I'm Concerned about this Winter
 

Folks, We live in Central PA and all morning I have heard the geese flying over head following the Juniata River wherein it will connect to the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, as they head to warmer weather for the winter. I have heard we are to have another very cold winter like we did last year. I don't know about you, but I am not ready for the cold weather.

I will never be ready for winter. Why the heck I still live in Illinois is beyond me. I should live where it is never cold.

Suz, I live in the center of New York State. There have been definite signs of Fall since the middle of July. We may be in for a bad winter. It was cool enough most of August that it felt as though we were cheated out of a full month of summer. Still, would rather experience that than record heat. Mother Natures does what she darned well pleases. Spending a winter behind a sewing machine isn't the worse thing that an happen.

Sounds like you better start preparing. If you don't have a generator and think you may need one, I'd get one now whether or not on sale. Start stocking up on what you can. I've told my sons to start preparing. My oldest is a hunter and not really a "prepper" but he installed a wood burning stove (with permission from landlord). He grows his many vegetables and he and his girl friend canned quite a bit. Even if you don't can, you can get canned and frozen on sale. Of course he looks forward to winter for deer hunting and whatever else. They have both started checking to make sure they are not losing energy. Winterizing!

My thought about the summer being cooler is that the jet stream that made the winter being colder was also making the summer cooler. I have heard both another winter like the last one and a warmer winter this year. but can't remember which source was for which prediction right now so its anybody's guess.

I'm nervous too, when the crickets start coming in in August it's going to be really cold. Zoey already got 2 of them.
The squirrels have been running around with the acorns already. Getting bushy tails early too. It's gonna be a cold winter I think .

wish we could get a generator. I live in a condo and they won't let us get a generator. Also, all our electrical lines are underground, but that doesn't mean what's connected to us won't freeze and fall down.

I'm in Colorado and I'm not either. I must do the snow shoveling, etc. Not an easy task. Stay warm!!!

i have read the same recently. same areas east & midwest hard hit last winter in for repeat this coming winter. out west here, supposed to be normal. but i have noticed the same things in the wild life. my summer birds leaving in mid august, my hummers gone month earlier than usual, we watch the squirrels and run out to rescue the walnuts...this year it's still too early, but when i checked fri morning...tree almost completely stripped. it was 49F @ 5:30a today. it's only sept one and we have end of september temps. i think we are in for a bad winter in pacific northwest also.

Last year we had lots of hummingbirds through October. About 3 weeks ago we counted 30 (I think-they're quick when you try to count) now I rarely see more than one or two a day. I've taken 3 of the 4 feeders down and am about ready to take down the last one. We just moved permanently to southeastern KY from south FL in March. Hope we don't regret it!

:D yes they are quick when you try to count them. but still a fun way to try and drink the morning cuppa while reading the paper out on the deck lol ... i have considered taking down my last feeder but last night and this morning there is still one little silly hanging around. it is early yet for them to need to migrate, but because of lower than normal night time temps right now i will leave the nutrition up. i'll just refresh w smaller batch. one or two little birds won't be able to drain a feeder before i worry about the safety of the food. oriols usually help, but they already left.

I've heard the same about here in IN. I think part of the reason last winter seemed so awful is because we have been spoiled for a few years with winters that weren't so bad. We live in a drafty old farmhouse...not looking forward to cold temps, high heating bills, and having to leave water trickle from every faucet in the house.

I'm thrilled we're moving from Michigan to Ohio. We're in the "snow belt" of Michigan, and get dumped on every year - and nothing closes, no matter how many feet we get. I'm looking forward to moving back to Columbus, where the city shuts down (at least according to my sister!) when it snows a lot. They've got "emergency levels" in bad weather, and I'll be happy as a clam to stay home when it hits a Level 2!

I am not ready for Winter but I am looking forward to Fall! That is my favorite time of year.

I'm in the snow belt just south of Erie, PA, which was the snowiest place last winter! And our little town gets tons more snow than Erie does. We just keep on going too! Last time I remember anything closing was the day my son was born, Jan 28 1977! Almost didn't make it to hospital! When I did get there, our friends were still there; had their baby 1/18 and couldn't get back home because roads were closed!

I am so sorry for ALL of you. Where I am in So CA, we had 2 weeks of fall and 1 week of winter and it was back to summer again. Poor trees and flowers were really mixed up. Getting real tired of 90 degree weather !! :(

Fall truly is a spectacular season. The two changes - spring and fall - are my favourites, but at least spring brings the promise of warmer weather! I don't mind winter but hate the long, dark days.

Ya'll are depressing me with all this talk of a bad winter. Stoppit!! Pleeeeeeze

sandy

Oh my gosh, I heard geese honking over us too a couple days ago. And I wondered the same thing. I just can't take another horrible winter like last year. Of course you do what you have to do to get through it, but I won't like it!

I just wish I didn't have a 40 mile commute each way to work. I can make myself withstand the cold but I hate driving on the bad roads. Makes me tense!

Guess we'd better line up our quilting projects and prepare for the worst. Cold weather is good for quilting.

I don't suppose you have room for a house guest for 3-4 months starting around December 20?!;) :D

Jan in VA

I'm afraid we're due for a bad winter -- we have had a couple of years of mild winters and now we live where there is no generator. Hope things aren't too bad.

We're just hoping to get all the hay cut and baled before it snows! We have a horrible snow storm October 4 last year and as cool as it is getting now we could have snow earlier! I'm prepared -- I have lots of sewing projects ready!

Here in southern Ontario the trees have been turning for weeks now and the birds are already heading to warmer climates. I love the Fall but winter last year was brutal, my DH has a 2 hour commute to work each way- not looking forward to that. I plan to hunker down and spend the winter in my studio- 2 big projects (a Mariner's Compass and Farmer's Wife) as well as lots of other things to keep me busy.

The Cicadas are singin' away, you can sort of feel the Autumn in the air and yes, we heard that Minnesota is going to be worse than last year. Mercy!!!!!!!!

I get this "thing" in August and September. We call it the squirreling thing! We start collecting food for the freezer or the cupboard for the long cold winters, my sister is in Wisconsin and she is freezing peppers and salsa that she has made. I am waiting for my Sweet Dumpling squash to get ready to pick. I have a "cat pantry" in the basement where it is nice and cool and that is where I keep my squash, potatoes and other veggies I can carry over for part of the winter.

My main problem now is who am I going to get to do my shoveling. My husband was the world's best shoveler and I learned from him to do it right (yes, there is a right way to shovel snow) and no one else can do it like my husband did or I do and I just can't shovel the deep snows anymore. I-2 inches is fine, but heavy wet snow is out of the question. I am kind of looking forward to winter, but not the cold and the snow. I am going to miss my new deck and my rocking chairs out there to sit and sew, but I'll do that inside for five months. I want to do a little traveling before the white stuff comes. Oh yah - I was watching the squirrels in the pin oak on the boulevard and they are stripping the leaves off and picking the acorns off the tree and leaving the shells for us to clean up. Hard on dogs feet. But I am 'specting that they realize that there may be an early winter.

I remember the WINTER OF 1992 (you have to say that with a loud deep voice) when it snowed on Hallowe'en and didn't stop until Easter. We had snow to the top of our clothesline pole. Not a fun winter - but you should have seen all the Hallowe'en candy when all the snow melted!!!!!! That whole winter was sort of reminiscent of Little House on the Prairie when Pa had a rope tied from the house to the barn so they didn't get lost in a Minnesota winter!!!!!!! Well, we all talk like this during September and October - we survive the snow and the shoveling and we say "This is the worst winter we have ever had. I had never in my life (76 years) seen a Luna Moth caterpillar and this year have seen two of them, collected one and it is cocooned out on the porch and as it gets colder, I will put it in the fridge and it should burst from the cocoon this coming Spring.

We will find something on TV like Survivor or something to look forward to that will take us through December, and then the Super Bowl and then seed picking out for Spring plantings and before you know it, we will be there again. All wide-eyed and bushy-tailed because we made it through another winter.

I have a little poem here; I have it tacked to my desk and I just love it:

"I meant to do my work today --
but a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
and a butterfly flitted across the field,
and all the leaves were calling me,
and the wind went sighing over the land,
tossing the grasses to and fro,
and a rainbow held out its shining hand -
so what could I do but laugh and go."
Richard LeGalllienne

So, I guess, we make hay while the sun shines,eh? - High in the upper 80's today...........Edie

Of course. if you don't mine sleeping with my fabric stash that resides in the 2nd bedroom !!! Bring your own bed. And don't be worried if you feel the earth shake under your feet !! :)

Love the poem Edie and good luck with the winter!

We, too, are seeing our birds migrate through earlier than usual .

I'm back! I just heard something on the TV regarding our summer. We, all summer, have had two days of 90 degrees (no days higher than that in 2014) and we are still above normal in the heat for the summer. Cannot believe that one!!!!!! Not a whole lot of days sitting out in the AM early for a cup of coffee either!!!!

Thank you - I love that poem also. I collect adages, sayings, like "A Hop from Heaven - A Skip from sanity, and a Jump from the good life". Or , get ready for this one! "WINTER EXISTS TO MAKE SPRING FEEL LIKE A MIRACLE."
That's it for the day. Edie

On the other hand, I read online the other day that next summer is supposed to be one of "those" summers where you just can't cool off. (According to the Farmer's Almanac). August in Alabama has been really cool this year, with mostly 90's and only a few days of 102 deg. weather. :thumbup:

It has been a cooler summer and all predictions say that it will be a colder winter. I have noticed the leaves are starting to turn already and and you can feel fall in the air. I remember 1992....Snow on Halloween and it stayed forever. Last winter, the snow was piled higher than my car at the end of the driveway. Make it tricky to back out into the street. I don't want winter to come.

I heard on the weather channel that it would be a colder than normal winter in the East and MidWest but the West would be normal to warmer. They are predicting less snow for the snow belts however because the temperature of the Great Lakes was colder this summer because of last year's winter freeze. The prevailing winds come from the west across the Great Lakes and since the water temperature is warmer than the air at that point it picks up moisture and then dumps it in the form of snow as it reaches the colder land mass. This is why the West coast of Michigan and places like Buffalo NY get so much snow. I lived in SW Michigan for years before moving to Florida and my children still live there. Rarely is the amount of snow an issue for getting around as they keep things plowed well unless you are on secondary rural roads which are not as high a priority in a snowstorm. The challenge is keeping the end of your driveway clear of the heavy chunky snow the snow plow leaves when it goes through. There is no perfect place to live. It's either too hot, too cold, too rainy, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and such. Love where you are at the moment. Life is much better that way.

I just hope we get some RAIN this year. Things are getting scary-dry around here. All of the local creeks are completely dried up; I used to fall asleep to the sound of frogs singing but now it's eerily quiet. I don't think I've heard as many geese this year either, I think because a lot of the local ponds they used to layover in are dried up and gone.

For awhile they were predicting another el Nino but they stopped saying that and now it's looking like we're doomed for another dry winter. :(

Our summer has been very cold with very little sunshine. We have had ONE day of total sunshine this summer, and that was last Wednesday. Every other day, it was cloudy or foggy in the morning and the sun didn't come out until 10:00 or 2:00 or even 4:00. Or else the sun came up in the morning and it got cloudy by 10:00 with maybe a little more sun later in the day. Really strange. It's been in the 50's and sometimes 40's most every night. People say they like the cool weather, but it's not right. It scares me that we have had no heat this summer. We"re 20% ahead of the normal amount of rain for the year, also.

I am absolutely dreading winter. I used to always be hot but now I am always cold, especially my feet.. It doesn't seem to matter what I put on them.. I have wool socks, sheepskin slippers....nothing seems to help much :-(

The trees are turning in Western Colorado and I am so not ready for winter. We do have our firewood stocked so I can bathe myself in the warmth during the cold winter days and nights (yes we have a heater, but the warmth from the fireplace is oh so much nicer!).. LOL but I am so not ready for winter, the snow, cold winds.
The geese haven't started their migration ,yet, here.

Here in Utah we have had signs of early winter for a couple of months. I know my garden is doing things it doesn't usually do until the end of September, like plants turning and some of the trees in the canyons are already turning. This years weather has been odd all over the world. Just be prepared all. Good time for quilting.

Thats why they call me a BLUE Bird instead if a Snow bird. I live in FL and come to Ky for the Summer.About time to go home , probably two - three weeks.. GO big Blue..haha cmaras1234

N.E.Ohio here and as others said; the trees are losing leaves already, the squirrels are stripping my oaks and maples. The geese have been squawking overhead for a few weeks now. Hmmm, maybe I should clear some room for canned food and water and of course good ole TP. The grocery is only a block away tho so maybe I should concern myself with fabric, bird seed and pet food and track down a young buck to shovel . . Lol

As wacky as last yr was this one has me more worried. We've also had a wacky summer. As it should be cooling down right now, its getting hotter. We've had a really mild summer and only a couple of days that were in the 100's and even then the humidity was low, unusal for here. My sister lives in WV and her daughter in law has a couple of sites she watches each yr and they are predicting a bad winter for them, again this yr. So not ready for really cold and niether is my body.