Stormy Weather

[BBMmk2]

That makes a change, marthe! The Golden orb came out rather late in the day yesterday but today, looks as though not going to be too bad!

[amateur51]

That makes a change, marthe! The Golden orb came out rather late in the day yesterday but today, looks as though not going to be too bad!

How about we impose a £5 fine for everymention of 'the golden orb' henceforth, funds to go to supporting people clearing up after the Winter's floods?

[mangerton]

How about we impose a £5 fine for everymention of 'the golden orb' henceforth, funds to go to supporting people clearing up after the Winter's floods?

I have a certain amount of sympathy with this idea.

"Busy old fool, unruly sun".

[marthe]

How about we impose a £5 fine for everymention of 'the golden orb' henceforth, funds to go to supporting people clearing up after the Winter's floods?

Ha ha...I've been told. Plenty of possible recipients for the $$$ in my part of the world. This morning, the SUN is making an effort to break through the clouds.

[Serial_Apologist]

Absolute wow of a day here today: light variable winds, a few scattered cumulus and cirrus, hazy sunshine of sufficient warmth for a couple of hours of sunbathing, and a temperature maxing out at 17 degrees celsius - 6 C above the early April norm. And it looks likely to continue thus until Thursday, to be followed by a gentle breakdown to wetter conditions, but still quite warm. Even some of the larger trees are now coming into leaf - a good month early - wallflowers have self-sewn everywhere, my Clivia has survived, about to flower, without needing to be taken into the less cold, and the daffs are almost over. "Brummie Simon" is predicting a fairly dry April for the country as a whole.

Yes, what has become of our Anna?

[BBMmk2]

How about we impose a £5 fine for everymention of 'the golden orb' henceforth, funds to go to supporting people clearing up after the Winter's floods?

Ok, I get the hint!! :)

Lovly SUNNY day today!!

[marthe]

S_A, what a lovely day you've been having! It wasn't too shabby over here with temps rising into high 40s F and plenty of sunshine. Is your Clivia outside? What colour is it? My orange-flowered Clivia is in full glory right now with a two magnificent flower stalks in full bloom. It won't go outside until late May when its glory days are over for the season. From November to March, I keep the Clivia in a cool, bright spot in the second-floor hallway, and withhold water until it sends up flower buds. Then I bring out of hiding, give it a tall drink, and place it in a prominent spot to do its thing. It's very showy indeed but took several years to get to this stage of floral splendour. An English friend named Clive has a laugh about all the attention shown to this plant.

PS: I hope Anna is OK

[BBMmk2]

Yes, marthe, no sign of her. Hope she's ok too! :(

The SUN did a brilliant job yesterday, will it be the same today?

[Serial_Apologist]

S_A, what a lovely day you've been having! It wasn't too shabby over here with temps rising into high 40s F and plenty of sunshine. Is your Clivia outside? What colour is it? My orange-flowered Clivia is in full glory right now with a two magnificent flower stalks in full bloom. It won't go outside until late May when its glory days are over for the season. From November to March, I keep the Clivia in a cool, bright spot in the second-floor hallway, and withhold water until it sends up flower buds. Then I bring out of hiding, give it a tall drink, and place it in a prominent spot to do its thing. It's very showy indeed but took several years to get to this stage of floral splendour. An English friend named Clive has a laugh about all the attention shown to this plant.

PS: I hope Anna is OK

It's cream-flowering, marthe - rather disappointing, but left by my ex-neighbours when they moved oop north two years ago. They left instructions about dividing it - it was already pot-bound - which we did last August, making four new plants, paired up in two pots, one of which is about to flower. So I suppose I should be grateful, really. Last winter, having nowhere light and cool to put it, as recommended, I brought the original plant into my centrally-heated spare bedroom, only later discovering this as the reason it hadn't flowered last spring, but the winter just gone never became cold enough in our sheltered south-facing porch to warrant further protection.

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes, marthe, no sign of her. Hope she's ok too! :(

The SUN did a brilliant job yesterday, will it be the same today?

Very hazy here, BBM, due to the much-publicised air pollution, and seemingly poised to turn thundery, to judge by the mid-level cloud build-up, though this is predicted to break tomorrow, and mostly to our west. I had been contemplating a lengthy cycle ride today, but given the government-issued health warnings, I'm staying indoors!

[gurnemanz]

Very hazy here, BBM, due to the much-publicised air pollution, and seemingly poised to turn thundery, to judge by the mid-level cloud build-up, though this is predicted to break tomorrow, and mostly to our west. I had been contemplating a lengthy cycle ride today, but given the government-issued health warnings, I'm staying indoors!

I heard those announcements about bad air and itinerant bits of the Sahara Desert but bravely defied all warnings (maybe it wasn't so bad down here in N Wilts). I had quite a strenuous garden session (planting potatoes and futile onslaughts on pretty but annoyingly invasive celandine). I seem to have survived the hazards. No direct sun and it was lovely to be surrounded by green foliage sprouting all around me. I thought of Schumann's lovely song Erstes Grün and played three recordings of it with my well-earned cup of tea. I have a real soft spot for Vesselina Kasarova..

[marthe]

Calm and overcast here in Newport. More rain is expected by Thursday or Friday. I really should be out in the garden raking leaves and tidying up but have too much Flower Show paper work to take care of.

[BBMmk2]

I was busy all day yeste3rday, so was feeling the lack of air quality most prominently in my chest, although my asthma didn't play up!

[marthe]

Sunny, calm, and warm this morning...good thing because the tree men are cutting down the pine tree this AM.

[Serial_Apologist]

Sunny, calm, and warm this morning...good thing because the tree men are cutting down the pine tree this AM.

Ah, so it is going ahead, then, marthe! I take it you won't now be pining for it's loss.

Now, here's a turn-up for the books. An hour ago I undertook my weekly grocery shop, taking scrupulous care of my post-heart op condition not to overdo things on the 1 in 10 leading up to the Crystal Palace Parade - the lunchtime news having warned that pollution levels over London had reached the highest grade. It was still not possible to distinguish objects six miles away, lost in the fug. Now all of a sudden the distant hills 12 miles to the north are clearly visible, for the first time in 3 days, and there seems to be a fresher scent in the air.