I SUPPOSE IF you were to compare the Pacific Northwest to, say, Alaska or Siberia or Manitoba, you would agree that our winters are comparatively mild. And they are, mostly. I mean rainfall is abundant, clearly. And wind can be annoyingly violent at times but it's all doable. Nothing too dramatic in these parts. No siree.
But then we all have the occasional freak "weather event" (the media call it). It seems like these weird, anomalies are happening a lot this year. But winter is over now. I mean, many of you are having 80 degree weather. And some of you, like
Darla and
FlowerLady, in Florida are having 90 degree weather. Hooray it's springtime!
OR NOT
Just when we thought we were out of the woods, WHAM.
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| Taken at 11ish this morning. |
Yep. No spring daffodils to be seen in these parts. They're buried under a foot of snow!
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| The front yard and the cars after a bit of melting. |
The snow started before I woke yesterday morning. At 6:30 AM, when my alarm went off, it was coming down. By 10 PM, when I went to bed, it was STILL coming down. It was a continual buildup all day long. Never before, at least to my {admittedly limited} recollection has there been in these parts a snowstorm that just kept dumping more and more and more snow, it like it did yesterday.
Okay there. I got that out of my system.
Since the snow is awfully pretty, I thought I'd post a few photos I took from my garden. Then below the snow photo, a summer photo of the same area because, we all know summertime and green and flowers and birdsong are what we're all longing for now, right?
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| March 22, 2012 |
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| June 2010 |
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| March 22, 2012, the patio, looking north |
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| August, 2010, rainy day photo looking north |
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| March 22, 2012, looking to the south lawn area. |
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| The south lawn in June, 2011 |
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| The pathway to the edge of the north garden, March 21, 2012 |
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| The north garden area last June, 2012 |
Grace:
ReplyDeleteI really don't know what to say! We're sitting at 25C again today - the entire week has been med 20's, and you get.... well, I will not wallow in your return to winter. I am afraid we will awaken to something very similar in the coming weeks..... we usually have a snowstorm to herald the arrival of April. I do have to say, I'd rather your cold temps right about now! Chin up..... one day soon.....
ha ha....I remember living in Colorado and seeing the same thing in MAY!!! It is awesome, isn't it. I bet the flakes were big and juicy too! You are surrounded by incredible gardens...my gosh...it is beautiful. I think those plants will not mind this unexpected snow. I hope it melts away quickly. Happy Thursday Grace..xx
ReplyDeleteHello, I'm not sure if my first comment made it or not. Judging from your pictures, you may be in the same part of Oregon as me (Albany). Thanks for the shots of your garden in summer; it's giving me the strength to "carry on" since my daughter is getting married the day after tomorrow . . in Albany! Gayle
ReplyDeleteI am exhausted by "unearthing" my plants from all this wet snow. Oh, and trimming the limbs that I could to help get them moved. Still so much to do. I am so sad that an old Gourmet Popcorn tree rose has totally split, along with my beautiful Japanese maple.
ReplyDeleteAny big damage at your house? Ours is nothing compared to some of our neighbors (water mains pulled up), trees down on their garage, and across the whole road. Damn La Nina!
Wow! I didn't realize you guys got so much snow. We had snow on the ground this morning when I woke up, but it's melted now. It comes in the night and leaves a blanket of white. I don't mind our winter rain, but snow and cold just leaves me feeling so disheartened.
ReplyDeleteWhen you told me you were Zone 8 the other day, I thought 3" of snow as kind of odd. THEN I looked at the "zone map" and figured out where you are (NOT south of me)...
ReplyDeleteBut a FOOT of snow! Wow. It IS beautiful thought, Grace.
Grace I was thinking of you yesterday morning as my friend and drove through that horrific snow on our way to San Francisco. It was amazing! Every off ramp on I-5was closed because there were multiple spin outs, accidents or jack-knifed semi trucks. The interstate was one lane and slow going. Odd!
ReplyDeleteGrace,
ReplyDeleteWhat a winter it has been! I absolutely love that you have shots of the (dismal) lovely winter wonderland from today as compared to the summer beauty of yesteryear. Just love the contrast. What a difference a season makes, and how we can appreciate that even more via pics as you've posted. Awesome! Beautiful! (And I, for one, can't wait until spring really does show up in the Pacific NorthWest.)
Here's to Spring (for real; real soon)!
It would have been much nicer if we had this snow two months ago rather than the rain, rain, rain, right?
ReplyDeleteIt's been crazy here weather wise too. Last year we had 10" of snow on this date and this year we will have 75F and all the daffodils, tulips and magnolias are in bloom. This doesn't usually happen here in SW Ontario for at least 4 more weeks.
ReplyDeleteOne good thing, you know the snow won't last long. If this was November, you'd be a lot more depressed at the sight of it all knowing you had months of dull weather ahead.
OMG Grace! I cannot believe you got that much snow. Those pictures are just wrong. Now that is just what I am fearing that is just what will happen to us about April since we have had summer in spring here which is unheard of.The craziness just keeps on coming. LOL! Have a terrific weekend.
ReplyDeleteOMG...now I feel bad about whining about the tiny amount we got yesterday! Honestly, I wouldn't even mind if it was still winter...but it's spring!
ReplyDeletewow, that is amazing. If you like snow. Nice comparisons.
ReplyDeleteOof, that looks not fun when you are ready to garden! I will tell you though, that I was hot outside yesterday, and in March thats NOT GOOD!
ReplyDeleteWow, what's happening Grace? We are the ones that are supposed to get March snow. Instead we have been in the eighties!
ReplyDeleteThe weather is certainly flipping around the country.
Eileen
Wow good shots Gracie! And great to see the summer equivalents, very heartening. I've lived in Western Oregon all my life and never before seen snow accumulate in March. Something is afoot, as Holmes might say, and I guess we will be figuring it out eventually.
ReplyDeleteI also cannot remember this much of a dumping of snow since 1993..and that was in Feb of that year. Your area took the brunt of it, that's for sure. I keep repeating this mantra to myself 'spring is around the corner, spring is around the corner..' to numb the pain! Cheers, Jenni
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how much you ended up with! Alison and Kit had snow here (they are just about an hour south of me), but we missed it this time. It seemed like just about every morning last week we woke to some snow. I think spring has arrived here today, hope you are seeing it there too.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite an event!
ReplyDeleteI love these photos of your garden - and I really liked the snow/full bloom shots! it's so inspiring.
Anyway, I like when you do these shots b/c I learn a lot from them!!
ReplyDeleteHi there! Thanks for stopping by my blog and wishing me well. Wow! I can't believe the SNOW! I agree... I can't remember a snowfall of THAT much in the area and I lived in Portland for 7 years and my in-laws have lived in McMinnville forever... It really is crazy spring weather with Seattle and Portland getting spring SNOW and Boise getting rain (like it's located near the coast??)
ReplyDeleteCraziness! I hope all of your plants survive and I am so impressed by your beautiful photos. I'll be back for more...
Ohhhh man. And here I thought we had a lot...did it eventually go away?
ReplyDeleteWe still have more snow then we should here, but that's to be expected because of our cold winters.
Hope that the massive amounts don't do too much damage.
Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams
THIS is exactly what I'm fearful of. The Midwest is notorious for "freak" winter events in March/April. Eyes are on the Weather Channel, anxiously watching the extended forecast! Hope all your early bloomers are safe!
ReplyDeleteWOWOWOW, quite the contrast there, but it does make me feel good to know that the plants are blanketed with snow and that the snow will permeate the ground. It is so lovely, but yes, you're entitled to green and bird song now.
ReplyDeleteGrace, I blew it. J. shouldn't have signed me up for Pinterest UNTIL I knew what it is. I mean, I'm signed up and eight thousand e-mails came through today, but I still don't quite get it. Are you supposed to browse around on other sites or??? is this just a scrapbook of your own favorites and dreams?
Wish you could look over my shoulder here.
Love,
Clueless in San Luis
That snow was amazing. And to think you gardeners (and others!) down the Valley had it worse than Portland or Vancouver for a change. I hope you didn't have any bad breakage or loss as a result. And I further hope this past weekend's (and today's) sunshine helped to remind you of the good stuff yet to come!
ReplyDelete... chuckling (instead of crying), since I'm happy THAT is behind us, but now 'will it ever stop raining'! We got nearly an inch in the last 24 hours and today it supposedly will continue. The good news, Grace, is that all the photos are great ones!
ReplyDeleteWhat a contrast, to see the snow compared to the beautiful days of past. ACK snow, it wasn't that long ago either.
ReplyDelete