It's Snowing!

We're not alone in waking up to snow on the ground today. More snow is falling as I make this post, and the morning weather report indicated that most of the province is getting snow today.

I hope everybody has their bulbs in by now! Soon we'll be stomping around in moon boots and scraping our car windshields...

Patio Furniture vs. Winter Boots

My flowers are probably looking fantastic, only I wouldn't know, because I can't see them! Day four of "latest spring snowstorm in decades" brought even more snow today. It is supposed to be done by tomorrow morning. We're glad we didn't take the winter tires off the car already!

Kona demonstrates how to squint to keep blowing snow out of your eyes:

Patio furniture in state of underuse this week:

The dry-stack rock-wall raised beds still protrude from the snow drifts:

To the rest of the bloggers in Canada-land, keep those flower pictures coming!

April snowstorms bring May...Thaws?

This is what a "60% P.O.P." looks like, just so you know. I believe we are together with Montana and the rest of the prairies in this big snowstorm, which is expected to last until Tuesday. Fabulous. I'm glad we still have the winter tires on the car.

Otherwise, the plants in my bay window are enjoying the light. I seeded a few more lemongrass plants, to ensure a good summer supply. These cherry tomatoes are growing well too. Somehow, though, the banana plant in the background hasn't produced any bananas for me yet. Okay, that might be asking too much for a banana plant grown north of the 55th.

Brilliant Sunshine on my Snow

We may not be able to play in the dirt yet, but the brilliant sun is bringing people outside to walk around outside today. Here are some pictures of the yard this morning. Not one inch of lawn is showing. For the recent commenter that thought my lawn in mid-April 2007 looked poorly-maintained, this is because of the snow and snow mold. If you were completely covered in snow for 6 months of the year, you might look poorly too, come springtime!
Spirea shrub in the foreground, looking across the yard to the frozen lake:

Burlap-wrapped cedar shrub:

The road in front of our house. It was hard getting around town with the truck today, since the Subaru was out of town with RLM. I find that these near-zero temperatures create difficult snow and ice conditions. It's actually easier to drive in -20 or -30 C.

You can compare the yard with the same view from this time last year. The photo from March 29, 2007 is posted in the left column of the blog. Conclusion: we haven't had as much melting as last year at this time.

Spicy globe basil in the basement under lights:

The Ice Queen Reigns Here

Spring has not yet arrived in our local Narnia, as we sit under more falling snow with temperatures down to -23 C (-9.4 F) tonight. I'm determined not to plug in the car's block heater anymore though. Doing that would be admitting defeat. Is anyone else in the garden world still plugging in their car?

Yet again, the driveway is covered in snow:

In the absence of live flowers in my yard, I'm going to be keeping up with the proverbial Joneses in the rest of Canada with this display:

I bought these silk flowers at a craft store on my last trip out of town. I just need a few robins flying around the living room to complete the spring effect.

Remembrance Day Snow Warnings

We quickly got blanketed by snow this Remembrance day. It snowed from 3 am to 2 pm today. The weather forecasters (with bright red warning banners) predicted 10 to 15 cm of snow today. I haven't measured it, but it certainly is a substantial heap. The lake is still open, but temperatures have yet to drop.

I gave in and put up a few Christmas decorations today. There's no wreath on the door yet. Oh, and there are no Christmas lights in the windows either, so that the neighbours don't think we're looney. RLM is anti-Christmas decorations. No, this is not for any good reason other than he doesn't like "clutter" and cleaning stuff up after Christmas. No problems there, because I was the one who packed everything away last year!

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

Snow has arrived...as a time-limited offer...until April 2008...
We started getting snow accumulation November 3, and it's supposed to snow most days for the next week, according to the weather people. Unlike other years where I've put it off, I'm getting anxious to decorate the house for Christmas! I'll have to wait a few more weeks at least, so that people don't think I'm strange or anything. I've even got the Christmas music on hand, ready to put into the CD player as audio inspiration.
Kona -- the furry companion -- is beginning to get a winter coat. She is also more discriminating with her choice to either stay or exit the doghouse. Here, she seeks to explore the garage and sniff our latest garbage.

Soon, the lake will freeze over and snowmobiles will be whizzing by on a regular basis. In this community, more people seem to own snowmobiles than cars. Cash often being limited, the local habit is to trade in your boat in the fall and buy a snowmobile, only to do the reverse trade in the spring.

First Snow of the Season

Well, I can add the first snow AND the first snowmobiler of the season to the calendar now. I had to take a picture of the snowmobiler after hearing the guy getting stuck on the front corner of our lawn, yanking on the handlebars and trying to get the machine back onto the road. I'd hate to tell him that there's not really not THAT much snow out there!

Don't you like that you can see GREEN plants in my rockgarden in the foreground. Hey, is that a seat made out of duct tape?

Beautiful primula in the snow:

Now that we are getting to that season of reflection and navel-gazing, I have been pondering a new camera. I certainly plan to have a new one by spring. I read two garden blogs last night that mentioned the Canon G9 digital SLR. I love Canon cameras and I am happily snapping away with my Canon PowerShot S50, 5 megapixel camera, having tried and not liked my husband's 7 megapixel Nikon Coolpix. The one I am interested in is the Canon Powershot S5 IS, an 8 megapixel camera with several manual features, while the Canon G9 is a bit more than I need.

Does anyone own and like the Canon S5 camera?

Weather Update

It looked rather cloudy this morning when I got up, but this weather forecast is downright gloomy! Rain would be nice for the plants, but snow and freezing rain? I guess my plants and I are staying indoors today. According to the Weather Network's longterm forecast, we should be getting nice warm weather again around June 1. I'll be looking forward to that.

Text Forecast from Environment Canada
La Ronge: Issued 8.29 AM CST Friday 18 May 2007
Today
Snow ending near noon then clearing. Risk of freezing rain. Local snowfall amount 5 to 10 cm. Wind northeast 20 km/h becoming light this afternoon. High plus 4. UV index 3 or moderate.
Tonight
Clear. Low minus 4.