I kind of expected that it was silly question. I had hoped that one sources was known for having more weather stations closer together or something like that. Logically I would think that the local news would have more specific information because it is targeted to a smaller area, but then I noticed that they prefaced it with 'your accuweather forecast' so I guess they get it from there. I should try a different channel. I've always been under the impression that forecast temperatures were generally more accurate than precipitation, especially in spring or where nor'easters are concerned. That is why I was so taken aback by what I see as a huge difference in forecast from different sources. Of course, I don't know nothing about no meteorology. :) Right now I am throwing out the outliers and averaging the rest. I feel kind of silly, nature doesn't obey mathematics.

I'm watching TWC and it is almost painful to watch when you think about the people and animals in the path of these horrific storms. This storm that has run from Edmond to Arcadia to Luther to Fallis just won't stop---it is producing either one long-track tornado or many sort-track ones.I am watching the TV and Chris is watching it on his laptop on TVN where two chasers are live streaming from opposite sides of the storm. Now, peas.... When I soak, I just soak a couple of hours or maybe overnight if I am absent-minded and leave them in the water too long. Then, I roll them around in innoculant, wrap them in paper towels (some years) and wait for them to sprout OR I take them from the innoculant and plant them in 3 oz. bathroom sized cups filled with soil-less mix. I keep the cups inside in average room temperatures and the peas sprout in just a few days. I plant the cups in the ground as soon as a leaf or two appears. If I am going from sprouted peas to the ground, as soon as the little sprout appears coming out of the pea, I put them in the ground. If the ground is wet, I dust them with sulphur as I put them in the ground, although I have wondered if that counteracts the innoculant. So, if you held them inside for days, particularly in the friedge, I suspect that the problem. If you left them in the water to sprout, they likely absorbed too much water and rotted. It only takes 2 or 3 hours for them to absorb enough water to induce sprouting. Putting them in the fridge might not have hurt them had they not been in the water for a while. The reason we sprout indoors is that when the ground is cold and wet in mid-winter and early spring, they rot. If your climate is similar enough to Farmerdill's that you think a December planting would work for you, then why not try it? Is he the same zone as you? Since he is in Georgia,I guess I always have assumed he is zone 8. I have planted flowering sweet peas in late fall or early winter for spring bloom here in zone 7b.. I think that it would be harder here with sugar snaps because we tend to drop into the single digits every winter (sometimes as low as 0 or 1, but this winter I think only to 8 or 9 degrees), and temperatures that low might kill the plants. I might try it anyway just to see what happens. Very small plants will tolerate more cold than taller ones. Even when peas freeze back to the ground, they often resprout, but if they freeze repeatedly it can sap their strength. You have nothing to lose by trying it. If they freeze back, you can just plant a spring crop as always. We go from too cold to too hot here for peas in the blink of an eye. I just pulled my sugar snap pea plants but we had harvested for 3 or 4 weeks and, while I didn't weigh and keep track of the harvest, I know I harvested at least 15-17 gallons of sugar snaps. I'm still working on processing the excess since the last picking a couple of days ago was a smidgen under 10 gallons. I actually have about 15 plants I left in the ground because they had a lot of half-mature ones and I wanted to let them grow a couple more days. At this point, I am pretty sick of sugar snap peas and have begun the harvest of cauliflower.

Hi All! You may have read here that I like to walk the dog along the Erie Canal because she's a bit frisky and I can't let her off the leash. When the backyard is muddy it ain't a place for her to be, so the cindered Canal trail is the place to go. Several weeks ago on a similar "Unusual Warm Weather" post I mentioned seeing a frog, a garden snake (both well past hibernation time) and a mink. Last week I saw the mink again. So on Friday of last week when we had that nice weather, the morning was filled with blue sky and sun, and with a muddy backyard off to the Canal. Because of the mink I took a pair of 12x50 binoculars as I was hoping to get a closer look. As I perused the other side of the Canal I heard a Robin to my back. The bino's aren't for birding but as I scanned the tree line I noticed 3 Robins perched. As I watched this seemingly refreshing sight I noticed something fly through the field of view, then another, then another. As I tried to see what they were I came upon several. I'd never seen a bird that looked exactly like this? The area is heavily brushed and I wasn't sure how many I saw during the time I observed along the 100 yard area. I had a bird book at home and I paid attention to the colors and when I found them in the book it's no wonder I'd never seen them before. The book says "This handsome bird of the North Woods is a rare visitor to the Northeast in Winter. When it appears, often in large flocks, it feeds on berries. (Which they were devouring.) The book added, "To be able to see them this way is an unforgettable event." It says they are "Highly Social" and they must also be to humans as they flew back and forth over the Canal in numbers of 5 to 10. They never flew at me but when my back was turned they flew over my shoulder maybe 4 or 5 feet away that I could hear there wings flutter in the still. Nova was moving back and forth and they didn't appear to be afraid. They were almost like Chickadees. I don't now how many because of the heavy brush but at least 25 to 50 or maybe even more. I found them to be from the book the Bohemian Waxwing. I observed them for over 1/2 hour and what a sight to behold. If you've never seen a Bohemian Waxwing paste this site or go to Google for more photos, you won't be disappointed. http://www.pbase.com/rlortie/image/37670997 Now it's back to shoveling off the deck. Darn! Jim

Deee, I feel certain that you should be okay - perhaps just some much needed rain and heavy winds! We are just miles up the coast from Savannah, on the river in Bluffton, SC. It has been a windy day on the river, but sunny and so far not anything too significant. Brought in all the floats and light furniture from the dock, where we found an otter family nesting under our floating dock. That was fun, seeing the river otters frolicking right there under our dock! I spent the afternoon planting in the garden, instead of floating in the river as we often do on weekends. Hopefully we will get some much needed rain from this storm, it has been so dry we have had to water daily and the soil is still dry as a bone. St. Simon�s is a lovely area, we used to spend a lot of time there when younger. DH has cousins who live on a street right off the beach where we used to vacation often. Be safe and have a great weekend!