Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to tell you all about our endlessly horrible weather. You may remember me from such posts as “Up The Creek”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose. It may be obvious what the weather here has been like.
This has been going on almost constantly since my last post. Snow, and near-record cold temperatures at night. The guy I live with says he might lose interest in gardening.
It started out like this a couple of days ago. Mist and rain. (The snow was already there from time before last.)
Now, I understand that mist and rain are very nice. We rarely have mist. I guess they have lots of mist where my ancestors originated, along the border between England and Scotland.
I got all wet.
The guy I live with thought it might actually be spring when he saw the sap running in the maples (Acer grandidentatum).
But it wasn’t spring.
Then when some of the bulbs started to flower, he said that just maybe it might be spring. This is Fritillaria bucharica ‘Nurek Giant’.
But no, again, it wasn’t spring. Just a few warm days.
The first big snow broke a lot of branches, and so now we have this big gap in the hedge, or whatever it is, between the back garden and the “way back” garden.
To add to the guy I live with’s irritation, someone sprayed pesticides along the canal road, so he wouldn’t let me walk along there for a few days, and then when he said it was okay, I had to stay on the road and not venture off into the grass, which is the funnest part.
Thanks to the snow, though, we did have to walk in a grassy part, because there was a big willow branch that had broken and fallen onto the canal road.
Another big willow branch broke, and now it’s blocking the culvert, where the creek goes under the canal. The guy I live with called the park maintenance people but they never called him back. That didn’t surprise him.
You can see the big broken branch slanting down on the right, in this otherwise kind of bucolic picture.
The creek makes a sharp turn to the right here, flowing north, and goes into the culvert just beyond the edge of the picture. The other, little creek, isn’t really a creek but sort of a channel where water from our street flows into the creek.
I really wanted to look at the water, so we walked along the creek to a place where they mowed down all the native willows, to give the place a nice, blank look, according to the guy I live with. (He isn’t often that sarcastic.)
The guy I live with said I couldn’t go in the water, because it would be cold, and possibly not all that clean.
It used to be a regular creek, with running water, but that stopped about twenty years ago. Now it’s dry except when it snows a lot, or rains.
The creek floods sometimes. The guy I live with said that the last time it really flooded, the water reeked of weedkiller. Then when the water receded, there were a bunch of cows in the field. No one could figure out how the cows escaped, but they were rounded up anyway, and sent back home. I’ve never seen a cow.
So that’s it for now. It’s snowing again, a little.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
I sympathize with your weather woes Manni. We too are having an odd Spring. Today we were 68F but another storm is moving in tonight with more snow and a whopping high of 30 tomorrow and much colder overnight. Bulbs are blooming and the trees really want to leaf out. Can only stay warm and dry inside.
I think it got down to 16F night before last. Ridiculous temperature for April, or so I hear.
I don’t feel much like going outside, though I know the guy I live with is going to make me go out, later. (He goes out with me when it’s cold.)
I’m sorry for the snow, but rain is good. I do hope though it isn’t so much there’s a flood again. Although, if floods bring cows, that might be fun for you. It’s sure a good thing you hung onto that winter coat!
I guess so; my doctor said I had gained two pounds, when I had my visit last week. But my doctor said she’d seen a lot of dogs with what you might call “pandemic weight”.
The guy I live with went to a sort of doctor’s today, to get his second Covid shot. Finally. He no longer feels left out.
He also says there aren’t any cows around here, these days. Maybe he’ll take me some place where I can see them.
Ugh pesticides. Just in time for Earth Day. Everybody here has their big jugs of pesticide, spraying spraying spraying. I hate it. We have to walk in the street, a dangerous activity on my road. I am sorry about your weather. It’s strange and changeable here too, but not as unpleasant. Mani, if TGYLW gives up gardening you’ll just have to talk about yourself all the time, right? That might be very entertaining, but I still hope he doesn’t.
The guy I live with is mostly all talk, of course. But he does not like the weather here. I mostly do, but I get disappointed when I can’t go out and help in the garden.
He doesn’t spray for things, mostly, but he does spray blister beetles (because I might try to eat them), and, occasionally, Japanese beetles. He uses Dr. Bronner’s castile soap.
Snow in April and May is very depressing, but this can be a depressing climate, especially if a cold spring is followed by a very stormy summer, which can happen here. I don’t like thunderstorms, either.
Blasted weather is a nuisance but not as bad as the spray.
No. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for spraying pesticides along the canal, which may be illegal.
The worst spraying around here is by companies that claim to get rid of mosquitos in our gardens using “natural chemicals”. Of course arsenic (not what they use) is a natural chemical so what does that even mean? Its amazing the number of ostensibly smart well educated people displaying their signs. At this rate there won’t be any birds left.
Cows are good to see, although not as good as sheep – our Australian Shepherd has a genetic memory of what she should be doing with sheep and I wish we could have found her a couple lambs to learn on. Working dogs and all that.
Probably some of that 2 pounds is your lovely lush winter coat.
ceci
No doubt.
I would really like to see sheep. The guy I live with says I would know exactly what to do with them. Move them here, move them there.
Chemicals are, I guess, an “easy fix”. They can’t be banned here, either.
Mee-yow Mani an Guy what a wild few weekss you have had…yore weather iss purrty whack-a-doodle!!! Wee have THE cold an chilley North wind here butt NO snow..
.LadyMew wanted ‘Swinter’ butt it seemss to have missed us an dubbelled back on youss’!!
Yore Nurek Giant flowerss are furry kewl…..an yore tree made sap…butt still no Spring! **sighss**
An Guy was rite to keep you away from sprayed area…you not want UCKY weedykiller on yore dellycat pawss…it guud make you furry sick.
Wee are sorry yore willow treess gotted damaged…they are such lovelee treess.
Hopefull Spring will find itss’ way to all of us soon…Mee wuud preefur to not freeze while beein out inn Condo!
**purrss** BellaDharma an ((huggiess)) LadyMew
The fritillaria, believe it or not, is still flowering. Most of the snow is gone now.
The guy I live with said that the grass that’s not by the canal is probably wet enough to wash any any pesticides, though I think they dried, and so are semi-safe.
It makes the guy I live with pretty annoyed.
HURRAH fore THE Fritillaria still flowerin!! Take THAT Winter!!!!
LadyMew wuud bee fureeus if Pestycidess were used here. Thanxfullee Housin iss ‘too cheep’ an wee furry happy ’bout that! 😉
We discovered today that they sprayed everywhere north of the canal. Fortunately we can walk south of the canal, along the creek, and I can look for voles there.
HURRAH fore south of THE Canal beein safe fore youss’ to go fore a nice walk!! Pestycidess are so not needed…..they are UCKY.
Wow, snow looks so weird in April. Actually, to me, it always seems weird. I should get more experience with it, but not in April. There was a bit in Oklahoma while we were there, and Bill (Willow) really disliked it. He was elderly and mostly blind, which was very frustrating for him as he tried to get away from the snow. I carried him unless he insisted on walking.
There was snow on the ground here in April of 1961, when the guy I live with moved here with his parents. He didn’t want to leave Long Beach, but his dad got a job here.
The only decent thing about snow in April is that it isn’t so cold outside.
Yes, April snow is bad here (I’m in CO too, on Lookout Mtn) but not a patch on what comes in May. Then, the tree and shrub boughs are heavy with buds and leafing out; the raptors have eggs (some may even have them now). Then, snowstorms make a person want to pack their bags and go back East, immediately. My lilac bush hasn’t had blooms in years.
The guy I live with said they just had a bunch of snow back east, maybe a couple of weeks ago.
But I think, there, that lilacs are pretty reliable. Here, they flower once every ten years.