Chugger

Bob

Julie

Terramadre

Albert

Kt

Bernie

Jan

Sue

Sandy

Sherry

I didn't...just added an extra blanket on the bed...great sleeping weather...
BUT!!!...getting out from under those warm covers was NOT pleasant this morning. Temp outside @ 6:30 AM was 41* and inside was 68*...soooooo, as much as I hated to use the furnace (after all, it's still Summer,) I adjusted it to 70* just to break the chill for half an hour, then I turned it off again.

By mid afternoon it was 72*...just beautiful for working outside:)))

Julie

We have been getting some rain, .10-.15 of an inch. I would like to see .50 instead.

I recently read or heard that the Midwest should have a dry and mild winter. I hope that it isn't too dry. The Great Lakes water levels are on the low side.

Take care, Bernie

Presently 86F outside and very very low humidity, around 38%...Nice! Almost need a sweater.

Kt

Summer is only 9 months away!!!

j

Didn't have any frost Sat.night/Sun.morning but will probably have some Sun.night/Mon.morning.

Presently 86F outside and very very low humidity, around 38%...Nice! Almost need a sweater.

I would hate to see when it gets down to 80F and he needs a jacket. Toughen-up buttercup!!!!! Maybe he should go South some more............Yeah, I know where........

That's 7 days and 5 nights to the wonderful town of Coldashell. You will be staying at the luxurious Hotel Penguin overlooking all of that white stuff. Transportation provided by YouSwimIt.com. Meals while you are staying at the hotel are provided by Leftover Sardines Inc. served fresh daily.

Can't handle these cold temps.

Did Kt get some rain today?

Only 82F so far today.

Kt

Very windy around here. A steady 20-25 mph wind with gusts around 40. Hang on to your hat!!

Take care, Bernie

I hope it doesn't rain in Detroit. I would like to see the baseball game without interruption.

Bernie

Kt

Kt

J

It will be very windy in my neck of the woods (Racine County) tomorrow.

Sandy (in NY), please let us know you're O.K.

Bernie, I expect you may also get some Hurricane rain...let us know.

My cousin in W VA is no doubt snow-bound.
My SIL in Baltimore is no doubt w/o power right about now.

Stay safe, everyone!

Julie

So far it hasn't been too bad. I did hear the wind last night a couple of times so that tells me that we had a gust around 30mph. The driveway is wet but no puddling.

I stepped outside this morning to see if we were going to walk and the rain was just spit'n and sputter'n. The wind is a constant 20mph with some gusts.

I checked to see where the ships on the Great Lakes were and 95% of them were anchored at various parts of the Lakes.
Here is a link to AIS Boatnerd if you want to see the ship locations.

All in all, It's not bad here, just a little storm passing by. Now out East is a different story. It will take a couple of weeks to get back to normal.

Take care everybody, Bernie

Thanks for sharing that site!

Julie

My nephew lives in downtown NY and had to walk 30 blocks to a friends house to recharge his cellphone. No electricity in his area and he just squeezed-in buying some groceries before the power went out, but I don't think he bought very much.

Two weeks without electricity could be a problem for many there.

Kt

This morning they said the chances of rain were increased. Winds would be steady at 20 mph with higher gusts and the high possibility of hail in much of the viewing area and this would happen in Houston around 4pm. That means it would pass through here at least an hour earlier.

Nothing happened. It was 86F today, very humid.

75F now.

Kt

Kt

j

I may begin moving my plants into my greenhouses this weekend. Should only be about 80 pots to move this year...whew!

Chance of rain tonight as a front moves through. I have been watering daily...up to 3 hours on some days with sprinklers going 24/7.

Kt

It doesn't look like any ---- (can't say the word) is in the forecast in the foreseeable future. Maybe some rain Saturday/Sunday with a 40% chance at that. Haven't seen the sun in 6-7 days which makes for a gloomy day.

Hope you get the rain Kt.

Bernie

According to the Farmers Almanac, we will get below normal precipitation this winter. April will be warmer and drier also...here comes another screwed up Spring, which may kill budding trees & shrubs.

Julie

Unfortunately, the dryness in combination with the extended warm weather is killing more trees. It's hard to watch them dying day after day, month after month, year after year.

If we had rain with this warm weather, we could have made 7 cuttings of this year.

Summer started very early, back in February when we had the last frost and the heat came suddenly, skipping Spring.

We've gone over 9 months now without a freeze.

Al Gore must be in the vicinity.

Kt

Right now ( @ 6:02 PM) it's 65 in my back yard.
Heat wave!!!

One more day (Tuesday) of possible record breaking temps, then down to the 30's, as Dec. should be.

Julie

Another week went by and I still haven't moved my plants into my greenhouse.

We need rain.

Kt

Another chance on Sunday or Monday.

Kt

I think we will loose the snow starting Wednesday as temperatures get into the low 40's with some sunshine.

Take care everybody, Bernie.

40^o drop in temp since yesterday.

We went from Winter to Summer, and now from Summer to Winter...what ever happened to Spring and Fall?

283 days w/o measurable snow. That's a new record.

J

Kt

It's more than CHILLY in my neck of the woods...downright cold in fact...need a winter coat, gloves, hat and warm socks.

But no measurable snow yet...just rain & mud...how very odd for December.

Julie

Kt

The wind hasn't let up yet. A steady 20mph with gusts to 30. At the Big Lake the wind is still howling. A steady 30mph with gusts to 45. Waves are 15-18 feet or more. Here is a picture taken a few minutes ago showing the Grand Haven pier and lighthouse.

I see Kt was only 2 degrees warmer than I was here this morning. Do you want some of the snow too Kt?

Glad to hear you didn't get clobbered with snow. Some areas of WI rec'd 20", which the snowmobilers happily took advantage of.

The temps here in the extreme SE corner of the state were much too warm and we experienced more rain, like you, receiving 2"+. If that would have been snowfall, we'd be buried, for sure.

All the rain turned to ice, making for some power outages, due to tree limbs breaking and power lines downed. Our power was out for 3 hours this morning.

Right now WI weather is finally acting normal, @ 20^o F.

j

Kt

Kt

Not sure what I got out at the country but it was very wet and boggy.

Today we are back to standard Jan. temps in the 20's, and now it's dipping below that.

Julie

I haven't heard anything from Al lately.

Kt

-4F is predicted for Monday night here.
I'd hate to be in N. Dakota though.

Just hope windy conditions don't take out the power lines.

J

Kt

No blizzard here. In fact we lost whatever snow cover we had when temps reached the 50's last week. I may lose some plants w/o the protective snow cover this year.

Julia

Oh, I got to tell you something. Went for the normal walk this morning on the White Pine Trail and as I was looking down I saw a "foot print". That's right, an actual foot print. No booty, no shoes, a foot print. The person was jogging. It wasn't there when I did the supper walk yesturday which was 10* above at that time. I would say the person would be alright if they kept jogging but if they stopped, I would think frostbite might kick in.

When I go for tonight's walk, I'll see how far the person went because I go in the opposite direction (heading North). I'll report later in the day.

Stay warm and if you know some elderly person, call them to make sure they are doing OK.

Bernie

Those foot prints went further North beyond where I turned back to come home. I wonder if the person will do it again. I'll see tomorrow morning.

See if this editing will work after 12+hours.

There was no foot prints in the snow this morning (1-23-2013). The jogger probably learned his lesson.

Bernie

Had thunderstorms during the night and about an inch of rain. Had to go to the end of the driveway to get rid of my lake that is there. Where there wasn't any snow, the ground was hard as a rock. Where I had to clear what little snow there was, the ground was soft. Made digging a little trench a lot better. After I get done with this message, I'll go back out and see if I can dig the frozen ground to get the trench deeper.

Take care everybody, Bernie.

Bernie, we also had thunder and heavy rain which woke me last night.

Flash flood warnings for today after 3PM.

I also have pools in various lawn areas.

j

I notice there are 13 visible posts now instead of the normal eleven.

Kt

Jule, I think your weather sticker is missing a number in front of the '9'.

Kt

We miss you!

Don't be such a stranger. Let us know how you're doing up there in the tundra.

Kt, no, not a number missing. In fact, some time in the wee hours should dip to the minus category.

My basement is freezing!

Julie

Sound like we might be getting some more snow tonight as an Alberta clipper brings some snow down with it. Looks like Julie and myself are in the deep freeze today.

Bernie

I thought WE had a big deficit @ -17" of snow...but you are at twice that much!

Stay warm!

Julie

What kind of gloves are you using or do you have poor circulation. I use leather gloves with a Sherpa lining and for walking, a ski glove.

One of my apple trees.

Kt

Is that normal for the apple trees to start blooming?

It's normal for everything to start budding and blooming when the weather warms up.

Actually, they do start to bloom early but I've never seen them bloom this early. Usually peaches are the first, and even they don't normally bloom until late February or early March.

Had a few mosquitoes buzzing around my head today, also, while I was watering out at the country.

Kt

Kt, Ditto what Bernie said... Yeah, rub it in,'Oh I was 8o...again...' lucky you! It'll be another 2-1/2 months before we see any budding around here. Are those the apple trees out at your country place?

Julie

I noticed some onions and even a few carrots that I left in the ground there last year, are doing fine.

I had to water there this evening, but not the trees.

We got 1100 feet of fence done and are starting on the other 1100 feet. They will be dozing it out over the next few days. It is almost too dusty there to run any heavy equipment.

Kt

4-6" of snow is predicted throughout the night.
Will have to shovel my way out the back door tomorrow morning.

bumping up

It's beautiful here at this time of the year!

Kt

We are starting to make up for that deficit they we have. The local ski hills will like that.

Take care, Bernie

The landscape is lovely, buy I'm sure the roads are treacherous. I'll get a report when hubby gets home, I'm sure. I just shoveled and had to be very careful of my back, since this snow is the heavy wet kind. We got 6-8" so far, depending where you're standing/shoveling, and it's still coming down. Not very cold though, just above freezing most of the afternoon...thus the wet, heavy snow.

Bernie, I'll bet you're getting your fancy schmancy snow blower out about now.

Sandy, be careful, I heard all this is headed your way Friday.

Julie

Very clear sky and bright stars out tonight.

It's very nice here at this time of the year.

Kt

Yes, I did get it out. Just got back in the house about 40 minutes ago. I thought it would be easier to do 4-5 inches of the stuff rather than do 8-10 inches. We had a dry slot with no snow for maybe 3 hours. A good time to go out.

Yeah, that snow is heavy. I shoveled a couple of areas where the snowblower couldn't go. I wouldn't want to shovel too much more.

It sounds like the East coast is to get a lot of snow along with the wind. I'll take what we are getting compared to the 'feet' of snow that they will get.

And I wish someone else was croaking. Not naming names but......

Take care everybody, Bernie.

We got another 3" since I posted last...big fluffy flakes this time. Shoveling chores just went on my Honey-Do list.

Kt is growing shorter.

j

The weather is nice outside. Mostly sunny with some clouds. Temps around 36* (80*for you know who) with a 10-12 mph wind. I looked at a webcam at Milwaukee and they have the clouds today. Their wind must be out of the Northeast.

The weather I described above is typical after a good size snow event. Generally pretty nice.

Take care, Bernie.

PS. I thought that I would check around Grand Rapids for snowfall. 10 inches in a lot of places. 14 inches in Grandville and 16 inches in Sparta. Sparta is about 8-10 miles NW from where I live.

And I just went out side to get the mail. It's 84* and I even was sweating just to get the mail (am I really giving it to you know who).

Take care again, Bernie

Not sure what this fictitious white stuff is, that Michiganites keep talking about, snoh, snoe, snow, or however you spell it, I don't think it even exists.

If this weather keeps up, I'll be getting Mikie to send me some flip-flops and a tanktop to wear to work.

It is extremely nice at this time of the year...here in Texas that is.

Kt

The landscape is still pretty until you drive to the city where exhaust fumes are coloring the snow "dirty" on the sides of all plowed streets. YUK!

We need to send a couple of huge refrigerated dump trucks packed with snow down to Tex (during the night when he's sleeping,) and surprise him with a small mountain of the white stuff in the middle of his driveway. We should also send instructions on how to build a snowman. I bet he's never done that.

Kt, those striped leaves remind me of some tropical plant I might see in a greenhouse around here. What are they?

Julie

We need to send...to Tex

Oh no you don't! Keep out. Texas is full, and we're not letting anyone else in.

Oh no you don't! Keep out.
Oh now Tex, don't get yourself all in a tizzy.
We'd only be visiting, leaving a little gift, then we'll turn around and skeedatle back North. Y'all got too many snakes down there for me to stay any length of time anyway.

Julie

I think I posted some of the flowers of all of my canna lilies before. I have three of the variegated kind like above. I'll post pics again though...probably soon.

Kt

Julie

...cross between a dog, a hyena, a coyote, a rat, a kangaroo and an alien?...and a Michigan three-toed penguin.

A side show freak attraction?

J

71F already and it's shortly after 7:30am. I might have to mix up a gallon or two of margaritas and sit under a shade tree this afternoon. Maybe look at the clouds and see what figures I can make out of them, or maybe contemplate the vastness of the universe and what all it holds hidden in it's unseen darkness.

Kt

Going to watch the Westminister dog show on CNBC at 8 Eastern tonight (2-11-13) and tomorrow on USA at 8pm Eastern.

house cleaning

Kt

A record monthly maximum snowfall of 46.4 inches was set at Muskegon
mi yesterday. This breaks the previous February record of 45.8
inches set in 1981. This new record will be updated if additional
snow is received before the end of the month.

Through January 19... Muskegon had only accumulated 9.6 inches of
snow for the season which was the greatest snowfall deficit of the
season with 42.6 inches below normal. Over the next month... through
February 19... Muskegon received 67.8 inches of snow to completely
erase the seasonal deficit. Muskegon now has above normal snowfall
for the winter through February 23 with 86.0 inches of snow. This was taken from NWS (National Weather Service).

At the Grand Rapids NWS station, we still have a deficit of 11 inches. Sound like we are going to get 3-6 inches of that wet snow late Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon along with some wind.

Remember 2-3 weeks ago there was a barefoot jogger that was on the trail. Well he was back this past Saturday. The person must be nuts. At least it's not my feet. So far today we are enjoying a mostly sunny day with wind under 10mph and temps approaching 40*. Feels good outside.

Take care, Bernie.

A snowplow took out our mailbox today:(
Neighbor brought it to our back porch.
I set it on our kitchen floor.
Colorful language may issue forth from hubby's mouth when he comes home tonight.

j

It looks like Sandy is getting what both of us had. Sandy, if your husband does the snow removal himself, even with a snowblower, have him take some breaks. We don't want to hear about heart attacks.

Take care everybody, Bernie.

The roads are already salted, so all you would need is some lime and Jose Cuervo.

Exquisitely beautiful here today!!

Kt

Julie

It's fixing to get really cold here tonight. It may even get down into the low 40's. Burrrrr. Maybe a good shot of whiskey would help? No?

Southwest of us in a town called Berrien Springs, they got 11 inches. If I remember right, Mohammed Ali had his training camp there. I saw on at Milwaukee webcam that it was snowing pretty good. How much did you get Julie?

Take care everybody, Bernie.

Next will come warm temps this weekend up into the low 40's and we will have dirty slush. Yuk.

Julie

Ooops! I blew out my flip-flop!

I thought Texans only wore boots!

Julie

We had clear skies the whole day and most of the night. Woke up this morning and it was 20* with some clouds.

Should be getting some rain around supper time. Right now they show rain coming across the Lake but there is too much dry air here. We might get an inch of rain tonight and into tomorrow.

Finally saw a Horned Lark. They are usually here in mid-February but may have gotten confused with the weather systems on the East coast.

I thought that my "Mickey Mouse Boots" looked ugly but those "cowboy sandals" look uglier.

Looks like Bern, you and Jule may be getting some rain soon, and hopefully me too.

I never noticed that it's only a stones throw across the lake from Racine to Grand Rapids...a little farther from Sturtevant to Belmont.

Kt

I never noticed that it's only a stones throw across the lake from Racine to Grand Rapids...a little farther from Sturtevant to Belmont.

As near as I can figure out, we are 121 miles apart as the crow flies and probably 450 miles by auto.

I noticed today on google earth, north of Smithsville, you can see "Luecke" from 50 miles above the earth. Must be a bigger farm there. It was ingenious how they did there name by clearing the land and leaving their name.

Also, why are some of the roads called "Farm to Market" such as Farm to Market 511 and Farm to Market 513.

Take care, Bernie.

Yes, we'll get rain tomorrow, as much a .7" according to the weatherman, some fog too. Strange March. Hoping the weather soon gets windy, drying out the landscape, so we northerners can get out and break this cabin fever spell!

Julie

Only 121 miles, hmmmm, I always thought y'all were farther apart...like I said, just a stones throw.

Farm to Market? Y'all don't have them up there? They were roads used to bring farm goods to market back in the day. Many must have been built over cow trails since they are usually very curvy. They were the major roads at the time of their heavy use, and were the only paved roads in the area.

Jule, 7"? We only got about 0.2" early this morning, but we could sure use 7 inches since it's been years since we have gotten more than 2" at one time. Hopefully you won't get any stormy weather with it.

Kt

I think it would be fastest driving by auto from my place to Bernie's. The Lake Express Ferry only goes the equivalent of 30 mph, and taking a plane would involve all that waiting at the airport and going through searches/scans, etc. (which I've not had that experience yet.)

Extremely foggy here right now. Rain is coming later...

Julie

In high school and college chemistry, you would get a wrong answer for anything starting with ".", and I guess now I see why. If I can't see it, then it might be a problem with results if I used it in a formula.

That does make better sense though. 7 inches seemed like an awful lot, but not uncommon here, in 'normal' rainfall years, which don't happen anymore. Rain is over here and the sun is popping out. I had only 0.5" here.

Get out and enjoy the day!

Kt

One of DH's former hired help guys was T-boned this morning, causing his vehicle to roll over. Someone blew a stop sign. I haven't heard the whole story, but no one was seriously hurt. People think they can still drive the speed limit or over, not remembering they can't see stop signs until they're on top of them.

I doubt if we even got our 0.7" (better?) of rain. It's hard to tell because of all the melting snow. Kenosha has flood warnings. Nowhere for all the water to go, since the ground is still frozen in some places.

Julie

Yes, better.

Kt

cleaning the groves on some CD's

While I have the opportunity, I am going to try a thumbnail of a picture.

Also what are they, take a guess.

Going to try another thumbnail. I see in the code that they have "beta" in the code. I am going to take beta out of the code and see what happens.

No thumbnail just a small picture. non clickable

this is an Imageshack picture. I don't know if it is a thumbnail or not.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I found the thumbnail link for IS. Trying another picture.

I didn't like the way IS handled the thumbnail. It took you to IS. Why doesn't it just make the picture bigger.

Trying an embeded link.

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