Looking out the back door. 1-2-2009

Brrrrr......!

Cold but beautiful....

That looks really cold.Although it looks nice.

Oh dear !
Well it's pretty in a photo,

Lovely to look at...........

Are you glad your indoors? very pretty to look at through a window he he

Hmmm. Did you take this photo of my back garden Weedy? Mine looked exactly like this last night.

oh I know those boulders under neath...do you think they will still have their moss that you cherished? You can hardly tell the difference between your yard and the hill....oh my..do you know how many feet you have now?

Darn it, Gilli, you caught me. You must have seen my tracks!

Cat,the moss grew back bright green last spring, then in the summer it gets brown unless it rains a lot, then in the fall it turns bright green again. The crusty lichens don't change much, I like them too. We've had about 5 and half feet of snow. (about 1.6 meters.) Not quite that much on the ground now.

Yes, Milky, grateful for the fireplace and the recliner.

Oh and I would love to be sitting there with you in the other recliner..lol.
I came home tired from cleaning out store last night...had 3 hugry grand daughters waiting for me...6 dogs..2 are mine one is a foster dog and the other three are grand furs...I would rather to have been with you snowed in and gabbing over coffee...or on a green hilltop in Wales..lol..there is a song running through my mind...that I love to think of..It is by Lyle Lovett..
Think it keeps me sane some days.....
In My Own Mind

I get up in the morning
I drink a cup of coffee
I look out of the window
I try to get it started
I turn it all over
Plow it all under
I plant 'em in the springtime
Pick 'em in the summer

I live in my own mind
Ain't nothin but a good time
No rain just the sunshine
Out here in my own mind
I live where I can breathe
Ain't nothin but a cool breeze
Nobody that it won't please
Out here where you can breathe

I just listened to the song on the website. I like it so much I think I'll try to get the album.

I can't think of anything I'd like better than to be sitting here, yakking with you. We had a sun break yesterday, Mr Weeds and I took a drive. It was so incredibly beautiful, I wish you had been there too, soaking up the wonder of it.

I sent the song to my Sweet Knight too..he liked it ...We listened to it together.

I would have enjoyed the ride with you and your Mr. very much..I know you love the snow most times..are you going to love it after all this?....LOL

A hard winter like this is hard work for everyone, and heartbreaking for those whose buildings are caving in from snow loads, 44 so far here. Tempers are short. Kids can't go back to school because the sidewalks are blocked and it isn't safe to walk to school in the street. People are trying to keep their walks cleared for the kids but the snow plows fill them back up everytime we get a new storm.
Do I still love it? When I walk to the barn in the dark and the world is glowing bright silver and deep blue. Yes. When the sun finally shows through and the world looks like a Christmas card. Yes. Six feet of it? ...not so much. :-)

~you can have too much of a good thing!Any sign of a thaw yet?

Steven will most likely be back there Weeds...he has to go to Chehalis first for their floods, he cleaned up Wal-Mart there last year after they had flooding deep enough to cover a freight truck, they afraid they are going to be hit again and then is more than likely going to your neck of the woods too...his company will be there for there for the clean up..Look for any thing that says Belfor..he will more than likely be out there with his bull horn...lol...he loves to use that thing...and he knows how to make a crew work fast...

I cannot believe you have so much...it will be there til June!

Arlene, Yes, moderation in all things! Tonight we have Chinook winds and rain. The snow is melting very fast. Hold a good thought!

Cat, I'll keep an eye open for a raving man with a bull horn!
They evacuated two Walmarts here and closed them til the roof's could be shovelled, but they didn't cave in. This morning they evacuated the UPS warehouse. Flooding will be bad over on your side again this spring.

This will be a big year for snow mold. :-)

Grandson, Evyn, just left for Texas. :- ( His family will be there for about 8 months, they will be repairing storm damage from the hurricanes last year. Apparently there is a shortage of contractors and so much repair needs doing. He says the damage down there is still unbelievable.

that's funny Weeds. I was just thinking about snow mold this morning. Had a fair bit of it last spring.

Chinook is on its way here too. It could be messy. We are in for a few days of the warm stuff. We don't have 6 feet though (thank goodness).

Gilli, Do you have a remedy? Last year I just raked it out and let it heal itself, but it took a long time.

This morning we have ice and giant puddles everywhere. Looks like the snow melted, evaporated and compacted itself down to about two feet overnight.

No, Weedy, I don't have a remedy. Last year I just did about the same as you. The mold disappeared and the grass was just fine very quickly but the grass and ground dried quickly too which I'm sure helped.

There is a lot of drip, drip, drip, around here today but the snow doesn't look too much different. I think it has been hovering right around the freezing level all day.

My soggy clay soil tends to hang on to moisture. I'll just be glad to see the grass again how ever it looks!

My soil is clay too but we are in a very arid area. The air just sucks the moisture out of everything.

Hi weedie! Just catching up on you, my neighbor! A belated welcome to goY from me! And you Gili in my province of B.C. Going there this weekend to Mapleridge to visit my daughter. Cat-- I finally am catching up with you! Been looking for you and news and I see from this that you and that Welsh gentleman are still an item!!!! lol Right on!
Boy we sure are having quite a winter here in Washington State!!! We are planning our gardening and ordering seeds and planning the garden train!!!

Hey Polly, Thanks for the welcome. Can't tell you how much fun I'm having here in spite of the weather.

Hello Polly. By now you will be in Maple Ridge. How's the weather down there?

Weedy, I was looking up snow mold and found the following......

The fungi which cause the trouble are always present in lawns, but they only become active and begin to attack the grass when conditions are moist and the temperature hovers around 0°C for a number of weeks. Since these are exactly the conditions you find under melting snow, a cool spring which favours a long period of snow melt favours the disease.
Factors promoting development of snow mold include, high humidity, temperatures at or just above freezing, persistent wet drizzle or fog, thick thatch layer, alkaline soil (pH above 6.5) and poor drainage

Some simple guidelines will help reduce the chances of getting snow mold.
1. Do not fertilizer any later than August 15. Late fertilizer application maintains the grass tissues in a soft and succulent condition which is much more susceptible to attack from fungus.
2. Continue regular mowing in fall to maintain the grass at its normal growing height. Long grass that is matted beneath the snow is much more susceptible. For the same reason, leaves should be raked and removed in fall.
3. Avoid compacting snow on the lawn. If you shovel snow from the sidewalks into large piles on the lawn, spread these piles out in the early spring to speed their melting.
In home gardens, fungicides should not be used to prevent snow mold.

Apparently, if the ground freezes before the snow flies then snow mold is a lot less prevelent. If the ground doesn't freeze first then the snow mold has a chance to thrive.

Thanks, Gilli I saved the information in my garden file, along with Arlene's help on clay soil.

Everything mentioned on this list I have done, has happened or just is. LOL
Maybe NEXT year my lawn will be green. :-[