Winter is Here - DANG IT!

[woodland_miniatures]

I looked out this morning around 8 a.m. and saw crusty white frozen grass all over, and after checking my usual weather sites (a local weather station and the overall watch on the passes), and yep, our overnight low last night was around 28 degrees. No wonder my SMART kitty Mr. Koko more or less stayed in last night! He's no fool and not too inclined to freeze his feet out there or anything else. (Bless him for still not using the kitty box I've had available for him year-round - but I'm guessing that's just a matter of time...)

Just checked my local weather site and it's a degree above freezing right now, and heading down, down, down....

So, is anyone else getting a little taste of frost out there already? Overall forecast for us for this winter is extremely cold, and a whole lot of snow... ARGH!!!

Glad I managed to "winterize" my patio a few days ago, apparently just in time!

[leaken1966]

LOL! I feel for you Mary! This is the first time in 12 years I am not getting up at 4:30 AM to ice and cold. Lived in Ohio and now back in Texas. I know, I am going to miss the snow. It is always so pretty in the beginning.

[havanaholly]

We moved home to FL from OH in 1979 and I STILL don't miss snow one tiny bit! We get gracious plenty cold enough weather right here.

[heidiiiii]

It has been a real Fall this year in New England. I wore a sweater yesterday and felt good in it until after noon when the sun got a bit warm. So it is a bit chilly this morning (in the 40s) but it warms up to the low 70s by lunch.

I am happy we are getting a real Fall instead of summer right into winter. There is a No`easter headed this way tonite. Not looking forward to all the wind and rain. Blech! I probably wont sleep a wink if it is howling.

Today I am going to start putting plastic on the windows.

[havanaholly]

Heidi, is your cold better?

[heidiiiii]

Heidi, is your cold better?

It actually is Holly. I still have a stuffy-ish nose but it is productive. I can actually breath out of one nostril. My throat still hurts a bit which is weird. That is usually the first to go. I am starting to develop a cough. BUT I feel better. I am not in the bed. This cold knocked me for a loop.

So I will say yes and no..mezza/mezza. LOL

[jujurodgers]

it has been around 30 at night here...and sorry but i am loving it! LOL so unusually humid/hot here this summer for too long! we are high desert NM and it was just horrible this summer! LOL usually only one week in the 90s and always nice and cool at night....of course hot flashes dont help either! I am loving cold though and although snow means no more working outside on property to get things done, i love it! I grew up on the coast of calif and so really love actual weather and we never get enough snow to cause serious problems, 4-6 inches any given time.

ugh on having a cold! I got what i thought was a cold then it became a flu and am just now feeling normal!

[grynche]

Our four seasons are early winter, midwinter, late winter, and next winter. Alternatively, 9 months of winter and 3 of bad sledding. I'll be cold until June.

[jujurodgers]

Our four seasons are early winter, midwinter, late winter, and next winter. Alternatively, 9 months of winter and 3 of bad sledding. I'll be cold until June.

LOL I love your description!!

[grazhina]

I HATE WINTER. Sure, it can look pretty and all that, but I'd rather visit it than live in it.

I feel alive in summer. I cherish each warm pleasant fall day, grasping for those final summery moments.

The only thing that makes a Maine winter better than a western Pennsylvania winter is we get more sun up here. Out there it was a double whammy of cold and gloom.

I miss Arizona winters. My son keeps pointing out that I don't fare well in heat anymore, but I keep hoping it's just the heat combined with humidity that bothers me. I don't think I could take Florida for all summer. I know summer trips to DC & Philly made me feel as though I were constantly smothered in a hot wet blanket.

I'd love to recheck an Arizona summer and see how I fare, or maybe New Mexico. I keep mentioning taking a trip to New Mexico, but DH never responds. He likes fall and winter. Fine, another year where he can shovel snow.

I quit clearing the driveway & walk and quit picking up our mail down at the corner when he retired. I refuse to leave the house in winter except when I have to go do some shopping.

[MellyGabs]

I live in Alberta during winter and Va in the summer and I actually like the 2 seasons I get to see I have extremly hot summer and really cold winter but my favorite is snow on Christmas day there is always snow it looks so magical when you look out the window!!!

[grynche]

LOL I love your description!!

I didn't coin the phrase, but it's apt.

Snow lost its appeal to me the day my horse walked over the top rail of the fence and promptly sank up to her chest in the unpacked snow on the other side. I knew just how she felt, as I was forever sliding off the [invisible to me] path the goats had packed down. Those little buggers must've had some sort of radar cuz they never missed a step.

[havanaholly]

Our summers do tend toward the humid, but the nice thing about living an hour or less from water is that whether we're shelling at the beach or paddling, it's possible to go sit in the water up to my neck to cool off!

[Merry]

I hate winter, too. My blood vessels constrict if I get cold so I have to stay warm. I would move to a warmer climate but our kids and grandkids are here....

[grazhina]

Yeah, winter is assuredly on its way.

Yesterday I had a small breakfast at 7am. By 10 I was really hungry so I made some Cream of Wheat, I was still hungry so I ate a Toaster Strudel after that. I was still hungry so I had some cheese & crackers.

Around 1pm I had to go to the hardware store. I got hungry, so since I passed a McDonalds I got a Big mac, fries & Coke.

I wanted to stop for chocolate, but declared enough is enough so I didn't.

By 4 I was starving, too hungry to wait till I had supper ready, so I gobbled an ice cream sandwich, cause all we had were crackers & I didn't feel like more crackers.

Dinner was ready around 5:30, and I had a salad and some hamburger casserole.

At 7 my husband asked if we had anything for dessert. we didn't. I couldn't stop thinking about dessert, so I drove to the store.

I bought the guys a triple chocolate cake, but I didn't feel like chocolate cake, so I settled on blueberry pie for me. When I got home I ate a slice.

later I was still kinda hungry, so I ate half a can of mixed nuts, and a bar of Lindt orange chocolate. (I had grabbed the nuts, chocolate and a bottle of soda while at the store)

Admittedly, I am feeling more normal today, and have no compulsion to eat. It's been pouring rain, but not cold.

I have to go buy groceries today.

[Brezavaqt]

It's chilly here...lots of rain. I'm definitely not looking forwards to winter, but it's definitely on its way. (To all you Florida residents, I'm REALLY jealous!)

[Starfire]

It started raining last evening after several glorious fall days and it is still raining. The dogs are restless and want to go out but they do and just turn around and come back in. My hands are very painful and I hope the ibeprophin kicks in soon. Want to get back on the Montclair but still have a lot of painting on the interior doors before I can install them. I took them all apart to insure they got a good finish. Need to finish putting up the few Holloween stuff and then need to run one of the dogs to the vet for shots later this afternoon.

[rodentraiser]

I didn't coin the phrase, but it's apt.

Snow lost its appeal to me the day my horse walked over the top rail of the fence and promptly sank up to her chest in the unpacked snow on the other side. I knew just how she felt, as I was forever sliding off the [invisible to me] path the goats had packed down. Those little buggers must've had some sort of radar cuz they never missed a step.

OMG - that's too funny! It reminds me of when I went to visit my parents in South Dakota and they had one of the worst storms ever back there. The Hwy Patrol was ticketing people for driving on I-90. Anyway, I had brought my Doberman back with me and my parents had a fenced yard, but the fence was only about 4 feet high because they had a little poodle mix. When it snowed and blew that night, the drifts piled up against the fence and I had to go out the next morning and shovel a path all the way around the inside of the fence to keep my dog from walking over it. I wasn't loving winter then, I can tell you! But it was fun the next day. My dog had never seen snow before and when I walked him along the road, he would hear something under the snow and just stick his head in a snowbank up to his ears and stand like that, listening. People driving on the road would stop and take pictures of the headless Doberman.

[what2craftnow]

Yeah, winter is assuredly on its way.

Yesterday I had a small breakfast at 7am. By 10 I was really hungry so I made some Cream of Wheat, I was still hungry so I ate a Toaster Strudel after that. I was still hungry so I had some cheese & crackers.

Around 1pm I had to go to the hardware store. I got hungry, so since I passed a McDonalds I got a Big mac, fries & Coke.

I wanted to stop for chocolate, but declared enough is enough so I didn't.

By 4 I was starving, too hungry to wait till I had supper ready, so I gobbled an ice cream sandwich, cause all we had were crackers & I didn't feel like more crackers.

Dinner was ready around 5:30, and I had a salad and some hamburger casserole.

At 7 my husband asked if we had anything for dessert. we didn't. I couldn't stop thinking about dessert, so I drove to the store.

I bought the guys a triple chocolate cake, but I didn't feel like chocolate cake, so I settled on blueberry pie for me. When I got home I ate a slice.

later I was still kinda hungry, so I ate half a can of mixed nuts, and a bar of Lindt orange chocolate. (I had grabbed the nuts, chocolate and a bottle of soda while at the store)

Admittedly, I am feeling more normal today, and have no compulsion to eat. It's been pouring rain, but not cold.

I have to go buy groceries today.

:lol: I can sure associate with that trend...why, oh why is it when the temp drops, the thungries start to set in??? I swear - junk foods I wouldn't even cast a second look at in summer all of a sudden look fantastically good. I feel like a chipmunk storing up for winter. :lol: Unfortunately, chipmunks hide it a whole lot better than I do They only get swollen cheeks - I get swollen "everything" (and it doesn't go away as easily anymore either...sigh) Oh well, back to my chocolate chip cookie break...nom nom nom

[havanaholly]

Today was gloriously cool, so DH got out my tike and we rode in to Havana, had lunch and rode home, only 8+ miles, but a good warm-up.

[Sherry]

I hate winter out here! There's literally nothing but plains between us and Canada, nothing to break the wind. So when it's 'just cold', which means in the 30's or so, and the wind is blowing, it's miserable. When it gets really cold, and that north wind is blowing, you can't put on enough clothes to stay warm. It gets in your bones and nothing short of sitting practically in the fireplace, will take the chill off.

Winter in the mountains, where it's colder, and snowy, but the wind is not blowing, is fine. Getting out in the stuff we get, is awful and I always wonder, about January, why in the world we live here!

[amyole]

My complaint about winter - aside from the snow, icy roads, and cold, is lack of sunlight. I really miss the light mornings & it's so hard to get going when it's cold & dark outside & you just want to stay under your comfy quilt. And then slowly get up and have a relaxing cup of tea or coffee. And not go outside. I see my neighbors walk their dogs in the worst weather conditions & that reminds me why I am not able to commit to a dog, even when I've been very tempted. Just indoor kitties. And if I think that the litter-box is a pain, I imagine my neighbors, and suddenly it's not so bad.

The best part of winter is when it is snowing outside & you don't have to go anywhere or shovel it (why I live in a condo) & you don't lose your electricity. You feel all snuggly inside, make a great stew, snuggle with kitties, watch a good movie, book, minis, etc. 2 or 3 of these kind of days a year would suffice.

[jujurodgers]

I didn't coin the phrase, but it's apt.

Snow lost its appeal to me the day my horse walked over the top rail of the fence and promptly sank up to her chest in the unpacked snow on the other side. I knew just how she felt, as I was forever sliding off the [invisible to me] path the goats had packed down. Those little buggers must've had some sort of radar cuz they never missed a step.

oh wow, i can see our horses doing that!!! and the goats LOL cause i have goats too LOL but we never get that kind of snow, for me it is just enough to have fun and see the beauty but never enough that you cant see fences! I think in my ten years here the most accumulation has been a foot....of course i hate the spring melt time!!!! nothing but mud!!!!!

[heidiiiii]

The kids are giving me the side eye. I do not turn the heat on until November 1st. Put on a sweater! LOL They want me to turn it on so badly. I gave them a compromise. I turned on the portable heater.

There ya go!

I have lived here all my life so I hate it, love it, and I am just accustomed to it. Sometimes we get some whoppers of a storm but otherwise it is what it is. I love the first real snowfall.

[woodland_miniatures]

Another hard freeze last night - got down to 24 just before dawn. No, I wasn't up, but woke up briefly and heard that on the radio. It's still all white out there, but there IS a lot of lovely sunshine. Oh, Sherry - I sympathize with your hatred of the wind! We DO get that up here, too, in fact yesterday I was sitting in the sunshine waiting for my ride at the grocery store, and while the sunshine felt great, the wind was blowing at least 20 mph and I finally had to give it up and go inside the store to wait. Didn't really get warm again until I got home and in a HOT shower.

Am sitting huddled over my little space heater as we speak, and yes, I have already started to use the HEAT function on my all-in-one AC/Heat unit built into the wall under the living room window...Never had those in Seattle (didn't need AC there) and I'm surprised at how well it actually does the job, both for heating and cooling (dries the laundry really nicely, too LOL). But I LOVE my little portable space heater.....