The Weather in Washington State

by Wanda Lynch

We finally got some rain today and it is suppose to rain off and on for a couple of days. It has been in the low 70s or upper 60s and it was almost too hot to work in the garden! It is suppose to cool down for a while so maybe we can get the rest of the garden in. It is going in early this year and I pray that we have made a wise decision in that! If it does threaten to freeze at night, we will just have to go down and cover everything! I have around 30-35 sheets for just that thing! The bees are coming out in full force and Jay has four bee traps up that are catching lots of them. Hopefully they won't be as bad as last year. We couldn't enjoy being outside last year at all!

Our weather has been very nice and not too cold or hot. Just right for working outside! We have had rain off and on but mostly just cloudy with wind. Our highs have been in the mid to upper 50s and we even hit 60 the other day. We had a huge rain storm the other day and the water ran right into the pump house and is all over the floor. Thankfully there is a drain in the floor for when that happens! Now we have to keep the door open during the day and try to dry it out. So far this month we have had almost an inch of rain. Not too bad considering we are still facing a drought if we don't get more moisture!

Today was a great day for drying laundry outside so I got three loads dried on the line. It was very breezy and the high today was almost 60 degrees! But the rain is suppose to come back and stick around for the next week or so. Typical spring around here!

Another new month! The weather has been typical spring lately. Rain, snow, sun, and wind. It is suppose to warm up toward the middle of the week and be in the 60s. Wow! The garden and green house plants will love that

We woke up to two inches of snow on the ground this morning! Boy was I shocked when I opened the curtains! We have been having the strangest weather here. We got two inches of rain this weekend and yesterday it rained, hailed, snowed, and we even had thunder. We desperately need the moisture so I'm not complaining at all. Hopefully the mountains are getting a lot of snow! I put my rain gauge out yesterday so now I can report more accurately how much rain we get. It was cold today too, only 35, so we didn't even bother taking the plants out to the green house. It is suppose to be drier and warmer tomorrow so they can go outside then.

Our weather has finally started acting like spring. Gone is the sunshine and in is the rain. I wish I had my rain gauge up so I could tell how much we have gotten. I'm thinking we must be close to an inch of rain since yesterday. The extended weather forecast shows rain all through next week. Jay's mom said we will probably cancel the yard sale until better weather. We need the rain badly so I'm not complaining about it. But I was looking forward to working in my flower garden some more. I got almost half of it weeded and cleaned out the other day and would like to finish it. Oh well! Yesterday we got almost an inch of snow but it was gone by this morning. wacky weather

According to the calendar, spring has sprung but it was so cold and windy today that it felt more like the start of winter! We didn't get above 35 today so we didn't even bother taking the plants out to the green house. There was no sun so it wouldn't have warmed up in there anyhow. When Kaity and I were walking out to get the mail, it started snowing! So our weather today was a mixed bag for sure! It is sure flaring up my arthritis though. I was up until almost 2 this morning in pain and this afternoon I had to lay down for a while and take a nap. Hopefully the weather will straighten up pretty soon. On our way to town this afternoon, we passed five large DNR trucks parked by the gravel pit (about 3/4 of a mile from our house) and across the road we could see several people walking the wooded area that was logged a couple of years ago. It is state land and with the threat of dryness and wildfires this year, hopefully they are contemplating cleaning it up! It is a huge fire hazard. All around us are reminders of how dry it is and how dangerous it is going to be this year. The news said in order for us to get up to our regular water level, we would have to have almost nine inches of rain before July. I don't see that happening any time soon.

Our weather has finally started acting normal and we have woke up to snow on the ground the past couple of mornings. It is just a skiff though and doesn't add up to any measurable amount. It rained last night and gave us some much needed rain though. Our state is preparing for the worst drought in two decades. The governor is already setting aside money to help pay for extra fire fighters and such. Doesn't sound good does it? So far we haven't had any water problems but I have heard of others already have their wells going down. Our well is very shallow but we have never had any problems with it. Hopefully we won't! We have had high winds and now there is a mess in our yard of debris from surrounding trees. More work! Luckily I haven't raked the yards yet so at least I won't have to do it twice.

Our weather has still been way above average. Today was close to 60 as was yesterday. Amazing! All the snow is gone in the front yard and the garden is almost clear too. I will be able to walk around in it tomorrow. I am anxious to see if the asparagus made it or if the gophers ate it. The news says we are suppose to go back to normal temps in the 40s and lows in the 20s within the next couple of days. We sure need some rain. The news is already talking drought and what that will mean later in the season. They are already encouraging home owners to clean up their properties and make fire breaks around homes and buildings. Jay did some burning the other day but I think our burn season will be cut short if stuff dries out too soon. We won't chance it. I saw people raking their lawns already and doing pruning. Makes me wish to get outside and get started too. I have to wait a little bit though for it to dry out some more.

Our weather is still unbelievably nice. The plants are thriving in the green house too. What a blessing to be able to start so early. It is still in the 50s during the day and most of the snow is gone now. In some places the mud is even going away! When I start feeling better, I can start working on yard work down by the pump house!

I can't believe the beautiful weather that we have been having. It has been in the low 50s during the day and the snow is melting fast around here. It is still cool at night but not near as cold as normal. We have had no precipitation this month and it has made a record in local weather. The ski resorts around here have had to shut down already and that is going to financially hurt them for sure! But everyone else is enjoying the lovely sunshine. The news last night said we only had two cloudy days all month compared to the normal 20 or so we usually have. Amazing! I just pray that we won't have a bad dry summer due to lack of rain or snow. Fire season can be pretty scary around here!

Colder temperatures are moving into our area and we are suppose to get down into single digits tonight. Typical spring....sun, rain, snow, wind, cold, warm! Yesterday we had all of those that I just listed! One nice thing though is that it is getting late enough in the winter that we know it isn't here to stay.  We have some icy patches in our driveway and yard that are becoming a real nuisance and I will be glad when they melt away. I am not the most graceful person and ice makes it even worse! I checked the green house the other day and it was 70 degrees inside. Time to start the seeds!!!!!

Our weather took a change this afternoon. It was mostly sunny today but towards late afternoon it started snowing here! The wind was blowing so it was snowing and blowing all over. The wind had been blowing all day and made for chilly weather when out in it. When Gram and I were driving to church this morning I hit a patch of black ice and the rear end of the Blazer started sliding. Imagine my surprise!!!! It had rained a lot last night and with the cold temperatures made for ice on the road. The spot I slid in was in the shade and I was totally clueless! I woke up after that though and took it very easy through the shady spots! It is suppose to cool down for the week and just be normal temperatures now. We were being spoiled by above normal temps!

There has been little more snow and what is left is only in the shady spots leaving the rest of the yard muddy. Wanda hopes it foretells an early spring. 

Wanda said they've had a pretty mild winter so far. All the snow has melted off while many years sees the snow staying around until springtime. They've come near setting record high temps instead of the usual brutal cold.

The deep freeze hit us Thursday night and we woke to -12 degrees on Friday morning! I went to open the door to see how cold it was and the front door was froze shut! It came open with a couple of tugs but I decided right then that it was plenty cold! It didn't get above 8 degrees Friday during the day and that night the temps plummeted to -12 again. The news said that with the wind chill yesterday it was equivalent to -40. Too cold for me! Last night was only zero so that wasn't as bad! The high today was only 14 and we got a couple more inches of snow last night. A lot of people are dealing with frozen or busted pipes but we were lucky and only the inside faucet in Jenni's trailer down below froze and Jay was able to thaw it out by running his huge propane heater for a while. There were a couple people at church who had frozen and busted pipes and I felt so sorry for them! Mom and Jerry had their hot water freeze yesterday but Jerry got it thawed out and their pipes are not busted. Betty also had her hot water freeze. I have never heard of that before! Jenni hasn't had any trouble with the trailer she is living in now so it must be well insulated. I will be glad when this bitter cold is gone! Riding in the '69 Chevy Van is horrible during this cold since the heater doesn't work very well. I will be glad to get the Blazer back on the road!

The temperatures are starting to fall and we had freezing rain this afternoon. We are suppose to get more snow tonight with high winds. Then a deep freeze is suppose to hit on Thursday with day time temps only around 8-10 above and night temps at -8 and -10! Makes me cold just thinking about it!! I brought up food from the pump house so we won't have to go down there in the bitter cold. I also filled the freezer in the fridge with meat. So now all we have to do is split a bunch of wood and we will be snug as bugs!

It has been very cold the past couple of days. Today it didn't get above 10 degrees! The low tonight will probably be close to zero. It was 50 degrees in our house this morning when we got up!!! When it is that cold, it makes it hard to get out of bed!! But we stay snug in the house with the wood stove. Jay checked the trailer tonight and said everything is fine there too so that's good news...no frozen pipes! We have sure been burning the wood though. Jay is having to bring in wood every other day to fill the wood box. The news tonight said the projected forecast is for colder weather next week. Lots of cold but very little snow. It has been so cold that Licorice, the cat, sleeps UNDER the covers with us at night!!

It definitely looks like winter around here now!!! Jenni said the roads were almost drifted shut the other night but we had a snow plow come through yesterday just before dark. We woke up to over a nine inches of new snow on the ground and this morning we had at least another four or five! And there is prediction for more snow! It sure looks beautiful here. All the trees are covered with several inches of snow and everything is white and pure looking. A friend of Jay's, Wayne, came over with his friend Mark and plowed us out yesterday evening. Of course he spent the afternoon in Jay's shop working on the plow first! We were very grateful for Wayne and Mark to plow us out since the tractor isn't working and neither is our four wheel drive!! Jay chained up the van and he barely got through the driveway. I think dr. appointments this coming week are going to be interesting! It isn't as cold as it has been. Today the high was around 21 and it is 18 right now. The frigid temps are suppose to be here by Thursday. Highs in the low teens and lows in the single digits. We probably will get close to zero or colder. I am not looking forward to that!

It is suppose to really get cold next week but I will believe it when I see it! It isn't too bad right now. It's around 20 degrees and doesn't get below 15 at night. The wind is what is cold! We did the dishes last night in case of a power outage and today I got all the laundry caught up. If it snows too heavy, we could lose our power so I try to be prepared. Poor Jay has been splitting a lot of wood!!!

It is very cold today. The high was only 24! We saw a few sun breaks today but we very seldom have the sun shine on the house because of the trees. In the winter time the sun hardly gets above the trees! According to the news, it is suppose to be in the teens tonight and won't get above freezing during the day all week. So we just bundle up more and throw another log on the fire!!! We got a few more inches of snow so now the driveway isn't so icy. The ice is still there but under the snow so at least I can walk across the driveway to the shop. I went out today and got meat for the week ahead and then went to the pump house for food for the week. Jay helped carry the stuff up the hill, bless his heart.

Our weather has been very mild but we still have snow and ice. It tried to snow yesterday but it barely covered the road. It looked pretty coming down! We have around three inches of snow (or rather very hard snow/ice!) but not enough to go snow mobiling. The sun was shining today and it really warmed up the car in a hurry! It was nice. It seems that this area is having a nice open winter so far. The wind was blowing tonight though and it had a nip to it that's for sure! But winter is just beginning so we could have a change of weather anytime!

It is now officially winter!! And it sure is cold here! This morning it is only 18 degrees outside and I don't think it will get above freezing today again. Our driveway is still almost solid ice so it is dangerous crossing to the shop! There is no snow forecasted for before Christmas so I guess we are the only ones around that will have a white Christmas!

We still have some snow (enough to cover the ground good) but with the rain the driveway has turned into a sheet of ice! I had to put the Blazer in four wheel this morning just to get out of the driveway! And walking across it is like putting your life and body on the line. I avoid it as much as possible! The past couple days have been very foggy. We don't have a lot out here but the closer to town you get, the worse it is. Spokane was terrible the other day when we were delivering presents. By the time we headed out to my son's house (Michael) it was so foggy we couldn't see ten feet in front of us! It was kind of scary too. We are used to all the back roads around this area but nothing looked too familiar that night! We almost went in the ditch once. According to the news we aren't suppose to get anymore snow before Christmas but at least we get to have a white Christmas! But people half a mile down the road won't!!! One advantage of living in the trees I guess!

The news is calling for more snow tonight and possibly tomorrow. Our driveway is a sheet of ice but most of the roads around here are all bare. We had a pretty day yesterday and rain the day before that so some of the snow is gone but we still have at least 8 inches or so. Jay had some friends of his using his shop the past three days so when Jay's parents bought the parts for Jenni's four wheel drive, one of his friends did all the work putting the new hubs in for her. So now her four wheel drive is working again. She got stuck up on the road Thursday (couldn't turn into the driveway!) just as a grader was coming down the road. He couldn't get past her until Jay got her unstuck. That's when Jay's parents ordered the hubs! Bless their hearts!! So hopefully everyone is ready for the next round of snow. Our tractor is still having problems so who knows if Jay will be able to plow. It is driving him nuts that he doesn't know what is wrong! Mike, Bert's husband, popped in the other night and plowed us out. What a wonderful surprise!! We are very blessed with all the great neighbors that we have around here!

Snow, snow, snow. That's all it has done today! It hasn't snowed really hard but it was steady and started to accumulate. Poor Jay is having a fit because he doesn't have the tractor fixed and we can't plow our driveway out. Jenni got stuck in it this afternoon when she dropped Kaity off. She has been having trouble with the four wheel drive in her rig and she definitely needed it in our driveway. Jay tried to pull her out with our Blazer but it is too light and Jenni's rig is too heavy! Finally Jay ended up putting cat littler under her tires and that got her going. Jay ordered the parts for the tractor and we pick them up in Spokane tomorrow morning so hopefully by tomorrow night we will be plowed out. No one can get in our driveway unless they have four wheel or front wheel drive! And there is a storm warning in effect for the next 24 hours for our area with 4-8 inches of snow predicted. 

We woke to more snow this morning. It is so pretty! We got another three or four inches to add to what we already had. The trees are completely covered in white and it looks so pure and pristine outside. Jay already went for a short ride on the snow mobile while I was at church. He cheated!!!! By the time I got home I was too tired to whine for a ride. We haven't been above freezing in well over a week but it looks like maybe we will get above freezing this week a couple of days. The roads this morning weren't too bad going to church even though they hadn't been plowed (the four wheel drive does real good in snow) but coming home was a different story. None of the roads except the highway had been plowed and all I do is cross the highway so that was the only decent road I hit all the way home. Even the city streets were horrid. All the way home the roads were compact snow and ice and very slick. It got a little better though once I hit our dirt road because it wasn't as well traveled as the main roads. The snow plows and sand trucks are going to be busy tomorrow!!

Tuesday morning we woke up to over two inches of snow and everything looks all white and pure. It has been so cold here that none of the snow has melted and the trees are all covered in white. Our dirt part of the road is still compact snow and ice and very slick. The paved part is hit and miss with snow and ice. So time to slow down and drive cautious! Spokane got two inches of snow the same day and it was terrible in there. There were over 100 accidents reported that day! The problem was that the city wasn't ready and didn't get their plow trucks and de-icer trucks out early enough. The south hill was really a problem and some of the streets had to be closed down. I am so glad we don't live there! Tomorrow night there is a storm warning for 6-12 inches of snow in our area! Yippee!!!!! Hopefully we will get dumped on! Jay has the snow mobiles in the shop now and is getting ready to tune them up. I can hardly wait! Kaity loves to go outside and play in the snow. Jenni takes her outside several times a day just to play. She brought out her snow suit so she can play outside here tomorrow! Jay is anxious to take her for a ride on the snow mobile. I think she will like it once she gets used to it.

The cold snap has arrived! It is 21 degrees at 9:30 PM. and the news said our area would probably get down into the teens tonight. Burrrr! Today was cold but so pretty. The sun was shining and it almost hurt my eyes when I was driving to church this morning. We had clear blue skies but the snow on our road and in our driveway never melted like everyone else did! It is suppose to stay cold and clear for the next couple of days and then chance for snow again. 

We woke up to snow on the ground this morning!! It barely covered the ground but it looked so pretty. There is still some left but some of it melted off already. The highs the next several days aren't suppose to be above freezing so maybe it will stick around and we will get some more!

It is very cold tonight. Right now it is 25 degrees and is only 9 in the evening! The floors are cold and I feel drafts all over. Usually I don't get cold but lately I have been. It is suppose to get colder later on in the week and tonight is possible snow. Yippee!! I was hoping for snow on the ground at Thanksgiving. We are going to have to put a heater down in the trailer if it continues to be very cold. The furnace quit working in it and we can't have the pipes freeze and break. The way that Jay hooked it up it is impossible to turn the water off (what was he thinking???!!) so we have no choice but to run a heater. He is going to have to remedy that next year!

The days are getting shorter and shorter and colder and colder! Today the high was only 30 and it is going to be in the teens tonight. We will probably be getting some snow soon too since the weather is suppose to stay cold and wet! I can hardly wait!! Boyer Mtn., that is behind us, had snow on it the other day but now it is gone. I noticed Mt. Spokane had new snow all over it. So it is just a matter of time! We can really feel the temperature difference once the sun goes down too! It feels like snow!

Another cool day. The high was only 40! It is suppose to stay on the cool side with chances of snow this weekend. It has felt like snow for a week now!! At least the wind isn't blowing and adding a wind chill. But we stay snug in the house with our wood stove and Jay has all of our wood in now so we won't have to worry about running out!

Another cold dreary day. It felt cold to me but it was actually a little warmer than it has been, around 40. It is suppose to warm up though!! It rained off and on yesterday but has been dry today.

It feels more like winter than mid fall around here! I don't get cold very easy but lately I have been very cold and have trouble getting warm. A sign of old age??!! The highs during the day are barely above freezing and it gets into the low 20s or teens at night. Brrrrrr! And when the wind blows the cold just cuts right through. It rained here the other day all day long and it didn't just rain, it poured! Now it is just cloudy and cold. We had some snow on the ground the other night but then it rained the next day and took it away. It definitely feels like snow in the air now!

We had a nice sunny day today but it was very deceiving! As soon as you stepped outside in the wind it was VERY cold. I don't know what the temperature was with the wind chill but it was so cold it made my bones ache. But I did enjoy the sunshine and had to make sure I put my jacket on before going outside!

We finally got a break from the heat this week. It has been in the upper 50s and 60s. It feels wonderful!!! It had been in the 90s for weeks and didn't cool down well at night. The yellow jackets were so bad that Jay had to build traps and he was emptying them every day. We couldn't do anything outside due to all the bees and poor Kaity has had to stay inside. Jay took her for a walk today in the woods so she could get some fresh air. She loved it! I took advantage of the cool weather and gathered a bunch of flower seeds. I got seeds off my Delphiniums, Zinnias, Cosmos, Snap dragon, and Columbine. It was fun and I felt like I was doing something constructive! I won't have to buy flower seeds next year! There is a nip to the air that reminds us that fall is not far off. I love it! Some of the leaves are starting to change color on the bushes and flowers are starting to die back. Soon I will be able to rest more and concentrate on Christmas presents! Sounds wonderful to me!

It was only 83 degrees today so not quite as hot as it has been. Today was the first day that we haven't had rain and thunder and lightening storms! A couple of nights ago the thunder was so loud in the middle of the night that it shook the trailer and woke everyone up! We have been thankful for the rain though. I haven't had to water the yard or garden for a couple of days now.

Today is much cooler than it has been. It is around 78 degrees and partly cloudy. Yesterday it was about the same but it rained for part of the morning and afternoon. I prayed that it would be cooler while Jerry and I were canning and my prayers were definitely answered! We got close to 1/4 inch of rain too! I spent time in the garden last night weeding while it was cooler and it was much more comfortable and even a little wind too!

Summer has officially started and has come in with a bang here. Today was 92 degrees and yesterday was just a few degrees cooler. The whole week has been in the upper 80s and low 90s. Too hot too soon! This afternoon it started to cloud over and the wind picked up tonight. For a while it smelled like rain but nothing so far. Too bad! We could sure use some. With the heat and wind the past week, we are back in a dry situation again with the fire danger being moderate.

Our weather has warmed up a lot in the past two days. Yesterday it was mid 70s and today was around 80. Too hot too soon. We are all having a hard time getting acclimated!! I had the air conditioner on yesterday and today. Jay shut it off tonight because he got cold! Cold is good!! The wind was blowing hard all day so it dried stuff out pretty fast. I hand watered tonight all the flower and herb gardens but couldn't water the big garden down below because the wind was blowing too hard. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to water it. We got a frost on Tuesday night and it hit the potatoes pretty hard. I think they will be okay though. The tomatoes aren't looking too well but I have decided that if they make it, they make it and if they don't, they don't! I already have an attitude and summer hasn't even started! The problem is I am really tired so I don't really care too much. If the tomatoes don't do well, I will just buy a couple of boxes and can them. I am seriously thinking about not having a garden next year and giving my back a break.

It has been cool and rainy all this week but it is clearing up a little today. I timed the yard sale just right!! Tomorrow is suppose to be nice and then it is suppose to rain tomorrow night. I enjoy the cooler weather but it doesn't do much for the garden! The lettuce is loving this weather though but everything else is just sitting there. It is suppose to warm up next week so that should kick the garden in. I still haven't caught up with the weeding so hopefully it will still stay cool enough that I can get that done!!

It was HOT today at 80 degrees! We have had the air conditioner going all day. I guess that's a sign that summer is almost here! Tomorrow is suppose to be even hotter at 84. We are going to go to Spokane early in the morning before it gets too hot! The news tonight said it was suppose to cool way down on Sunday though and possibly rain too. Our normal temps for this time of year is around 70 degrees so we were above average for sure!

Most of Memorial Weekend was rainy and cold but today it warmed up some and the sun came out off and on. The news said it is suppose to really warm up into the 80s by mid week. From one extreme to another! The garden should like it though. I guess we will be turning the air conditioner on though!

It poured rain most of the weekend and we got over 1 1/4 inches of rain in a couple of days. I looked at the rain gauge tonight and it said 2 inches of rain for the past week! We really needed the rain but it sure makes it hard to get any work done outside. Jay sprayed the dandelions yesterday (first time we have ever done that but they were taking over the lawn!) and right after he did then it started to rain! Figures!! I drove home in a downpour yesterday and we even had a thunder and lightening storm last night. Last Friday a tornado touched down outside of Spokane near Airway Heights close to the air force base. My aunt works out on the base and she said they were told to leave their offices and go down in to the underground bunkers. They stayed there for about an hour before they were given the all clear signal to return to work. Jenni works with a lady who's husband is in the air force and they live on base. She is from Texas and has been here about a year. She heard the air raid siren go off and didn't know what it meant so she called her husband on the base and asked him what the noise was (she stuck the phone outside so he could hear!!). He told her to get down in the basement immediately and not to come out until the siren changed. Well, I don't know what happened but the siren went off a couple of times and that poor lady ran up and down the stairs several times!! Jenni was just rolling with laughter when she told the story! So the tornado has been the talk of Spokane for a week now. Tonight I heard on the news that Washington had another tornado touch down in a farming community south of Olympia and it tore the roof off a farmer's huge barn! So far Washington state has had four tornados touch down since April 2004. That's a lot for our area. The last time we were hit by a tornado was about seven or eight years ago and it was only about ten miles from us. It hit a trailer park and did massive damage. Luckily no one died! We were hit with the strong winds though and I wish to never experience that again. I was so scared it made me cry!

We finally got some much needed rain today. It was only 1/4 of an inch but that is better than nothing! Spokane had huge thunder storms rumble through and they are under a flood watch for tonight. It seemed like all of the moisture was staying in Spokane and south of it so I was glad to see the rain. Right now it is just cloudy and calm. I knew a storm was coming though because it was very muggy all day and later in the afternoon the temperature went from almost 70 to low 60s. I quick got the clothes off the clothesline!

Today it was 75 degrees but muggy due to the clouds. The news is already talking about fires and drought this year. It has been a real dry spring and that isn't a good sign. I keep thinking about putting the rest of the garden in but delay doing it for fear of frost. I may do it and then just cover things! It would be nice to get a good jump on things this year.

We finally got some much needed rain today. We got about 1/4 of an inch which is a lot more than what we have had in a long time. The garden really needed it bad! I'm hoping to do some outside work tomorrow while it is still cool. I have a couple of flower beds that need to be planted and the herb garden needs to be weeded. I am still having trouble bending my leg enough without it hurting so hopefully tomorrow it will be better. Right now it is one big bruise! It is suppose to be in the low 60s the next couple of days so I want to take advantage of the cooler weather to get some things done!

Today was cloudy and dark outside so we stayed inside getting some laundry done and paper work filled out and ready to mail. It usually piles up until a slow day comes around! I had to use the drying racks because it was looking like rain but we never got any. We sure could use some though! Most of the rain is staying south of Spokane and we are north of Spokane. It was only in the mid 50s today but with the wind it felt cooler. At least it was in the low 70s for our BBQ on Mother's Day!

It really cooled down today. It was only 60 degrees and that was late this afternoon. It was rather chilly in the house tonight so I made dinner in the oven and then I baked a batch of brownies. It warmed the house up some but it is cooling off again already. We will be bundled up good in the morning! I should have asked Jay to build a fire but I was trying to save on wood. We may have to build a fire when we get home from Spokane tomorrow if it doesn't warm up more! According to the news, we might get rained on when we have the Mother's Day BBQ here on Sunday. But that will be fine, we have a covered porch where the BBQ is! Hopefully the weather will warm up some though for Kaity's birthday party next week.  

05-02-04

The weather has been in the low to mid 70s the past couple days and today some clouds started rolling in which made it muggy. Yuck! The wind really kicked up this afternoon and I was chasing plastic chairs around the yard! It would have been a great day for drying laundry 

Most of the week has been rainy and gloomy. Today was the first sunny day all week! It was nice to see the sun. I did a bunch of laundry tonight and put it on the line. It should be dry by tomorrow afternoon! It was almost 60 degrees today and that was warm compared to the upper 40s and low 50s we have been having! The news is predicting mid to upper 70s early next week. I told Jay we needed to get the air conditioner hooked up! Right now though we are still using the wood stove but not if it gets that warm. Everything is greening up with all the rain we had. We had over an inch of rain in less than a week. With the drier weather, I finally got all the bird feeders filled too. We have a new bird hanging around this year, it's a Bob White. He is welcome that's for sure! He is a good sized bird and makes the neatest sound. Melissa said her and Chuck raised them one year and then released them and never saw any of them. She was happy to hear they are around again. They are part of the quail family but aren't very afraid. There was one down by Jenni's trailer and we were walking behind it and it just took it's time walking away. I was all excited of course! And the hummingbirds are here. Hurray!!!! I saw one the other day at Melissa's so today I put my feeders out and sure enough one came to the feeder this afternoon. I love it when they show up!

We had a couple of very warm days lately. It was in the low 70s on Easter and yesterday it was 77. Very warm indeed! Today was around 60 but it was cloudy and the winds started picking up this afternoon. At least I got my load of laundry dried! It is suppose to be cooler the rest of the week though. All this warm weather has really started my allergies going though! Lots of pollen in the air and there is a lot of burning going on right now, too. I have an appointment next week to get my allergy shot. It is earlier than normal this year. We have had a pretty dry spring so far. The news is already talking about wild fires for the summer if we don't get some rain soon.

It has been cooler the past couple days but the sun still tries to shine. Tomorrow is suppose to be around 60 so that will warm things up again. We might go to a few yard sales if my back can handle it. Jay's mom bought me a new hand mixer so that is one less thing I have to look for! Jay needs a helmet with a DOT sticker on it (new law!) so he can ride his motorcycle. The way gas prices are climbing, we are going to have to start riding it. 

Our weather has been gorgeous the past two days. Today was 70! Tomorrow is suppose to be a little warmer! But then of course it is suppose to get cold and rain. Typical spring weather for here! The other day we woke up to snow on the ground! It didn't stay around long but it was quite the shock! Yesterday morning was very cold too--in the mid 20s with lots of frost on everything. But by the time I left for church most of it was thawed. All the snow is gone in the garden and yards except for a little patch on the east side of the house where it slid off the roof all winter. There are a couple of small piles in shaded areas too but the yards are clear and ready to clean up. Ugh!!

Today marks officially the start of spring and what a nice day it is. The sun is shining brightly but the wind still has a bite to it. It is suppose to be close to 60 today and that should get rid of a bunch more snow! Jay raked part of our front yard yesterday and it looks so much better minus all the deer bones and tree limbs!

The snow is really going down but we still have a bunch! There are some parts of the front yard that are showing and the driveway is almost snow free but very muddy. I hate mud season! I have already swept the kitchen twice today! We have been having beautiful weather...temps in the low to upper 50s! Today it was almost 60 on the thermometer on the porch. The house has a tendency to get too warm though with all the sun beating on it but I just open up windows and keep the stove turned all the way down. I am going to have to bring in the fan and clean it up so we can start using it. It is suppose to rain tomorrow but be nice again this weekend. It is in the upper 20s at night still but it is just good sleeping weather! We got a bunch of snow last week but it all melted off in no time at all. This is definitely spring weather.

It is raining tonight and it sounds so relaxing! I will have no problem falling asleep tonight. We have been having some spring-like weather lately and on Sunday it actually got up into the upper 40s! It felt wonderful. The sun was shining and the sky was so very blue. Even the birds were enjoying it. We still have a lot of snow and it will be a while before I see any of the yard but there are signs that spring is right around the corner! Bert informed me today that she raked part of her yard already!! She loves to tease me about that. She just lives a mile down the road but her place is out in the open so she thaws a lot sooner than we do. Our driveway turned into an ice rink again but by this afternoon it had thawed some so it wasn't so slick. With the rain we are getting it will probably go back to being slick again. It hasn't been real cold lately...mostly in the mid to upper 40s and upper 20s at night. Not bad at all. There have been a couple of days that I opened a couple of windows in the house for some fresh air and it smelled so good!

Our weather has warmed up quite a bit, into the mid to low 40s. It has rained off and on and really taken the snow level down. In Spokane it seems like spring. There is hardly any snow in there except where it was piled up. We still have quite a bit of snow but not as much as we did have. Our porch and sidewalk has standing water on it where the snow has melted on it. Our driveway is very slushy. Jay's mom got high centered when she tried to pull in the driveway. She has a front wheel drive mini van and finally got it in the driveway. I was impressed!! The grader came by the other day and socked in both ends of our driveway. Jay tried to pack them down a little by driving over them but it didn't do much good. The tractor still isn't running so we have no way to clear it out unless we do it by hand. The way my back feels, that is out of the question!!! The forecast for the next week is for temps in the low 40s and maybe even some sun. Sounds good to me. My garden seeds came today so I am getting the planting itch! I also ordered some herb seeds the other day that will be fun to plant. I sure hope I can have a good garden this year!

Today was a gorgeous day!! The skies were a crisp clear blue and the sun was so bright it almost hurt your eyes. I went out on the porch for a few minutes and let the sun beat on my face. It felt so good. We are suppose to get snow tomorrow night so I thought I would enjoy the sun for a few minutes anyhow! It has been very cold at night the past two nights. Last night was around 15 and tonight is suppose to be the same. I guess we get to pay the price for clear skies! 

02-09-04

It has been gray and cloudy for days now. Today didn't get above freezing even. It dips down to the low 20s at night and only low 30s during the day. Winter is still here that's for sure! 

We got a couple inches of snow yesterday that helped to cover up the ice in the driveway and on the hill going down to Jenni's. It was getting pretty slick! I am about sick of snow now so am looking forward to actually seeing some yard. Of course, before that we have to go through mud season and I'm not too fond of that either! Oh well!! The road restrictions are already up on part of our road and in Stevens County. A little early I thought.

The weather has been cool but not terribly cold this week. Today was around 32 and cloudy with some wind. Our snow has gone down some and people are starting to think spring soon. I got my seed order all ready but haven't had time to call it in yet. 

Today was very mild, in the upper 30s, and the snow actually starting getting slushy in the driveway! The news is warning of high winds for tomorrow of 30-35 m.p.h. and gusts of up to 50 m.p.h. It is possible that we could lose our power if the gusts are that high! They were warning to make sure that things were put away so they won't blow around. We don't have to worry about that because there isn't anything to blow around! The snow pretty much has everything weighted down!

Last week we had a couple of storms come in that dumped a whopping 14 inches of snow on us in just a couple of days. Thank God for Mike and his plow! Jay still hasn't been able to get our tractor running and Mike has been such a wonderful friend and neighbor to us. The temperatures haven't been too cold but today the wind was blowing and it was kind of chilly. It never got above freezing and it snowed just a little bit this afternoon but not enough to worry about. The forecast for the rest of the week is mild temperatures in the mid to upper 30s but we will be cooler out here.

It is finally warming up some! We finally got above freezing today and even saw a peek of the sun for a while. It's 33 degrees outside and the snow started to finally slide off the roof. There was about a foot of it up there! When it came off the roof, it sounded like an avalanche! There sure is a huge pile of snow outside the windows now. It is just below the bottom of the windows about six inches or so. Usually by winters end it is close to the bottom of the windows and we have had some years where it is higher. I think we are finally having a good, cold winter this year. Maybe it will help kill of some of the yellow jackets! All the roads around here are compact snow and ice and Spokane's side streets are even worse than our roads. The side streets haven't been plowed! We have been plowed out a couple times but the time before last the grader operator hit our mailbox (isn't the first time!) and now it sits kind of sideways! But the mailman can still put mail in it so I guess we will worry about it in the spring.

We are still having arctic temperatures but it is suppose to warm up later on to single digits above zero! Our school district closed the schools yesterday because the low in our area was -28! It's a good thing too because Spokane didn't cancel school but was having trouble keeping or getting the buses running. Some of them broke down with kids in them. Not good in this type of weather. Jay said when it gets that cold that the diesel fuel has a tendency to gel up. Our high yesterday was zero and our low last night was -10. Very cold. Jay said this is the coldest he can ever recall and he has lived here all his 52 years of life! 

We are having arctic temperatures this weekend. Last night our low was -13 and the high today was only 5. Right now at 7 p.m. it is already -12 and the news is predicting -20! That is too cold for me!! Poor Jay has been busy splitting wood and trying to keep us toasty warm! When it is this cold, the wood stove is going full blast just about all the time. I baked some cookies this afternoon trying to help out the wood stove but it only helped for a little bit! We have plenty of snow and more is on the way. The dogs had to come in the house today and our dog, Woody, has a terrible cough. He has been in the house for a couple of days now.

It has been VERY cold still. Yesterday we got hit with high winds and then in the afternoon it started snowing. We are certainly white and fluffy now! Jay couldn't get the tractor started yesterday and we weren't plowed out from the last couple storms! Our neighbor, Mike, came by this morning and took a couple runs at the driveway for us. He is such a nice guy! It's hard to tell how much snow we got since we have drifts all over. I can imagine what the road is like a couple miles from here where it is all open farm fields! The county plows are definitely going to be busy for a couple days! It isn't suppose to warm up any time soon and more snow is on the way. Now it feels like winter! Our temperatures are in the low 20s to upper teens in the day and single digits at night. I can feel all the drafts in the trailer! But the wood stove keeps us nice and warm so I have no complaints! So far the plows haven't been through here and it will probably be a while before they are. We are always the last to get plowed out.

Tonight the temperature is 5 but will probably reach close to zero by morning. Our high today was only 20. Brrrr!! We woke up to around five inches of snow yesterday morning so now everything is covered with snow and looks so pristine. According to the news we aren't suppose to get above freezing this whole week so at least the trees will look pretty for a while longer! Jay hasn't plowed out the driveway yet since he ran out of gas in the tractor. We went to town this afternoon and bought some so he will either get us plowed out tomorrow or the next day. Another snow storm is suppose to be headed our way and hit Wednesday so he might wait until after that one is over.

It has been cold here but not a lot of snow this week. It has been mostly in the 20s so we haven't done much thawing. When my pastor and his wife came out today from Spokane, she said it looked fluffy around here! Spokane doesn't have hardly any snow. We have around 12 inches or so. Today was very windy and so with the wind chill it was very cold! Sunday we woke up to 8 inches of new snow on the ground. It looked beautiful!! 

Our weather has been cold and gray. We haven't been above freezing all week long. Our driveway is still a sheet of ice but we got a skiff of snow the other day so that didn't help matters any. The school bus garage bought ice cleats for all the drivers. One driver already fell down this year and hurt his back. A couple years ago a driver fell and had to leave by ambulance. I hate the ice season. I thought it was early this year but I realize it really isn't. I can remember one Christmas season a few years ago where we had to load the boxes of ornaments on the hood of the 4 wheel drive (they are stored in the shop) and drive them across the driveway because it was too slick to carry them! We will probably have to do the same thing tomorrow. Jay won't even let me walk across the driveway to the shop due to the ice. Right now Jay is busy welding ice cleats onto a CAT that a guy brought down because he needs to use it and can't due to all the ice!

We have a weather storm watch for tonight. A storm is suppose to hit our area sometime tonight with 4-6 inches predicted for the valleys and 6-12 inches for the mountains. We live at the foothills so we will probably get around 6 inches or so. Our roads and driveway are still slick with ice so now we won't be able to see the ice! Poor Jay fell down in the driveway the other day and is still hurting from that fall! The wind has been blowing all day and it didn't get above 30 degrees today. There was a definite wind chill! I have been cold and achy all day from it!

Saturday morning we woke up to very icy roads. It had rained the night before and they were just a sheet of ice. Jay got the truck stuck out on the road and had to back down the road and get a run at it. He had three 25 gallon propane tanks in the back but it still wasn't enough weight. The truck did a little better on the way home since the tanks were full. I about fainted from the price of propane...$1.35 a gallon and that was a discount!!! Later that afternoon Jay, Kaity, and I went to Spokane to see my cousin Jackie who flew in from Elko, Nevada. We spent several hours sitting around visiting. Earlier Jay took me to Costco to get batteries for my digital camera and to pick up some developed film. Then we went over to the dollar store so I could pick up a couple of things for the kids at church. We didn't head home until close to 8 p.m. and after we hit the back roads to our place the fog was so thick that we couldn't see hardly anything ahead of us at all. It was kind of spooky!

It snowed most of the morning today but didn't amount to a lot, maybe an inch or so. Tonight there was freezing rain for a while and it sounded like tiny icicles on the roof. Jay said the roads weren't too bad but the news said Spokane's roads were terrible. Lots of accidents. Our low last night and the night before were around 20 and yesterday's high was 30. Not even above freezing! Today the temp was about the same. But the wind was blowing pretty strong so there was a wind chill too. I have been cold all day!

We got a couple of inches of snow this morning so now our snow count is pushing towards two feet! Quite a bit of snow for November. At least we will have a nice snow pack for the mountains! The ski resorts around here are loving it!! Most of them opened before Thanksgiving. It is starting to finally warm up a little though.. it's 30 degrees today! We might actually make it above freezing today.

We couldn't believe how much it had snowed when we walked outside!!! My church is up on the south hill and it is called that for a reason...it is literally on top of a very steep hill! Coming down that hill was very scary. Traffic was crawling and the traffic that was coming up the hill was pretty much stalled because most of the cars couldn't get up the hill. Usually during bad snow storms we are snug as bugs at home so we had never seen what Spokane is like during snow storms. It was unbelievable!

We have been being hit with one snow storm after another for the past couple days! Right now we have close to 18" of snow! Jay finally got us plowed out this afternoon. Jenni got stuck in the driveway since she was pushing snow with the front of her car. At least she was able to get in the driveway. The plow and grader had been through so there was a huge snow heap at both ends of the driveway! I had to drive in it yesterday and it was a huge slick mess. Our road had been plowed but most other roads (including city streets!) hadn't been plowed. One of the back roads that I have to drive down to get to my mom's was so rough and slick that it took me almost 20 minutes to get to my mom's house and she is just about five minutes out of town! I was so thankful that we have four wheel drive! I drove my mom to the dr. since the roads were so bad and then we did some shopping afterwards. When I got to her house the trailer park was just getting plowed out so I quick shoveled out my mom's car and Jerry got it started and backed out so the plow could clean out their parking space. There was a lot of snow to be cleared!! While mom was at the dr. I walked over to the library and picked out a couple books for Jenni. After mom was done, I took her to get groceries at Yokes. She was still shopping so I left to go to another store and it was a good thing too because I happened to see one of the bus drivers there and asked why he wasn't driving (I had dropped Jay off at work and was suppose to pick him up after his last run). He informed me that the drivers were done for the day and at first I thought he was kidding and then realized he wasn't. I got out of that store fast and headed for the bus garage! When I got there Jay and the mechanic were the only ones there and thankfully Jay wasn't upset. I guess the schools had decided to release all the kids early but Jay didn't know that until after I had already dropped him off and left. We don't have a cell phone so there was no way for him to contact me. Thankfully our town is small and we know a lot of the people that live here! Most of the bus drivers are local guys and women that went to school here and lived here most or all of their lives.

It has been a busy week so far and it is only half over! We have been having terrible winds the past couple days and last night we lost our power for about an hour. It was actually a blessing in disguise though as I thought we were all prepared for winter storms and power outages but I found out different! We ran out of batteries for the flashlights and I didn't have any extra! We are stopping at Costco tomorrow to remedy that! We also didn't have the gas cans filled for the tractor and generator and we are taking care of that at 

The winds have finally died down tonight but now the weather is suppose to turn very cold with snow in the forecast. We got an inch of snow Sunday night but on Monday night it rained and washed it all away. It was pretty for a few days anyhow.

It was a beautiful day today. The sun was shining and it was 40 degrees. But tonight is very cool...22 degrees...but the stars are shining brightly. That's why it's so cold! We haven't had the pleasure of seeing the Northern Lights and probably won't since they are visible very early in the morning. But we have heard others talk about how pretty they are. I love to stand outside at dark and look at the stars. It makes a person feel very small indeed!!

This week is much warmer than last week was! The temps are around 40 with the lows at night in the 20s. Not too bad. This morning we woke to snow/rain/wind but towards late afternoon we got a sneak peek at a little sun. The mountains got quite a bit of snow and the ski resorts are talking about opening before Thanksgiving! It looks like it's going to be a great ski year for them!

It seems so strange to be writing November and to realize that this year is almost over! The holidays will be here before we know it! We are still having very cold temperatures here. The low last night was close to zero! The highs are only reaching the mid to upper 20s during the day. It is suppose to warm up this next week with a chance of snow. We woke to snow on Sunday morning but it wasn't enough to measure. We still have some of it in the shady spots and on the driveway and roads leading out to our woods. It doesn't thaw during the day to melt it! Spokane got hit a lot worse than we did. They got at least an inch of snow and had massive accidents all over. I didn't got to church due to a cold I have been fighting so I missed all the excitement. Of course I wouldn't have gone with the roads that slick! The church I attend is up on the south hill and can be treacherous in the winter coming down! My mom has a police scanner and was keeping me informed of the road conditions. My sister lives in Spokane and said there were a lot of slide offs and that it was very slick. Now we can say the winter driving has begun! Jenni hasn't been able to get her studded snow tires put on yet due to too many people doing the same thing. She didn't want to stick around the tire shop for five hours! Hopefully she will get them on by the end of this week though. She drives late at night and needs the extra traction! We have really been burning the firewood this week too. Poor Jay is kept busy splitting and stacking! But we are staying toasty warm.

Our weather has started feeling like winter is in the air! We had a cold front move in (it tried to snow yesterday!) and it only got up to 30 today but that wasn't counting the wind chill. It was in the teens with the 30 mph winds! I went down to the pump house with just a sweater on and it sure didn't keep the cold out! I was chilled to the bone! The sun was shining but it was very deceiving. We are suppose to stay cold for the next couple of days and then there is snow in the forecast after that. Our low last night was around 20 and tonight is suppose to be in the low teens. Brrrrr!!!!

The wind is really howling through the trees tonight! We are having a huge windstorm with up to 50 mph gusts. There are places in and around Spokane that have lost their power but so far we haven't even had a power surge or flicker. It was cool today, only in the mid 40s, until late this afternoon when the wind started blowing. Then it warmed up to almost 60. Strange! Especially since the wind is coming from the north! But it will be bringing chances of snow the next couple days and extremely cold temperatures. Everyone I know is getting ready for this storm that is coming. Jay split a bunch of wood tonight and I made sure the laundry was all done and the house cleaned. I still need to make a loaf of bread but I am leery of doing that until the wind dies down in case we lose our power. One drawback to electric bread machines!!

Fall is definitely in the air now. Today was beautiful outside until I actually went outside! Our high today was only 50 degrees and last night's low was in the mid 20s. The night before the low was 20! We are definitely working our way towards winter weather. The news even mentioned snow in the week forecast but things can change so I won't hold them to their prediction! Of course, it wouldn't be the first Halloween that kids have gone out in the snow.

10-21-03

10-18-03

We hit 75 degrees today! I had predicted that our 70 degree weather was over. This is such a strange fall this year. One week we are freezing and heating with the wood stove and now we let the stove go out and are enjoying summer like weather!

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It was a rainy afternoon so I just hung out at home and got some laundry done and actually relaxed. I haven't done that in a long time!!!! It felt wonderful! I was suppose to go shopping with my mom today but we postponed it until tomorrow.  

10-14-03

The weather held out for us today but it was windy and partly cloudy. The wind made for cool weather! It was only 60 today but much cooler with the wind. The green house is much warmer with the insulation in it! It was actually HOT in  there today! I like to go in there and eat the small tomatoes! It is suppose to be rain/clouds tomorrow so that's a good day to go visit my mom! I am real tired and sore so decided to take tomorrow off and recoup. 

10-11-03

Today was quite the chilly, windy, typical fall day! The fire had gone out overnight and when I got up it was 59 degrees...in the house! So I scrounged up some kindling from the wood pile and got a fire going real quick! The low last night was 25. No wonder it was so cold inside! The high today was only 50 degrees but with the wind it was colder than that.  I think our 70 & 80 degree days are over for the year! It started to rain tonight and if our temps drop too low tonight, we could wake up to snow! I just pray that there won't be ice on the roads in the morning when I leave for church!

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Today was much cooler than it has been in a long time. It was only 53 degrees and the wind was blowing pretty good. It was actually chilly! We had to start a fire tonight because the high tomorrow is suppose to be cooler than today with very cold nights. Now it really feels like fall! I love the leaves on the ground and walking through them. I love the rustling sound it makes! Plus cooler weather makes working outside much easier. Jay rode his motorcycle to work this afternoon and wasn't going to take his coat. I finally convinced him to take it and he said he was glad. I could imagine the wind chill! 

10-08-03

With the cooler weather I have finally been able to do some baking. I made a loaf of bread this morning and two loaves of banana bread this afternoon. I fixed meat loaf, spaghetti squash, and asparagus for dinner. It was nice to turn the oven on! The house needed heating up anyhow! 

10-07-03

We got a little bit of rain last night but not a good soaking. The high today was only 60 but the wind made it feel cooler than that. Hopefully we will get more rain this week!

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We have been having summer like weather here so it certainly doesn't feel like fall. The temps have been in the low 80s and upper 70s. I even had to turn the air conditioner on Sunday as it was 84! Yuck! I have been yearning for the cooler fall temps and some rain to go with it. The fire danger in our state is still extremely high and dry. We could use some rain! The leaves are starting to turn color and the colors aren't quite as bright as usual due to the dry conditions but they still look pretty to me. We had very strong winds yesterday and it knocked a lot of the leaves off the trees and branches too.

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It has been like summer all over again this week! Today the high was near 80! It is suppose to stay that way for several more days. It has certainly brought out the stink bugs! Every time we go outside we are buzzed by them. Yuck! It hasn't been freezing the past couple nights either but it cools down enough for good sleeping weather. I will probably end up turning on the air conditioner tomorrow!

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We are still having very Fall-like weather. Today actually got up to over 60 degrees but it was cloudy and windy. A good day for working outside. According to the news, it is suppose to be in the mid 70s this weekend. I couldn't get the hoses disconnected from the air conditioner so maybe there was a reason! Our night time temps are very cold though, usually freezing every night. Good sleeping weather!

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We finally got some much needed rain today! It rained most of the night and all day today and is still pouring rain this evening. By mid afternoon we had a little over a half inch of rain in the rain gauge. I know we have received a lot more since then! I bet the fire fighters are extremely happy with all this rain.

It was a lot cooler today too...50 degrees! Two days ago it was 94! Quite a difference! Yesterday was only 73! But the cooler weather is a much welcomed  reprieve for sure. I was a little worried about frost tonight but as long as it keeps raining, I guess I won't have to worry!

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It was cloudy all day yesterday with a nice breeze that made canning and gardening actually pleasant. We got over 1 1/2 inches of rain the past couple days. We really needed it! The high was only around 60 but last night's temps dropped down to around 38! Too close for comfort. It was another cool day today  too and very enjoyable. No air conditioner today!

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Another scorcher of a day here. I will be so glad when the weather cools down! Today was only 92 but yesterday was close to 100 again! Thankfully I didn't do any canning yesterday but Jerry and I canned all day today. It was miserable in the house by the time I was finished but it seems to be cooling off nicely tonight. According to the news, it is suppose to cool down into the low 70s by Monday so we will probably get a frost next week if it cools down that much and rains. So Bert and I are trying to figure out how we are going to cover everything still left out in the garden! I think we have it pretty much figured out now though. Her husband has some very large tarps that they used to cover hay with so hopefully they will be big enough to cover the tomatoes and we will use sheets on the rest of the garden.

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Bert and I pulled the last of the onions tonight. It got down to 39 here last night...too close to freezing for me! So we decided that we best get with the program and get as much out as we could. All the onions are in boxes in the pump house to dry and it smells pretty pungent in there! We picked all the cabbage and garlic too. Almost half the garden is bare now! Hopefully it won't freeze tonight so that we can get a couple more pickings of cucumbers and we haven't even had one picking of green beans. I shut the door to the green house tonight in case it does get too cold. At least we will have some stuff left! According to the news, it is suppose to warm up back into the low 90s this weekend and part of next week. That will really help the garden if it doesn't freeze tonight! We are over ten degrees difference from Spokane at night!

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It has been warm the past two days. Yesterday was near 90 and today was 85. It is suppose to start cooling down a little bit but only into the low 80s. We have been having pretty windy afternoons and that certainly doesn't help the fire fighters any. Today there were two fires less than ten miles from here. It is getting a little spooky! But the fire departments and the DNR are doing an excellent job of getting right on them to keep them from spreading. I am impressed! I noticed the other night that it was starting to get dark earlier now so fall is just around the corner. It was dark by 8 tonight! There is still a lot of smoke in the air from all the fires in our state and it bothers my asthma a lot. So I mostly stay in the house and can! I do have to run up and down the hill a lot though getting jars!

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The temperatures have cooled down into the upper 70s and low 80s. I handle that a lot better! Today was 80 and it felt warm but not too bad. Jenni mowed the lawn for me and I haven't been watering it due to it's almost fall plus if I water it, I will just have to mow it! I don't have time to do that right now. Right now I have to concentrate on the garden instead of making more work for myself! I AM my own worse enemy!! Last night we went over to Bert's to look at Mars through Jay's telescope and it was actually chilly! It was in the low 50s and we all had sweaters on! Fall is in the air.

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Another hot day today...90 degrees again! I will be glad when these hot temperatures subside for a while (preferably another year!). It has been very hazy due to all the fires in Washington and Montana. It makes beautiful sunsets but kills my allergies!! It started to cloud up tonight so hopefully we will get some much needed rain. I think the forecast called for thunder and lightening though! Not good when things are so dry. 

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08-18-03

The weather held out great for the weekend with cooler temps and even a little rain on Saturday. But today it jumped right back up into the mid 90s again. The house did pretty well at staying cool while we did our canning. It stayed under 80 inside anyhow!

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The weather has calmed down a lot and now the temperatures are hanging around the mid to upper 80s. That I can handle! It is still extremely dry around here and there have been several small brush fires in and around the Spokane area. Today there was one Northeast of Spokane and we could see it when we were in town today. It looked pretty bad but the news said it was contained to 20 acres and no homes lost. That was great news! This weekend there was a fire by Hunters, WA and an old barn was lost in that fire and several homes were threatened. This is a very scary fire season this year. Last week not too far from here there was a field fire but farmers and the fire department were on top of that one quick. Living out as far as we do with the closest fire department over 10 miles away, we have to depend on our wits and neighbors. So we all do a pretty good job of keeping a close eye out all the time for signs of smoke and investigate it immediately. Especially this year!

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08-14-03

It was pretty hot today...around 93 and tomorrow is suppose to be even worse at 97! Just when I think things are going to cool down too! I have to drive over to where my mom lives for a hair cut tomorrow but after that I'm headed straight home to the cool house! Jenni is going to Spokane so I told her I would take Kaity with me so she would stay cool. I certainly don't mind!! I sure am glad we aren't having the electricity problem that the East coast and Canada are having. I can't imagine not having electricity when it is so hot. My heart sure goes out to all who live there!

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Today we got up at 5:30 and met Ken and Kathy on the highway at 7 this morning. We went up past Priest Lake, Idaho to pick huckleberries. At first we were afraid we had picked a bad day to do it due to heavy thunder storms and rain. But by the time we got up to our spot it was mellowing out and we only had a few sprinkles. By afternoon it was down right hot!

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It cooled down today and I was very grateful for that since I had to can dill pickles! It was only 82 and very cloudy. I just wish the clouds could dump some rain on us! It was kind of muggy though. Yuck! But hopefully it will help out the fire fighters in their efforts to put out the wild fires that are burning around the western states. It is a very bad year for fires! It is dry and with the winds that we have been having it just fans the fires. It's humbling when you live in the woods that's for sure. I would pray that it would never happen here but I could never say it wouldn't! It is one of the dangers of living out in the country.

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It has been very hot here the past couple days! Yesterday was 92 and today was 96. We just hung out in the house in cool clothes and tried to move as little as possible! The trailer heated up to 80 degrees even with the swamp cooler running but it was better than nothing! 

Tomorrow is suppose to be 98 so that is going to be even worse than today. It sure makes the garden grow but is miserable for us! Clouds started to roll in late this afternoon but seem to have gone right by us. Good thing too because they probably were thunder and lightening only. It is so dry here that we certainly don't need a lightening storm right now! My mom and Jerry braved the heat today to come visit us. They are braver than I am! I will brave it tomorrow though to attend church but then I'm coming right home! My niece is in town from back east so I told her I would try to go into Spokane tomorrow night after it cools down some.

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 07-16-03 

Our weather has been pretty hot here but not nearly as bad as Nevada! Yesterday was 92 and today was about the same. This weekend is suppose to be in the upper 90s. 

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It is warming up again but still not as hot as last weekend. Today was around 80 and tomorrow is suppose to be a little warmer. My mom and her husband, Jerry, are coming out for a 4th of July BBQ (we are doing chicken!!). There are fireworks in town but Jay and I won't be going. Jenni might go with my mom and Jerry. I pray that all of our neighbors will use common sense with their fireworks! Our neighbor behind us has a big 4th of July BBQ at his house and sets off big fireworks in his field. He has never had a fire from them so I hope he is cautious again this year! 

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07-01-03

We had some pretty hot weather this past weekend. Saturday was 90 and Sunday was 93 with clouds which made it really muggy! Thankfully we didn't get the predicted lightening storm since things are really drying out around here. It's kind of scary to be so dry this early in the summer. We have been having quite a bit of wind and that dries stuff out real quick! I am going to have to start watering the yard and be more diligent with the flower gardens too! There are already three wildfires in Washington state right now. Not a good sign! When you live in the woods, high fire danger is not something you want to hear on the news every day! It has cooled down quite a bit the past couple days. Only in the mid 70s which is fine with me. We didn't even have the air conditioner on today! Of course that was because my arthritis was flared up and I was wrapped up in blankets and still chilled and aching. Almost like the flu but worse! I finally broke down and took a pain pill so I could do some work in the garden while it was cool. My body is telling me that I'm going to pay for that one tomorrow!

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It was 80 degrees today but according to the news it is suppose to cool down to the upper 60s for the weekend. That will be nice! It was partly cloudy today and very windy. I will be glad when it cools down for a few days. Maybe I can get some more weeding done!

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It has been very hot here the past couple days. Yesterday and the day before was 90 and today was in the mid 80s. It is suppose to cool down though into the upper 60s starting tomorrow. That is more my type of weather! The corn has sprouted up with the heat and is a good four inches tall or taller. Between the heat and the black plastic it popped right up there! All the bean plants are looking great and the only thing not doing too well is the peas. I am not going to bother growing them anymore. They are more hassle than they are worth. Our growing season is too short. The onions are doing excellent and should be of good size this year. The potato plants look great too. I am hoping for some good canning this year! I still have to clean the pump house out though. It has been too hot to work in it so hopefully I will be able to get down there tomorrow when it is cooler. I need to organize the shelves and repack the jars into sturdier boxes. With the antique sewing machine gone I will have more room. I'm looking forward to that!

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Another start to a new week. This one doesn't look quite as hectic as last week, thank God! It will be busy but not too bad! Today was hot, around 80 degrees, but not as bad as yesterday when it was close to 87!! That's getting too hot for me! The garden loves it of course.

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We broke record highs yesterday. It was 91 degrees! It was very hot and towards afternoon became very muggy. The clouds started rolling in and around 7 last night the emergency broadcast system came on warning of an approaching thunder and lightening storm headed north of Spokane approximately 34 miles. We were directly in it's path! The winds were in excess of 60 m.p.h. and the lightening was an amazing show! We also got almost 1/4 inch of rain in less than fifteen minutes! We have tree limbs in the yard but otherwise things held up real well. Our power went off a couple times but was back on in less than a minute. The Deer Park area wasn't quite so fortunate. They lost their power due to downed power lines. My sister was heading to Spokane from up north and said they drove over power lines on the highway! Trees were down and the wind was so strong that they had a hard time keeping the truck on the road. Some of the smaller cars had pulled over due to the high winds. Jay's parents live over by the same highway and said a man that lives just down the street from them in the same trailer court was struck by lightening. He thought the storm was over and went out to adjust his satellite dish and was struck. He lived thankfully and by the time the paramedics got there he was able to talk and move again. He refused treatment too. Some people are totally amazing! Spokane also had some damage from the storm. Today is just overcast and around 65 but it is still kind of muggy out. I have several fans running to move the air!

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Our temperatures sure have gotten warm! Today was 77 degrees and it felt too warm. Last week we were in the 50s and low 60s so this is quite a change.

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Another cloudy day but a little warmer. Right around 60 degrees. We had some light rain this morning and little drizzles off and on this afternoon. Of course this would be the time that the window in our Blazer decides to not work and it rolled all the way down! Jay is going to take the door panel apart and see if he can fix it himself! I certainly hope so.

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Our weather has been very cold lately. We broke records two nights in a row for lows! I covered up the plants well in the green house! Things aren't growing as well as I would like but we haven't had much heat or sun to help it out. According to the news though, by Saturday it is suppose to be almost 80 degrees! Talk about going from one extreme to the other! Today was around 60 with wind and clouds. Cool but nice weather for working outside. I put some laundry on the line too! When the heat comes through towards the end of the week, I will have to really keep an eye on the things in the green house so they don't dry out and get too hot. That's what happened last year!

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The weather was very windy today with lots of dust and pollen in the air. Not exactly my idea of a great day due to my allergies! But two loads of towels dried beautifully on the line! It was in the mid 50s but with the wind it felt a lot cooler. I covered the plants in the green house as the news was calling for frost tonight. The extended forecast showed frost for the next three nights. It is suppose to cool down for a couple days but warm back up. I don't mind the cooler days. Jay built a fire tonight since it was going to be so cold. Jenni and Katie are staying here for a couple days until Jenni starts feeling better so we didn't want the house too cold.

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Well, it has started pouring rain so I guess our plans for tilling tonight will have to wait until tomorrow. It is suppose to be warm and dry tomorrow. This time of year it's hard to get things done in between storms! But it is greening up beautifully outside and the yard is almost in need of it's first mowing of the year. I might have to hire that done though if Jay can't help me. 

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The weather is acting like typical spring weather here. One minute it is nice and the next it is raining, hailing and thunder! Last night a warning came on the television for the Moses Lake, WA area warning of high winds (60 m.p.h.) and lightening. It advised people to take cover in a strong building! It gave me the goose bumps just thinking of something like that hitting here! High winds and a mobile home don't go well together! We do have another roof built over the mobile but it is still scary. Storms like that don't happen too often around here though. Thank God! Today started out nice but by mid afternoon we had wind, hail, rain, and thunder. Jenni has a little lake down by her house!

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Our weather has taken a change for the worse. We were able to let the fire in the wood stove go out for the past five days but I think we are going to have to light one tomorrow. The high today was only 55 with clouds and high winds. Tomorrow is suppose to be very cool with rain. We had some very warm days for a couple days though. Pretty soon I will be complaining about how hot it is so I guess I should enjoy this while I can! 

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04-20-03

Happy Easter!!! What a beautiful day we had today. It was almost 70 degrees and clear blue skies. We even let the fire go out in the stove! Tomorrow is suppose to be about the same with a chance for showers in the afternoon. Maybe even thunder storms! Interesting! 

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04-19-03

The weather still hung in there so I washed all the laundry and got it all dried outside before dark! I love to do that. It smells so good and God doesn't charge anything to dry outside! Clouds started to roll in this afternoon but they rolled right on by. I kept an eye on them though after the last fiasco when I got as wet as the clothes trying to get them off the line during a down pour! 

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04-18-03

The weather was really nasty in the morning, with snow/hail and fog. It was a strange combination and just depended on what area a person drove through! I hit all of them on the way over to Betty's! But in the afternoon the clouds started burning off and it actually turned into a very nice afternoon and warmed up. I almost let the wood stove go out but thought better of it!

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Today was a typical spring day! This morning the sun was shining and the wind was blowing so I figured it was a good day to put laundry out to dry. A couple hours later a huge rainstorm came through and soaked me and the clothes as I tried to rescue them from the rain! So much for sun dried clothes!! It has been doing that all day long. Right now the sun is shining but a half an hour ago it was pouring rain! It has been a little on the cool side too. Only in the mid 40s or low 50s. That is cool compared to normal temps this time of year. With all the rain we are having though the grass is greening up fast and the spring plants are growing!

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The weather did a cool down today. It has been pretty nice, in the upper 60s, but today was in the 50s and rain this morning. We let the fire go out a couple days ago and right now it is a little chilly in the house! But it's 70 in here! Maybe it's just in my head!!

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We woke up to snow again this morning. Sunday it was 60 degrees here and today we had snow! Wow!! It was only about 40 today and I was actually chilled! The snow is all gone now but the news is saying possibility of snow again. Typical spring weather. Winter just doesn't want to let go! But the crocus are up and so are the irises. I noticed the columbine is coming up and the holly hocks too.

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03-27-03

Yesterday morning we woke up to over two inches of snow on the ground! What a shock!! Jay said the roads were really slick too. It was beautiful but it was a really heavy snow. The trees were so heavy that their limbs were hanging way down but with everything covered in white, it sure was a sight to see! I didn't see it snowing but people who did said it was the biggest flakes they have ever seen. Even Jay said so and he has lived here all his life! Now all the snow is gone except for a couple of small patches and along the side of the house. T ypical spring around here. Today it was kind of chilly, only 39 degrees and windy.

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It rained all day without a break. It has been raining for a couple days now! It was dark and dreary and towards evening the winds picked up and a violent wind/rain/hail storm hit. It was kind of scary!! I think there is suppose to be a break in the weather the beginning of the week though. All of our snow is gone and now we are just waiting for things to dry out! Jay was suppose to drive a bus load of kids into a baseball game but it was cancelled due to the rain! 

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We no longer have any snow in our front yard and very little along the side of the house. Of course our front yard looks like a bone yard for dead animals! Jenni's puppy kept dragging in deer parts and I didn't realize until the snow melted just how many parts he drug in!! I even found some teeth in the yard! Yuck! Guess who will have to clean it up too?? Right! Me!! I think I will get Jay to help me though. Jenni is having a bit of a difficult time bending over right now!! It has been a rainy, gloomy week with no sunshine to be seen. Today it poured rain except for about a half hour period and that's when we unloaded Jenni's car! Our dirt roads are really muddy and the road is heaving in some parts which makes it treacherous driving in small cars! Jenni can't drive down to her trailer due to the mud and our driveway is still one big mud hole. I will be glad when it dries up just a little!! Spokane had temperatures in the low 60s and upper 50s but our temperatures have been in the upper 40s. Not too bad of weather for March actually!!

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Our weather has changed to very rainy. It has been warm and humid too. Our high today was 48 but Spokane's was 61! Wow!! They almost broke a record high! Almost all of our snow is gone out of the yard and the garden is mostly showing too! The rain really took the snow down! I stood outside this evening smelling the air...it has a hint of spring to it! I will be uncovering the flowers soon so they can start getting some sun. Maybe next week when the sun comes out! 

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We woke up to over three inches of snow yesterday morning. Just when we thought spring was coming! It is still there but I doubt it will stay around too long. It is suppose to be in the 40s and 50s this week so that should melt it right down! I miss the sun and according to the news, we won't have any sun at all this week. Oh well, it's not like I don't have anything to do inside!!!

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03-06-03

We are having a raging wind storm right now. It was blowing pretty hard yesterday too but tonight the gusts are up to 50 m.p.h.! It hasn't been really cold and we didn't get any snow so the snow in the front yard is still diminishing! It didn't get as cold as they predicted and I'm thankful for that. We haven't lost our power yet but we did have power surges yesterday. Life is good!!

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03-04-03

We have a winter storm watch in effect tonight and for the next couple days. Chance of snow and high winds. I think winter still isn't ready to let go yet! I don't think we will get anything but the mountains are going to get hammered! We need more moisture up there though. It hasn't been really cold here but it didn't get up into the 40s like it was suppose to. I don't mind though. The sun was shining most of the time so it was nice! Most of the snow is gone in the front yard except where it turned to ice! We have standing water puddles in the yard!! The driveway is solid mud and so is the hill going down to Jenni's trailer. I hate it. I can't keep the floors clean at all! Oh well!!

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02-27-03

Another gorgeous day today! We have been so blessed with sunshine lately. Our cold snap has passed and we are now seeing temperatures in the low 40s. It's still a little chilly if the wind is blowing but there is a mild hint of warmth and the promise of spring coming! 

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02-22-03

It is actually going to feel like winter! I spent the day getting ready for it too! Jay split lots of wood and carried food up from the pump house. I filled up the inside freezer and made sure all the water jugs were filled. With high winds and very cold temperatures, we could lose our power. I got all the laundry done today and hung up some warmer curtains in Jenni's trailer while she was at work. I vacuumed, dusted, swept, emptied garbages, put up new/used curtains (Jay put up my new curtain rod this morning for me!), made a loaf of bread, and watered the house plants. I even transplanted one of my house plants. I had fun playing in the dirt!! It was an all day work out and now I'm tired! But at least I know we are as ready as we can be for the cold weather. It is suppose to last for a couple days and then warm back up. It will make us appreciate spring even more! 

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02-19-03 

We had another nice day today. It was in the mid 40s and partly sunny. The news is saying that tomorrow is going to be raining and high winds...15-20 m.p.h.

Maybe the rain will come down sideways!!! But rain should help take down our snow even more. Each day a little more of the yard is showing. Soon I will have spring fever too! Our roads are heaving from the frost pushing up and they are solid mud. Mud season has arrived!! Not my favorite time of year!

I know what you mean about spring fever. The snow is melting fast here and every day I can see more of the yard. But I tell myself to march myself right back in the house and ignore the work that needs to be done. I will wait until all of the yard is showing and dried out a little before I go too gung ho!! I am jealous that you are getting ready to plant already. You lucky lady!! When I walk into the green house on a sunny day, it is so nice and warm but it is still too early to start anything in it. Maybe next month.

I would be interested in a seed exchange. Right now all I have is holly hocks and marigold seeds. Let me know how it is going!

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02-15-03

This morning was nice and sunny but now it has clouded up and is suppose to rain. I can tell the weather is taking a change because I hurt everywhere!

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02-10-03

It is cold and cloudy today. Right now it's only 27 and cloudy. Spokane is socked in with fog! A good day to be inside!!

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02-09-03

It is still cold here and turning cloudy again. This morning we had some sun though! But it is back to being dark and dreary again. It was another very cold night in the teens and barely above freezing during the day. Typical winter!

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02-08-03

Our weather is still cold and cloudy. For a while this morning the sun was shining but towards afternoon the clouds started rolling in. We barely got above freezing today. It has been fairly dry lately...no new snow or rain to report! Most of the places around us have very little if any snow. We are more tucked into the trees so we are always the last place to lose snow. Bert told me that her husband cleaned up their yard already!! She always teases me about that every year!

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02-04-03

Our weather turned very cold again. This morning when I got up it was 15 outside! Brrrrr. We didn't get above freezing on Sunday and I don't think we did yesterday either. It was really foggy here yesterday but today is clear skies but COLD. Jay will be splitting extra wood this week!! We woke up to about an inch of new snow on the ground yesterday. Just enough to make the roads very slick!! I'm glad it froze again because if it hadn't, the county probably would have put the road restrictions up and I hate them.

It takes forever to get to town at 30 m.p.h.! And they enforce it too. Bert got a ticket last year for over $150! You would think the county sheriffs would have better things to do than sit around waiting for speeders on back roads! Jay hates the restrictions too...it takes forever for him to do his bus runs! School buses are not exempt from the road restrictions. Supposedly it saves the roads but I don't think the cars are what tears up the roads. I think the huge logging trucks and 18 wheelers are what tears it up! Once the road restrictions go up, it takes a month or two for them to go off. Usually they go off when people have had enough and start complaining!! They are only in effect for the paved roads though.

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02-02-03

Glad you are having warm weather. Ours is just the opposite! Today our high was only 28! It was cold and foggy. Our snow has gone down a considerable amount and parts of the yard are starting to show. But we are suppose to be cooler this week so we probably won't lose a lot more snow this week! We had some torrential downpours last week that really knocked the snow level way down! There were warnings for some areas in Washington due to flooding. With the warmer weather last week it caused the snow to melt and there was a lot of runoff from it. We are already dealing with mud around here and that is unusual. Mud season usually doesn't start until March or April! It is not my favorite time of year!! The mud probably wouldn't be so bad if we could afford to have a load of gravel dumped in the driveway. Over the years of plowing, the gravel has been pushed off the driveway. But we can't afford it this year so I will just have to put up with the mud being tracked in.

01-30-03

All our snow we got yesterday has pretty much melted. We still have some slush in the driveway though. I noticed that the snow is melting in the woods too today. I can see the ground underneath the big trees by Jenni's trailer. We may see ground early this year! I sure hope so. I would enjoy getting a good head start on the garden this year. At least for the early spring planting!! 

Tomorrow is suppose in the low 50s in Spokane with a chance of rain. That should make the spring bulbs think it's time to wake up!! It certainly will take the snow level down here!

01-26-03

Today is just cloudy with rain off and on. A good day to stay in the house. The wind is blowing but it isn't really cold outside.

01-22-03  

Our weather has certainly taken a change of course! Last night it started snowing and we woke up to about three inches of snow. It has snowed all day long and the wind has been blowing too which really makes it cold! 

The thermometer says 20 tonight but with the wind it is much colder than that! We have the woodstove cranked up but I still feel drafts blowing through our trailer. Brrrr! We have about six inches of new snow on the ground and it is still snowing. We could wake up to much more on the ground. I assume Jay is going to have to plow!! Thankfully Jenni has the next couple days off so she doesn't have to drive in this mess. 

Jay said the roads are really slick. Spokane is having accidents all over the place! They can't get the deicer down fast enough on the main streets. It looked to me like it was freezing rain coming down in Spokane too. It's actually just typical of winter weather in this area but it has been so mild that people forget! I think it looks beautiful outside but that's because I don't have to drive in it!!

01-12-03

Our weather finally warmed up a little. For a couple days there we weren't getting above 25 degrees and it was very cold. The bitter cold makes all my joints ache something fierce! I spent Friday sitting on the couch covered up with a warm blanket and the heating pad on my back. I got several memo pads made though!! It was so cold but the sun was finally shining brightly.

We had gone weeks it seemed without sun so it was a welcome sight. But it was deceiving...it looked warm until you walked out the door and a blast of cold air hit you in the face!! Clouds moved in last night for a while but the sun was shining this afternoon. According to the weather report, it is suppose to snow tonight and tomorrow. I will let you know if it actually happens!! Parts of the driveway are showing now so it isn't as slick. But the hill going down to Jenni's trailer is still kind of slick so Jay does a lot of walking her and I both down the hill! The snow is frozen so hard that we can walk on top of it and not fall through! Good thing too or else I wouldn't be able to walk to the pumphouse! Jay has been feeding the birds for me so I don't have to struggle through the snow. He deserves a huge star for all his great deeds this winter!!!

01-03-03

Our weather started warming up again and now there are flood alerts out for the Spokane area and surrounding valleys. It was raining so hard last night that our roof started leaking along the stove pipe and we were hurrying around trying to find things to catch the water in! Jay had to rig up some foil around the pipe and then made the end of it so that it would run into a bowl. What a mess and boy was it noisy when the water was dripping on the foil. That's what I fell asleep to! We have more rain coming and high winds too. My mom lives on the coast and they had 75 m.p.h. winds over there! It certainly is a strange winter! We got over two feet of snow the past week but I'm sure it will melt some with the rain. Our driveway has turned into an ice skating rink and Jenni has to park her car up here because she can't drive it down to her trailer due to the ice pond she has down there! Jay is having to help her walk down the hill! I just stay in the house. The last thing I need is to slip and fall on the ice! The news just said there was a rock slide on highway 291 which is over by Long Lake, not too far out of Spokane. It is shut down for now.

12-26-02

We woke up to five inches of snow this morning! The lights were flashing on the phone and microwave so obviously we lost our power sometime last night. Everything was covered in a heavy blanket of snow and looked so pure and beautiful! Jay plowed today for the first time this winter. There was a lot of snow! According to the news we are suppose to get more snow tonight too.

12-18-02

We woke up to two inches of snow this morning and everything looked so beautiful and white! Our weather is cooling down now so we have a better chance for some snow. Hopefully we will have a white Christmas! When I left Jenni's trailer just after dark it was snowing again. Our highs are suppose to be in the low 30s and 20s this next week and the lows are suppose to be in the teens. We had a chimney fire the other night and it scared me half to death! Jay said it was because the creosote built up from having the stove shut down and letting it smolder. It had been too warm out to crank it up and let it burn hot. So at least we won't have to worry about not being able to crank it up. The cooler weather will cause us to burn more and burn hotter!

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12-11-02

Our weather turned ugly yesterday!  We got about an inch of snow overnight and that was just enough to ice up the roads good.  Jay said the roads were really slick in the morning and he almost hit a parked car with the bus.  The rear end started to slide!  Can you imagine?!!  Those school buses aren't small!  His afternoon run was just as bad.  He couldn't get any traction on one of the hills so he had to have the kids all move towards the back to get more weight on the rear wheels!  I can imagine how they acted!!  He came home beat!  It snowed some more since then and now we have about two or so inches of snow.  The roads aren't too bad though.  The county has been out with the sand trucks!  It is still snowing now but is suppose to turn to rain.  If it freezes, the roads will be a mess.

12-08-02 

We woke to a skiff of snow yesterday morning but it is all melted now.  The fog finally burned off and all I saw was clouds!  Jay is talking about starting to do some cleanup around here since there isn't any snow on the ground.

12-05-02

11-29-02

11-28-02

Our weather is still cold.  We didn't get above freezing  today either.  It wasn't as cold last night though than it has been... it was only mid 20s.  According to the news it is suppose to get up into the 30s next week.  That will feel warm!  Jenni ran out of propane last night so she had a hard time getting out of bed this morning because it was so cold!!!  Luckily she keeps an extra 25 gallon tank filled as a backup so Jay just had to switch tanks for her.  I was going to fill in some holes that Jenni's pup had dug but the ground is frozen solid now so it is impossible to do!  Another chore to leave till next spring! 

11-24-02 

11-13-02

11-09-02

11-06-02

11-05-02

11-01-02

The weather was warmer today...around 34 for a high!!  The sun was shining and it really looked pretty!  It is still really cold at night.  Right now it is around 10 degrees and last night was 8!  I have to chip the ice off the dogs' water bowl every morning!  Most of the snow is gone now except on the shady sides of the house.  It was pretty for a while!

10-31-02

10-29-02

10-28-02

10-26-02

10-11-02

10-09-02

It was sunny but cool today...62 and windy.  I did two loads of laundry and dried them outside in the wind.  It didn't take too long for them to dry!  I baked peanut butter cookies and made a meat loaf for dinner with baked potatoes.  It was pretty cool in the house (we let the fire go out) so I turned on the oven to help warm it up.  Worked great too!!  It froze last night and is suppose to freeze again tonight.  It was only 55 degrees in the house this morning.  Brrrrr!!  We may have to start the wood stove again because it is suppose to be very cool the next four days...highs in the low 50s & 40s and lows in the 20s and low 30s.  Definitely fall weather!  

10-01-02

We had some really cool temps today...the high was only 50!  We had downpours of rain, hail, and winds.  Reminded me of winter!!  I tried to hang a load of clothes on the line but I ended up having to take it down during one of the many rainstorms!  I got half of it dried though before I had to bring it in!!  Jay started our first fire this morning.  It was only 55 degrees in the house! 

09-28-02

09-26-02

09-24-02

Our weather is still holding onto warm weather this week.  Today was 72 and windy and the rest of the week is suppose to be similar.  Mild weather indeed!

09-19-02

09-17-02

09-07-02

09-03-02

Today was much cooler here...only 70 and breezy!  Just right for working outside!!  I started my fall to-do list today and attacked the green house and porch with a vengeance!  I got the cupboards on the porch all cleaned out and swept and organized and packed my yard and garden ornaments away too.  Then I took all the containers and buckets of plants out of the green house and stripped the vegetables off of them.  The green peppers had a terrible bug infestation and didn't do too good.  Next year I will be doing things a little differently! 

08-27-02

We got some much needed rain last night but not nearly enough.  But it sure smelled good!!  It at least rinsed the dust off the bushes and trees!  It was hot again today but not nearly as hot as what you are experiencing!  It was 85 and kind of muggy. It is cooling off nicely tonight but really didn't last night due to the cloud cover!  I am looking forward to fall that's for sure.

08-24-02

It is warm out...88 and very windy.  But not windy like it was last weekend!!  Just good and breezy...enough to dry clothes in very little time!  We are suppose to have a chance of thunder and lightening later this afternoon and that's not good when it's so dry out.  Hopefully that storm will pass us by.  Friday we even had a little rain.  Very little though as it hardly registered in the rain gauge!  But I was thankful for what we did get.  I think the fires that were started last weekend are all under control now and two of them are out completely.  Thank God!  

The leaves are starting to dry up and fall off some of the bushes and trees due to lack of moisture.  I did notice in Spokane though that some of the trees and bushes are turning color already!  I was shocked!  We usually start to turn before they do.  Some things are slowly changing but I am waiting for the vivid colors that come only with Fall and the first hard frost!  Fall is one of my favorite times of the year.

08-21-02

Our weather is cooling down into the 70s now. I checked the garden tonight and found fresh deer prints in it!  They already ate all my cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and sweet onions!  The fence was down due to the heavy snows from last winter. 

08-14-02

The weather is still pretty warm here...upper 80s and low to mid 90s but is showing signs of cooling down some.  

08-10-02

08-06-02

When I looked outside this morning at 6 a.m. it was 35 degrees!  We broke another record for overnight lows!  We were 13 degrees cooler than Spokane.  I didn't see any sign of frost but it sure was close.

Now you know why it is so difficult to garden in this area!  A couple weeks ago we were roasting in the 100s and now we are near freezing!  Pretty strange weather and not too consistent!

08-04-02

We have been breaking low temperatures at night here.  At least Spokane has!  It was 42 the past couple mornings and that's COOL for us.  I won't be surprised to see a frost soon.

I haven't checked the garden close but thought we might see damage to the top of the potatoes.  I will have to check closer!  At least all the sensitive plants are in the greenhouse.  We took out a couple sections of insulation to let some of the heat escape and I leave the door open all the time.  But sometimes the tomatoes still look a little droopy.  But they have tomatoes on them and I have already eaten two baby tomatoes off the patio tomatoes I started from seed. They sure were sweet and actually tasted like a tomato!  The green peppers are doing great and even have peppers on them.  And the lettuce is really growing!  I like the variety of leaf lettuce that I get...it doesn't bolt in the heat!  But it is suppose to be cooler for the next week and I like it!  

07-30-02

The weather has been much cooler!  Today was 80 and tomorrow is only suppose to be 77.  I love that kind of weather!!  At least the grass isn't turning all yellow anymore.  I'm getting a little caught up with my watering.  The weeds also aren't growing as fast!  I like that!!