Weather Watching #4 Winter 2013/14

Yes, I'm convinced; I'll drop some tarps on for the rest of today and tonight....

A good layer of mulch and snow do help with the freeze thaw problem, especially potted stuff.
I bought bubble wrap for the GH but didn't get any installed today, I also have more foam board to install.

Well, I persuaded myself not to do anything more for the potted plants outside -- it was just too cold to care!

We did take care to feed the birds (hulled sunflower seed because I hate the mess of the shells on the patio), and we put out the heated birdbath. Our local bird population now seems blissfully happy. I also put out some suet cakes I made last year and had kept in the freezer. My intent was to attract the woodpeckers, but instead we have starlings galore in the birdbath and on the suet ... plus we have the fattest robin I have ever seen. I hope his girth is just because he fluffed up his feathers, because otherwise we need a Biggest Loser for birds... I also put out the nuts (in shells) that were left over from Thanksgiving -- the walnuts and almonds usually get scorned (by us) in favor of filberts and brazil nuts. I don't usually encourage the squirrel population but I feel bad for almost any wild thing out in this weather ... but I'll take them up before nightfall. I have my limits!

Overnight 9 now up to 15 heading to 27! Into low 50s by Sat.
Think I will wait til noon to go out and measure oil in tank. Supposedly furnace is rated to use .73 gals per hour of running time. Have already purchased 200 gals since end of Nov which in a 'normal' season is 'enough' Wonder how many BTUs are in a dollar bill? (Also have thought that a dollar bill dissolved in water should supply a full days nutrition for an adult!)

Water running, cars starting and hungry ferral cats showing up twice a day to eat their fill.
Note to self: look for snowdrops! Last year they bloomed from mid Dec on.

Saw a sad (to me) sight on my paper route just before arctic blast desended here, a 'herd' of 13 deer...Twelve babies and only one adult. Guess the managed hunt out there culled all the big ones. Watched "Inside Downton Abbey" this week and took note of how the GameKeepers manage for healthy and sustainable populations and actually have a relationship with the game they keep and the land and an intergenerational experience and perspective on their work.

Darius, Severn River is frozen over! Never have experienced the Bay frozen, but Wayne tells stories of same. One of my favorite times as a kid was when ourcreek froze and we could skate for over ten miles on it! Much better than going around in circles on the small pond in the woods.

Judy, I used to have to go out and chop a hole in the ice for the ducks to get water when I put feed out for them. I watched a lot of ice boat races on the Severn/Round Bay in front of my house, and heard tales that cars used to drive across until one went through the ice not long before I moved there.

Coleup, that is too bad about the herd--so many little ones to only one adult doesn't sound right. :-(

I have heard good things about Downton Abbey. It's on my list of series to watch!

I'll probably be working in the GH again today. I did apply some bubble wrap yesterday and have more to do. I also have some more foam panels I can put up. I had to add a couple small electric heaters a couple of nights ago, the main heater just could nor keep up at 0*F with wind. I don't think I got any more damage since my remaining coleus and begonias seem fine.

Ya know,... I could volunteer to be y'all's live-in GreenHouse monitor. I could curl up and sleep in a corner, out of the way. I can easily live on peanut butter sandwiches and applesauce, drink water from the hose; and for warmth in the place, all I gotta do is breath -- I'm told I'm a seriously good bag o' hot air. =) What'dya think? =)

LOL Speedie, I sure wish I could afford the type of GH where I would need a GH helper. I dream of large conservatories with streams, water falls and pools you can swim in.

All you have to do Holly is marry a DuPont and live in Longwood Gardens!

LOL, Yep that is just the type of place I want. That main Conservatory will suit me just fine.

aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh to die and go to heaven there…….

Thanks to a full patient load I didn't get anything protected.

Wish I could have been inside baking and watching the fireplace instead I was out in the freeze in the backwoods of Maryland making visits and getting lost when my cell phone died and I nolonger had a navigator. Nothing but me, frozen fields and empty country roads and not the dangest idea of where I was. Thank G-d for a full tank of gas and a good sense of direction. I pulled into the first sprint store I saw and walked out 2 hours and 3 patients behind later with a Gallexy tablet phone and a much expanded sense of security. To top it all off, I get home late and two hours later the power goes!!! It got so cold that my mother-in-laws bird was shivering and her feet felt like ice. We were about to move them to a hotel when my husband got a tiny generator going to hook up a space heater for them. The rest of us just froze. Two days and nights we lived through this!


I know I lost the rose bushes on the deck. I haven't had a chance to check my veggies under the chennilles in the garden but I've probably lost them. I'm kinda worried about all the lilies I planted this fall especially the formosa. Oh well, what G-d has planned he's planned and that's the end of it. I'll just start over again in the spring.

Almost forgot! In exactly ten minutes my dear dear husband and I will have met exactly 40 years ago. He was a sweet 2nd lieutenant just out of airborne school and I was a skinny dancer who said forget the toeshoes the second I met him.

That was a stone cold, freezing night in New Jersey and vain creature that I was I was wearing a pair of gold lame evening sandles with 4 inch heals with snow a foot thick on the ground. When he walked me to my car I mentioned the snow and my poor frozen toes and he said he could fix that. He just bent over scooped me up in his arms and carried me through the "fresh and drifted snow". That was it for me! We were engaged 6 weeks later and married 3 months later and for 40 years have navigated the world together. Just think, we've been together our entire adult lives. G-d willing we'll merit 40 more and live to see our great grand children.

sweet story! Congratulations! See, G-d had a wonderful plan for that cold snowy night, eh?

What a wonderful Love Story!!! =) I bet cold snowy nights bring back a lot of sweet memories for you two, huh?

Yep, the Lord has got plans for everything for us! =)

Yehudith, I love that story.

I'll add my appreciation for that love story, yehudith. God does have things worked out for us.

Glad you were able to get another phone and that you were able to stay warmish. No joke being in unfamiliar territory with weather like it was.

Yehudith -- I love that story!

WHo's heard the weather forecast ? Baltimore area
http://www.intellicast.com/Local/Hourly.aspx?chart=Temperature&location=USMD0018&day=Tomorrow

I might get to come home early from work!

My daughter's school sent out a note saying they were closing tomorrow in anticipation of the weather. She's thrilled, of course!

Hard to believe there's snow on the way with such beautiful weather today. We also had a beautiful sunset here and I was able to snap a photo.

I got a new window feeder for the birds but they haven't discovered it yet! Hoping soon...

Cat--that is an awesome picture!
Looks like a cauldron spewing fire....
G.

Catmint: That photo is lovely! I saw the same sky but didn't think to take a picture. When I do take photos of skies, they tend to be a bit washed out. What's your secret?

yup, school canceled already here too. I don't work till pm, so I think the library will be closed by then.
Tomorrow morning I will finish making my set of flannel pjs just in time for the snowstorm!!

thanks, Happy and Gita. It was pure luck! I was driving to pick up my daughter from a friend's, admiring the sky. I turned a corner, thought 'wow that looks pretty,' coasted to a stop at a stop sign, whipped out my cell phone, and snapped a photo. I am quite certain that if I had set out to take a nice photo, it wouldn't have worked--LOL! Often my photos of the sky are washed out, too -- I think the light just happened to be right at that moment--just dumb luck! :-)

Sally, fresh new flannel pjs sound perfect for tomorrow!

Sally--
You sew??? Oh, my God! how wonderful!

I sewed for years and years--making my kids all their little outfits--making myself
all the gowns and dresses in the 70's--Halloween outfits--making my DH his
shorts and some shirts, etc....I sewed all kinds of things...

I still have all those long pantaloon dresses. They are so well made!
Fully lined...each seam totally finished. How could I ever give them to Goodwill
or any other Thrift Shop? To me--they are priceless...Can't wear them any more--
but would sell them for decent $$ if I knew where.
Most "Vintage Shops" do not take anything this old--no matter how perfect it is.

Just one more thing I hang on to....G.

wish I could sew. my great grandmom did. she even made us dolls from socks that matched our PJs.

we put a plastic bag over our little fig tree again last night

the culinary school in South Jersey closed their campus today. Hospitals never close, so I'll be headed to work in a little bit. My drive home will be in the peak of the blizzard.

be safe everyone
enjoy the snow

Wind, will be saying prayers that YOU stay safe!!! I remember those days all too well -- health-care workers do NOT get days off for weather. I do not miss that.

Off here in a moment to prepare to run a couple errands before the white stuff starts falling down this'a way.

Cat, what a GORGEOUS photo!!! Was gonna berate you for taking pics while driving, but then you said you were stopped at a stop sign. Pheewww!! Be careful!!

I, on the other hand, have taken photos at 45-50 MPH... I do not recommend it. =P I actually got a pretty good one of one of my favourite Spring sites on my way to work. Got totally lucky with this shot! =)

Beautiful photo, Speedie! Did you really take this photo while driving by at 40-50 mph?? :-)

Yeah, I'm embarrassed to admit, yes I did. (do not try this at home!!) If I remember correctly, it was with my Canon Sure-Shot. =) I made sure there were no cars behind me or coming at me from ahead before I took it, I promise! < =D

lovely photos!
Yes Gita, though I haven't been sewing much for some time.
Last year I unpacked Moms featherweight Singer circa 1945 and it still runs like a top. I just have to be wary that the old wring might eventually short
= 8 ^0

FIrst set of pjs in about forty years that will actually have correct sleeve and pant length for me. I like to sew but the cheap cost of ready made clothes, the relaxed, knit styles now, and the higher cost of fabric make it not the cheap alternative anymore.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/21/264496001/what-is-this-bombogenesis-and-why-is-it-dumping-snow-on-us

Diana, I hope you'll consider staying there awhile… or have 4 wheel drive!

Seeing the first snowflakes here in 21234 (just above the Baltimore City line)! We're projected to get up to 8 inches, but I expect more like 6 where I am.

ack. now i'm struck with a tiny thread of panic! Last call milk and eggs! When you think about it- It's kind of bizarre how this stuff suddenly appears and keeps on falling for hours. I hope coleup does not have delivery tonight.

I'm pretty positive I am not going anywhere, but have to keep checking to see if the library closes by 1 pm.

Hey, if someone gets a picture, that might be a good time to start a new weather thread.

I think the Book club at West County branch will have to postpone discussing their book…due to the snow...


title The Snow Child

LOL Sally oh the irony! :-)

I hope my patrons took my advice last week, I did a fiction display titled
Snow day supplies…batteries, bread, BOOKS

Sally, you forgot the toilet paper and milk! LOL
A fine heavy snowfall here, probably an inch already and the schools are closed. The backyard around the feeders is just covered with birds, from cardinals to juncos, gorging for the snow and coming cold.

Wish I could enjoy a day off! We're both home but review meeting scheduled for today so am plugged into work remotely while my daughter enjoys her day off

Just got home from running my errands and it's still dry down this way. Wouldn't ya know it, when I was like 4 miles from home my cell rang. (NO, I most certainly did not answer it!) Was Hubby, 10:00. Msg was that it had begun snowing in DC so he was on his way home. YIPPEEE!!! Any time now I should start seeing flakes... (other than the ones I saw on the roads while I was running errands...) ;) The forecast for down here now says 3-7 inches possible. I doubt it'll be that much as we're looking at NE winds. It's only ever really bad when they're South winds.

(oh, btw; groceries were not on the errand-running list, heeheeheee)

Speedie---

Dec. 2011--on my way home from NJ X-mas get-together...

I was driving about 75mph on I-95 when I took these pictures...
it was such a weird sky! Held my camera with both hands on the
top of the steering wheel and took them through the windshield...

Also NOT recommended!! Gita

It is flurrying steady here. The ground is covered.
The worst is supposed to come in mid afternoon.
Predicted---4"-6" of snow. Tonight's wind chills in teens ans also below zero.

I am not going anywhere. Hope to continue working on my seeds....
G.