Thank you Jan, and if you feel a sore throat coming on in this very cold weather go to the site below as 3rd February is the Feast of St Blaise and he just might cure you.

If Candlemas Day be cold and dry
All hopes of Spring away will fly.

Here is a link that might be useful: St Blaise

Here in the U.S. the groundhog saw his shadow, so it looks like six more weeks of winter. Hard to believe as our temps have been in the 40s and even 50s, which is unusual for Connecticut in January and February. March blizzards, anyone?

Here is a link that might be useful: Punxsutawney Phil predicts ...

No sun in Kentucky today. This morning's paper said this has been our warmest winter since 1950. It's 52 now and sprinkling rain.

Our weather is similar to KY - overcast, but not cold. Beau predicts an early Spring for us, though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Beau does not see his shadow

The groundhog saw his shadow signalling 6 more weeks of winter...
but...
by the Candlemas poem, winter should be carried away on its back.

So now I'm confused. I guess we'll have snow every other day until spring?
PAM

We broke records for January: the most rain ever for this wettest of months, and the most rainy days. Plus the average temp has been about 3 degrees C higher (almost 6 F) than usual. No wonder my daffodils are opening. We're expecting another big wind storm on Saturday which is great if you like crashing surf and beach walking - although dress warmly!

We're already having spring here in South Central Texas. It's been our driest, and warmest, January in quite a while. Things are putting out which normally wait until late in real spring to put out. I've already put tomato plants in the ground--hoping for no more freezes, but I do have coverings for them if it comes to that.

Paper whites and daffs have been blooming for several weeks now. I was out in shorts and skimpy top last week--and it has to be HOT for me to do that.

We're hoping no hard freezes anyway. We finally had rain this week, and badly needed since the whole state has drought conditions.

Happy all of the above to everyone here also.

WHEN icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipp'd, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
To-whit!
To-who!Âa merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all aloud the wind doe blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
To-whit!
To-who!Âa merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

William Shakespeare

This sums up the weather we are having in England and Wales at the moment.
Steely-cold, but very dry.
Trying to de-ice the chicken's water, chopping fire wood with gloves on so I can't get a grip on the axe. Having to wear several extra layers of clothes, including two pairs of socks and a fleece jacket inside the house.
At least chilblains are a thing of the past . . .the pain when cold toes started to thaw out!
I think even the owls have moved to warmer parts.

Yesterday, the lads down the road were playing hockey. Typical for a Canadian winter, you say. Except it was street hockey on bare pavement and they were horsing around in shorts and tshirts!
There is snow in the forecast for this weekend, which is a good thing. The weather pattern has been pleasant but it is getting eerie.

The warmest January that anyone here can recall, in Tidewater Virginia. Today, it is close to 70, almost warm enough to go to the beach. A small snake was found in the nearby woods this week. Forsythia is starting to bloom, and the pink and red camellias are gorgeous now. I find it quite eerie, also, and expect we shall pay for this in late February and March. (We have had spring blizzards here in the past, albeit rarely).

HI folks,
I am reading this thread with interest as we, in New England, have also had one of the warmest Januaries on record, and so far, February has not been to bad.
I love flowers trees and shrubs, and just can't wait for spring - but I do know we have a bit of winter to get through...
I can dream, can't I?
Elly

In Maryland, we are having a mild and rather dry winter. I like the change of seasons and miss waking up to a snowy day with my children staying home from school. The pussywillow outside my dining room window is budding, but I think it might be like that every year.

On another note, our St Blaise throat blessing was rather abbreviated at yesterday's Mass. Since it was the 5pm Mass, Mr Bookmom and I wondered if Superbowl Sunday had something to do with it?

We're having a warm winter here in California, too. All my roses are budding out and I haven't finished pruning yet, so I'm not really well pleased. However, we have decent rain so far, while down in southern California they have only had 4 inches of rain so far - not good.

veer, I may have asked this, but where in Britain are you?

Oh yeah, spring is here in the desert. We hardly had a winter, and I somehow expect spring will be short and we will start our hot summer even earlier than usual. And it hasn't rained in over 100 days (janelyn, care to pass some of that rain our way? :)

I am a univeral trend setter!
Of course this has been the warmest winter in the Northeast in the history.
Why?
Because I decided to get back into skiing after a 25 year hiatus and bought new equipment!
This is a well known phenomenon in our family.
My choices affect the outcome of events!
If I buy stock the market crashes (seriously, it happened twice!)
And so on.........

"It's not easy being green...."

:0)

Yoyobon, I thought it was my fault because for the first time I bought the family pass at the local cross country ski center.

However, it may also be my hockey coach's fault because he bought a snow blower.

Now, one year our first big snowstorm was in early November, and we didn't see the grass until the end of March. This was my fault because right before the snowstorm, I was playing soccer with my son in the back yard and unbeknownst to me, my car keys had fallen out of my coat pocket. I did not see them again until Spring.

Well, we've got winter temps back today. After weeks swanning around in the 40s and 50s, during which time my alium and snowdrops decided to sprout, it's now back down firmly in the 20s. My poor plants! This is by far the oddest winter ever.

So much for folklore - it's getting colder and colder here in Essex with temps of - 10 predicted for the next few days.
That's the last time I nurdle my wanglers!

nurdling your wanglers? Jan you will be wurdling your grumits next. Not a good idea with weather this cold and winds forecast to hit us from the Artic. I wonder where the icy gusts have been coming from up to now, a razor-blade factory?
Except that it is lighter in the morning and evening there are very few signs of Spring around here in deepest Gloucestershire. One or two snowdrops and crocus are out but otherwise all very colourless.

Ahhh. On Feb. 2, I was paddling on my back in the aquamarine waters of the Pacific at Waikiki in Hawaii. Diamond Head in one direction and the curve of the beach in front of me. Bliss! Now it is back to reality with snow and facing 0 degrees here in Massachusetts.

Cold here, today, with wind chills in the Twenties. Yet --- yesterday I spotted some Periwinkles blooming. Our forsythia is starting to bud out. In no time at all, we shall be complaining of having to mow the grass....