Weird Weather of '09 #13

Yes, Julie. It sounds so awful I might have to go get a drink . . . ;-)

I am drinking a wine cooler leftover from the RU right now. Here's to you all.

RJ and PNW, glad you made it home safely. I haven't had the tv on, so this is the first I had heard of the dust storm.

SNOWING IN MONTANA: ..... The national weather dude in Kalispell reports heavy snow fall this am........ Too early for snow in my garden. Lots and lots of flowers blooming.

Eeeek!

We've been having beautiful sunny (but chilly) weather here. I hope it holds out for a while- I haven't gotten my bulbs planted yet, I've been too busy. :-/

Double eeeek! I'm not done out there!!

I need to get some of my plants moved in, but a couple of them need to be replanted and I'm sick. I hope I can get to them before the frost gets to them.

Tonight is supposed to be pretty cold - there's a front coming down from Canada.

It hit here yesterday. Morning photos of garden.

Wow, I like winter, too, but NOT in October.

looks like Saturday-Sunday-Monday overnight temps will be upper 20's for Z7; 30's for Z8.
better bring in all things tender.

Aaaaaaaack. o.0

I was just out and it hasn't hit yet - hope it holds up until tomorrow. At least it will be dry . . .

Didn't get to freezing here. 40 this morning.

Didn't freeze here yet either. I finally got out there and planted my 200+ bulbs today, and did some fall cleanup type stuff that needed doing. If my back will let me, I have lilies to move around tomorrow, but I had to stop today before I got that done.

I took all the yard waste to the recycle today and a load of old wire fencing and odd pieces of wire I've had in various places over the years to the dump recycle. I have a place cleaned out for a small green house. Now I have to figure out what I want and how to do it. My DB in Alaska has many pieces of greenhouse glass and knows how to build it and he may come down this winter. HUM!

Oooh envy. I want a greenhouse so bad, but no way can we afford it. (no building skills here, either.)

I still haven't found a solution for wintering my poor goldfish... poor babies, I don't know what to do. :(

They should be okay outside, mine always make it. How deep is your pond?

It's only 12" deep. It'll freeze solid. And I won't be able to run power for a pond de-icer. (An extension cord out the window is my only power out there, and it'll have to go once it gets real cold.)

Willow, it sounds like you got a lot done today. I finally got a burn permit and will try to burn a bunch or yard debris tomorrow. It's not my favorite thing, but it will be so nice to get rid of all that stuff.

Pony, maybe you can find a "sitter" for the fish for the winter?

You can try putting them in a large plastic container with pond water and put them in the garage. I know a lady who kept hers in the living room. It worked. You wouldn't have to feed them if they were cold enough.
The best thing today was free dumping at the recycle place. Last time they charged me a dollar, usually it is five dollars.

Excellent on the free dumping. I always feel so good when I've made a dump run.

There was some talk on the pets forum about the fact that fish can freeze and come back to life. Hard for me to imagine and I don't know what the limits on temp and time are, but I have heard that . . . or maybe it was frogs. Or both. Anyway, it did seem odd. Willow, your ideas are good. Pony, post on the pet forum and see what they say tere. That should be interesting.

I can't put them in the garage, there's no room. You can hardly walk through there as it is. And the living room... yeah, the cats would love that. LOL!

Wow - just went outside and the temperature has dropped significantly. Lit a fire in the fireplace and went into the garage to get wood - it's cold out there, too. I think our high has hit and is on its way down to you.

Anybody know what to do when the chain that opens the flue breaks?

Yikes. I've never had a chain-opened flue- just the lever kind. Can you reach where it attaches so you can just put a new chain on or repair the old one?

I don't know. I guess I'll have to check tomorrow when there's no fire. It doesn't look like the break was too far up, but ANY far up is past where I want to be reachin'. Sigh. Oh well - this is just another one of those "learn as you go" things. Fortunately, when it broke, the flue was open. I was waiting for the room to fill up with smoke.

I'm watching the news - they're saying the temps have just dropped. Overnight Seattle is supposed to get down to 36. It's supposed to be lower (26) toward Olympia and toward Woodinville. I'm not ready for this.

I did get my burn permit today, though. And I'm bound a determined to burn tomorrow.

Aw man... I knew I was forgetting something. I haven't hauled the big pile o' hedge trimmings to the yard waste place yet. Argh.

I'm here to tell you that they don't go anywhere . . . they'll still be there when you have time. Ask me how I know.

Kathy get a flashlight and look up. You will see the flue hinges are corroded or jamed. Take a steel brush to them and then spray WD 40 onto the hinges. Get them good and wet and then reattach the chain. You will need to get the chain from a fire place place to keep it able to handle the high temps.

Cool. Thanks, Steve. I would have had no idea. I'll head to the fireplace store and look for a new chain (was thinking I could just use a paperclip to reattach the broken one. Probably no a good idea . . .)

Yeah Katie, I know they'll still be there. hehe. I just kinda wanted to get them hauled outta here before they got all wet and heavy. Probably not gonna happen.

I'm with you. My big chance to clean up some of mine is tomorrow . ..

Pony, I have a black bucket about 30 inches deep that a couple of goldfish have survived in for several years. When I lived in Minnesota, our 3 foot pond would seem to freeze all the way to the bottom, but some of the goldfish survived there too.
My grandfather, also back in Minnesota, used to keep his goldfish in the cellar in a wooden barrell, with no attention to them till spring. I think if you put your fish in their own pond water in a container that is deep enough to not freeze all the way (I think a larger plastic tub would work) and put it in a protected spot in your yard, they will be just fine and need no attention. I have heard that once the water gets under 50 degrees you should stop feeding, though I think it was talking about koi, and I know goldfish are even hardier.

Yikes, looks like today is D-Day for protecting any plant life that is tender, at least for those of us who have been lucky enough to not get nipped by the frost yet.

32° overnight here - wind is picking up. A polarfleece day, to be sure. I spaced out & forgot to bring the tuberous begonias in - so far they look ok. One more night of this, if i read correctly. Really don't want to dig up the Brugs just yet - they're still in full bloom.

Katye, What Brugs do you have? How do you overwinter yours? This is my first year, and I have: Golden Dreams (blooming now), Kong, Cypress Gardens, and Name on Tip of my Tongue.
Can I have some cuttings? I will take some of mine for you. Right now mine are still small.

Thanks, Sharon- I'll see if I can find a suitable container that I can hopefully screen the top of or something. Otherwise it'll be a raccoon seafood buffet. I still wish I could have found a large fish tank for them, but yikes, they're expensive, even used ones are too much for me.

It didn't seem that cold here, but maybe I was in denial. Nothing seems to have blinked at all at the cold temps.

It's a beautiful fall day today - I'm with you, Kate, not sure I want to bring stuff in just yet.

Gorgeous day.
Lynn, I grew them from seed that was given to me by a RM DG'er.
One is white about 4' tall. The other is yellow & 5.5' tall. The third is a 1 year old "Y" that has not flowered, so I have no clue.
Certainly; I will be digging the 2 big boys up & bringing inside, so there are more cuttings that will happen. I will also start more from seed in January. I hope they can wait a week, because today I did battle with some hefty rocks, and my wrist lost. Typing is bizarre with a hand/arm injury. Makes Pinky want to stretch really far.

I have gone for a year without feeding my fish and they were just fine. Fat and happy.

Light frost here this morning and lower temps expected for tonight. I am hoping for a milder winter this year especially since Humbolt squids and tuna have been seen in Neah Bay. Sounds good????
Pony- good luck with your fish.....but they are pretty tough. My dad has a small pond probably not more that 12-14 inches deep and his survived fine last year.