new thread
Greetings from the Midwest where it's -20 F, -29 C today and -40 F, -40 C! Someone told me I looked like a snowboarder with my hair today so I thought I'd share.
Nice pic Tommy! It's cold in PA, but not near as cold as that!
Stay warm and keep growin!
The Spaf Man
Yesterday it was 70 degrees here in San Francisco, and our plum tree was in full bloom. Spring is coming!
Bill
Nice Pic Bill!
Enjoy your nice weather...(we still have snow here!)
Take Care...The Spaf Man
What we have to worry about is lack of rain. We've gotten less rain in the past year than Death Valley. Everyone you meet on the street here will say something like, "Another nice day! Yeah, we need the rain, but I'm going to enjoy these days while they last!"
Bill
Hi Bill,
Yes I check out your temps everyday on the computer and feel so jealous while freezing here on the east coast.Caught a break today when the temps drifted above freezing for the first time in a week.That tree looks gorgeous and beats the bare trees here and road salt all over the place.Yuck!!!!
Mârk
When we were at your place six months ago it was really hot, and all the plants were leafy and green. Can't New Jersey make up its mind about what kind of weather it is going to have? [wink]
Bill
Bill, that's just cruel! It's another "polar vortex" day here today...half the city is shutdown!
-Tommy
Okay, I'll plead guilty to intentional infliction of emotional distress! Although I'll fess up, I was also moved to let you guys know there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Yeah, that's really awful cold weather you are having. They say the off-shore high pressure system that was blocking all our usual cooler winter air and rain is finally weakening. When it finally collapses, within a few days your weather should return to normal.
Bill
Bill - I didn't think of you as a mean person until now...
that flowering tree and the green leaves behind it look sssssssso good.
we have several shades of grey here in Syracuse
The greenery behind the flowering plum tree is our pepper tree. It loses some of its leaves all year round, so it never is naked of leaves like the plum tree was in early January. And off to the left by our doorstep in planters are two large fuchsia plants. They are green all year and off and on have beautiful inch and a half long flowers hanging from them. The flowers are red and light purple in color.
Hi(gh)!
Plum?! At first glance, it looked like a Japanese cherry tree to me... here in Cologne, Germany, they are a not too uncommon sight, but they usually do not bloom before mid-March!
Here, it is the standard Rhenish winter - temps around 40°F, no snow, but frequent rain...
See you in Khyberspace!
Yadgar
The plums it produces are about cherry-sized. The diameter is about two centimeters. They are the exact same deep purple color as the leaves the tree gets after the blooms fall off, which makes them difficult to see while on the tree. When they finally fall off, they almost always split open upon hitting the sidewalk, because they are juicy and their skins are thin. They are extremely sweet and tasty, but if they have split open, we don't eat them. There is too much dog crap and other contaminants possibly on the sidewalk.
This year it got its first bloom on January 15, about a week or two earlier than usual. This is surely because we've had above average temperatures for the last month.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Oh how jealous I am of you and Larry! I sure miss living in Northern California! That plum tree is sure looking majestic! What a beautiful sight of you standing next to it! 70 dgrees will definitely work for me! Can't wait for Spring-though it seems so far off right now! Please be well!
Ted
You cruel cruel man, -- and former Midwesterner yourself -- how could you torture such a nice young shivering-cold longhaired Midwesterner like that? How could you?? You should be ASHAMED of yourself! (I would NEVER do such a cruel thing as that!)
- Ken
(see my reply to TommyD, above...)
-----------
Your hair is looking good. With cold like that, I am surprised that the midwest is inhabited. That seems uninhabitable to me.
Scott
Thanks Scott! This is very out of the ordinary for us...it typically is 20-30 degrees F this time of year.
-Tommy
You really look like a snowboarder and it looks very good on you.
Stay warm.
- Christian
I'm curious on what sort of sunglasses you're wearing -- they look pretty sweet.
-20 C, -4 F in Ithaca, NY today.
Yikes stay warm .mkl! These are "Oakleys" I received as a Fathers Day gift from my family this year...my first pair of "fancy" sunglasses ever! I have always had $5 Wal-mart specials :)
-Tommy
We woke up to -9 F this morning, so I'm feeling it too.
Great look by the way. You do look like a snowboarder.
Chris
Thanks Chris. As usual the weather folks exaggerated the weather and its only -18 today, not -40 haha. It was -40 a couple weeks ago, and that was just crazy...it was so cold that a lot of people were boiling water, putting in a cup and throwing it out the door...it instantly turned to ice/snow once it left the cup! It was a trip to see for sure.
-Tommy
You do, but not because of the hair, in my opinion. It's more because of the glasses. Still looks pretty good.
It was -10 F here in Syracuse this morning... Sunny and freezing.
You look fantastic, Tommy. That look you are sporting is very appealing.
Hi Tommy,
We are having some cold days down here in Texas. It's in the 30s right now and we don't like it! The other day the weatherman said it was colder here than in Alaska! I was shocked! Please stay warm!
Ted
Before you complain too much about how cold it is it's -8 F on Mt. Washington, Feels like -40 F.
Mt. Washington home of the worst weather.OMG, I'm originally from the Midwest (born & raised in a suburb north of Chicago, IL, not far from the Wisconsin border). I don't miss those Midwest winters one bit!!!!!!!
Bill's reply to you with the plum blossoms pic was downright CRUEL -- funny as hell; but still, very very VERY CRUEL.
Since I live in the same balmy frost-free city as Bill lives, I could easily be just as cruel... but no, I'll behave myself. I won't go on & on about all of the different flowers in the city that are just starting to bloom now, name the various different tropical and subtropical plants that are bright green and sadly never get to see even a light dusting of snow on them... No, I won't do any of that. You might even feel some sort of pity for me when I tell you it's raining outside right now as I type this, and that I might even have to close my open window right now -- not because it's cold at all in this early morning hour, but because I'm worried that I might get my hair wet....
No, I won't go on & on about how much we "suffer" here in snowless, frost-free San Francisco. I'll even spare you having to look at all of my endless winter-blooming flower pics that I have taken over the years, annually torturing friends and family who still live back in the Midwest by e-mailing and "sharing" these pics every January & February... (OMG, can you feel my "pain?" - LOL!)
- Ken in San Francisco
EWE R EVUL - PURE EVUL ... hehehe ;)
Ken, I have a problem. The plum blossoms are all now falling off of the plum tree. They are all over the sidewalk, and I don't know anyone around here with a snow blower that I could borrow to get them off.
Bill
I feel your pain, Bill, my heart bleeds for you, that is such a "serious" problem you have on your hands (or on your sidewalk - LOL)!!
Off to work now....
- Ken
We've got the perfect solution here in upstate New York..........
a whole lot of snow to protect that sidewalk.
California will gladly accept all of the snow presently in the state of New York (yellow snow excepted). Please deposit 80% of it over the High Sierra at a depth of 20 feet. Please do this at night so it does not inconvenience Californians who ski there. Please deposit the remaining 20%, also at night, over lower elevations, but oh, please melt it first.
Bill
