Cold update
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?CityName=Dallas&state=GA&site=ffc
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Colddddddd!!!
Cold weather coming. Coldest weather to North Georgia in 2 years. I'm not pleased. It has remained over 20 F since February '05. Forescast cold for Friday morning is 19 f. Let's just say I'm watching that figure very closely.
Why?
My palms and other subtropicals do best when things stay warm, especially out of the teens. Historical averages have us going to mid aughts about once a year, but this decade has had none of that. One trip to lower teens has been most typical and I prefer it that way or warmer. (upper teens '04-'05 and '05-'06 didn't go below 20F).
I usually start to relax by late January when the slow warm up usually starts to scratch its way up. By then, if I look at the long range forecasts and all is clear, I don't have anything to worry about, most years anyway.
So, go away cold. We don't want you here. Carpetbagger!
Why?
My palms and other subtropicals do best when things stay warm, especially out of the teens. Historical averages have us going to mid aughts about once a year, but this decade has had none of that. One trip to lower teens has been most typical and I prefer it that way or warmer. (upper teens '04-'05 and '05-'06 didn't go below 20F).
I usually start to relax by late January when the slow warm up usually starts to scratch its way up. By then, if I look at the long range forecasts and all is clear, I don't have anything to worry about, most years anyway.
So, go away cold. We don't want you here. Carpetbagger!
Monday, December 4, 2006
Some video
Try this one on for size. I took a little video as a means to better illustrate the layout of my yard. Of course it's a sea of dormancy and my youngish evergreen shrubs aren't providing the cover and greenery they will in winters to come, but....
Go here and check it out. It's pretty long and I ramble as I wet my pants on the roof of my house.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8935451589325303110&hl=en
and part 2
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7906672880921776576&hl=en
Go here and check it out. It's pretty long and I ramble as I wet my pants on the roof of my house.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8935451589325303110&hl=en
and part 2
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7906672880921776576&hl=en
Friday, December 1, 2006
Justicia carnea in December
Here is a rare shot of one of my half hardy plants, which normally blooms mid to late summer for me (much to Alani's surprise when he sees how well it does for me here in the tundra). It got slightly nipped by frost when we had several last month, but it's looking pretty happy right now.
My attire
It's not that I mean to embarrass my wife or myself. It's not that I'm completely clueless to fashion. I just like to wear comfy things.
It all started (started is a stretch, let's say "flowered") after my wife had a stroke (she's fine now) and I my employer let me work from home a good deal while we helped her recover and I watched the kids etc..
When one works from home there is no magical event that says "Steve, get to the showers, you need to look good for work.". Instead, one gets up and gets the kids ready and then goes to the business of working. When "momma" says that it's time to quit, then it's time to quit.
Another factor is the garden. For me, all clothes are gardening ready, even my shoes for the office. This makes for a lot a reddish stained clothes (GA soils are often red). I just can't seem to find the right mix of clothes and I can't seem to get out of my good ones when I walk through the garden (when does a gardener walk through a garden without pulling a weed or two?).
Well some of my favorites for around the house is this combination:
Black workout pants (the shiny noisy kind)
Black fuzzy house shoes
Brown Jimmy Hendrix T-Shirt (psychedelic man!!!)
Bad hair
Well of course you know I take my 5 year old to kindergarten dressed this way. Also if it is chilly I wear my Dad's old BDU jacket. It adds a touch of the homeless vet to the ensemble.
Bed head and a beard often add to the look. It's not like I think it makes me a quirky eccentric, my wife has accused me of trying for that (I think I pull off homeless psychopath much better anyway). It's just that looking nice when you're working from home is largely over rated. Comfort, especially when one has occasional back problems, now that's important.
Much of this these days has become moot. I go into the office much more and sport my Khakis (if you look at the hem you might see some red clay stains) and I wear decent clothes, even nice ones occasionally.
But on weekends, if you listen closely to the sound of my shovel, rake or camera, you'll see a crazed looking man in Gee pants covered in ghosts, wearing slippers and a Monty Python T-shirt.
Oohhhhh Scary!!!!
It all started (started is a stretch, let's say "flowered") after my wife had a stroke (she's fine now) and I my employer let me work from home a good deal while we helped her recover and I watched the kids etc..
When one works from home there is no magical event that says "Steve, get to the showers, you need to look good for work.". Instead, one gets up and gets the kids ready and then goes to the business of working. When "momma" says that it's time to quit, then it's time to quit.
Another factor is the garden. For me, all clothes are gardening ready, even my shoes for the office. This makes for a lot a reddish stained clothes (GA soils are often red). I just can't seem to find the right mix of clothes and I can't seem to get out of my good ones when I walk through the garden (when does a gardener walk through a garden without pulling a weed or two?).
Well some of my favorites for around the house is this combination:
Black workout pants (the shiny noisy kind)
Black fuzzy house shoes
Brown Jimmy Hendrix T-Shirt (psychedelic man!!!)
Bad hair
Well of course you know I take my 5 year old to kindergarten dressed this way. Also if it is chilly I wear my Dad's old BDU jacket. It adds a touch of the homeless vet to the ensemble.
Bed head and a beard often add to the look. It's not like I think it makes me a quirky eccentric, my wife has accused me of trying for that (I think I pull off homeless psychopath much better anyway). It's just that looking nice when you're working from home is largely over rated. Comfort, especially when one has occasional back problems, now that's important.
Much of this these days has become moot. I go into the office much more and sport my Khakis (if you look at the hem you might see some red clay stains) and I wear decent clothes, even nice ones occasionally.
But on weekends, if you listen closely to the sound of my shovel, rake or camera, you'll see a crazed looking man in Gee pants covered in ghosts, wearing slippers and a Monty Python T-shirt.
Oohhhhh Scary!!!!
Bad Blogger
We've been nuts and I've had sick kids, wife and me. So the blog new as it is, has really suffered, since it hadn't become quite habit yet. So, please forgive and I plan to keep it rockin'.
Steve
Steve
Winter's Thrill
Winter gardening is an odd thing. Most of my friends out there in plant land lament the winter and eagerly await the return to warmer weather. We do however celebrate every microscopic bloom, every little leaf that comes along this season. It's as though we appreciate what we get just a little more.
In spring the most marvelous flowers are often taken for granted, but in the winter my loquat blooms and tea olives are front and center with Arum italicum and its ilk. I photograph them ad nauseam and ogle at their peculiarness.
During the warmer parts of the winter, we have our Camellias (which are little more than silent or mush factories in January here in the middle South) and hellebores, crocus and narcissus, but late December and January are truly quiet and every peep is absolutely thrilling.
So I guess as much as I hate it, the winter is exciting in a way. I have great anticipation for the silent plants that await me in Spring (especially newly planted ones). Every jasmine flower is a celebration of yellow in a sea of dormant Bermuda grass.
In spring the most marvelous flowers are often taken for granted, but in the winter my loquat blooms and tea olives are front and center with Arum italicum and its ilk. I photograph them ad nauseam and ogle at their peculiarness.
During the warmer parts of the winter, we have our Camellias (which are little more than silent or mush factories in January here in the middle South) and hellebores, crocus and narcissus, but late December and January are truly quiet and every peep is absolutely thrilling.
So I guess as much as I hate it, the winter is exciting in a way. I have great anticipation for the silent plants that await me in Spring (especially newly planted ones). Every jasmine flower is a celebration of yellow in a sea of dormant Bermuda grass.
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