November 22. One month to go to the winter solstice. Dawn to dusk, 9 1/2 hours. One more month of shortening days and unpredictable weather.
Yesterday, the temperature had dropped to minus 4° (Celsius) overnight. The bird bath froze solid, and it took four kettles of hot water to thaw it out. My begonias all died. (The stems leak beet-red juice as they thaw. I didn't know that before.)
Today, it rained and blew all day, clearing all the remaining leaves off the maples. The temperature now, in the middle of the night, is up to 8°C (46°F). The wind is howling down the kitchen stove vent.
They promise us occasional sunshine and warming temperatures for tomorrow.
Just a typical Lower Mainland November.
Last Saturday, three days ago, we went to the school a block away to vote in the morning. In the schoolyard, the grass was green where the sun shone. Children had rolled the snow off it, making large snowballs, several feet in diameter, hopeful snowmen or snowforts. On the gravel and pavement, ice made intriguing patterns in the puddles.
 |
| Friday construction materials, gone by Monday. |
 |
| Duck on ice. |
 |
| What do you see here? |
 |
| The ice man. |
And then, since the sun had come out, we went down to White Rock, where flowers were blooming among the weeds.
 |
| Very small umbellifer. |
 |
| Gumweed, still budding optimistically. |
 |
| End of the season for this one. |
 |
| Patterned sepals. (Click for full size.) |
Ice and flowers; that's November in BC.
We got frost as well. I looked out this morning and both of Mom's geraniums are mush. Should have seen it coming but we were out of town. - Margy
ReplyDelete