Pacific Northwest Garden Forum: Brrrr!

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silver_ creek
Rainy Side Gardener

Joined: Jan-08-2006
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posts: 609

Topic: Brrrr!
Posted: Dec-18-2008 at 7:03am

I grew up on the east side of the mountains in Washington- you'd think that having a real winter wouldn't faze me. But Whatcom county has that darn outflow wind, and we get it big time (tho the 15 year old windbreak does make a significant difference). I do like snow, when it falls without strong wind, and a few days of very cold weather are fine, without the strong wind...but we usually get strong NE wind with this weather pattern. First it was just cold and wind- enough to freeze the creek.

Then the wind stopped yesterday and we got some snow.

But then yesterday evening the wind picked up and now we have drifts everywhere (haven't checked to see if we can get out of the garage- usually we get a big drift there).

But, at least I can work from home, and I really don't need to go anywhere, and we have plenty of firewood and propane. But I am sure I wouldn't want to live in Minnesota!

Terry M.
Silver Creek Garden
Zone 8a, Sunset Zone 4

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greenmann
Rainy Side Gardener

Joined: Jan-13-2006
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posts: 409

Posted: Dec-18-2008 at 9:19am

Wow, beautiful Pictures!

My grand niece is with me today, sick with a double ear infection. We woke up this morning to steady snowfall here on Mercer Island, too. No wind, thankfully, but I have a feeling we are going to get several more inches of snow before the day is out. I think I may have Meagan a little longer than just the one day! lol.

I too am thnakful I don't have to drive in this. I hate dealing with snow and ice on the roads.

Green Man Gardens
design and consulting with a focus on native plants and wildlife habitat

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JeanneK
Mod
Mod

Joined: Jul-28-2003
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posts: 2103

Posted: Dec-18-2008 at 8:25pm

Gorgeous, Teri! I was home with a sick child also. No ear infection, just a nasty cold, though! I got to watch 3 inches of the fluffiest snow fall and coat my outbuildings and the grass. Just beautiful. Then the sun came out (also very beautiful) and melted most of it. It was nice to watch. Wish I had been able to get a few pics.

Now the water on the roads are supposed to turn to ice tonight. Let's hope not!

Jeanne

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Lisa A
Rainy Side Gardener

Joined: Aug-14-2003
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posts: 3582

Posted: Dec-19-2008 at 10:39am

I gotta know - did kitty make it safely back to shore? And what the heck was he doing out there in the middle of the creek anyway? Silly beast.

Beautiful photos, Terry.

Count me as another who is thankful that I get to work from home. My oldest slid into a curb on his way home from work on Monday night and did $900 worth of damage to his rear tire, rim and other parts I can't recall. It will be in the shop for another week. Talk about ruining a 17 year old's holiday break. Hard lesson to learn (but maybe next time he'll listen to mom and dad when they say that this weather isn't to be messed with? Nah).

Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration.
- Lou Erickson.
My webpage

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silver_ creek
Rainy Side Gardener

Joined: Jan-08-2006
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posts: 609

Posted: Dec-19-2008 at 6:08pm

Yeti made it back to the house fine...now that there is snow on the ground he won't go back to the creek. He doesn't live up to his name... We have actually missed out on slippery roads- the wind blew the snow away!

Terry M.
Silver Creek Garden
Zone 8a, Sunset Zone 4

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Genko
Rainy Side Gardener

Joined: Aug-08-2007
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posts: 182

Posted: Dec-19-2008 at 7:22pm

My part of Seattle was manageable driving today, in my Subaru AWD wagon, slowly at noon, taking a zig zag path on main roads to avoid the worst hills. Got home to see that a couple of bus drivers and their passengers weren't so lucky!

Take care over the weekend. It should be a wild ride.

Genko

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greenmann
Rainy Side Gardener

Joined: Jan-13-2006
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posts: 409

Posted: Dec-19-2008 at 10:48pm

The Island and the near eastside in Bellevue seem to have been hit with around 6 inches of snow, which is a lot for us, lol. Our hill was pretty much impassable yesterday, and may become so again by tomorrow with the ice refreezing the slush tracks cars have made getting home, but by this afternoon enough had melted and or just been packed or cleared for traffic to at least start to get to somewhat normal, lol.

Still, my garden is blanketed in beautiful white fluffy bits, with the occassional bird or animal track making caligraphic notes in the snow, lol. Amazingly little of it actually melted off today... temps hovered around freezing, but little melted that I could tell. We'll see what the next front brings in. Hopefully not as much wind as some of the stations are saying...

Green Man Gardens
design and consulting with a focus on native plants and wildlife habitat

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haika
Rainy Side Gardener

Joined: Oct-23-2008
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posts: 189

Posted: Dec-29-2008 at 2:50pm

Pretty photos! I like them better when I'm not LIVING them. I'm not a snow-fan.

Gosh....I was snowbound from 12/17 until today in south Snohomish County. Since the snow kept coming, melting a bit and snowing again, I wish I'd taken the time to measure a cumulative total but at it's highest, I had just shy of 2 feet. There is still roughly 6-8" on the ground today (as of this morning). I finally went out yesterday and spent 5 hours shoveling a few hundred feet of driveway so I could try to get out today. It worked (yay!). And my landscaper neighbor returned from traveling and brought out his magic snow-moving machines and cleared the neighborhood road. Now I'm curious to see if the heavy snow layer insulated the newly planted perennials/shrubs/trees in my border well enough...some of them are marginal for this area (sigh).

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Silver Creek Garden Blog
Pacific Northwest Garden Forum : RSG Journals : Silver Creek Garden Blog

Author	Message
silver_ creek Rainy Side Gardener Joined: Jan-08-2006 Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills Posts: 609	Topic: Brrrr! Posted: Dec-18-2008 at 7:03am
	I grew up on the east side of the mountains in Washington- you'd think that having a real winter wouldn't faze me. But Whatcom county has that darn outflow wind, and we get it big time (tho the 15 year old windbreak does make a significant difference). I do like snow, when it falls without strong wind, and a few days of very cold weather are fine, without the strong wind...but we usually get strong NE wind with this weather pattern. First it was just cold and wind- enough to freeze the creek. Then the wind stopped yesterday and we got some snow. But then yesterday evening the wind picked up and now we have drifts everywhere (haven't checked to see if we can get out of the garage- usually we get a big drift there). But, at least I can work from home, and I really don't need to go anywhere, and we have plenty of firewood and propane. But I am sure I wouldn't want to live in Minnesota!
	Terry M. Silver Creek Garden Zone 8a, Sunset Zone 4

	IP Logged

greenmann Rainy Side Gardener Joined: Jan-13-2006 Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor Posts: 409	Posted: Dec-18-2008 at 9:19am
	Wow, beautiful Pictures! My grand niece is with me today, sick with a double ear infection. We woke up this morning to steady snowfall here on Mercer Island, too. No wind, thankfully, but I have a feeling we are going to get several more inches of snow before the day is out. I think I may have Meagan a little longer than just the one day! lol. I too am thnakful I don't have to drive in this. I hate dealing with snow and ice on the roads.
	Green Man Gardens design and consulting with a focus on native plants and wildlife habitat
	IP Logged

JeanneK Mod Joined: Jul-28-2003 Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro Posts: 2103	Posted: Dec-18-2008 at 8:25pm
	Gorgeous, Teri! I was home with a sick child also. No ear infection, just a nasty cold, though! I got to watch 3 inches of the fluffiest snow fall and coat my outbuildings and the grass. Just beautiful. Then the sun came out (also very beautiful) and melted most of it. It was nice to watch. Wish I had been able to get a few pics. Now the water on the roads are supposed to turn to ice tonight. Let's hope not!
	Jeanne
	IP Logged

Lisa A Rainy Side Gardener Joined: Aug-14-2003 Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro Posts: 3582	Posted: Dec-19-2008 at 10:39am
	I gotta know - did kitty make it safely back to shore? And what the heck was he doing out there in the middle of the creek anyway? Silly beast. Beautiful photos, Terry. Count me as another who is thankful that I get to work from home. My oldest slid into a curb on his way home from work on Monday night and did $900 worth of damage to his rear tire, rim and other parts I can't recall. It will be in the shop for another week. Talk about ruining a 17 year old's holiday break. Hard lesson to learn (but maybe next time he'll listen to mom and dad when they say that this weather isn't to be messed with? Nah).
	Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. - Lou Erickson. My webpage
	IP Logged

silver_ creek Rainy Side Gardener Joined: Jan-08-2006 Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills Posts: 609	Posted: Dec-19-2008 at 6:08pm
	Yeti made it back to the house fine...now that there is snow on the ground he won't go back to the creek. He doesn't live up to his name... We have actually missed out on slippery roads- the wind blew the snow away!
	Terry M. Silver Creek Garden Zone 8a, Sunset Zone 4
	IP Logged

Genko Rainy Side Gardener Joined: Aug-08-2007 Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor Posts: 182	Posted: Dec-19-2008 at 7:22pm
	My part of Seattle was manageable driving today, in my Subaru AWD wagon, slowly at noon, taking a zig zag path on main roads to avoid the worst hills. Got home to see that a couple of bus drivers and their passengers weren't so lucky! Take care over the weekend. It should be a wild ride.
	Genko
	IP Logged

greenmann Rainy Side Gardener Joined: Jan-13-2006 Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor Posts: 409	Posted: Dec-19-2008 at 10:48pm
	The Island and the near eastside in Bellevue seem to have been hit with around 6 inches of snow, which is a lot for us, lol. Our hill was pretty much impassable yesterday, and may become so again by tomorrow with the ice refreezing the slush tracks cars have made getting home, but by this afternoon enough had melted and or just been packed or cleared for traffic to at least start to get to somewhat normal, lol. Still, my garden is blanketed in beautiful white fluffy bits, with the occassional bird or animal track making caligraphic notes in the snow, lol. Amazingly little of it actually melted off today... temps hovered around freezing, but little melted that I could tell. We'll see what the next front brings in. Hopefully not as much wind as some of the stations are saying...
	Green Man Gardens design and consulting with a focus on native plants and wildlife habitat
	IP Logged

haika Rainy Side Gardener Joined: Oct-23-2008 Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor Posts: 189	Posted: Dec-29-2008 at 2:50pm
	Pretty photos! I like them better when I'm not LIVING them. I'm not a snow-fan. Gosh....I was snowbound from 12/17 until today in south Snohomish County. Since the snow kept coming, melting a bit and snowing again, I wish I'd taken the time to measure a cumulative total but at it's highest, I had just shy of 2 feet. There is still roughly 6-8" on the ground today (as of this morning). I finally went out yesterday and spent 5 hours shoveling a few hundred feet of driveway so I could try to get out today. It worked (yay!). And my landscaper neighbor returned from traveling and brought out his magic snow-moving machines and cleared the neighborhood road. Now I'm curious to see if the heavy snow layer insulated the newly planted perennials/shrubs/trees in my border well enough...some of them are marginal for this area (sigh).
	IP Logged

Topic: Brrrr!