Weather...whether pleasing or not...it's out there!

[Gold Usher]

I thought I might test the global weather report this a.m. since it's been such an odd winter.
Here in Florida it's been cold enough for me to huddle by the fireplace (wishing for my woodstove that heated my whole house). I see the visiting tourists wearing jackets and the natives looking like Eskimos complete with mittens and hats. 46 F yesterday is enough to spoil anyone's vacation who was thinking it would be in the mid 70s by now and had a rainy day to cap it off.

So...stick your noses out the door and tell me what it is like outside where you are!!

[biddenden_sue]

Here in the south east of England, it is 5 degrees Celsius, sorry I have no idea what that is in Fahrenheit. Cold, windy and very wet. Loads of rivers flooding across roads and fields, people pumping out their houses if they are too low, all over the place. Trees coming down because of the wind and the waterlogged ground.

Apparently this is the coldest February in recorded history. We also had the most snow for some 14 years, although this lasted so much longer. Normally snow lays then melts within a week in our country, but we had snow on the ground, causing chaos for 6 weeks this winter - unreal!

Who else?

[Sarah]

There is this myth that Australia is a bright and sunny place everywhere. Where I live we just get rain... rain rain and hot muggy sticky weather. Winter is more pleasant and not too cold mostly. But I have had it with this summer. Summer started 3 months early and I am too far south for the wet season but still we have one. Swarms of mozzies and sand flies, a plague of tiger snakes... even in the middle of town people are getting bitten. I live in the bush a bit and it has been a worry. our grass grew taller that TOM now thats tall! and so thick we had to get a man with a bobcat and a slasher to come out and cut it... 2 acres of it. It stalled 3 times. meanwhile I am jealous of my neighbours horse and wish i still had one. their grass is short and neat. I would like to borrow their horse but my mother is frightened of horses. I don't know why she has never fallen off one. I havn't either but I have been kicked through a fence by my old pony Kung Fu Chilli.
So as a result of all this the slasher broke the pipe that seperates our septic trenches, we are not blessed with sewer here. The council wants $30,000 to connect us....... I said I would find the money somehow if they put a train line down here they said no so we have a mexican standoff.

Now we have to get the septic fixed again... I have to find some goats to keep our grass and weeds down plus the scrubby bush on the back acre... fence them and build 4 aviaries, fix 3 chook pens, build 5 more pens to grow out pullets in, all on my own mind you, all 5'2 and 50kg of me... and all of it while the mozzies eat me alive.
Tonight we had a cracker of a storm. We got stuck in the car on the side of the road along with every other car that had to pull off the road because the rain came down so thick and hard visibility was zero. A few skidded... some idiots tried to keep driving, some were even speeding. I sat in my seat waiting to hear a terrible crash. Luckily it didn't happen. My friend was at the beach in all this down the road fishing for squid. The storm was comming in and he had a squid on the line and wouldn't give up. He got 2 squid, dived in his car and began driving through the bush back home and lightening struck a tree meters from his car. Was he worried? NO he said it was exiting.... I think this weather is going to peoples heads.

*sigh* I would love to pack a bag and fly to Norway or Iceland or the north pole... somewhere cold, with no mozzies or other biting things.

Yesterday it was 38c and humid which is nearly 100F tonight it is 12c. I do not know what it will be like tomorrow. But it is very windy and I cannot sleep because I keep thinking about the dead tree outside taller than our house and what happened last time we had strong winds we have many many trees.

Thats the weather report from Sarah for the NSW east coast of Australia. And my grumble out of my system. be forever gratefull you have no tiger snakes in England!

[jaybee]

Well, for the last week here in glorious Ottawa, we've been sitting on the fence between freezing and not -- anywhere from -1 to +3 Celcius. We've had some form of precipitation every day -- wet snow, rain, or what can't be called wet snow; so we call it thick rain. But, because of the temperatures and the fact that the rain isn't freezing on the roads, we all think it's positively balmy here. By the end of the week, we're supposed to be up to +6 Celcius with blazing sunshine. That's when the spring jackets get put on and the rubber boots come out. There will even be a few optimists who will wear their shorts -- albeit with the rubber boots and the spring jackets as well.

We actually have a Purolator delivery guy who wears his summer uniform, complete with shorts, all year round. It'll be -30 Celcius out there and he'll come in with his big parka, toque, his heavy fleece-lined boots, big gloves, and shorts. We used to just get an enigmatic smile from him whenever we ask why he wears the shorts on such cold days. So, we finally gave up asking and now we just ask if his legs are cold. We even get a "yes" once in a while.

[Gold Usher]

Today was just mild enough that I decided to grab the soap and hitch the dogs to the antenna mast.
The water (from the well) was warmer than the air so it wasn't so bad but the three of them still aren't too happy with me at the moment.

And since they've had a bath, I now am sidetracked with doing some extra cleaning with this on-going battle against those @#$% fleas.

First day warm enough (finally) to take them out and get them wet...and me too

But I bet tomorrow it's going to get cold again here.

[John]

It's generally been a miserable, cold, wet and windy week here in London, but tommorows forecast looks set to improve slightly, rising to 8 degrees (46 farenheit) by the afternoon. Still not quite shorts weather yet!

[madgoth]

It has been near perfect in north Alabama -- beautiful bright sunny days and comfortable temperatures. Nice after all the rain and "snow" we've had this year.

(another word for the kind of snow we get is 'snizzle')

[Sarah]

I need sun and a dry day. Have to wash all 60kg of great dane... he is stinking up the place. He is very easy to wash, he just stands there... shakes a bit, cries a bit and gives me the eyes. That 'how can you torture me I thought you loved me? sniff sniff' look. He is such a big baby... I try and ignore the eyes, usually I can sometimes I give in and he gets a biscuit. We have to buy the biggest size dog biscuits otherwise it is just mean, he thinks we are tossing him crumbs.

[tracy]

wow sarah we would to see your great dane put a picture up the the pets corner thanks i had a great dane yearss ago .any way the weather here today is sunny at the moment slighty cold but sunny they said it was going to be nice today

[Sarah]

I'll see if I can work out how to put a picture of him. Can we do that though? It's raining again and it's cold now! But no mozzies today everyones happy.