Stormy Weather

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

actually the cleaners were very reasonable ... but i am very definitely on the mat ....

..and no torrential non stop rain here cloudy blue skies and rather warm, far more so than indicated by the temperature forecast on the bbc ...

greenilex pals in Phoenix Az complaining of 47C last week, only 36 today! ....

[BBMmk2]

It would be like to seperate days today! Torrential rain in the morning, then the sun came out at lunch time!!

[marthe]

Well, well exciting weather headed our way for the weekend! Hurricane Irene is expected to zoom up the east coast and hit New England Sunday into Monday. Shall have to do some battening around here. Yesterday there was an earthquake centered in Virginia and felt up and down the Northeast. We didin't feel a thing but brother-in-law in NYC felt a few shakes. It's all happening here, as they say.

[salymap]

Good evening marthe. Your forecast makes our weather worries seem excessive. Stay safe.

Not much to report from here, just about to listen to a Tchaikovsky symphony [no 4] in tonight's Prom.

[marthe]

Thanks for your good wishes, saly. We're just watching and waiting here. The wind has picked up today, though the storm itself is not even close. Tomorrow and Friday, we'll be battening down the hatches...bringing in house plants, harvesting the garden, stowing away garden furniture etc. I hope this storm goes well out to sea and doesn't hug the coastline. It will be up in the Maritimes by Monday eve. I hope you enjoyed tonight's Prom and the Tchaik sym. #4 of which I am quite fond myself. Will have to catch it on "listen again" online.

[Mahlerei]

Morning marthe

i did wonder whether Irene would head your way. Good luck with the battening etc. Do you have a cellar?

[Serial_Apologist]

Thanks for your good wishes, saly. We're just watching and waiting here. The wind has picked up today, though the storm itself is not even close. Tomorrow and Friday, we'll be battening down the hatches...bringing in house plants, harvesting the garden, stowing away garden furniture etc. I hope this storm goes well out to sea and doesn't hug the coastline. It will be up in the Maritimes by Monday eve. I hope you enjoyed tonight's Prom and the Tchaik sym. #4 of which I am quite fond myself. Will have to catch it on "listen again" online.

I really do wish you the very best, marthe! Where you are seems to make you a sitting duck in these circumstances, being right in the line of fire. I imagine this can't be the first time, though. How do you usually cope?

[salymap]

I have just asked for a telephone consultation at the doc's. It's only to fix a big check-up and they agreed to ring me. One of the very few perks of being old!
I didn't want to emulate VH last week It's pouring down. Good Luck Marthe

[marthe]

Thank you all for good wishes! Mahlerei, we do have a cellar but its not a very dry one and will probably flood. S-A, I expect we are in the line of fire for this storm (unless it changes course) but we haven't had a hurricane come this far north since Bob in 1991, so haven't had to cope in about 20 years! The usual methods of coping include securing any moveable objects outside, harvesting the garden as the winds and salt spray destroy everything, stocking up on water, batteries, non-perishable food, ice for the perishable food. We probably won't have to evacuate as we don't live right on the water which we did 20 years ago. Right now it's sunny but windy with that sticky south-easterly wind that precedes these tropical blows. Saly, good luck with your phone consultation. I hope all goes well with the doctor.

[salymap]

Thanks marthe. if possible keep us posted on the hurricane.

We are having unusually heavy rain again but, as I said before, nothing like your problems. Keep safe.

[Anna]

S. Wales has been issued with a severe weather alert - possibly flooding, but nothing like Marthe's situation of course.

Can I be offtopic and pose a garden question as I know we have gardeners here. For the first time ever I'm growing Jalapeno peppers, indoors on windowsill. Now, I don't know (advice seems confusing) if they are self pollinating. They are just flowering, should I approach them with a small brush (if they are not s-p) or stick them outside when we get a sunny day for the passing bees to do the job?

[BBMmk2]

Hope Marthe is alright!

Anotehr wet day here.Not raining at the moment, thankfully.

[Chris Newman]

S. Wales has been issued with a severe weather alert - possibly flooding, but nothing like Marthe's situation of course.

Can I be offtopic and pose a garden question as I know we have gardeners here. For the first time ever I'm growing Jalapeno peppers, indoors on windowsill. Now, I don't know (advice seems confusing) if they are self pollinating. They are just flowering, should I approach them with a small brush (if they are not s-p) or stick them outside when we get a sunny day for the passing bees to do the job?

My friend, who has a stronger digestive system than I do (), suggests a small soft watercolour brush just in case the bees are lazy or the weather inclement. He does pop them out if the weather is fine.

[doversoul1]

Here goes, Anna
How on earth did we ever manage before Google?

Ensuring Fertilization
• While peppers will adequately self-pollinate, it never hurts to give them a helping hand . . . or finger. One way to assist the jalapeno pepper in fertilizing itself is to shake the whole plant vigorously -- carefully so you don't break it -- when it's in flower. Another way to ensure self-fertilization is to flick each flower with your index finger several times

Read more: Jalapeno Propagation | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8510312_jal...#ixzz1WAIxrKVn

http://www.ehow.com/info_8510312_jalapeno-propagation.html

Good luck.

My iceberg lettuces are shooting up without any attempt of making a heart. Very annoying.

[marthe]

Thanks to my FoR3 friends for good wishes. We're having the calm before the storm now. Today has been bright and sunny, light SE breeze, no humidity. This beautiful weather is surreal knowing that the monster is churning its way up the coast. There are dire predictions of flooding because the storm is supposed to hit during an especially high tide. We're about 1 1/2 miles inland and sitting on a little rise that's not prone to flooding. The old trees around the house are my biggest worry. To add to the worries, one of my cats has not been seen since last night. She's a sweet little tuxedo cat named Holly. While I worry about cats and trees, everyone else is madly stocking up on batteries and water! I need to make sure I've got a couple of working torches! Back when I was young, my parents used oil lamps with reflectors called hurricane lamps.

Anna: I've never had to pollinate jalapeno peppers, but as doversoul suggested, a helping finger, or brush, can't hurt. Good luck with them.