We all need to socialize a bit, the different parts of this Country are so varied. So, lets hear what's happening!!
Woke up to snow here and -17. The dogs are not impressed, they don't dilly dally around out there, do their business and beeline right for the house. Supposed to be a major storm moving in tonight, freezing rain, sleet, snow...pretty much everything. I have my jammies all warmed up and don't plan on getting them off til Monday morning when I have to drive DH to work..unless the roads are so bad I can call him in sick...lol
Getting to know you....
Freaking cold here as well. -20ish. This morning there was a very light snow, just enough to cause the streets to become very icy. Good day to stay in if you can.
We always go & pick out a Christmas tree on the 1st Dec Saturday. Time sure flies. I had just finished covering my roses with peat. Good weekend to go thru the early seed catalogs. Lot of new stuff this year. A must for me to order will be the Shockwave Series Petunias....think I will get seed packs for every available color. Love my petunias!!!
Would you believe it's snowing here in good old Victoria?? Yep, that's correct!!!! It's just below freezing. It's dry snow, and it is windy, and it's blowing. I feel like I'm on the Prairies again! Supposed to be like this until tomorrow when the snow will turn to rain. And I need to have DH at the airport for a 7AM flight tomorrow!!!
DD is in Edmonton, and says although it is not snowing, it is darn cold!! So she is staying home and putting up the tree and imbibing!
Mmmmmm.... a bit of eggnog sounds good today!!!
Glenda
JB, I remember we always used to go and cut a tree, but Dad waited until after my birthday, usually about 2 weeks before Christmas. What are your favourite catalogs?? I need some and for some reason haven't got any in the mail yet..
Glenda, eggnog sounds really good about now, would go nice with a jammies day!! Good luck with the 7am flight, I hope the weather clears for you.
When we were kids, we would cut our own tree on our property. No matter the mode of vehicle, something would happen (get stuck, truck wouldn't start, ski-doo belt broke etc.) & we would always have to walk home. Also, the trees look a lot smaller in the bush than in the living room. It nice to have those funny type things happen when your kids....nothing too exciting to go to Stupid, I mean Super Store & pick out a tree.
My favorite catalogs are:
Veseys, Dominion , Stokes, T&T, AB Nurseries(Bowseed), McFayden, & a number of on-line web sites. They make excellent year-round references. One year I request every possible catalog.....little overwelming.
We woke up to snow here too. It was -1 with a north wind. The kids ran out to play but it wasn't enough snow for much more than a few snowball. By suppertime it was all gone. I know we shouldn't complain as we are spoiled out here but brrr it is cold.
It is ok if you want to laugh at me I know, I know... -1 is really nothing:)
Bea
-1 may be nothing to many of us Bea, but it's prime snowfall temperature. We're at -2 and look what it's bringing us:
Most of Ontario is under a snow squall warning. It's nasty out there and only going to get nastier. For the hardest hit areas they could see up to 60 cm of blowing and drifting snow by Tuesday night.
We may be getting hit hard, but it looks like it's winter all over this great land of ours. My sympathies everyone - especially our west coasters. I sure hope you don't have too much plant damage this year!
three, my favourite catalogues are Botanus, Gardenimport, Thompson & Morgan, Pickering Nurseries, and Canning Perennials.
--Ginny
It's warmed up a bit and I'm happy. Last week was cold and working outdoors at the nursery - wish I had longjohns. Still had several landscapers picking up truckloads of plants. Wondered how they plant if the top of the soil is frozen. I keep thinking how nice it would be to live in a warmer climate. The Fuchsia in my garden are still in full bloom, dusted with snow looked kinda "cool". Off to work I go.
It's a snow day here, looked outside this am and called DH in sick, car isn't going anywhere...I sure miss my old 4 X 4.
We have a Subaru Legacy Outback (all wheel drive) and it can handle most anything the weather can throw at us. My DH says that Subaru is Japanese for mountain goat :-)
Still waiting for the full brunt to hit us here to the lee of Lake Huron.
We got another big dump of snow yesterday, although Victoria itself got none. Our big cedar trees were so heavy with snow that some of the branches were touching the ground. Now today, it is raining very heavily, the little stream that runs through our yard is packing a big punch, and our yard is flooding!!!! The joys of winter in Victoria!
But glad we are not in Campbell River where they got over two feet of snow!!! Wonder how they are doing up there??
Way at the other end of the country, in NB, and snow storm has started here to, with a -4. Bottom of the Province is suppose to get it worse though. The storm has just started about an hour ago, and already have about 6". Birds are flocking at the feeders..
Temps still down around the -20'C here I think but does not seem to be hardly any wind which sure helps. Supposed to 'warm up' a bit later in the week ( but not much! )Good to stay home if you can. Yesterday was the first party of the week ( I have 4 pot luck functions this week!) Did go out this morning for a session with the archivist at Lougheed House - still learning my new 'job'- so finished off some shopping ( food that is) Have been hunting for carob chips and found them today - yeah now I can make the cake for the dogs on Saturday. The foster families and a few friends of Ab.Sheltie Rescue are having a potluck. and I have been baking dog treats this afternoon - PB, Garlic and Cinnamon . The cake will be ginger banana with a banana and mock chocolate frosting. Recipe says humans can eat it too but the dogs will get first dibs! Next time we hope to invite everybody - i.e. all the dogs we have rescued and their new families.
The east coast is supposed to get hit hard the weather channel is saying.
We don't have anything Christmassy happening, DH's daughter does her own thing and my Mom and brother are here..makes for a nice, quiet Christmas.
I can't believe there needs to be a Sheltie rescue!! They are such sweet, lovable dogs. You need to send me a recipe for doggy treats.
I'd planned to arise this morning, and send my friend (who is vacationing in Mexico) a photo from her back deck, showing the impressive snowfall we'd had yesterday, but it had all been rained away overnight - a delightful sight.
Holy moly! When we left work in London this afternoon it was snowing and blowing but nothing too serious. The fun began about 15 minutes after we left when we heard on the radio that they had closed our highway 20 minutes ahead of us. More whiteouts than clear spots from there on through and we had to take the county roads the rest of the way home. When we got to Blyth - close to 100 km north of London - we must have already received a good foot or more of snow...and it's still snowing and blowing like no tomorrow!
On the fun side, my 3 kittens failed to come to greet us at the door when we got home tonight, so we knew right away it was another case of, "I didn't do it Mom!" They had "captured" one of the bird ornaments I have in the kitchen for Christmas, but they don't really know what birds are or what they're for so it was just sitting in the middle of the floor, none the worse for wear :-)
You're lucky they aren't sure what to do with it, my mini dachshund would have shredded it - she has a thing about stuffed birds!
I should have worn flippers to work today as a number of greenhouses were under quite a bit of water. The large bald eagle that nests across the street swooped down near where I was pulling stock. Wish I had the camera. I came home to find my dog had already shredded his new (supposedly tough) stuffed toy. My 58 Chevy pickup almost exploded last friday on the way to work and its still in the shop. I just miss its rattles and buzzing am radio.
Oh dear! You have been having a tough week, haven't you? I wish I could have seen that eagle though. The closest I've seen was flying parallel to our car on the road to Goderich one day a couple of years ago. He was about 50 - 60 feet away I'd guess. What a majestic bird they are.
Got up this morning to at least another foot of snow, highways in and out all closed, can't even see our car in the driveway - it's just another big snow lump.
Snow day for us today - awwwww darn :-)
growin - saw pics from Vancouver on the news last night. What wild weather you've been having there with real extremes. We have our snow, but that's pretty normal to have a bad storm once in awhile. And while we have a lot of snow here, I think those of you in southern Ontario got the worst of it this time.
Ann
Still snowing!!
Drove DH into work this am, all the way there, I'm asking, "sick day?"--I woulda turned around and came back in a heartbeat. If this snow keeps up all day I'm not gonna want to go get him---called a taxi company to see how much--$25 from there to here, thinking seriously about it.
Ginny, when you can't tell your car from the other piles of snow, it's a snow day--hope you enjoy yours.
Thanks, I have been enjoying it. If I were you I wouldn't hesitate to line up one of those taxis for your DH. Booking in advance would probably be a very good idea too. You might not be able to get one at quitting time if many other people have the same idea.
I've taken the opportunity to start sorting some seeds out of their envelopes and makeshift containers and into the new watchmaker's cases I got from Lee Valley about two months ago ( http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=44948&cat=1,43326 ). I'm only part way through and I can tell I seriously underestimated how many different kinds of seeds I have :-)
The snowplow drivers have been so busy here that they don't have time to do much more than take one quick sweep in each direction on each street, which leaves nice packed snow berms in the middle of all of the intersections that the traffic keeps getting hung up on (what are they doing out driving today anyway?). It looks like most people who live on corners, like us, are helping the cause and clearing it away themselves.
I've always thought it is wonderful how everyone pulls together at times like this - and it's not limited to villages and other rural areas either. It was the same when I lived in London too. I remember once when I was much younger the city transit bus I was taking to work in London got stuck on a hill at the edge of downtown. Every able-bodied person on that bus, men and women both, got off and pushed it up the hill. We all got covered in slush from the spinning tires but it didn't seem to matter at all.
How's everyone else in Ontario making out today? Any members from Quebec lurking on the thread? I hear you got a pretty good wallop too.
Hi everyone! I just finished clearing off the greenhouse roof for the second time today. It has an aluminum frame that is a bit bendy, and I don't want to find it flat on the ground under a pile of snow. Anyhow, the big plume of lake-effect snow that was blanketing us since last night just tapered off and we can see the sun again!
My SUV is a Mustang with snow tires and two bags of kitty litter in the trunk. It stayed in the garage yesterday and today. When the school bus doesn't run, and the garbage pickup is cancelled, I can take the hint. My DH's 4-wheel-drive RAV4 can handle this weather though, so in an emergency I can just send him out to get the groceries. Have you noticed that in bad weather the supermarkets are full of confused-looking men trying to read cryptic grocery lists and find the correct aisle?
Warming up a bit here but it will go down again tomorrow. Got the dogs out per usual this am and then another batch of cookies finished ( orange chocolate chips!) Cookie exchange party this afternoon!
oo---what does the sun look like again?? Still snowing here, DH called and said he's done work at 6 instead of 8, I might go get him then. I can't get used to this front wheel drive car (first one for me), I am so used to how to handle a pick up spinning out, the front wheel drive is creepy------and I really miss doing do-nuts in the parking lots!!
I cursed the snow plow driver this afternoon, the driveway was nice and clean and he came along and did the "sidewalk", put it all back in the end of the driveway. Have I mentioned how much I really miss my truck??
When I first came to Canada and bought my first car (mini) went to an empty parking lot to learn to drive on snow. Started practising getting out of a skid etc etc. Local gendarmes arrived, wondering what on earth I was doing. One of the early memories of first Christmas in Canada.
inanda
LOL! That's exactly what I did my first winter as a new driver Ginny - went to the parking lot next door and practiced. I even unintentionally practiced how to get unstuck from the snow drift :-)
--Ginny
It's a great way to learn. My elder daughter got her licence in mid-October. But with an April birthday, she had never learned on snow. We had a freak snowstorm at the end of October and I took her out on the back lot at the National Research Centre here in Ottawa late on a Saturday afternoon. She managed to get the car sufficiently off the road that we had to have help to get it back on the road. LOL
Ann
Moved to Vancouver after a few years -avec M.le Squeak as mini was called. Acquired chains as to go skiing, we had to stop half way up the mtn. to put them on.
I used to deliver chicken at night (Don't cook tonight, think Chicken Delight). Had a massive snowstorm over Christmas one year. With my chains, I was the only person at the shop able to deliver. Still remember the massive tips I got during tht snowstorm.
How I wish I had visited Victoria then. Probably would never have returned to Ontario. And now, can't possibly buy anything on the island with enough space. My darling daughter keeps suggesting Twilight Homes.ca. Am not QUITE ready for that.........
Luckily, lots and lots of vacant lots around here in Winnipeg so unlimited guerrilla gardening and friends.
inanda
edited to add that I think The Malahat has so many accidents because island people forget how to drive speed-wise on ice. So many 18 wheelers. My DD drives all over the island for work but she really HATES the Malahat.
This message was edited Dec 5, 2007 11:10 AM
Port Alberni real estate is still very reasonable.
Good afternoon, guess I'm a little farther north than some of you in Ontario but not by much..Had some down time thanks to blizzard conditions..as I travel approx 100 miles to Toronto each and every day to work, it was fun yesterday..total of 6 hrs. (to and from)...Sunday was an inside day as was Monday..plowman came Monday at about 10am ..by noon one couldn't see where he had plowed...ski lodges though are extremely happy, last year they opened mid January..this year they are skiing..happy days for the resorts... was -10 when leaving home this morning..drive in was fine..bits of ice here and there but we're thankful that the storm passed us by..guess it's to be expected living in the norther country...please to meet you all...
Hi Betty, pleasure to meet you too. 100 mile commute?? wow, I grumble at having to drive 16 km to take DH to work----
Oh my reading this thread gave me lots of chuckles as we are now fully into Winter.
Edmonton is about the same as Calgary and the temp is supposed to dive down tonight to -30. I am so gratefull for a covering of snow so my plants at least have a fighting chance.
Speaking of chances I have a new young man from Zimbabwe working for me and this is his first Winter, Ha ha. At the begining of last week I asked if he was cold yet and he decided he was ok till Friday when he came to work with about 6 layers of clothes and multiple mits touques and the like. He was explaining that his Mom didn't get the - 20 thing and he tried to explain but decided she just will have to come and see for herself. He is so comical that it is fun seeing him learn about the cold. I wonder what he will say about -30!
I hope the island can melt all the snow off and that the east warms up a tad.
Ann
Supposed to warm up all the way to 2 this weekend, unfortunately, with rain...and at 2 it could be freezing rain. They interviewed a girl who was experiencing winter, and shoveling snow, for the first time, she did not look amused :) I can't imagine what it would be like moving to this climate from somewhere perpetually warm, or even why a person would want to...lol
It's still spitting a little here. Been snowing all day, but didn't amount to anything. About 34 here and feeling like 24. Thawed some chicken breasts and stock, think I'll make chicken and dumplings tommorrow in the slow cooker.
I love chicken and dumplings, can't do dumplings as good as my Mom's nice light fluffy ones though, so I usually just buy the chicken and give it to Mom with a pot.
I cheat with bisquick as my scratch ones would work for motor mounts. LOL
LOL
Victoria Harbour to TO and return EVERY WORKING DAY!!!! That is even worse than we used to do from near Port Perry. We only had to go to the Havelock train at Myrtle (20 mins) till some !@#$ politicians cancelled it, then we had the GO train from Oshawa. You can't even do that, Betty. Hope you don't work right downtown.
inanda
Hello North American neighbours. It's frosty here in North Van. had to cover my new "sport" of Heavenly Bamboo, can't remember the name off-hand. So, where is North Augusta, ON eh? I was born in Ottawa, lived in Montreal, France, San Diego and now settled here. I truly miss the fall colours back East. You don't realize they become a part of your soul. Saw them again in September at Mackenzie King's Estate in the Gatineau hills - gorgeous! Discovered gardening 3years ago - so still a novice, and have become a 'hemhead' (Hemerocallis fanatic). Very pleased to find everyone else on this most excellent web site!