Mild and damp

Saturday saw a continuation of the mild weather. It was a dull and breezy day and despite the fact that we only had 0.8mm of rain it somehow seemed wet all day. The forecast is for more normal temperatures with overnight frosts returning next week.

Our pansies only needed one or two mild days to produce some new flowers and brighten up some dull winter days.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

First gardening job of the year accomplished

Friday was another pleasant mild day so rather than just thinking and blogging about pruning our grape vine I decided to actually get out into the greenhouse and get the job done. I had done some rather shoddy cutting back in the autumn but this clearly needed tidying up.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

There were still one or two grapes left on the vine looking in remarkable condition considering they'd endured several nights of well below freezing temperatures. I resisted the temptation to try one. I pulled off the last few remaining dead leaves and grapes before cutting last year's stems back as close as I could to the main stems of the vine. It was pleasant in the greenhouse and good to be out and getting the new gardening year off to a start.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

Most of last years stems are now cut back. The three green stems are last years stems and the other darker brown stubs are the remains from previous years . Typically I can see that I missed the odd leaf and little stem but at least the vine is pruned  satisfactorily for new shoots in spring to emerge from the main stems.

A mini heatwave for January

Thursday was our warmest day since November 5th with the temperature reaching 13.1°C.

At the moment after our record breaking cold of December, January is turning our to be mild and wet.

Mild weather arrives

Wednesday was much milder with the temperature reaching 10.4°C by mid-afternoon, the warmest day of the new year. The milder weather has brought with it more wet weather but the rain fell mostly during the early hours of the morning leaving the day-time dry.

Unfortunately the milder weather hasn't done much to improve the condition of Mrs GL's cyclamen. It looks a bit like I might have to come up with some replacements.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

Jobs to do

Tuesday was a day of brief sunny spells and plenty of cloud. The small amount of rain we had fell early in the morning. The daytime temperature for the last 3 days has been just a little bit below normal but milder weather is forecast for the rest of the week, with no night-time frosts.

One of the jobs I didn't get round to in the greenhouse was cutting back our grapevine Himrod.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

I must get this done soon before the sap starts to rise. Spring can come early to the greenhouse bringing the vine back into life.

We can then start to look forward to another sweet crop of grapes like these produced last summer.

Potato problems

Monday was dull wet and relatively mild with temperatures around average for the first time in a month.

I'd to collect a new bucket full of potatoes out of their winter store in the garage. It's now easy to see that some of the potatoes are showing the signs of frost damage.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

Not only are some potatoes soft, a few are starting to ooze a a blank gunk, so I guess all the potatoes will need a regular check up until they are used up.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

There's not many showing these symptoms at the moment so fingers crossed by removing the bad ones as soon as possible our potatoes will last us through winter.

Out for a walk

Sunday's weather was a sunny blustery morning with the wind falling much lighter in the afternoon. It tempted us out for a walk down to the nearby Pugneys Lake. It was fairly fresh even in the light breeze. The weather had tempted plenty of other folks out for some fresh air. Mrs GL took along the camera to test it out so all the photos are courtesy of Mrs GL.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

Despite the milder weather of recent days the centre of the lake is still covered in ice forcing most of the bird life to the edge of the lake.   It's a reminder of just how low the temperatures fell in December that conditions for our wild life have still not returned to normal.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

These Canada geese are making the most of a small patch of thawed out lake.

It was late afternoon as we made our way round the far side of the lake and back towards our car. After  a very pleasant sunny afternoon the sun was setting behind cloud rather than the horizon. It made for some excellent sunset scenes for Mrs GL to try out some photographic skills with her new camera. I don't think they're too bad for a first effort.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

By the time we arrived back to our car it wasn't difficult to image why large expanses of water remain frozen!

All sorts

Saturday was a mixed day weather wise. Overnight rain gave way to a sunny blustery morning. It clouded over in the afternoon threatening heavy rain but in the end it remained almost dry.

From 2011 Weather Pictures 1

Although we now seem to be through the really Arctic blast of December temperatures still haven't recovered to the seasonal average for early January. There is a suggestion around in some forecasts that we might reach 10°C or more next week. That ought to feel spring like!