost orange) "bulbs"? Actually, my tree has a big light bulb that fits underneath the tree and the "bulbs" are just plastic that allow the light to glow through them. I have several that are missing and there don't seem to be any ceramic shops around anymore where I can purchase them.

This message was edited Dec 20, 2009 3:07 PM

Ric, I don't remember the marabou stork.

Rann, growing up, we got gifts from Santa and relatives. I don't remember if we only got toys from Santa or if it could be anything. (If I had kids, I would give them fewer Christmas presents but I'd make sure that they were all fun things. No socks and underwear for Christmas presents. Those are only slightly more fun than homework.) My parents told us that they had to pay Santa for the gifts and that is why we couldn't always get everything that we asked for. I have never heard of anyone else's parents saying that.

Marilyn, I'm sure there is some place online where you can buy those bulbs. I do a search on ceramic Christmas tree bulbs. You might have to get enough to redo the whole tree in order to make sure the color is all the same.

Van Nuys, California (Airport)
Updated: 2:51 PM PST on December 20, 2009
70 °F
Mostly Cloudy
Humidity: 26%
Dew Point: 33 °F
Wind: 6 mph from the South

more pictures from Wild Animal Park

African succulent garden

Baja garden

Calfornian garden

general overview of the park

a view in a different direction

Ric - that link is hilarious! lol I never realised they were that hard to make ..... my recipe certainly isn't THAT tricky! Time consuming, yes, but definately worth the trouble. They are absolute "must haves" on Christmas. The girls LOVE them! :-) Selma asked me to make a double batch so there would definately be enough ..... not sure that's going to happen! lol Thanks for the weather info ... I'll check it out, looks like it could save me a lot of time ;-) lol

Kelli - great photos. Love the African succulent garden .... really neat!

Mau - love the ceramic tree ...... Hildur Eva thinks I should get one too ;-) lol

Celia - pretty! :-)

Thank you all for your answers to Selma's question, very interesting to hear your different versions. Here kids get presents from their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc. so if the family's big it's a lot of presents ...... and a lot of presents to buy if there are a lot of kids in your immediate family. With our recent split, my Christmas shopping list got considerably shorter as I only have to find presents for my side of the family .... 5 nieces and nephews, my parents and siblings.

My ex will spend Christmas Eve with the me and the girls ......... I hope it will help to make this Christmas better for them. He's even offered to help me clean the house ...... which I think was pretty sweet of him.

Here's another horse photo from Friday ......

Rann

Here is a supplier of ceramic Christmas tree lights http://www.ceramicartspace.com/ceramics187/store.html

Temps were varied pretty widely across the state. Around here at my house we reached around 42. But the further north you went the colder it was. I was in Milan today visiting family and it was right around the freezing mark all day but no wind. And they still had patches of snow on the ground.

Here you go Mau.
http://www.ceramicartspace.com/ceramics187/store.html

LOL!
Guess great minds think alike Kelli.
I should have refreshed my page before responding.

The Stork was down by the 'Village'.
He was eating mice thrown by a handler, reached down a snatched a lizard and threw it at the crowd.
They may have 'retired' him to the Zoo....lol!

Ric

Mau, Mr. Frost certainly has made a home for himself here.

Rann,

Love your pictures of the horses. It reminded me of a funny (well I thought it was funny) happening a number of years ago. I used to travel (by car) extensively throughout central and northern Alberta. The company that I worked for had a technical specialist that was sent from California to Alberta for a little road trip in the middle of winter. We had to drive 3 hours from one city to another, so there was time to chat about the scenery. The subject of cows came up, since most the trip is thru agricultural terrain. There were all sorts of questions about what the cows ate, where they slept, did they go "in" at night, what were they doing in a field of snow etc. I asked what's with all the cow questions. He (Mr. California) had never seen such furry cows. A few months later I had phoned him and he happened to be in Alaska. I asked him how furry the cows were up there. He sure thought that was funny.

That IS funny, Joanna! LOL

Thanks again for the shots Kelli.
I have to dig our slides out and start scannning them.

To everyone if you are ever in the San Diego area you HAVE to get a dual pass.
And budget a full day for each Park.
Admission to both parks, free train ride in the WAP and free double decker bus ride at the SDZ.
AND 2 Sky Lift Tickets.
The chair ride over the Zoo is insane!
Course so are the escalators taking you up out of the valley too...
You can literally spend a week just in Balboa Park.
We spent 3 days there and did not have enough time.

We never broke freezing today.
Watched the Browns game streaming so I couldn't Tivo.... that killed the afternoon...lol!

Ric

Hey at least you could watch the game Ric!! LOL. Chiefs didn't sell out so they had a blackout for 75 miles around. Grrr....

Pepper ALL the games are streamed on Justin.TV.
Just have to watch a sometimes bad feed on your computer.

I forgot about your being in KC...... Sorry!
But hey the Chiefs helped set three records today! For the Browns.... lol!


Ric

Somebody just finished a game with Carolina. I don't know who played, but it wasn't the Vikings.
Oh well, after 40 years of Vikings football you are used to this kind of let down. Remember we lost 4 Super Bowls & numerous playoff games.
That's why everybody has a fish house & goes fishing through the ice in late December & January. It is way more e3xciting than watching the Vikings!
Bars do real good, because everybody trying to drown their sorrows after the lousy game.

20º yet tonight. Above average temps. Love it! everyone of these makes the winter shorter.

We went over to daughters house this afternoon & put sheetrock on the wall between the garage & house. They are going to get insulation tomorrow & warm the place up!

We took a job putting crown moulding around a room at a house in Mankato. Doing it tomorrow. Over 110ft around the room & 25 corners. Figuring the whole day to do it.

Bernie

Good morning everyone! We went through another snowstorm on Saturday night and we had , of course, more snow to shovel...grrr!
Today it's sunny, but freezing. The tems have dropped to 4 during the night..brrrr!!!!Today we are going with Andreea to the doctor for a scan which will show if the baby is a boy or a girl, I can hardly wait!
Today appeared my article about the pinecone candle holders. You can see it here :

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2743/

Mau, what a wonderful Christmas Tree! I hope you can find the bulbs for it!
Ric, that's a lot of work, but it worths it! When are you leaving?
Kelli, great pics! The animals look awesome! And love the cactuses and succulents!Were those red flowers?
Celia, that is some frost! Cool pics!
Rann, my story about Santa Claus in Romania is the same , only that it's a slightly difference. During the years of communism we weren't allowed to be religious and Santa Claus had a different name. In Romanian we aren't calling him Santa , but Old Man and he was called the Freezing Old Man. After the falling of communism in 1989(BTW, tomorrow will be 20 years since) he came back to the children as Santa Claus. While I was a kid, I got my presents always under the tree and mom said they were left there by the Freezing Old Man.

Hugs,
Adina

Good morning!

Windy and cold this morning .... wouldn't mind not leaving the house at all today.
According to the weather channel this is our weather ..... sounds about right. Partly cloudy, 28°F ... feels like 14°F. Wind 10-20 mph from north. High 29°F, low 27°F (this could be why they never bother listing highs and lows here either ...) Sunrise at 11:23, sunset at 3:30. According to their 10-day forecast there's a possibility of snow showers on the 23rd! :-) There's still hope!

Joanna - that is a funny story :-) Didn't know they'd keep cows outside during winter ..... they stay inside here. Even the sheep are inside, just some horses that are still outdoors.

Nr. 10 brought the girls glitter pens. His name is Gluggagægir (window peeper). He's not as particular as the others, he likes to do some window shopping before he decides what to take ...... and then maybe comeback later to get it ....

Rann

Here's a video from last night's concert. I told you earlier Selma's choir was singing in a concert with a well-known singer here in Iceland. It was great ... great experience for the girls. It was so exciting for them to meet her. She represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 so to them she's like a super star! lol http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1099367424308 Selma's in the center of the back row.

Another photo from Friday.... long shadows at high noon ;-)

Rann

23.9 °F with 31º for the high.
Overcast
Windchill: 24 °F
Humidity: 89%
Dew Point: 21 °F
Wind: Calm
Wind Gust: 0.0 mph
Pressure: 30.23 in (Falling)
Visibility: 1.0 miles
UV: 0 out of 16
Clouds: Overcast 300 ft
(Above Ground Level)
Elevation: 4383 ft

I hit SEND way before I was ready.

Happy Birthday, Rusty!!!

Rann, that cat is showing Gluggagægir a thing or two! LOL Selma looked like she was having a good time. Is that the young lady who was in competition you told us about? Your horse pics a re great!!!

Adina, love the article today. All the items looks so fun to make.

Happy B-Day Rusty!

The forecast has changed a bit and we may have another dump of snow over the next couple of days. Temps are about -10ºC, which is +14ºF.

Here's a picture of our farm, about 6 hours drive NE of Calgary. A real "fixer upper"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rusty!!
Hope you and the Pups have a Great Day!

Let me get thus straight Joanna... it's not cold enough in Calgary so you have a farm 6 hours NE?
What will you raise Musk Ox or Reindeer?


Happy Solstice!
Today is Winter Solstice. The longest night and shortest day...
(9:25 hours of sunlight here)
They had a big ceremony up at Fort Ancient this morning.
Built originally about 2000 years ago by the Hopewell Indians and then expanded by the Fort Ancient Tribe is an 18000 foot long earthworks w/ walls up to 35' tall.
Originally it was thought to be a defensive structure, hinse the name.
Then a Summer trading post... turquoise from AZ, shells from ME and bones/tools from the Western Plains Indians have been found there.
No winter living quarters from the Hopewell or Fort Ancient eras though.
Then a small village was found outside the walls.
After satellite mapping and ground surveys and a lot of brush/tree removal it's thought it's true nature has been discovered. It's a Solar and Lunar Calendar.
Notches in the wall line up w/ a mound in the center and mark various astronomic events.
This morning the sun rise lines up w/ the furthest south notch when viewed from the center mound.

So several local Native American tribes hold their Winter Cermonies there now.
A giant bonfire is lit on the mound as the sun rises.
Come Summer Solstice a huge Tribal gathering and festival will be held.

Here's a sampling of some of the Earthworks and Mounds.
http://www.safetgallery.com/MoundPix/MoundFrameset.html
http://www.cmnh.org/site/Img/AboutUs/Pressroom/EarthWorks/fullsize/1.jpg

33° here and we appear to be going back to our normal temps after today.
Low/Mid 40's for a high Mid/Upper 20's for a low.

Ric

Hi everyone! I'm just lurking and enjoying everyone's pictures, Adina look at all of that snow! I don't have anything to look at except bare trees and dormant grass. Ur dogs are so cute!

It's gorgeous today, high 50's and bright sun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUSTY! Have a great day!

Crissy is correct. It is gorgeous here today--it was 59*F on my back porch just a little bit ago. Friday and I enjoyed some time outside and Friday especially enjoyed a roll in the grass but, good doggie that he is, he shook off all the dead grass before we came inside. LOL
Thank you, Kelli and Ric for the link to the bulbs for my ceramic tree. I am going to order a bag of 100 multi-colored bulbs for use in future years. My daughter also has one of these trees so she and I together can both use the bulbs.
Rann: I'm glad Hildur Eva liked my ceramic tree. Maybe she will get one herself one of these years.! Sure hope so! glad to hear that the girls' father will be spending some time with the girls and you on Christmas Eve.
Joanna: funny story about the "furry cows" LOL
Rann: you certainly have some "furry" ponies over there--I've enjoyed the photos! The trolls are still up to their mischief, I see. Glad the girls are being good, though. ;o))
Ric: interesting story about Fort Ancient. We have a place here called Crowley's Ridge which has mounds where ancient tribes lived. There is another place called Toltec Mounds. The history of both places is very interesting.
Celia: Isis appears to be very playful in that 2nd photo but just "chillin' " in the first one. :o)) P.S. You can keep Jack Frost up there--I don't like him!! LOL--except the photos he creates are pretty to look at!
Adina: Which is it for your DD--a girl or a boy? Nice article about the pine cone candle holders. You put a lot of work into the candle holders and into the article!

Tonight: Partly cloudy skies. Low 38F. Winds light and variable.
Tomorrow: Cloudy skies early. A few showers developing later in the day. High around 60F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

Happy Birthday, Rusty!!!

GREAT article, Adina!! :-)

I loved the furry cow story, Joanna! LOL

I like glitter pens, too, Rann. :-)

We're almost done Christmas shopping finally... I still need to buy one more thing for Joy (the movie Up!), a few stocking fillers (probably underwear and socks... sorry, Kelli! ;-) I already bought the fun stuff for the stockings!) and candy to fill in any remaining empty space, and something from the bunnies for Daddy (I'll take them to Home Depot - it's easy to find parking there, and he can always use another flashlight or fun tool. LOL) I actually haven't shopped for all of our nieces and nephews yet, but I also haven't finished the photo montage DVD thingy that I send out to their parents yet, either, so they're just going to get late gifts from us. They're pretty used to that! LOL I've had a project for church that I've been working on and has eating up my remaining brain cells and all of my computer time. The project (or at least the part that was due today) is done now, so I need to get to work on the "movie"!

It's nice outside!! We're going to have a chilly front later in the week, but then the highs will still be in the 50s. Back to our normal (non-snowy) December weather!

Observation for Houston, TX (KSGR) as of 2:53pm CST (28 min ago)
Temperature 66 °F 19 °C
Dew Point 45 °F 7 °C
Humidity 46%
Pressure 30.17 in 1021.8 mb
Wind Speed 12 MPH 10 kts
Wind Dir S 180°
Ceiling 4800 ft 1463 m
Visibility 10 mi 16.1 km
Current Conditions Cloudy
6 hour min temperature ending 11:53am CST : 34.0°F / 1.1°C

Rest of today Mostly sunny in the late morning and early afternoon then becoming partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight Partly cloudy until late night then becoming mostly cloudy. Warmer. Lows in the lower 50s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Right now it 63*...

Got my truck fix done today and it was pretty bad on tie-joint arms and rubber thing to hold the arm on tie-joints...

Thanks for my b-day and it will be no cake for me! Oh well, I just stay home and rest also play Rustie for while that it was my b-day pup! lol... Rusty is good thing to help me to teach my pup to know around yard and house... She get smart everyday to learn new word to know what's it I keep talk -teach... Rustie is not ready to jump off the deck yet still whine! So, she have to learn patient not whine! lol... (too small to get back up there!)

Happy birthday, Rusty!

Celia, your cat looks like me. I layed down after lunch and slept for two hours. I guess I wore myself out in San Diego.


It looks like it could rain but they aren't calling for anything.

Van Nuys, California (Airport)
Updated: 2:51 PM PST on December 21, 2009
62 °F
Overcast
Humidity: 41%
Dew Point: 38 °F
Wind: Calm

pictures from Sea World

dolphin

The walrus cracks me up

another Christmas tree

orkas

Happy Birthday Rusty....enjoy your pups!!!

Happy Birthday Rusty!!

It's pretty decent here today. High of low 40s mostly sunny.

Rusty I hope you had A GREAT BIRTHDAY!!!!! Looks like you are thoroughly enjoying your birthday pup, as cute as she is and all!

Awww Sea World, I love Sea World, haven't been there in years. In fact, the last time I was there I was in high school, had to spend 4 days at the park. We were there for a band competition and there were 4 days between the times we played and the only place the instructor took us was Sea World, great idea for one, maybe two days, but by the third day we were just sitting around on the grass, and the 4th day was way way boring. I've been to San Diego lots of times after that, just did everything else but Sea World. LOL

I have got to get off of the computer and put my foot up. Darn thing!