Ahhhh! That's right Norther Exposure, exactly, funny and quirky. I had to look it up because I haven't seen that show in rerun and so many old shows are.

A lot of shows do that, they don't film in the location indicated. A lot of shows film in British Columbia when they are indicating New England locations.

Here’s an update

and heres why moose have long legs

OMGosh - look at that Moose! Is that in your backyard? Such a pretty cover of snow!

Snow - we have snow! You too, Floral? Lots of kids throwing snowballs after school, greenhouse all dark, dog loving it.

Yes, he was about 10 feet out of my living room window - tough times if youre a moose

we have no need to go anywhere, thank goodness, until thursday

@lat62 now that is some snow! @rosaprimula I love the ambience in the greenhouse when the roof is covered with snow. It has a hushed, serene feeling

Yes, it’s all very sudden, I only brought the last of the houseplants in a few days ago. We got a bit of snow on Saturday night but there’s not much left. We were in London over the weekend and just missed it there. Just freezing fog. The tube and trains were chaotic enough without snow too.

Stuck at a red signal somewhere in Wiltshire On Sunday afternoon.

Although not nearly as cold as some areas, it is plenty cold for me!! Mid 40's during the day to mid 30's at night. But supposed to get below freezing next week, even during the day.

I just stay inside :)

I am not a fan of snow anywhere except up in the mountains. Where it belongs! Fortunately, since I live so close to the beach snow is not common here but it does happen. When it does, it is wet, heavy and very slippery and the world drives like idiots!

I just stay inside :-))

I have joined those of you with snow! The snow we had earlier melted and we are now in the middle of a storm. It snowed quite a bit last night and is continuing all day. We may end up with 25-30 cm (10-12 inches).

FrozeBudd I have the wood stove going all winter and the propane furnace as back up. You are so right, there is nothing like wood heat to get the chill out of your bones.

prairiemoon I could have added these pics to your post about decorating outside for Christmas!

We now have had 41 inches of snow in 12 days, which is a lot for us! Here is a similar shot as i posted earlier - somewhere under there we have a deck :) tracks are from a moose.

we are dropping down to 0 F and its soooo beautiful with clear skies!

My husband is now on the road to Fairbanks where it is -30 F

i dont have a picture but if you want to share his view, google ’denali from willow alaska alpenglow’ it’s fabulous!

Lat62, yes and that bitter cold is now being nudged down my way and we're in for a big bite, bbbrrr! I'd say we have about 12 inches of accumulated snow, not a heck of a lot, but just enough to keep the cold from nipping at my perennials, even the zone pushers.

Mild weather the last few days gave the fireplace a break, but back flaming away to build up heat as the cold snap arrives. Peren.all, yes, with a wood burning stove, the heat very nicely makes everything snug warm, it gets absorbed and retained by interior objects, furnishings and walls that there are no cold zones or surfaces, whereas with forced air heat, the chill quickly returns when the furnace shuts off and seeps back in from the chilly interior outside walls and floor. Only wish I had installed a higher capacity wood burning insert, been looking into that, I'm not as young anymore and would be nice not to so frequently be tending the fireplace!

FrozeBudd,

your wood stove heating sounds so cozy! Do you have one of those fans to put on top? Hang in there on stoking that fire, sounds like you're a skilled northerner! Yes, I think about the perennials being snugged away too ! I know what you mean about when the furnace shuts off, I try to convince myself to get a better sweater on rather than notching the furnace back on :) The snow sure helps to insulate the house .

Our fireplace is less than worthless for heating, but occasionally we have a fire for the atmosphere. Have looked at inserts, and your words inspire me to get back and look into it more seriously.

Enjoy the winter wonderland, I know I am!

SeniorBalloon, I was late to the party to see your sled run video, thank you! Almost felt like I was there!

Peren.all - Of course, you are right, who needs decorations with all that gorgeous snow!

lat62 - that is a LOT of snow..lol. SO pretty! Those are the mooses tracks? He was in another photo, so is this more than one day the moose is in your backyard? Is he going up on your deck?

I was thinking of looking into a fireplace insert, but the one I wanted was an older brand and when I looked at the price I about fell over. Also our fireplace smokes a little so I don't know if that is going to be an issue. The inserts do seem to be small and I guess that means bringing food in more frequently.

@lat62 I can't imagine living with 41 inches of snow. Are you able to leave the house? Living where you do I'm sure you have all the normal logistics, food, heat and fun all worked out, but my goodness that's a lot of snow. How long will it stick around?

it has just started snowing again here. they say over the next 3 to 4 days we'll get less than 5, so not likely to get any sledding in :o(.

Stay warm everyone.

Lat62, despite the short hours of daylength, sure nice when the days are brilliantly sunny and calm and then getting that bit of solar warmth soaking into my house. Yes, the fireplace has a built in fan, though it's a bit noisy and I tend not to use it, though it really helps to push the temp up several more degrees. I've been felling trees for about 45 years, a few close calls, though fortunately still have all my limbs and digits and no chainsaw bites to the skin. I knew a gent who had taken a power saw kickback to the face, let me tell you, his face wasn't nearly so handsome with a big 6 inch keloid scar across it, must of been horrifying!

Prairiemoon, I wish I had known more about fireplaces when I build! We didn't have one in the house I was raised and honest truth, I was very hesitant to start my first few fires in the new place, I won't say how many years the fireplace had gone unused, lol. A friend has one that is set somewhat forward and the thing pumps out masses of heat that easily the room temperature can limb to over 85 F, not that he likes it that warm, just proves the capacity!

SeniorBalloon, we can leave the house, shovel in hand. The driveway is passable, and will be improved during the next few days which will be sunny and cold and beautiful. This will stay until April, although it might be messed up if (and when) we get a warm 'pineapple express' weather system with temps in the 40's.

I'm sure you'll get your fair share of snow soon, and will be sledding in the new year!

FrozeBud - We've used our fireplace and put a metal covering sealing up the opening with screens, but it really seems to rob the house of heat more than anything and we end up with smoke in the room. So, we stopped using it. I'm considering having someone look at it to see if that would prevent me from adding a wood/pellet burning stove to the fireplace. But really wood costs so much money and we don't have trees to fell. It would really only be for emergencies I guess.

You get more than 6 inches of snow here at any-one time and life as you know it comes to a grinding halt!! Snow is not a common visitor in my locale and few are really accustomed to it unless they moved here from a snowier place. Most are not adept at driving in it, it can be very hilly around here and lowland snow is wet and heavy and very slippery. Traffic can come to a standstill.

My old 4 wheel drive pickup slid right off the gravel drive into a ditch in one massive storm that dumped 18 inches in just a few hours right down to sea level. And just so y'all don't think it was my driving that was at fault, the tow truck that came to pull me out also slid into the ditch and required a second, bigger truck to pull us both out. 😖

Snowfall here can be erratic as well. We had a slight dusting in the morning a couple of weeks ago that melted almost immediately. A business associate that lives less than 20 miles away received 8 inches that hung around for several days.

We are expected to have a sharp cold spell starting Monday with temps not much above freezing, if at all. Some snow is predicted as well but drier atmospheric moisture should keep that to a minimum. I hope.

SB, you up there in Whatcom county are supposed to get the brunt of it. Stay safe and warm.

GG, I am not quite that far north, still in King county, but far enough east that east of us is mostly forest. We are also in a bit of a micro climate as we will have snow much longer than just 5 miles away in town.

When I was growing up we heated out house with wood heat. Felled the trees ourselves and all. Learned to sue a chainsaw, which has come in handy living here, but had enough close calls to fully respect the power. Our wood stove was made from a 55 gallon barrel. You could load it up and damper it down and it would burn for 12 hours steady and keep the entire house toasty warm. WE burned nothing but alder as they were plentiful on the property where we lived. A life time ago from the propane world I live in now. :o).

I heat with a wood pellet burning fireplace insert. No natural gas to my block which stinks, so this is the next best option over the inefficient electric heat. I quite like it.

Normal service has been resumed here. Grey skies, drizzle, no frost or snow and the temperature back up to high 40s.

eta I just went to plant the red cyclamen in the window boxes for Christmas and couldn't understand why I couldn't dig the holes. I couldn't believe the boxes were so full of roots from the permanent bulbs and conifers that I couldn't get the trowel in. Then it dawned on me. The soil was still frozen from our week long ice age, something I have never experienced before.

Sometimes in early May when all seems balmy above ground I will try to put my shovel in to, say move a perennial, and realize it's not a rock that's in my way, it's that the soil is still frozen several inches down. It's a real duh moment for me, I should know that by now but still get irrationally exuberant :)

Prairiemoon, for myself, I wouldn't be relying upon firewood if not for living in a forest dominated by trembling aspen, a fast maturing weedy tree of short life span, always is many dead trees to buck up, thing is getting around to all the work!

Lat62, years gone by, for the most part, we often experienced very deep ground frost penetration. Now, the snow arrives with the first November cold snap to give it's insulating protection. Almost always I have a bunch of missed volunteer potatoes tubers sprouting forth and glads I could probably grow as perennials.

Floral would love to see a photo of your window boxes when they are done.

lat63 - Early May?!! That would be a deal breaker for me moving to Alaska...never mind the bears, the short growing season! lol

FrozeBud - Weedy Aspens seem like just the thing to have if you are trying to heat with wood, but yes, finding time to cut up and stack wood has to be an issue, unless you are homesteading and have no other job.

I trudged to the greenhouse, expecting the worst. Absolutely every pot had been frozen solid for days. Was amazed to see that all mostly surviving (so far) apart from the tufted poppies which keeled over and carked days ago ...although I have a rescued pot sitting on the draining board. My house is cold and gas is spendy so I have spent a lot of time under the duvet with a book. Dogs still need 2 walks a day though, so struggling into my not very waterproof boots. TBH, I am not feeling Xmas cheer at all - my youngest have to leave their rented home, sweetheart is unwell, house is darkly claustrophobic and I should probably take some VitD....sigh.

It is very cold here at the moment. Not expected to get above freezing until Christmas Eve and that is not common for this area - usually very mild and almost balmy. We got some light snow starting last night - not much more than a trace - but the inch or so that is there is not going anywhere until it warms up. Step pup's first snow experience and he was not impressed!! Very high lifting of paws with all that cold, mushy stuff!!

I dislike driving in snow as other drivers are not very skilled and I worry about my car on super slick streets so I tend to stay home. But I still have a few holiday errands I need to run so need to get out and about at some point....after the sanding trucks make their runs?

I have a space heater close by when on computer or streaming. And received a "shacket" as an early gift and my usually barefoot indoors has modified to wearing wooly socks around the house. The older I get, the more I feel the cold! I bundle up even indoors and there are several throws on the sofa to snuggle up in.

Supposed to get -25 or so here and not get above -5 for a high wed. brrrr

^^^ LOL!! There is a reason I live in Washington........and not Wyoming!! -25F - yikes!!

My sister is in New York at the moment and it is warmer there than it is here!

rosaprimula so sorry about your troubles. I hope your sweetheart recovers well. Will your youngest be coming home to you then? Yes do take some VitD and maybe do some of your knitting with very bright cheery colors especially yellow. Whatever it takes to ward off the blues.

If misery loves company my DD hit a deer. She was fine but the deer and vehicle were not. We thought it could be repaired but no- it was a write off. So now she is using mine and we have to go car shopping, ugh.

Very cold and windy here in New England today too. The sun is in and out and even that is not helping. We just finished up with a 2 day rain event and I just checked the rain container I measure with and looks like I had 3 inches of rain. Happy to get it, and yet according to local weather we are still 12 inches lower than normal for rain here after a very hot/dry July and August.

We try to keep the heat as low as possible - we heat with oil - we use a programmable thermostat and set it for 64 at night and 67 during the day. Like GG - the older I get the more I feel the cold. I think it is diminishing muscle mass, despite trying to hold onto it. That is where your heat is produced in the muscles, and explains why women are usually colder than men.

So my husband never seems to need more than a Flannel shirt around the house, but I have long sleeves and a hooded heavy duty sweatshirt and switch over to wool socks in the winter. It is amazing how warm they keep my feet. We also have 'hot socks' that you heat in the microwave and they stay warm for hours. And of course, I have to have a down comforter on the bed at night. I love that!

Even with all that, I can't imagine living where it gets minus 25F!! You have to really be a hardy soul to do that!

Rosaprimula - I just bought a bottle of cod liver oil to get some Vitamin D for the winter. I don't know why I waited so long. I should have gotten it the end of October.

Half of our family has been sick this month or longer. Covid - then RSV infections that are very slow to clear up, so we are avoiding get togethers right now. Not fun at all, but not unexpected. I have a lot of books out of the library to distract myself with.

Peren.all - I'm glad your DD is okay - but must have been traumatic! She is lucky that it was just the car and the deer. But I sympathize with you about the totaled car. I had that happen to me about 6 years ago. Someone dropped a ladder off a truck on the highway about 20ft in front of me. I was fine, but the car was totaled. Unfortunately, right now even used cars are so expensive. We are holding out with our older car hoping prices will become more reasonable at some point. If I were forced to get another car right now, I would be looking at one of the hybrids to try to reduce the gasoline bills. I see they are installing more electric recharging stations in some of the shopping areas.

My goodness, sending warm vibes to everyone. I definitely get a bit grumpy in the winter and focusing on the coming spring always helps me get through it. I try to remember that most of the plants need this respite to do their best when it warms up. It helps that the propane truck just rolled up and topped us up. :o)

SB, I did not realize you were so close into town! For some reason, I thought you were in the Bellingham area, not northeastern King county :-) If I have snow down here at sea level, I'm guessing there is a lot more where you are!

Stay warm!!

Some absolute S**trag has murdered a gorgeous aged cherry laurel in my local cemetery. I swear, this has thrown me in a raging black mood (hence the miserable earlier post). On Saturday, 3 of the limbs had been girdled, I came home close to tears, then someone went back to finish the job: every single limb is now totally, deeply and brutally maimed, even branches in the interior canopy, The scale and mindlessness is horrific - this venerable laurel has been here for over 100 years and had assumed a glorious spreading canopy. I have walked under it nearly everyday, for the past 45 years...I am horrified.

Horrible for your daughter, Perenne...sympathies.

Why? oh why? I do not understand why this was done. I'm very sad about this too :(

rosaprimula, that would put most of us in a black mood. I'm not sure what was done to the tree though - was it a vandal that damaged the tree? 45 years of having a tree be part of your experience, is a lot of attachment. I had a neighbor who had the best looking Sugar Maple tree in the neighborhood and it was in a direct line with my kitchen window and one day without warning they cut it down to put a pool in. I just cried. But at least they had a reason for taking it down, for someone to just destroy a tree like that is hard to fathom. As you said, mindless. I'm very sorry, I understand that it feels like a loss.

Perhaps you can turn it into something positive and plant a tree to replace it. Maybe even something on your property that you can keep safe.

That's maddening, Rosa. Non gardeners do not comprehend the attachment we develop with plants we've known for many years. And little do they know about our knowledge of certain...herbal remedies. Perhaps you could fix them a bit of tea. Monkshood perhaps. I hear the blooms are especially potent, I mean lovely.

We have no idea why this was done. Every limb had been completely girdled with something like a billhook or machete, You can see the red wood (like wounds) across the cemetery.We are all desperately worried that other trees might be similarly damaged. A couple of years ago, there was a deranged person who pushed over the gravestones, including knocking the head of a beautiful stone angel. Everyone knew the culprit (It was a very disturbed man with mental health issues) and there was talk of closing the graveyard to the public.

In my very built-up ward, the 'gravy' is the main green lung for this part of the city...and many people are deeply invested in it. My ex achieved some small local fame for throwing himself in the way of the council flail mowers, in the act of chopping down a large area of calcareous grassland, with 133 species of wild flowers (I was part of the field study), Butterfly conservation won that round (against the family history group, who want clear paths and no bird cover). It is a much loved space for dozens of dog-walkers, families, wildlife enthusiasts, joggers... even the family history buffs,

We are going to set up a rota of watchers, including at night. We (the 'friends of Mill Road cemetery') are going to start a fund-raiser to buy cameras which will be active from midnight to dawn.

I guess we are going to find out how well cherry laurels will coppice, since there is no main trunk, just a number of individual limbs, growing from a wide base.

The vandalism to any tree would put me in a black mood but an old and beloved one is beyond the beyond. It is difficult to imagine the impetus behind it. I do hope it recovers and in your climate the chances are far better than some.

prairiemoon yes very traumatic hitting a deer on so many levels. This is the second time it has happened to her. We have to constantly be on the lookout for them day or night but she is coming home from work in the early evening when it is now dark. White tail deer are large and the biggest fear is that they come in through the windshield. Our neighbour has hit 6 and most have had at least one tangle. It is terrible carnage to us and them.

Thank you rosaprimula & SB

rosaprimula, I'm very happy to hear that people are organizing to try to protect the cemetery from vandalism. Cameras are such a great idea! It would be great if you can get a growing specimen from the damaged tree. And it does me good to hear people organizing to protect our natural areas, thanks for posting.

Peren.all - I didn't realize that it was such a hazard to drive there. Are the roads rural without street lights? I can't imagine hitting SIX deer!! Crazy! Is it that there are so many deer? I think that some of the protections that have been given to predators who used to keep the populations of animals within reason, may be working against us. I wonder if someone could install a large light on their truck or car to give them a clear visual of the road and/or some kind of loud horn that might scare them out of the way? I have not lived in a rural area so I have no idea what can be done about it beyond trying to be as careful as you can. I don't suppose a fence blocking off their usual pathway would have any effect? I wish they would find some solution. I wonder what other communities have tried to do, you can't be the only community dealing with that.

Yes prairiemoon not a street light for miles, we are very rural. The deer population has been out of control for years. I understand that the Ministry of Natural resources feels they need to protect the deer but what about the people??? The police & insurance companies have tried to get the Ministry to at least allow hunters to take 2 bucks per deer tag. You are only allowed to take a doe if you are selected by a form of lottery. It is ridiculously dangerous for us.

You are so right about predators. Every time I hear coyotes or wolves they seem to go silent. I think it is local farmers taking them out. Short sighted on their part but they are concerned about their livestock.

We have had deer whistles on the vehicles over the years but in our climate they tend to fall off with rain/snow. Who knows if they work, I know the sonic mice repellers do not. I was thinking about deer fencing the other day but it would take miles of prohibitively expensive fencing and then they would just cross a peoples laneways. The deer will often stand in the road or ditches and just look at you, they are especially stupid mid Oct. to Dec. when they are rutting. They are also the reason I have to spend a small fortune on Bobbex every year for the garden.

Peren.all - It is a conundrum. As gardeners we know what it's like to struggle to keep critters away from our garden and even more so if we had livestock, so we can't blame farmers for wanting to get rid of dangerous predators.

Living in the suburbs far away from rural areas, I often think how great it would be to live in a more rural place, but every place has it's drawbacks. All we have to deal with here are roaming turkeys that so far haven't really bothered us and the rabbits that I have to keep figuring a way to keep away from my plants.

When the population of the world was smaller, people could be in communities far enough away from wild areas that wildlife could retreat to their own habitat. Now we all seem to be right on top of each other. I guess we just have to keep trying to come up with workable solutions when we can.

Just sending warm thoughts to those of you in the north-east parts of the US. Horrible freezy blizzards on their way. Stay safe, everyone.

And it seems like this extra winter like weather doesn't stop at the border as much of Canada is seeing similarly; with ridiculously extreme cold in the fine province of Alberta. Right now as we speak, esteemed member @FrozeBudd_z3/4 is experiencing -34C/-29F (and with wind chill it is -44C/-47F)...absolutely stunning. It seems beyond comprehension that he has reliably perennial Buddleia in such a cimate!. FrozeBudd is clearly a plant "whisperer" :).

Hard to imagine those kinds of temperatures. What do you do when it's -29? The lowest I'd ever experienced was 5f degrees. I remember taking a shower and walking next door to work, 20 feet, and my wet hair froze.

We've only gotten another 2 1/2 inches of snow, and the temps are a balmy 20 degrees. They're calling for more tomorrow late. We might get some freezing rain as we move into Friday, which is the worst kind of storm I'd ever experienced. 2 year after moving to our current place, we had a cold snap followed by rain. Freezing temps at ground level and warm above. Everywhere the rain hit it froze. Branches broke, trees toppled and it sounded like a war zone all night as transformers exploded and trees crashed to the ground.

Our half mile dirt road was choked with downed trees. The next day it took 4 of our neighbors and myself 4 hours to cut a path to the main road. Chainsaw skills came in very handy that day.

Do take care everyone!

It's currently -27C here in the Kamloops, BC hills (2,185 feet / 666 meters ASL), but the weekend it will be much warmer, much nearer the freezing point. I look forward to gardening in just 3 months, more or less.

I wonder how all this freeze/thaw cycle will affect our herbaceous dormant perennials. For the whole month of december we've been getting rain at least once a week and some days it freezes and some days are warm. Now we've had 3 inches of rain since last night and supposed to go down to 7 degrees tonight. Then next weekend temps will warm up to the 50s with rain. I am expecting a lot of fatalities over the winter for my herbaceous plants. But at least I got to see most of them flower this year so I don't think I have any regrets, I'll just keep growing new ones

Rouge, the buddleia are resting cozy in their "warm" foundation root zone. BUT, also for sake of curiosity, I'm gonna plant some in ground and give them a good late autumn layer of protection if possibly they could also pull through, our general continuous snow cover is a blessing!

When it comes to human comfort, I don't know if -40 C is all that much different than +40 C, it certainly is true, you can always dress for the COLD, but when it's an insanely HOT +40 C (and especially when combined with wretched high humidity), you certainly are not gonna be happily enjoying the outdoors! I expect no plant losses whatsoever from this cold, the same will not be said in BC and other regions!

The weather up here is frightful - terrible winds last night and a very tall spruce tree came down, I don't exaggerate it was probably 100 feet tall, will measure and count rings at some point This barely missed our house, very scary.

Best wishes to everybody experiencing winter blizzards, my mom in Michigan just takes it in stride and bakes pies during her strong winds while I can do nothing but stare out at the gusts. It has calmed now here, and good luck to stuck travelers getting to your destinations soon !