Yes, that does look a bit bizarre! The weather is surely wacky. Back to winter here though....lets hope February doesn't kick us too hard in the buttocks. I have a feeling ma nature is going to get us back for this January.

Raking and snowglobes . . . . Yes, that looks strange! I see you didn't finish everything in the fall either.

Yesterday I cut back and weeded the flower beds by the barn. I ran out of time in the fall, but now I'm all caught up! I noticed lots of rabbit damage. Today I'm going to do some edging and weeding on another bed. Who says we don't have year round gardening!

The warm weather up here melted a lot of the snow on the raised beds but not enough to actually do anything but get excited about working in there again.

Yesterday, I was able to glimpse some greenish leaves from the strawberry plants that I wasn't able to mulch due to an early, heavy snow last fall and I hadn't seen them since. I was going to throw some old hay on them today but it's snowing again and they're covered again.

It was like seeing a long-lost friend briefly in passing.

All the snow is gone here. The weather channel says our temp is 38 degrees right now but on my front porch it is about 48 degrees. Raking leaves with a snowglobe beside you doesn't look that strange to this southern transplant even though i have been here several years. I am actually enjoying this year's mild winter and hoping that it will continue. I have daffodills up about 2 inches and my tulips are breaking the soil surface.

Penny

I never thought I would say this, but I do not like it at all. For two reasons.
One I can't do any outside work because of the operations, so all I can do is look at all that needs to be done. Snow hides all the flaws.
Two, it is starting to worry me. The lake and river have no ice. I'm having visions of horrible cold artic wind coming this way in Feb. and all that water to fuel the fire ,lol.

Penny you've never seen a real snow storm have you? : )

Here in central NY (near Utica) my snowdrops are poking up out of the ground. One has a bud on it too. The snow we got today (3 inches) has covered them up but at least I know they're there.

Hmmm.... a real snow storm.

Remy have we had one in the past 10 years? If not then the answer would have to be no. I have never been stranded or housebound because of the snow. I have been houebound because it is just too darn cold to go out.

This winter with a fex exceptions is actually more like the winters we get in north Louisiana so I have acclimated quite well. Like Remy I am almost afraid to think of what we have facing us in Feb.

Penny

Penny: Where were you a few years ago?!? Just off the top of my head I can think of two horrible storms in the past several years. One was the week of Thanksgiving (that was probably in 2001 or thereabouts). I think it was the Monday or Tuesday before. Snow hit so hard and fast no one was prepared for it.

Then another was Christmas Eve day. We got something like 85 inches of snow in a 48 hour period. I think that was in 2002?

Snow was so bad that it took me an hour to drive about three blocks. Had to leave the car in the street like everyone else because we weren't moving and try to walk back home. Then went back a day or two later to try and dig it out.

Yuck!

Tracy

Hi,
Tracy, those were minor compared to others. We haven't had a real snow storm since 1985. That shut everything down for a few days.
The one in 1984 was a real good one. I think I was stuck in my home for about 5 days. I remember men on the street trying to shovel our street out, lol. That was the one where Jimmy Griffin, then mayor of Buffalo, made the famous,"Get a six-pack," comment.
Of course, nothing tops the blizzard of '77. 60-70 mile per hour wind and snow is quite the experience. Once it stopped we were snowed in for a long time. Snow drifts as high as 2 story buildings is a sight to see.
Remy

This week,after lots of rain and snow melt, Lake Champlain is within inches of flood stage,a new record for January.Those who live on its banks are watching very carefully.This time of year it should be frozen over and dotted with ice fishermen.

The skunks are out and excavating in my lawn,and the grass is green. What next?

Nancy

Tracy
In 2001, I must have been in hibernation mode. I do recall one year getting lots of snow but here in Niagara County a lot of it seems to stay on the other side of the county line. We don't get nearly as much out here at least not all at once not like what I have seen over in Tonawanda and Kenmore and Buffalo. Maybe because the area is more open and there is a place for it to blow to. I wasn't here in '86 thank goodness but I am still hearing peoples' stories about the blizzard of 77 when some folks couldn't get home for days. We moved here in late '89-early '90 so I guess I have missed all the big storms so far....not that I am complaining mind you!

Penny

I wasn't even alive for the blizzard of '77, and don't remember anything from the '80s. Those two storms I mentioned were the biggest I've seen in this area in my life. I don't care to see any worse than that!

I don't much mind the warmer temps.

Tracy

Tracey, after looking at the photos on the Winter Sowing Forum., I realized you weren't alive/old enough to remember then. Then I thought I must sound like a one of those old people who talk about how hard it used to be, "In my day, we walked 10 miles to school uphill both ways," LOL. I didn't mean to sound like that. But they were worse,lol.

Even though it's saving me money on fuel oil, I'm concerned about this warm winter we're having. Does it mean we will have an extra hot summer, worse than last year?

Hi All!

You may have read here that I like to walk the dog along the Erie Canal because she's a bit frisky and I can't let her off the leash. When the backyard is muddy it ain't a place for her to be, so the cindered Canal trail is the place to go.

Several weeks ago on a similar "Unusual Warm Weather" post I mentioned seeing a frog, a garden snake (both well past hibernation time) and a mink. Last week I saw the mink again. So on Friday of last week when we had that nice weather, the morning was filled with blue sky and sun, and with a muddy backyard off to the Canal.

Because of the mink I took a pair of 12x50 binoculars as I was hoping to get a closer look. As I perused the other side of the Canal I heard a Robin to my back. The bino's aren't for birding but as I scanned the tree line I noticed 3 Robins perched. As I watched this seemingly refreshing sight I noticed something fly through the field of view, then another, then another.

As I tried to see what they were I came upon several. I'd never seen a bird that looked exactly like this? The area is heavily brushed and I wasn't sure how many I saw during the time I observed along the 100 yard area. I had a bird book at home and I paid attention to the colors and when I found them in the book it's no wonder I'd never seen them before.

The book says "This handsome bird of the North Woods is a rare visitor to the Northeast in Winter. When it appears, often in large flocks, it feeds on berries. (Which they were devouring.)

The book added, "To be able to see them this way is an unforgettable event." It says they are "Highly Social" and they must also be to humans as they flew back and forth over the Canal in numbers of 5 to 10. They never flew at me but when my back was turned they flew over my shoulder maybe 4 or 5 feet away that I could hear there wings flutter in the still. Nova was moving back and forth and they didn't appear to be afraid. They were almost like Chickadees.

I don't now how many because of the heavy brush but at least 25 to 50 or maybe even more. I found them to be from the book the Bohemian Waxwing. I observed them for over 1/2 hour and what a sight to behold.

If you've never seen a Bohemian Waxwing paste this site or go to Google for more photos, you won't be disappointed.

http://www.pbase.com/rlortie/image/37670997

Now it's back to shoveling off the deck. Darn!

Jim

Remy: No apologies necessary. I often forget how little I've seen or done. I can't imagine being trapped in the house for five days at a time. The storms I've seen were bad enough!

Jim: What neat birds! How lucky that you stumbled on them. I would have had a ball watching them, too.

Tracy

Well I hope it doesn't go back to the way it was in the 'old days'! The winters since I have been here are cold and long enough. Hoping for an early spring and bring on the heat me and my southwestern and tropical plants love it! I know I shouldn't say that as folks up here to have a hard time dealing with it. Last summer I spent nearly each and every day outside digging out a patio. My husband couldn't see how I did it but I love the heat. I am probably the only person in the world that is right at home in a warm and humid greenhouse.

Penny

Just took a quick walk out into the yard. My alliums are about 3 inches tall this morning

Penny

Oh yes, I remember the "Big One" of '77, although I lived near Cleveland, Ohio, at the time, not Upstate NY. Drifts as tall as houses; FEET of snow, no school for a whole week, a road dug out in a canyon of snow on the lake shore (snow as high as a semi truck trailer). I was a kid, so a week off school was a real treat (except that I had to help shovel us out of the house, and find the driveway!).

I was out back today, digging a new path, laying landscape fabric and filling in with gravel. On Groundhog Day. Without a coat. ????????? Too strange. The ground isn't even frozen! Last year, I could hardly dig a hole 6 inches deep in April, everything was so ice-bound. I've got daffodils, crocuses, tulips, and reticulated irises coming up, and many hardy perennials making tiny new tufts of leaves. If (when) winter returns, some plants could be in for a rude shock.

Of course, my kids are praying for snow, so they can use their new sleds.

Laurel

Blizzard of '77 ...well I was 5 yrs old and I remember a little bit. I remember I lived in Niagara Falls and my Grandfather had to brings us food and supplies. I remember my mother walking to our nieghbors house to get cigarettes and we thought she got lost cause the snow was so blinding we couldn't see her(the nieghbors house was really close too). I remember my mother telling me I coudn't play in the snow cause there was just too much of it(but my older brother could).I think that was one storm when Niagara Falls got more snow than Buffalo. I remember them making a board game after the Blizzard of '77. And further most I remember looking out the screen door and getting my tounge stuck to the metal door! ...owwwch!..Wayne