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... the sky is baby blue, and the just-unfurling leaves ...
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gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Sat Jan 19, 19 10:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I have gone off you Cassandra-telling us about the good weather you have! It is very cold here, but the snow from yesterday is now confined to the high mountains; and the roads are wet, with no snow visible down at my 950ft. Really good to hear from you, and I hope all well. I love the pun-Dallas and Knot's Landing sprang to my mind-well knitting is a form of tying knots. How good to have all together in a happy atmosphere, it really makes a difference, and especially if you have all the experienced helping the beginners. I can do plain knitting but never mastered purl, so I was confined to dishcloths. I did a lot of embroidery and will go back to that once I am confined to the house/bed whatever. I am thinking of entering a piece in the local show-a Florentine stitch foot stool. My mother did bead work too-way beyond me!

My Aus. friend gave me a book about Tasmania and in it is a picture of the bridge in Oatlands-very impressive. It was a sort of grand tour.

Yes, snow on the ground when I was on my way home, but the council round here are very good at keeping the roads open. As an agricultural area they know that an accident in farming can happen any time and they do give the rescuers every opportunity to get to the problems, safely. The road in front of my house has been gritted night and morning, as has the hill into Llanfyllin, which has sheer drops down one side and only at bit of pig wire as a safety net-aiming to keep sheep at home, and not motorists out!

What a blow to have your product treated badly MR., get on to them! Strangely enough I find snow driving easier than ice. I suppose it is because you can see the snow. Most ice is road coloured?

My intentions of going home to cut wood didn't materialise and I ended up at a friend's for tea and the home in the dark so today I will be sawing and chopping wood to make up for what I didn't achieve yesterday, though that never happens in reality. The plus is I didn't get as much wood as I wanted in the week so I will be getting into the big wood store and start cutting some of the it will come in for something one day-well that day/weekend is here!

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sun Jan 20, 19 8:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

You could learn purl knitting Gregotyn; get an experienced knitter to teach you, than you could knit some of your own clothes. A lot warmer than bought ones.

The foot stool sounds lovely. I do a bit of embroidery, but mainly cross stitch, and not a serious hobby, just a pick up occasionally thing.

It was damp here yesterday. Not that cold, but with the constant drizzle it felt quite cold. We didn't do very much yesterday as neither of us were felling too great. Not ill, just not too good. We are having a full weekend off anyway, and back to work tomorrow.

Jam Lady



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2501
Location: New Jersey, USA
PostPosted: Sun Jan 20, 19 2:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

An inch of snow yesterday (2.54 cm) followed b 1.5 inches of rain (3.75 cm) which the snow soaked up like blotting paper. Still raining. Will stop midday. Temperatures to drop precipitously this afternoon, down to 12 degrees Fahrenheit (that's -11 Celsius.) I shoveled the front walk and in front of the garage doors. Himself is out with the ATV and its plow to clear the driveway - if the slush freezes solid who knows when it will melt.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 19 7:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hope you manage to keep your drive safe Jam Lady. I assume you have moved the cars to the bottom. How do you get down there on foot if it is icy, or do you have some way of keeping it safe?

It was a lovely sunny day here yesterday, but got cold overnight. We are threatened with possible snow showers and frost this week, but nothing too terrible.

Jam Lady



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2501
Location: New Jersey, USA
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 19 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mr Jam Lord got it plowed, Mistress Rose. The rain stopped midday, after which we got strong, very noisy winds. Sort of blow dried the driveway. Except where water was running down the curve and froze. I went and threw some calcium chloride snow melter in a lull.

When we got up this morning the weather station was showing 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit ( that's - 15.8 Celsius) on the roof. It is 6 degrees F. ( - 14.4 Celsius) outside the front door. My greenhouse is struggling. The thermostat is set to 55 degrees F but the end opposite the heater is only at 42 degrees F.

About getting up the driveway from where the cars are parked at the bottom: we have Ice Trekkers. They are straps that fit over your shoes and have prongs. I was once caught short - sleety rain as I was coming home from giving a lecture. Crunched through the ice coated leaves off the side of the driveway.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 19 5:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

the stretchy spiky mini crampons are ace on fairly hard, fairly level ice glazed stuff like pavements and drives etc

a billy cord helps not losing one if you step into snow between icy bits

alternatives include :
socks or sacking tied over boots ( plant materials for that stone age look also work )
espadrille are unusually effective ( developed in that sort of landscape )
short screws driven into the boot tread with the sharp edge of the counter sunk head a bit proud of the surface
hob nails roman style work pretty well
walking crampons.
bare feet and socks. dont try that one at home or away folks unless etc. it is unusually sticky if a bit challenging re cold.

even good boot soles are better than poor ones if you might step onto near zero friction

take care ,falls hurt.

verglas, freezing rain, freezing fog what ever it is called or whatever causes it tis a rather difficult surface

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8577
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 19 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Stay safe JL..a potter friend in Ithaca has complained that every time he clears his drive the snow plough manages to block the end again...bad timing!

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 19 12:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

dpack wrote:
the stretchy spiky mini crampons are ace on fairly hard, fairly level ice glazed stuff like pavements and drives etc

…………………………..………………………………………..
.
A woman I knew tried those and didn't take to them. Trouble was, they had a tendency to unhitch themselves from her shoes, and since she was only a small person, the stretchy bits nearly catapulted her across the road and into the traffic. Or so she claimed!

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 19 7:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Those sound like a good idea Jam Lady, also your alternatives Dpack. We rarely have that long cold together to make them worthwhile. The times I remember that it stayed cold for any length of time I think we got fresh snow quite frequently, so always soft snow to walk on.

From one extreme to the other; Cassandra far too hot, and Jam Lady far too cold. The rest of us in the middle sort of cool and damp.

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 19 3:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Lots of frosts in the morning. I think I need to buy a cover for the top of my motor as it takes a long time to thaw out in the mornings-oh for the luxury of a garage! Weather has not been too bad, I was expecting a lot heavier ice cover this morning and possibly some snow but not much and once I hit the road the council have done the gritting-they start around 4.30 am I am told. But still a pain scraping the wind screen. So far we have had very little snow apart from the mountains and have been lucky.
I need to go and get out before the school busses leave, chaos rains down when they start! Keep warm and safe!

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 19 7:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We had 'sleet' in the woods yesterday. The snow component of it looked like small snowballs, but the ground was wet, so it didn't settle. It froze overnight, so dread to think what the log load we put on board last night will be like; one solid block probably.

Managed to cut another couple of bundles of birch and do another 12 log sacks, but somehow the orders are coming in faster than the sacks are getting filled at the moment.

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 19 9:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Don't be too jealous Gregotyn. The next two days will be out of the inferno. We have multiple fires burning around the state, it's beyond dry, and the next two days will be 30+ with strong winds. I have a bag packed ready for evacuation at the slightest hint of anything near as the neighbours have only roughly cut their yard and left long dry grass under their pine trees (which overshadow my house). So I will be out of here in no time flat - on the principle that it's all insured and it will be a good way to declutter. haha.

So a bag of clothes, my laptop, my spinning wheel and some fluff, my set of knitting needles and I am gone (along with the animals).

Speaking of knitting, lots of patterns these days use circular needles so you don't need to be able to purl other than for the rib (and lots of patterns these days skip the rib section too). So no more excuses from you young man!

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 19 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

stay safe, if you can get a fire break system organised at a township level it is good stitch in time for such circumstances

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 19 10:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

It will be hot ash falling from the sky which gets us here DPak, so a fire break won't be much use. Arguably we have that as the local farmers burned off their bush earlier in the season, and the oval is down below and well mown. But once the ash starts falling I am out of here. Spending today (only 27C) clearing out and organising the interior of the vehicle for maximum capacity. I figure clothes, paperwork, pattern books, spinning wheel, technology and the animals and I'll be good.

There's already 60 fires on the go and it's school holidays (the peak period for arson). The local units, and the volunteers from NZ and the mainland are flat out. And the mainlanders will be recalled to deal with the similar problems in their own States.

Not being alarmist here, but basically it will be down to individuals making good decisions if it gets going here. Mine is to get out early.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-22/tasmania-braces-for-most-significant-fire-day-of-summer-so-far/10734312?fbclid=IwAR3lvdJFJlR4GvBh6U8-jPvR18Yhy6cdttA_v8d-NWQlJluknTKCxjMzHpY

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 19 11:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

stay safe,

is there a local area you could controlled burn now to provide a refuge for just in case? not ideal but needs must and better than etc

a good bug out plan is very wise , pop a couple of wool blankets and some water in the motor they might keep you warm or hydrated or combine the two if required as as ppe:wink:

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