03-08-10

CLICK HERE for the update !

12-27-09

Holy Cow, do we have SNOW!!!!!!   As soon as I can get pictures together you'll be bombarded with them!   We have had at least 20 inches of snow, if not more. High winds, drifting and a power outage in the middle of the night Christmas Eve (actually Christmas morning).  We've all been stranded in our houses from Thursday night to Saturday late afternoon. The weather was so bad here our area (Omaha included) that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day church services were canceled!  This will be a Christmas to remember!

10-18-09

Follow the link above to visit Patti's page and see the flowers after the snow.

10-17-09

The snow was gone in a few days and so are all my flowers! My Love In A Puff was still green and hadn't had time to dry up. So no new seeds for next year.  The only things that are looking good are the Yarrows.

10-11-09

The Snowfall of 10-10-09, CLICK HERE

06-09-09

Sunday we woke up to 2 inches of rain. Monday we woke up to another 1-1/2 inches. And it's supposed to keep raining off and on for the next couple days.  The yard will look like a hay field.   I just mowed last Thursday and it needs it again.  Rick is getting home early today so he's going to do it this time.

04-05-09

April 5th Snow, CLICK HERE...

04-01-09

We got an early April Fools trick Monday night.  Besides the predicted rain, thunder and lightening we got a sudden deluge of pea size hail!  It came from nowhere and was quite a shock. Usually hail starts out as little bit and intensifies. Not this time. It hit full force and was gone as quickly as it came. And it melted just as fast.  I was so afraid my already- too -early- for the season- plants would perish. I checked them on Tuesday and they seem to all have survived.  There is still snow in the week end weather prediction though.

03-25-09

Here's a little something to add to your weather page. Not even a week into Spring, still in the month of March......we had torrential rain, wind, hail and tornadoes in SW Iowa on Monday.  The wind was blowing so hard that we could barely hear the sirens going off.  There were several tornadoes sited and one touched down in a town NW of us, actually closer to Council Bluffs. One woman lost her house.
Tornado season isn't supposed to be until April and May here.  And this week end the weathermen are predicting a snow storm!!!!!!!!!!!   

Here's the forecast for the week:
Today: breezy. Much cooler. Sunny until late afternoon then becoming partly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s. West winds 10 to 20 mph increasing to 20 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Gusts up to 35 mph.
Tonight: breezy. Mostly cloudy. Lows around 30. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph.
Wednesday: mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. West winds 15 to 20 mph.
Wednesday Night: partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 30s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the south after midnight.
Thursday: mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain. Highs around 50. South winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the east in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain and snow. Lows around 30.
Friday: cloudy with a 50 percent chance of rain and snow. Highs in the lower 40s.
Friday Night: snow likely. Light snow accumulations. Lows in the upper 20s. Chance of snow 60 percent.
Saturday: breezy. Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Highs in the lower 40s.
Saturday Night Through Sunday Night: breezy. Mostly cloudy. Lows in the upper 20s. Highs in the upper 40s.
Monday: mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 50s.

03-05-09

We've had the worst weather the last few weeks. Nice sunny 40* days and then below zero and snow. Last Friday night we had a storm that lasted until Saturday morning and dropped 5 inches of soft snow. Today it's 68* and we have water standing everywhere. That includes the inside of Rick's shop. This is the second time it's "flooded" this Winter.  The snow is melting so fast but the ground is still frozen. So the water goes where ever it can. 

01-25-09

Right now we are waiting for  a second band of snow to hit. We had 14* highs yesterday and snow last night. We got about 3 inches of fluffy stuff.  That was band #1. They say band #2 will hit sometime today and not stop until late tomorrow night!  I don't remember the last time it snowed for an entire 24 hours.  If it does it will be interesting. 

03-27-08

I'm sitting here trying to keep warm. We were starting to have warmer weather....50's  and one day it got to 60!!! Yesterday I walked to my son's and then up a block to a neighbors house with NO jacket. It was breezy and cool, but not bad. Today it is 36 and we've had rain, freezing rain and SNOW!!!  I had to change from my light weight sweater to a heavier one and then get my winter jacket out.  March will certainly go out like a lion since it came in like a lamb.  When I got home from Council Bluffs my two mourning doves were sitting on the deck railing, all puffed up. We seem to have an over abundance of robins too. I've never seen so many!  Rick said they were thick at the airport last week. HE said it was almost a sea of red.

This weather has everyone either sick or feeling crazy. One day we have 50 degrees and the next it's in the - 's!!  Last week was horrible. We started out Monday with nasty slushy frozen stuff and -2 in the morning. Then by Saturday it was 63°!! 

We've been in a week end weather watch since yesterday. We're supposed to get rain, freezing rain and snow. They are making it sound like it will be awful. BUT then they are saying that the temps will hit 50* immediately after it all has come down.  So your guess is as good as mine as to what we'll really get.

Fall is in full swing here. The trees are losing their leaves and everything is starting to have that dull, colorless look. The leaves turn colors but just don't stay pretty as long as they used to.  There a re a couple gorgeous Sugar Maples here that are beautiful. Even the few Pin Oaks stay pretty for a couple weeks. But the rest of the trees leaves are just brown.  My Love In A Puff was the last plant to go. Now I can go out and gather the seeds.  Rick took a slow day off last week and gathered up all the outside plant stakes and furniture and stored it all away.  My porch and deck are bare now. It all looks so empty; really says "Winter is coming".  Yuck.

Yesterday morning we had a kind of a drizzle. The sidewalks were wet, yet the car didn't look like it had been rained on. So it had to be a wet fog or something like that. Whatever it was, it made it very damp out. And smelly. The leaves and ground all had that smell to them.

Well, I finally broke down and started the furnace this morning. It was 66° in the main area of the house.  64° down in the living room and our bedroom. No wonder I've been feeling achy. So I kicked the furnace in and set up the electric heater in the living room. 69° now feels like heaven!  Hard to believe that 10 years ago we had a devastating blizzard that stopped everything.  I hope we don't have a repeat for the anniversary!!!

We have had two small frosts but no "killer",  yet.  The Moss Rose and Joe Pye are history. So is the purple sweet potato and coleus . Everything that has a thick leaf is still OK. Even my Love In A Puff is still looking good.  Unfortunately it hasn't dried up, so I don't know if I'll get any seed from it.

It's only 47° here. The birds are all puffed up and can't decide if they want to venture off the railing to eat or not. We are having a mixture of weather. One day rain and cold, one day just cold and the next it's sunny and hot. What happened to Fall?  It is usually cool in the day and cooler at night. Some farmers even picked the corn right after Labor Day even though it was still slightly green. Maybe they are selling it for ethanol.

Finally, SUNSHINE!!!!! Yesterday was cloudy but no rain! We had a few small limbs down. There's a Silver Maple tree next door and it's always losing limbs and leaving sticks in our yard. With all the wind I was going out two and three times a day picking up stuff. I finally said to heck with it. We left one limb on the curb thinking the town would pick it up. HA! There was one bigger one blocking our driveway. Rick drug it to the alley. No one's picked it up either. Guess they can do something with it when they start paving the alley.

We have been having some nasty storms here. We lost power Monday night several times, but only for a few minutes. Wednesday night though we lost it for a little over two hours. We got 2 inches of rain in that time too.  And yesterday we got hit with another one!  That one had bad lightening too. Last night we got another 8/10.  So I shut the computer down again.  Seems like that's all I do lately...........unplug all the vital things in the house.

It got really cloudy and darkened up a little while ago but nothing happened. We got a little shower Saturday late afternoon and I think that's all we'll get for the week. 

Last week was ... terrible heat AND humidity. You can see the haze in the air.  No more sitting on the porch or deck in the evening. As it gets later in the evening, the humidity gets heavier. You end up wet if you are outside any length of time. It's absolutely awful.  My asthma acts up too so I have to be especially careful when I go out.

The wind here yesterday was terrible. Really bad for the sinuses. My nose and my right ear is now plugged  up.  It's been "hotter en hell" the last few days.  Well into the 90°s and humid. Yes Iowa is noted for all that, but not in June! Usually July brings in the heat and humidity. You can actually see the humidity hang over the corn in the fields.

The weather has been pretty good here. Very windy with the temps in the 80°s. Today it was 90° and supposed to stay hot all week end. It's too soon for 90° temps. They aren't supposed to hit till July.   

We are going through another rainy spell.   Yesterday started out so gloomy. Then around 1 o'clock the sun broke through. So I did two small loads of laundry and hung them out. Then I planted some seeds.  Hot Biscuits (brown amaranth), straw flowers and purple millet. I also tried a different Love-Lies-Bleeding seed. So it will be interesting if anything comes up. When I got up this morning the rain gauge showed we got  1/2 inch last night. We also had a lightening strike a little more than a block from us. I mean to tell you,  when it hit, It brought me out of my chair. I knew it had to have hit close, as loud as it was!

The weather is absolutely beautiful today. It's been cloudy with a slight breeze/wind and never got above 75°. But it's supposed to change and start raining tonight and not let up till Thursday!!!  We had 1  4/10 more inches of rain last Thursday morning so the fields have ponds in them again. If we get more rain the crops in the water areas won't make it. Maybe the farmers should have planted rice instead. 

The weather here is a bit balmy but it's still great! I have a few more plants to plant today and then I'm done.

Monday was terribly hot here. My thermometer said 88° and we had a real strong breeze. So I hung out all the pants and jeans for the first time this year. It was wonderful to be able to take them off the line, fold them and put them away!!! I haven't been able to do that for a year.  When they hang in the basement they usually take three or four days to dry. So they don't get taken down till I  am ready to hang replacements.

The weather since Tuesday has been beautiful. Temps in the 70°'s and beautiful breezes.

We had some bad weather this past week end. Severe rains and flooding. We got close to 5 inches of rain. Almost 4 on Saturday and another 1/2 in on Sunday night. The main big creek that runs around our town was almost out of it's banks on Sunday. Farm fields looked like lakes and the ducks were thick on them. Closer to Council Bluffs there is a Mr. & Mrs. Duck that come back to the same "swampy" spot every year to lay their eggs. Sunday the huge nest was barely visible, the water was so high. And the babies were standing on top of it, looking down as if to say, "Where's our house?!"

There were several tornadoes sighted. One was in Treynor which is a straight shot from us, as the crow flies. But it veered off about 4 miles to the West of us. So we were lucky.

I do believe Spring is trying again. I planted 50 strawberry plants yesterday and transplanted what was left in the patch. I asked Rick to spade out the grass and he took the remainder of plants too. I'm trying a new variety of everbearers that is supposed to get really big. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. My old patch was normal sized everbearers  and were so sweet they didn't need sugar.  Drake and his brothers liked to eat them right  out of the patch. But that patch was so old and every year I had less and less. I remember when I first started it I had to give the berries away because I had so many. These last few years I was lucky to get a good two cups.  I gave them a little strawberry fertilizer in each new plant hole so that should help them start off good. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain so that will help too.

It's still cold here. Today it got to 51°. My rhubarb was growing so nice and now it's gone. Hopefully the asparagus will still grow. It hadn't popped up yet.

We had no Easter egg hunt this year. 28° was a little too cold to be outside looking for eggs.  Today it's 36° and snowing! I'm afraid a lot of my perennials  are history.  My Surprise Lilies and German Statice don't look so good.  I had a few daffodils bloom early and I hear that will be all I'll see. My Fox Glove was still pretty covered with dead leaves so I'm hoping it'll survive. I guess time will tell.  There might not be many pretty pictures this year to share!