It is about 26 here mid morning today. But it feels colder as the wind is blowing. Just been so cold these past few days. Fortunately that while it was cold last week and this week on Sunday it was very warm and that was the day we had more than 24 hours of rain. If it had been cold it would have made a major snowstorm.

I like to feed the backyard songbirds, especially in the winter. But yesterday and today I gave my local mockingbird some mealworms and he is very happy to have them. Guarding them from the local sparrows that would also like to have some while he gobbles them up.

It is way too cold. We have already broken weather records here for snowiest December ever!!! I had 11 inches over the last two days. AND the cold, what exactly does 0 degrees mean anyway? LOL does it mean there is no temperature. Oh well, just a thought.
At least we have snow here to insulate the poor daylilies. This was before the 11 inches!!! I can't see them anymore.

We have only had a dusting of snow here not like most of the midwest and many other parts of the country. I just hate, hate, hate winter. I stay inside and go outside as less as possible. Yuck to the cold and even worse when the snow comes.

Gee whiz Cindy, Where are you? I hate winter, too and hate snow and ice even more.Its why I dont live in Illinois where I was born and raised at.We dont get much snow here.Last year, we got none,and I think the year before that we got none too.Yesterday it was 70 degrees here, b ut today it didnt get out of the 50's.

Jean

Temperatures are finally getting out of the 20's here. We are not getting much snow. Just what we call dustings and some lake effect. What we did get was blown out in the fields when we had several days of high winds and windchills in the single digits.

Had a chance to walk the gardens today as there is little if any snow on the ground.

Julia

Brr, it seems like such a long time til spring! We've been colder here in Nov & Dec than in many years. Got into the 40's today, but it has been much colder. Maybe at least there won't be as many Japanese beetles next year :)

Hi everyone,

LOTS of snow here in the UK----been -19 degrees C here in Yorkshire for the past few days---colder than Moscow apparently! We'll see how Star Child and my Florida daylilies fare this year---were fine last year after similar temperatures for a long stretch but 2 years running might be different

Not only cold here but WHITE. We really got socked here with the snowfall which was a really big and bad storm. New Jersey reporting 24 inches, most of Long Island 18 inches. 20 inches in the city. Started yesterday morning and ended this morning.

It was so much I didn't even try to shovel. I just had the guys that do my landscape projects come and shovel. Took two strong men an hour to do the digging, my driveway, around my car and my porch and walkways, thats how much snow there is. No way could I have done even part of it.

Parts of Alabama actually had the first white Christmas (measurable amount of snow). We had flurries only, but it was pretty.

As I understand it, shoveling snow is a huge job. Since it has been years since we had even a couple of inches,(and it isn't required that it be shoveled if it ever snows) I can't say from experience. Glad you hired it done, Rita.
kay

I was watching on the news the stories and pictures of lots of places in the south that had snow the day before we did. I know lots of people do like a white christmas but not me. I hate the winter and the cold and I have no use for snow, christmas or not. So even though things are shoveled there is lots of deep snow on the ground here. Its fairely cold and the wind just makes it feel worse. Going to warm up at the end of the week though so maybe it will start to melt.

I know my limits, there was no way I could shovel so much deep and heavy snow !

Rita,
A lot of people all around us had a couple or so inches of snow for Christmas, but we had only flurries. This was the first measurable snow on Christmas for Alabama in recorded weather history.

Since we have snow so rarely, a snow of much depth shuts down everything if we get one. There are no snow plows here. Very few people even own a snow shovel.

WE have had much colder weather than usual in December. It was on track to be the second coldest December since records have been kept, but we had a nice little warm-up before Christmas, and it is supposed to warm up again in a couple of days too.
kay

Meanwhile, in SoCal, my plants have confused late December with June. I have new scapes on Strawberry Candy, Inner Destiny, Egyptian Queen, and Master Magician. Not to mention that the glads already came up and are blooming! Oh, and the irises... I don't think anything is going to be blooming come spring. It will all be too tuckered out.
Renee

I did see all the horrendous rain in California recently. News was full of pictures of mudslides out there. Always some problem somewhere. I wish we only got small amounts of snow here but around here you never know. Although this was a really, really lot for us.

Isn't it odd how areas you would expect alot of snow is getting hardly any and areas who don't get much are getting piles of the white stuff.
We only got lake effect snow with very high winds but very little snow still here. Temps are back in the 30's compared to over the weekend where we had wind chills in the single digits and white outs. We are suppose to hit mid 40's by the weekend. The daylilies are sure getting a test this year with little or no snow cover.

Our daughter's flight back to NYC from here was canceled on Monday so she will hopefully make her rescheduled flight on Thursday (tomorrow). Seems like things are starting to move at JFK.

Julia

We're supposed to hit 70 by Friday. I was in the garden today and it was 54 degrees. The sun was warm and I just held out my arms and got delightfully warm! Finally!

Can I visit and play too? We've had plenty of snow here so my daylilies and everything else are well tucked in against the winter cold, at least for now. Drizzle right now, with heavier rain predicted, turning over to snow. I don't mind the snow but I could do without the rain and especially the sub zero temps that are supposed to follow this storm system. Here are some snowy pics if you'd like to look.

Here is a link that might be useful: Picasa album

Hello Hostaholic2

Your photos are wonderful. I would love to see your photos in the bloom season too.

Since you asked...

Here is a link that might be useful: Picasa album summer

Both sets of pictures were very good. Thanks for posting them.
Cindy

We all have to do whatever it takes to make it through the winter.

Great set of pics, winter and then summer. Wonderful variety of perennials. Thanks for sharing.

Julia

Thanks for the kind words. Speaking of cold..our current temp is 0 with 25 mph winds blowing the snow around. Just plain ugly out there today.

Its warmed up here to the 40s. The snow is mealting some but there is so much of it that I don't seem to notice much less snow. I have been staying indoors.

We are in the low 50's today, raining lightly.
I think I will go and put my shorts on since we are having a January heatwave LOL.

So sorry to hear your buried under all that snow.

Julia

40's and 50's sounds like a heatwave to me. I guess I shouldn't complain, compared to yesterday today felt balmy, 12 degrees for a high and very light breeze. We started out the day at -15 though.

Loved the pictures,Very pretty.We are to get everything tomorrow they say, starting about 6am.Freezing rain, and sleet before changing over to snow.Supposely 4 to 6 inches,and maybe more,

Jean

Wow you can still see plenty of daylily foilage in your photos. My yard it so totally covered in snow everything is under a deep blanket of snow.

And with the temps we're getting I'm very glad to have all my plants buried under a thick blanket of snow. -12 here at around 9:00 this morning as I was heading out to church. I think we made it up to around 7. At least it was sunny today.

Oh heck. We are supposed to get another big snow Tuesday night into Wednesday late morning. The 5 o'clock news said 8-13 inches for Long Island. Yuck.

I kept telling myself "at least it isn't ice" as another 7 inches fell today. "They" said we were going to get 1 - 3 inches over the course of today and tomorrow.I can hardly wait until tomorrow.bb

Oh well, we didnt get all that snow they predicted.Ours was frozen stuff.Freezing rain, sleet,and just a few snow flurries here and there, but, mostly sleet,and very cold..I hate winter.

Jean

We had the fluffy snow today that is very light and sparkles like diamonds when the sunlight hits it, very beautiful as long as there is no wind.

it was beautiful and at least it wasn't ice. Just my thoughts as I engaged in my daily shoveling activity.

Heard them say on the weather forcast that we have had snow the last 36 out of 41 days.

No wonder I feel like I'm shoveling nearly every day. Oh well it will keep me in shape for gardening when spring finally arrives.

Well, Alabama got one of its unusual snows this week, but we were in Florida...missed it all, and that is just fine since a lot of what fell at my house was ice, not snow. Good timing for a vacation is what I called it.
kay

Great timing for a vacation, Kay. We had a goodly amount of snow here but not like that really big storm afew weeks ago. Still, I am pretty much housebound and staying inside as it has been really, really cold. The garden is covered in unmelted snow. Too cold to melt.

Still frigid here. Looks like we are going to have single digit highs during the up coming weekend. Tomorrow promises to be 30, whew, a heat wave!!! Well, the forecaster here was right as he did predict a colder and snowy December and January, I can only hope his prediction of an early spring is right. I will take it!!
Oh, Rita, how are the chicks doing!?

Cindy

I have stopped hatching as I have too many in the house already. They are really funny but really need to go outside. But it is too cold to work outside on a chicken house, or anything else either.