"Geir Harris Hedemark" wrote in message
...
"Ted Byers" writes:
[snip]
You lucky *******. I still have to drive three hours to get to decent
snow. It is all foggy and clammy here now. Good for the orchids,

I don't mind winter. After all, if it gets a little chilly, one can always
put more clothes on, but I am not fond of summer because it sometimes
becomes impossible to get comfortable. When it gets too hot, one can't
always remove more clothing, and even if one did risk it, it doesn't help!
But then, my health has degenerated to the point I can't shovel the snow, so
we hired a local farmer to use one of his tractors to clear the snow for us.
Even though we have had significant snow, it is still mild; only about -1
degree C (about 30 degrees F). I have yet to find it necessary to wear a
coat! All I have needed so far has been my insulated shirt.

The only downside to snow is all the crazy drivers out there. The only
accident I have had in almost 25 years happened last year a month after I
bought my truck. It was at the beginning of a major winter storm, before
the plows and sanders had a chance to work on the roads, and I was stopped
at a stop sign when a moron in a taxi came racing around the corner far to
fast for the conditions and spun out of control, swinging his back end into
my bumper. Fortunately, while his car suffered major damage to his rear
fender, the only damage my truck suffered was a slightly cracked lens on the
left signal light. A C$30 repair on my truck while the taxi suffered many
hundreds of dollars worth of damage. Fortunately, he was honest enough to
admit he screwed up and took full responsibility for it.

though. I can't believe how they are growing now that I have finally
figured out my vandas can and will take water every two days quite
happily. That is almost a doubling of the watering frequency.

My plants are doing OK (mostly on either the window sill or on shelves in
front of south facing windows. In fact, the old inflorescence on one phal
has produced two branches, one from each of the top two nodes, so it ought
to give a decent display many months down the road, and my phrag is
producing it's second flower on its first ever inflorescence (alas I can't
take credit because I bought it as a first bloom seedling).

I have to be a bit more diligent in watering because the air gets quite dry,
especially during the winter! A friend of mine tells me he gets his to
thrive because, in his experience, his orchids love very high humidity.

On the brighter side, the long term weather prognosticaters here claim
it
will be a mild one.

I think this is along the lines of a fortune teller saying you will
meet some tall, dark bombshell. Basic fiscal fact of life. The bringer
of bad news seldom, if ever, get paid.

True enough, but it seems to me that winters have been rather milder over
the past few years compared to what I remember when I was young.

Actually, for some, a mild winter is bad news. Local ski resorts tend to
suffer greatly when there isn't lots of snow, and a heavy snow greatly
affects farm economics, both with regard to soil moisture and nutrients.
The snow puts alot into the soil in the spring. If there is little snow,
the soil will tend to be dry and the farmer will have to pay more for
irrigation and fertilization.

Cheers,

Ted