Heat Wave

We hit 44*F here today so I went out in the sunshine to do a few chores. My 1st surprise was the pond heater was not in a hole in the ice, but a bowl in the ice! I have been checking on it to be sure it was working, and was. As I dug through 9-10" of ice to make a breath hole I found one of our fan tails frozen in the ice under the heater. I hope the other pond life fared better. Ric

Poor fishy.

It felt nice to be out of the 20's

Ric, was this the Bathtub pond?
I don't use a heater in my water garden, I just keep the pump running. Sometimes when we get those really below 0º extended periods, the pond ices over, but the water is running below the ice.
I have native fish, I figured they would have a better chance of survival.They are not pretty but fun to watch.

I went to the store this morning, and it was a beautiful site, all the trees and shrubs had an ice coating, and it just glistened in the sunshine. The fields were diamond white.
I was very aware of falling ice from the overhead power lines, some places on the road looking like someone dropped a very large crate of expensive crystal glass wear.
Got up to 34º looking at 38º tomorrow, tonight we are expected to get some icing.

If the forecast is to be believed, it's going to stay above 40 during the day for the next 10 days and no snow in sight.

Chris, This was the deep pond with the bird bath, it's where we over winter our aquqtic plants and critters but it need an opening to prevent methane build up. We usually just run a small (100w) heater to maintain a vent. It must have frozen so deep and fast the heater couldn't keep up. Ric
They are now predicting possible freezing rain for Sunday and more weather by next Friday.

This message was edited Jan 14, 2010 11:29 PM

No wonder my chili froze!!!

Stormy, Want to borrow a pond heater? LOL Ric

I generally love winter, but that freezing cold and those high winds were a bit much.

I'm guessing the 100w was not enough to keep up with the freeze.
One year when it stayed cold for to long I pour a few tea kettles for boiling water, (not real close to where the fish lurk) just to vent the pond. The say not to use a hammer to break the ice as the percussion is not good for the fish.

ric--ROFL!
I agree below freeze and above 20 MPH is Not Acceptable.
It does feel good to go out when it improves like this . The birds always talk about it! I hear robins in the trees today. Plotting about when to make a big Appearance back on the lawns in February--then they get us all saying Oh, I thought robins migrate? Must be early spring!! I've seen them too many times to be fooled.

Ric, don't give up on that fantail... hope you left him where you found him. Goldfish can freeze solid and revive when thawed. Obviously it won't work every time under uncontrolled conditions, but I knew I guy who would toss his goldfish buddy into the lab's subzero freezer when he had to travel... he'd return, thaw the fish gently in a bowl of warm water, and soon it would be swimming around and looking for its lunch.

Frozen chili... reminds me, I left a pot of beef stew on the back deck overnight! Better retrieve it. (Yes, it was really good... first time I've used Penzey's Herbs de Provonce, and that was just the thing with a glass or two of wine, garlic, and pepper in the stew)

supposed to be 47 here today!!!

a tropical heat wave~~~~wasn't it wonderful?
critter how funny! typical guy/scientist. Could a woman be so analytical about a pet??And what is it with us Mids and the pots of food on the deck? Next time I find myself out in the middle of the night, and hungry.....I got that sample Herbes too.

Most of the snow is melted here except the huge dirty piles here and there. Took DD out last evening and smelled the' thawed earth' smell--aaaahhhhhh Just a few weeks till I can look for snowdrops and daffodils noses! I have 'Hawera' narcissus foliage but its always very early in this warm spot I have it in.

It's 48 and sunny with lite wind outside here now. Been picking up all of the branches out of the beds and breaking them up. There's a small amount of snow still left in my front shrub beds. They are a north/west exposure and only get very late afternoon sun, which isn't much this time of year.

Sally, I was thinking about getting some Daff Hawara this year, but I put in quite a few others. Mabe I can pick some up in a daff swap. Yours looked very pretty in your photos. My parsley rose from the dead this week, so I need to use it in tomorow's soup making.It's so strange to keep remembering to go out and water it this time of year.

my parsley is doing great inside this year.. actually trimmed some back it was getting out of hand

I got so hot working inside of the house today, that I had to go back out & do some more outside. So much trash & debris had blown into the yard. Filled two trash cans with it and the branches that I didn't set aside for kindling. Picked up hundreds of Spruce Cones.

It was glorious today! By mid-afternoon, it was 51degF here. I thought I might
finish planting a few bulbs that never got into the ground but the ground is still
frozen. I did get a huge number of branches and twigs picked up though. It
felt sooo good to be outside. I can manage winter if we get a few of these warm
days every now and again.

Tam

Good for you, Tammy. Yes, the ground was frozen here too.

My parsley is also surprisingly productive inside, Onewish. I think that I saved my tarragon after discovering that the paper plate that was placed under it (over a deep dish to catch the drainage) was blocking the holes in the pot. We'll see if it survives being too wet.

We took advantage of the weather yesterday by cleaning out the garage a bit, and washing one of the cars. The weather forecast prompted us to hurry up and do this before it gets too cold again.

it's funny how just smelling fresh parsley makes me think spring!.. best of luck to your tarragon!!

Onewish, I always say that Parsley tastes like spring time!

Good thing we all got to work outside yesterday with all of this rain today.

I was thinking the same thing! We're heading out to see Avatar at the local
IMAX theater. I've seen it but DH has not. I think its a good movie for gardeners
starved for spring.

Tam

I went to work in the barn since it was raining, I have some shelves to cut out for in the laundry room. The temps were ok for working in the dry without being all bundled up. Ric

I saw an interview about avatar the other day.. amazing they have every plant named by the Latin names

really? I loved it the second time too. I was able to really see the plants
and animals the second time. What an amazing display of imagination!
Tam

they hired a botanist to design and keep track of every plant

Now THAT impresses me! I spend half of LOST looking at the tropicals, trying to decide what was placed and what might have been natural, and naming them --Hey didja see that giant elephant ear? those comments are Lost on my family members LOL

Great day for working outside. A little too windy to broadcast seeds. Picked up a lot more sticks and debris. Gave some shrubs some amendments. Fed the birds. Straightened up some more supplies. Getting some of the jugs set up in Milk Crates. Emptied water out of everything.

Was outside playing with the dog, didn't have a coat on. That was nice.

I planted some chard seeds in my cold frame. AHHHH. I tell myself I am recharging my psychic batteries on days like this.
and got the last Xmas decor in and packed.

LOL jen, I'm following you around DG tonite!

lol

You beat me with the Christmas stuff, Sally. I've got it All down, but it's not yet packed away. Supposed to rain on Sunday. That will be a good day for that chore. Seed swap on Saturday.

Hubby threw his back out again, so couldn't help me get the boxes back up in the attic. I have the tree and 2 more boxes to put up there yet. It's really obnoxious trying to do it myself.

The worst part of the job to me is the crawling under the steps to shove the dammm boxes under there, rearranging the other crap you 'never' use but will need one month after sticking it way in the back. I sympathize, jen!

stormyla, you guys have some incredible swap lists for that swap, holy cow.

Same thing here Jen, Uggh! Funny, it happened before Christmas too. Urggh......

Your right about that crawling, Sallly. I made a mess inside the crawl space unwrapping it all. Now it's time to pay the piper. Saturday should be fun!!

It wouldn't be sooooo bad if the attic access was just 1" wider. The storage bins get hung up on the metal hinges, so you have to lift them up and over your head first instead of just pushing them right up the stairs. Did that make any sense?