[gdenby]

50F here, w. the temp dropping all day, rain on the way. According to last Sat. morning forecast, tomorrow was to be mid-60s and sunny. Now, nothing above 50 for the rest of the week, w. intermittent rain, and snow. Crud. Had hoped to put some of my garden to bed tomorrow. Guess I'll see what i can do today.

 

[gdenby]

All the way up to 32F just now, clear and cold. Yesterday kicked off really nasty. Just as cold, completely overcast, spitting rain and sleet w. 35 mph wind gusts. Clouds broke by the afternoon, so I put on my winter jacket, and sat carving on my backyard bench. May try a little searching today, but don't expect much. Lots of leaves still on the trees, but no storm damage I've found from the snow and wind we had a few days ago.

 

[gdenby]

Sunny and heading for 60 here. Went out to do a stick survey on Mon. Some frost on the ground, but so many leaves still on the trees that I was quite chilled by the time I came out of the shady forrest. Yesterday, I figured I had to use the last bit of semi-warm and dry day to mow the lawn one last time. Maybe do a little searching noonish.

 

[gdenby]

The temp here has rocketed to almost 32F. Missed a good day to do some searching last Sat. The morning was cold w. fierce winds. Happened to contact an old friend on the phone, and we jawed for hours. Next thing I knew, It was 60, sunny, and balmy, but too close to dinner time to do anything. Rained the next day, rained and snowed the next. At least now the sap will really be descending. Less that 50% of the leaves left on trees.

 

[gdenby]

'Bout the same here. Unfortunately, have things to do today. Yesterdays forecast was for sunny till mid-day Sun., but now todays the only sun. Tomorrow shouldn't be too bad, cloudy, but warmer. Now if I could just remember where I saw the sycamore w. a good branch coming out the side just a few feet up from the ground...

 

[gdenby]

Good morning All! It's a clear 28° this morning and expecting a sunny 48° latter today.

Almost the same here. Highest temperature for the day supposed to be a little lower. Surprisingly little wind damage from a few days ago. My neighbor's wooden fence blew down. I looked yesterday for storm downed wood, but only found some already quite dead branches. W. most of the leaves down, I suppose that spared lots of trees from stress.

 

[gdenby]

had seen the damage caused by tornados on tv wow pretty devasting feel so sorry for the people The BBC reported 62 tornadoos andd the size of them unbelivable.

I thoght this time of year you didnt get them.

But stay safe

I've never heard of any this late in the year. The past several winters we've had "thunder blizzards," which I also can't recall happening before. The lightning isn't visible because the snow is so heavy, but the thunder is nearly as loud as during summer downpours.

When I was 11 years old, I was walking home when a tornado swept thru. I was perhaps a half mile from the nearest touch down. Never have wanted to repeat that.

 

[gdenby]

Good evening, not! I suppose its not all bad. Cold like this will certainly draw the sap down. But, cripes! I'll get used to it, but even w. a new 500 watt work light next to me on my porch work space, coming inside is like stepping into a sweat bath. Why was it I used to like winter so much?

 

[gdenby]

Not too bad today. Supposed to break the freezing point, but no sun. Altho we will be having a fairly small Thanksgiving group, I'm the "chef." Decided that among other things, I would try making a spiced turkey breast roll. It needs to sit in the fridge for 2 days, so most of the carving I will be doing today is poultry, not wood. Wood may be harder, but carcasses are a lot more complex.

 

[gdenby]

Forecast today. Snow. Lots of it. Already have 6" of it.

 

[gdenby]

I've never been consistent at carving the bird. It was a lot easier when I was a kid, and all I had to do was go quail hunting with my dad and provide some of the quail.

Eat, drink, and be merry!

Most people's kitchen knives are pitiful. That doesn't make things any easier. One thing that has helped w. wood carving is that I bought a good sharpening kit for my kitchen knives, and the skill and equipment I gained with that has helped me keep a better edge on my gouges, etc.

 

[gdenby]

do you hang the birds to mature before you cook them, we tend to ,to improve there flavour

Anyway not to sure of your temp readings anymore, as completly metric 32 degrees in f is freezing and it converts to 0 c.

Not had much frost yet but sure to get some soon

I haven't heard of anyone hanging a bird. Its fairly common for people to rub the bird w. salt repeatedly over several days while it sits in the 'fridge. I don't think that does anything for the flavor, but helps keep the meat moist while cooking, and promotes a crispier skin.

When I was in high school, I and most of my classmates expected to shift to metric units, but it never happened. With internet use becoming more common, more people here are getting used to metric, but the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit is really awkward. 0 inches and 0 centimeters are the same length, but 0 C and 0 F are so different. In F, if the temperature is 100 (not unusual for much of the summer), one will just be uncomfortable. But at 100 C, on is long dead.

 

[gdenby]

Same here, but rather cloudy. Yesterday afternoon was very nice. Mid 40s and sunny. Was able to sit on my backyard bench and carve and sand in the strong raking light. Hope for something similar this afternoon. The light is so much better than what I get indoors from my new 500 watt work light. On one stick, I found clear rasp marks on areas I thought were already smoothed.

 

[gdenby]

• Managed to escape flooding , some parts of the town evacuated ,expecting more storm surges at 8am . during high tide.
• Some sea defence breach just along the coast.Just hope the sea banks hold ,the banks are now statrurated and weakened .Supposed to the worst for 60years
• Have to wait for the next 2 high tides to get the all clear
• The sound of the sirens wailing are pretty scary dont know what to expect.
• Lots of homes without power
• tempuratures dropping below zero still have red weather warnings

Power loss and below zero temperature is not good. Hoping heat and light is restored quickly.

My morning geography lesson was Boston, England. I read that flooding along the river is a very old problem. Also, portions of Lincolnshire are now below sea level. Saw a pic at the Daily Mail site showing lots of flooded farmland. I noticed in that pic, there was only on bit of forrest left, so I can see how, as you mentioned, there isn't much access to sticks.

Take care.

 

[gdenby]

Cold wave here, too. Much colder than average. Had -11 F windchill yesterday, something that usually doesn't happen till lat January. Only a dusting of light snow, w. is good. My porch work area has enough heat in it that the temp. is above freezing, but it is still cold enough that I'm spending less time carving. Will have to finish a few sticks at my tiny basement workbench.

 

[gdenby]

To continue Rad's practice,

Good morning stick makers and users. The temperature has raced all the way up to 16F/-9C, and the sun has broken thru the clouds. I'm not likely to get much done stickwise today. Realize that the holiday season is rapidly approaching, and i have a ton of running around to do. Busy enough that me and the wife are putting off seeing The Hobbit, pt. 2 till Sunday. Maybe that will give me enough time to fine a stone that will light up on the end of one of my long staffs that would be helpful trudging thru Mirkwood.

 

[gdenby]

Good morning! 48° and rainy -- flood watch, but it would have to rain Biblical proportions to reach the top of our little mountain!

Any luck w. your 1 handed finishing? I tried to pretend I only had 1 arm working, and propped a stick between my jaw and the floor, and then tried rubbing on tung oil. Nope!

Speedy recovery to you.

 

[gdenby]

Yes, a merry christmas to all.

My biggest "stick" work was getting the Christmas tree to fit in its stand. My wife insists on a live one. I found one that looked nice, and was small enough I could jam into the trunk of my car. When I got it home, I saw that the bottom 8" of the trunk was nearly twice as thick as the rest. My guess is the tree barely survived a bad drought we had maybe 10 years ago which killed off many nearby Christmas tree farms. Most of the tree may have been 1 surviving side branch that recovered and grew upright. I ended up spending over an hour hacking away 1st w. a machete, and then finishing w. my old sculpture tools and mallet. Yeesh. Wet, sappy pine is a pain to cut. Even worse in below freezing temps.

 

[gdenby]

There was an unusual ice storm about 100 miles north of where I live the day before Christmas. My younger daughter, 150 miles south, reported flooding from torrential rains and mid-60F temperature 3 days before Christmas. From what I've read over the past few years, the jet stream is becoming more erratic.

During the winter here, there used to be a pattern. Early in the winter, cold air would move in for about 3 days, go away for 3, and then return, ever colder. By January, the cold dips would be the worst, and last at least a week. The description I read was that during the summer, the jet stream had between 3 and 5 "waves," or "lobes," circling the globe. As the weather grew colder, the lobes begin to bulge larger, and move down from the polar region. By mid- winter, the lobes gathered into perhaps just one very larger wave that could extend from west to east coast of NoAm, and as far south as the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, the jet stream is breaking up, and instead of flowing like a river around the world, it is turning into eddies that move north and south rapidly and un-predictably. Instead of cold air gradually replacing warm air, there are much more rapid shifts, meaning that precipitation levels go way up.

The day before Christmas, our morning temp. was 4F. Tomorrow is predicted to be 48F.

 

[gdenby]

I guess it must be hibernation time... ...