'Round the World Weather Report

[klondike]

A bright, calm, sunny morning here in BF, not a breath o' wind, and the mercury hangs @ 6 below.
Here we squat at the very bottom of a True Yankee Winter, all our hedge & hillsides whitely shrouded, the deer crowd 'neath the ledges and the old river steams, and we break our branches short, and we bank our embers deep.
S'truth, 'twill be a wee scrid nippy when I don the kilt late this afternoon, to venture oot to the Inn of the Tartan Fox for a Rabbie Burn's Supper, where I & me ilk shall sup on skirlie & cullen skink & o' course the haggis ("mighty chieftain o' the pudding race"), and stomp our feet to pipers & fiddlers & stand in our chairs, declaiming stuff like: "Scots wha' ha'e wi' Wallace bled, Scots wham Bruce ha'e often led, Welcome to thy gory bed, Or Victory!!"
Aye, the flasks will flash in the passin' tonight, thinks me, and auld John Barleycorn shall whirl the frost from our glenfinnans!

[moira finnie]

Okay, Klonnie, Laird of Eccentric Avatars. What's up the regal looking badger (?) in this week's novel edition of your avatar, please?

Oh, and it is still -1 here on Lake Ontario. Has been since yesterday, though it dipped down to -7 around 4am earlier today. We're expected to have the temp creep just over the freezing mark for about 10 minutes on Wednesday. I believe that there is a Bacchanalian revel scheduled on my road that day, with residents crazed by cabin fever chucking their flannel, woolen and polar fleece duds in the streets and running through the neighborhood to celebrate. Lots of "fish belly" white, frozen solid gooseflesh expected to be sighted that day...but let us draw a veil on that door to our imagination, shall we?

Actually there is a bright spot to all this. Cold weather keeps the deer hunkered down, conserving energy in the woods and off the roads. When the mercury rocketed up to 40 degrees for one day last week, two does ran in front of my car on the way out of my burg and, while driving back from my errands, a young buck dashed in front of my grill apparently suffering from a death wish, though I like to think that maybe he was looking for those Audrey Hepburn lookalikes, the does of an hour before. Thank God for good brakes and a wary nature.

[klondike]

Okay, Klonnie, Laird of Eccentric Avatars. What's up the regal looking badger (?) in this week's novel edition of your avatar, please?

I borrowed this Wyethesque portrait of the doughty badger warrior Lord Urthstripe from the cover of "Salamandastron" the fifth volume of Brian Jacques' Redwall series, which is ideal for any adolescent who takes delight in the Narnian books, or Susan Cooper's novels, but isn't quite ready for a more tough-minded read, like "Watership Down".

[knitwit45]

OK, everyone, roll call!

when Moira started this thread she said

Since every time the weather comes on a thought crosses my dim brain wondering if any of our farflung members are struggling to survive a hurricane, tornado, earthquake or flood, perhaps this spot might offer each of us a chance to check in with our latest meteorological observations. This was partly inspired by recent reports of flooding in the North and West of the U.K., but could apply to anyone in Texas, Florida, California, Canada, France, Australia, or the Moon.

This winter seems to be an especially cold and bitter time, and, like Moira, I wonder if we're all surviving it. Philly is getting slammed, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky are trying to dig out and get the power back on. How about you? let us hear from you, if just to say "all ok here".

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[movieman1957]

We had plenty of ice last night. Rain now with possible overnight freezing again.

[Birdy]

We were ?spared? by only getting 8" of snow...more a little south of us and no ice here. It feels much warmer today than yesterday when the wind was blowing. We dug out and I made it to work. I hope all of you are faring well.
B

[klondike]

Here in SE Vermont, it's been snowing steadily since 4 am, and now, 11.5 hours later, our new total is 9.5 inches, bring the grand total since first week of November in '08 up to right around 5'.
At least this keeps our average temp up to right around zero!

[Birdy]

Well, the main roads were pretty clear today...until they started drifting shut again. We went to view a house and got stuck IN THE ROAD. Yikes, I thought I lived in the country but it's urban compared to that scene.
Hope all of you are warm and have power to watch your favorite films. B

[knitwit45]

Hi Birdy.
Should I tell you we had 64F yesterday? Believe me, it was a fluke. Today will be in the high 40's, then it's a downward slide all week. No snow predicted though.
Stay warm!

[Birdy]

53 degrees here today - we can actually see patches of grass past the mounds of snow. Too bad I'm stuck inside. (Should I move this to the whiny thread?)

B

[knitwit45]

70 degrees today, but extremely windy. The fire hazard is severe, and will remain so until Sunday, when we're supposed to have a good rain.

OK, Birdy, lets march over to the whiny thread.

[Birdy]

Beautiful, 60 degrees, only skimpy patches of snow left and I DON'T HAVE TO WORK! WOOHOO Hope you all are having a wonderful day.

[klondike]

It's an overcast, funky, damp-breath 51 fahrenheit here in the Venice of Vermont this a.m., the snow on most lawns has shrunk to about a uniform 30", and run-off meltwater is whisking down our naked streets at a brisk clip. The old fahts at the diner are muttering about "floodin' ", but I'm thinking that if we can hang close to a daily high in the mid forties for a week, and still get down to zero most midnights, we might just have a nice early, long sugaring season this year, and get the gallon price for grade A back down below last Spring's high of $29.25 . . man, even the Nutmeggers & Baystaters were chokin' on those prices!
Meanwhile, Valentine House is all decked out for its 5th anniversary; hearts painted on all the windows & door glass, big red hearts & pink crepe hung all over both porches, crimson roses & cupids & foil lipstick smooches wrapped round all the railing & bannisters . .
I just never thought I'd face this special holiday feeling so . . I don't know . . fragile, I guess.
I know she's close by, I just wish I could see her smile with my waking eyes, hear the music of her laugh . . watch her hugging Shea & Spud & li'l O'Toole . . She left us everything she could, except a remedy for the loneliness . . and I pray that I never sound ungrateful.

[Hollis]

Hi y'all,

I almost feel guilty telling you that down here on the Gulf Coast it's 68 and sunny with just the hint of a breeze. I can't put in the same verbiage that Klonnie uses because I'm simply not that creative, but I can say nyah. nyah, nyah, nyah , nyah, I can walk outside comfortably in my bare feet and wearing only shorts and a tee shirt. Aren't the mosquitoes terrible this year? Can't wait for the purple martins to return from their winter in Costa Rica. Next will be the hummingbirds about the 1st of March. Gotta get the feeders ready to hang. Those little guys sure do love their nectar! Speaking of Spring on the Gulf, we'll be unfurling our sails and heading out into the bay and the Intercoastal waterway soon to watch the Blue Angels practice! What a hum-drum existence we live. Never anything interesting to do! Yo ho me mateys, have a warm and wonderful day!

As always,

Hollis

[Birdy]

Hi, knitty,
my sister's picking my nephew up in Kansas tomorrow and I just wondered what weather they were in as they pass you. Any twisters in sight? Calm but freezing here. (There are a few shingles left on the roof after the gale)
B