Hi all, it's stll too nice to talk about and gonna be this way here till March when it will get hotter! LOL
I have company coming and am sorry I let the last thread get so long. My Lap top is also not well.
Please come by and post your weather and mussings often.
Hugs,
Sidney
I'll catch up soon ;)
Hi Sidney! I hope Santa will get you a new laptop!
ME TOO Juri, LOL.
;)
Ooops - forgot the link to Google Earth!
www.googleearth.com
O, Wow! That's some link! Kiska thanks!
A little rassel-dazzle at my home. However, creative. Lol.
Well! We had a balmy 80F for a high today. Tomorrow they say "low 80s". Like Dyson, I'd trade the beautiful warm weather fo a few days of R-A-I-N. I watered everything pretty well yesterday, but it soaks in and still feels dry. On the other hand, sure is nice to do chores in shorts!
Joey: That's the cutest little reindeer I've ever seen! (Not even a good guess on the trivia, so - as stab - B.)
Sidney: That's a lovely tree!
George: Really enjoying your photos of St Petersburg. Nice happy plants there in your last one. I notice I can only read the title of one book on your shelf! :)
OK - now I forgot who mentioned the YakTraks and if I go back I know I'll lose my post, so I'll just repeat my mantra of last winter: "May I never need YakTraks!"
I hope those of you in the path of the ice storm are all ok and toasty warm.
Deb
(Here's a warm oldie; an evening at the beach.)
Hi everyone!
Lots of nasty weather and great photos since I last checked in! Hope the nasty weather is over and the great photos keep coming :-)
The weekend was fairly calm and chilly, now we're having quite a hefty storm ...... the winds are howling and the roof is creaking .......51 mph winds from the SE gusting to 76 mph. It's raining so the snow's all gone and the current temp. is 37°F. It'll be interesting to see if there will be any Christmas lights left in the morning.
It'w past my bedtime so I'll sign off now
Have a good night!
Rann
Rann: I keep meaning to ask. Are these high winds normal for your winter there? Or is this year unusual?
Deb
Deb, that's the best ocean pic I've seen so far! Reminds me the rolling waves of my favorite Black Sea.
Thost Yaktraks came in handy this past spring when we had the ice then. Saved many people from getting hurt. I don't use them much though since I have boots with really thick, chunky rubber soles. I can almost run on ice in them. lol. But if I have other boots on then I wear the Yaktraks.
This is from one of our news stations:
"An ice storm warning will go into effect for most of the Kansas City area this evening starting at 6PM. Heavy ice accumulations between 0.5" and 1" are possible with this next winter storm through Wednesday morning. This storm will begin this evening as some freezing rain/drizzle. Overnight, the freezing rain could pick up in intensity, creating very slick roads. Thunder with the freezing rain is possible, and that means, more glazing in those areas. Through Tuesday, periods of freezing rain are likely. By Wednesday, this storm should wrap up, but still give us a wintry mix through noon."
Currently: 27°F Freezing Rain
Currently: -2°C Freezing Rain
Wind: East at 9 MPH
Humidity: 93%
Dewpoint: 25°F
Barometer: 30.18 inches and falling
Wind Chill: 18°F
Wind: East at 14 KPH
Humidity: 93%
Dewpoint: -3°C
Barometer: 1022 millibars and falling
Wind Chill: -7° C
39° and it will be 50° by the time I go to work at 6 AM....
We are definitely on the other side of the front hitting Pepper...
We should hit 65° as a high tomorrow.
Then we drop back down near our normal 45° for the rest of the week.
AND we'll see some Sun!
We've had all the rain everyone else is lacking it seems.
We've officially had 4.76" of rain this month thru midnight last night.
3" of that have been on the last two Sunday's 1.5" each.....
Actually Thanksgiving and Christmas Cactus are two different plants from the same Genus.
TC is Schlumbergera truncata
CC are any number of hybrids of Schlumbergera
Nit Picking I know but hey this is a Gardening Site.... LOL!
Ric
Thanks, George. It's the Atlantic, not far from where I live.
Pepper: Aha! It was you that metntioned the Yaktraks. (Sorry, memory malfunction.) That forecast sounds awful. Be careful if you have to go out!
Deb
Dark, Dry, 67°(F)
I tried to talk a sil into taking a DHC off my hands. She did not bite.
This is what it looks like on radar.
www.kmbc.com/wxmap/4540087/detail.html
Pepper, even our local Pa. stations are advising of the rough ice storm you are going to get. Stay safe!!
We have had rain and 38 degrees today. Everything is well soaked. Was going to go to the big city today but fog was too thick. I would take a picture of oour area but is would just be grey, darker grey and grey. LOL We are expecting to see sunshine by the weekend.
Pretty tree, sidney
rann; those are some winds you are experiencing!
pepper: your bad weather is all over the news down here--stay safe.
ric, our weather sounds like a carbon copy of yours--we've had enough rain for a while and I am trying to send it over to Deb and Dyson. Also, I'll be sure to tell my cactus that it is a "Schlumbergera truncata". Maybe I'll start calling it "schlummy" for short! LOL
se_eds: I sent our fog over your way!
Deb: that is such a soothing picture of the moonlight on the water. Love it!
George , I love the photo with those Christmas lights. In your other photo, I think I spotted a pony tail plant (or aka "elephant's foot"), a "mother-in-law's tongue", a corn plant and I can't identify the one on the left--not familiar with it.
Here is my pony tail plant or elephant's foot would be more appropriate given the size of the "foot" on mine. I bought this "little" darling for 38 cents 33 years ago when it was just 3 inches tall. I need to put some more dirt in the pot and stake the plant so it will stand upright--it has been leaning over lately.
and here's a corn plant I have had for several years. I had to cut off about 3 feet of it last year when we moved into this house. It has already grown a foot since we moved!
edited to say that I have this plant staked but even the stake is leaning over! sigh
This message was edited Dec 10, 2007 11:00 PM
To everyone in the ice storm, please stay safe. It looks and sounds really bad in the Midwest.
Well I’m with Dyson and Deb – I’d trade some of this summer like weather for a good long soaker. : (
Juri – Those are some healthy plants you have!
Deb – Nice looking ocean!
Rann – Hang on! Hope the lights are still on your house!
Pepper – “The weather outside is frightful” – please stay in if you can.
Ric – Thanks for more clarification on the TC & CC! They’re both pretty! LOL!
Marsue – Your plants look healthy and happy!
59.0 °F / 15.0 °C
Fog
Humidity: 92%
Dew Point: 57 °F / 14 °C
Wind: Calm
Wind Gust: 0.0 mph / 0.0 km/h
Pressure: 30.30 in / 1026.0 hPa (Steady)
Visibility: 0.2 miles / 0.4 kilometers
UV: 0 out of 16
Clouds: Mostly Cloudy 100 ft / 30 m
Dense fog advisory in effect until 10 am EST this morning...
Today
Widespread dense fog this morning. Visibility one quarter mile or less at times this morning. Then partly cloudy and warm. High 77. East winds 5 to 10 mph.
The weather is supposed to be like this until Saturday. A little bit of color on the poinsettia!
49°(F), Heavy Fog.
Reporting Station: KROA
Relative Humidity: 93%
Wind: 170° (S) at 6mph
Gusts: 0mph
Pressure: 30.33in
Yesterday's Precip: in
Yesterday's Low Temp: 51°F
Yesterday's High Temp: 73°F
Dew Point: 52°
Visibility: 5mi
Ceiling: Unlimited
Heat Index: 54°
Wind Chill: 54°
6hr Precip: in
6hr Low Temp: 54°F
6hr High Temp: 61°F
Fog here, too, Dyson and Sharon, but I am sure we all will take the fog over the terrible ice storm the mid-west is experiencing.
Pepper-- stay safe and warm!
Hopefully DH and I can finish planting the rest of our bulbs today. I'm still sore from all that bending and stooping while planting 103 bulbs the other day!
Current conditions as of 7:08 am CST
Fog
Feels Like: 46°
Barometer: 30.15 in and steady
Humidity: 100%
Visibility: 0.25 mi
Dewpoint: 46°
Wind: E 3 mph
Sunrise: 7:05 am
Sunset: 4:56 pm
Everyone try to have a good day no matter the weather!
Good afternoon :-)
The storm has passed - the lights are still here ..... and working :-) It's raining, and just a bit breezy compared to yesterday, only 15 mph (7 m/s) from the SE gusting to 29 mph (13 m/s). 41°F (5°C) and 70% humidity.
Sunrise today was at 11:09 am, sunset will be at 3:33 pm. I must say I like it better when it's the other way around ...... however that way we wouldn't be able to enjoy candles, christmas lights and fireworks, so I'll take it ;-)
Deb - fall/winter storms are normal here - this year hasn't been unusual at all. Beautiful photo of the ocean :-)
The storm last night was the strongest one so far this winter. Most depressions in the Atlantic seem to make their way right over us, both in winter and summer .... they're just deeper in the winter months and thus heavier winds. Fortunately there are a few that miss us and then we get a few sunny days, usually we need a high pressure system over Greenland for that to happen which keeps the depressions to the south and then Britain gets them instead. That's what happened this summer when we had 6 weeks of drought and Britain almost got drowned in the meantime. We've made up that water deficit a looooooong time ago since we've gotten almost every depression since August ...... lol Plants here don't really need protection from the frost, which is usually fairly mild - it's the wind that gets them. Sorry, I didn't mean to write a book on the subject ... lol
pepper - hope the storm passes without damage. What is freezing rain? Sounds like a paradox to me ...... here we just get rain, sleet or snow/hail.
Here's a photo from last week - not quite this misty today but, gray all the same ;-)
Hope you all have a great day!
Rann
Marsue, your plants loock gorgeous!
The one you didn't recognize is Pachypodium Lameri. It's also called the Madagaskar Palm.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/search.php?q=Pachypodium+lameri++&Search=Search+PlantFiles&offset=20
Little shower all day long.
43F
Good afternoon Rann! Nice photos, as always!
Are those famous hot springs of Iceland near to your place?
Good morning! We're having a typical December so far, weather-wise. It's going to be in the low 80s today with a 20-30% chance of rain. There is a chilly front coming through tomorrow night, so it will "only" be in the 50s over the weekend. Please be careful, all of you who get real winters!!!
Observation for Houston, TX (KSGR) as of 7:53am CST (47 min ago)
Temperature 73 °F 23 °C
Dew Point 69 °F 21 °C
Humidity 87%
Pressure 30.07 in 1018.4 mb
Wind Speed 17 MPH
G 24 15 kts
G 21
Wind Dir SSE 150°
Ceiling 1200 ft 366 m
Visibility 9 mi 14.5 km
Heat Index 77 °F 25 °C
Current Conditions Mostly Cloudy
6 hour min temperature ending 5:53am CST : 73.0°F / 22.8°C
We put the Christmas tree in the living room. Sorry for how blurry this picture came out. The little bunny obviously had the camera sometime yesterday and the lens is all smeary. I'll try taking better pictures later. As you can see, this is the toy corner of the living room, and the bunnies are having a great time with the tree there. Everytime I look in there, there are different "friends" on the tree. LOL Right now we have a wheelbarrow, a doll house vanity mirror, a Beanie Baby lobster, a block, etc etc... I don't mind as long as they don't play with the lights and don't knock the tree over. :-)
Thanks, George. and thanks for the info on the Pachypodium. It certainly looks like an interesting plant, but are those "spikes" on the "foot" really sharp?
Rann: I love that photo and also enjoyed reading your "book"--don't apologize for informing us--I have learned two new things today: 1. about the pachypodium and 2.all about the weather depressions that affect your area, and oh, I almost forgot:
3. I learned how Marylyn's bunnies decorate their tree! LO.
Marylyn, tell the bunnies, I love their decorating. Such wonderful memories you
and they are making! :o)))
DH and I finished planting the bulbs (70 of them today--103 on Sunday afternoon) this morning in the fog. Fog is lifting somewhat now and hopefully we may see the sun for a little while before the rain comes in tonight.
Marylyn, the bunnies did a great job with the tree.
Windy and cool-ish again today. The wind is "supposed" to end on Wednesday.
Updated: 8:51 AM PST on December 11, 2007
Observed at: Van Nuys, California
Elevation: 797 ft / 243 m
54 °F / 12 °C
Partly Cloudy
Humidity: 28%
Dew Point: 21 °F / -6 °C
Wind: 16 mph / 26 km/h / 7.2 m/s from the NE
Wind Gust: 24 mph / 39 km/h / 10.8 m/s
Here is my Christmas tree. It looks better in real life when you can see the lights and the sparkle, but you get the idea.
Ye'all have marvelous Christmas trees! I didn't get one yet. I think, there's a good trend of using the artificial ones?
Marsue, the thorns on the stem of Pachypodium Lamerei are quite hard and, I would say sharp.
I was especially impressed by Kelli's pic in the PlantFiles. As I have learned, those can grow up to 20ft on Madagaskar!
I wonder was Kelli's pic made in CA?
28*/ Sunrise was a few minutes ago at 10:05; Sets at 3:34...but, there's no sun today; it's snowing so at least the gray is being displaced.
Snow showers. Snow accumulation up to 2 inches. Highs in the upper 20s to mid 30s. Light winds.
Thanks for new thread, Sidney/ nice seeing your tree and so many others.
Sorry to be so impersonal again today, seems the day gets shorter and shorter along w/daylight.
Have a great day, no matter the weather where you are. (even if it's warm:))
Kiska
George, my pachypodium picture was taken in CA. It was at the Los Angeles Arboretum. They put in a new garden this year called the Madagascar Spiny Forest and there are a lot of pachypodiums. I don't seem to have picture of the whole garden, but here is a picture of a whole tree. (Picture was taken in July.)
This message was edited Dec 11, 2007 12:14 PM
Kiska, I am in the same mood here in SPb with this mid-winter time. I've already got a ticket to my southern retreat, for X-mas and the New Year untill the Orthodox X-mas on 7 Jan. Lol.
Wow, that tree looks real exotic! I am going to plant Pachypodium on my Sochi ranch.
Thank's for info about L.A. Arboretum. We have the similar park in Sochi- it's called Dendrarium.
I made this shot of Dendrarium in April.
I edited to say I repictured it by a digital camera from my regular camera shot.
This message was edited Dec 11, 2007 5:20 PM
That's beautiful, George!
Kelli, your Christmas tree is gorgeous, too. i can imagine the sparkles. :-)
George, that looks much like southern CA.
Thank's! When I'm there for holidays I make more pics both of Dendrarium, and the wild relict Kolhida forest.
Sounds good!
Hi everyone :-)
George - thanks :-) it's about a 30 min. drive to the closest hot springs from where I live .... there are several to choose from ;-) The geyser hot spring is about 2 hours from where I live. But then again all our hot water comes from hot springs so in that sense they are close to home ;-) Great photos!
Marsue - thanks :-)
Marylyn - your tree looks great :-) Your two little decorators did a great job! :-) Our tree won't be decorated until Dec. 23rd (or 22nd if we cheat) so no photos yet :-) The girls are in charge of hanging the shatterproof ornaments. I have a few that will shatter that I hang close to the top - well out of reach ;-) We'll probably go out and buy one next weekend.
Kelli - another beautiful tree :-) And very interesting photo from the arboretum :-)
The shoes are out in the windows and the girls are in bed ..... they might have trouble falling asleep tonight since the first of our "Christmas trolls" or Yule lads is coming tonight. For those of you that weren't with us last Christmas I'll fill you in:
Our Yule lads are the mischievous and unruly son's of the troll Grýla (that liked naughty kids for dinner). There are 13 of them and each one of them had their own favorite "crime" so to speak. They come one at a time, the first one 13 days before Christmas and the last one on Christmas Eve and leave one at a time as well, the first one on Christmas day and the last one on the 13th day of Christmas. When people here were still living in sod houses and spinning wild folk tales in the dark these "Yule lads" didn't bring much joy to people but since then they have been reformed by the jolly white bearded Santa Clause and are now his representatives x 13 here in Iceland :-) Kids put their shoe out in their window and if they're good they can expect a small gift in the morning, if not they get a potato.
Here's a photo of Grýla. All the Yule lad photos this year are from a book by Markus Kislich with drawings by Anja Kislich.
George - if we can get them through customs - please let me know what I need to send you for some hopps seeds!
Rann, please, send us the pics of those hot springs sometimes.
That's a real speaking drowing by Anja Kislich! I can feel the spirit of Iceland!
Dyson, that would be great! I guess a sachet and an envelope. Lol
What seeds would you like to get from me?
Oh Goody! The Yule Lads are here! Where’s Joey?!!
Rann – Beautiful picture! The colors are so similar to Kiska’s. I love learning about our different areas of the world. Oh, what a funny and descriptive picture of Grýla!
Marylyn – Your tree is darlin’. Do I see Gumby?!!
Kelli – I love your tree too! I really like the dangling stars. It’s so cool to see everyone’s decorations!
Kiska – Your weather sounds dreary. I hope you get a clear day soon. I know what you mean about the days getting shorter. We spend so much time at work, buy the time I get home it’s already dark.
George – Wow – that really does look like SoCal, it could be Florida too! You’ll have to post pics of your ranch when you go. I can’t wait to see pictures of the forest!
66.9 °F / 19.4 °C
Partly Cloudy
Humidity: 85%
Dew Point: 62 °F / 17 °C
Wind: Calm
Wind Gust: 0.0 mph / 0.0 km/h
Pressure: 30.27 in / 1024.9 hPa (Rising)
Visibility: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV: 0 out of 16
Clouds: Few 3600 ft / 1097 m
Tonight
Mostly clear with patchy fog in the evening...then areas of dense fog after midnight with visibility one quarter mile or less. Lows in the mid 50s. Southeast winds 5 mph.
Rann - Here is a link to the ice storms in the Midwest. Pick the story you want to read.
http://search.msn.com/news/results.aspx?q=midwest+ice+storm&FORM=EWRE
Well, I'm almost embarrased to post this picture of our skies today. A tad too warm for me for December. Feels like Summer again.
Rann, yaaay, I missed most of the X-mas troll stories last year. I love your customs!
Too many photos to catch up on but I am reading the posts.
Dyson dark and 30*. No x-mas lights for us tonight with all the ice on them. It was a colorless day.
I took this around 4:30 pm.
