OT: SNOW in New Orleans - where's Olwyn Mary??

Actually, I spent the day making a shiny, glittery, sequin-y top to wear to a party tomorrow night. This stuff looks like a dark gold lame, but it is sort of overlaid on a black knit fabric, and on top of the gold there are little brighter gold dots. Anyway, it was cheap, I paid under $10 for 1.25 yards, and I made up a kind of deep v-neck, tunic length t-shirt in an afternoon. I figured it would be a bear to sew, which is why I picked such a simple pattern. I will wear it over my black rayon challis palazzo pants, and as this event is always very crowded no-one will notice that it is not exactly haute couture.

Thanks for thinking of me.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Snow in New Orleans! Surely you jest!!!

We got about 6" of light fluffy snow which is easier to shovel than heavy wet stuff, but it is still like shoveling feathers in the wind. What makes it fluffy is the temp. which is about -32c at the moment. To the west of us it was -41c this afternoon.

Coldest I ever worked in was -61F., that was years ago. There are no words to describe it! One had to take very short breaths of air or the moisture in your nose would freeze. One had to exhale carefully or frost from your breath would collect on your eyelids and freeze them open or shut. Other than that it wasn't too bad as long as one kept moving. At -61F there is seldom a wind and it is warmer than -32F with a 30 mph wind where exposed flesh freezes almost instantly.

Fred

nothing changes, nothing changes.Don't back stitch to email, just stitchit.

Not whining here, either. Hoping that it gets better - less chill - for Fred! Working in the deep cold - so brutal. Here in the DC area it's just been horrible freezing rain. Though today it's not raining, finally - just kind of grim out.

I was just thinking - the coldest I remember it being here in DC was for Pres Reagan's inauguration in 85. We were here for a house hunting trip, and it was brutally cold, windy, dry, icey - below zero F. Makes me wonder how the Obama innaugaration will go. They are prepping for sooooo many people to come, just to be in the city. Today's paper had a headline on one section that no overnight camping will be allowed on the mall, etc. The natives - we're happy to get a day off work. But, we're due for a cold winter, as the last couple have been pretty mild. And with even NO getting snow, well, who can say.

Most snow - IIRC, I think it was in winter 94, looked like Buffalo here. 6' of snow around. I had my apt in a very urban section (Tyson's corner) and took pix from the terrace. So much snow that everything closed for some days, and I think we even had the Fed govt give us leave for about 4 days. The city just pretty immobilized.

Hope we all do well in the winter season, and with our holiday prep!

Ellice

I remember the terrible blizzard of early 1993. We were living in a condo in Columbia, MD, and couldn't get out for days. The idiot snowplows piled the snow up to the cars, and then we had lots of freezing rain.

Can't gripe about that in Florida.

Gill

"Fred" wrote

It is practically tropical here in Regina, high today should be -6, but it is going to get very cold in the next few days--Sunday's daily high is supposed to be -26. I can remember when I lived in the NWT a man I had gone to law school with in Ottawa inspecting his Justice Dept issue Northern gear, and wondering why the patch of fur on the back of the big insulated mittens. It was worth watching his face when a colleague explained how your nose streams at very cold temperatures, and the fur is for wiping it.....SNURRF. (the new comer was a fastidious man who packed shoe trees on Arctic circuits)

Dawne

I gather Obama is a warmaholic (a believer in anthropogenic global warming). All the global warming skeptics are praying that his inaugeration will be the coldest one on record. That, at least, would be poetic justice. Jim.

Why didn't you keep it there ? No need to send to us !

I've never figured out why they don't have July inaugurations.

You remember that before you say about the heat in Florida lololol

My daughter barely made it home from the hospital with my granddaughter when that storm hit in March. of '93. Thank goodness she was breast feeding as her neighborhood was without power for several days. What little cooking was done was on the gas grill on the sun porch.

That storm was what drove me to Florida. My car was stuck on a patch of ice for 6 weeks. No kid in the neighborhood wanted to tackle hacking at the ice for fear they would damage something under the car, I couldn't physically do it, and I couldn't find anyone willing so I had to wait till it started to melt a little and get the car literally lifted off the ice. After that I decided I had enough of cold, nasty winter and moved.

I don't love Florida the way I loved New York, but at least I don't have that yucky situation here.

Lucille

I did the second best thing after the largest snowfall on record, moved to a condo. Though I miss my garden in summer, I do container gardening on a generous balcony but for the rest of the time when I hear the mowers start up and the plough ploughing and the guys shovelling the steps, I rejoice, quite unreasonably lol

I could actually garden to my heart's content, there are some who do ~ we have generous flower beds and people plant bulbs and perennials etc. but I figured I wasn't going to start something I might not want to continue. We have a very happy mixture of young professionals right up to us old buzzards and I usually 'help' the younger with good suggestions lol

LOL - sorry - but, y'know - sharing the wealth! Now I'm worried about Cheryl and New England with the ice storm. DH just got off the plane from Charleston, SC - where even there it wasn't good weather, and before he left they had been fearing hurricane type winds.

Constitution thing, so many weeks after the election, and starting the New Year w/ the new officials. Also - I have to say that July would be much worse in this region. Even w/ early colonial, or recent post-revolutionary times, the weather in Philly and NY is also brutal in the summer. Better to wrap up with cloaks, than strip off, I imagine in the historical sensibility. Washington DC is actually below sea level, and has been considered tropical duty station for foreign diplomats. In historical times, people definitely stayed out of town as much as possible from mid-June through August. There were problems with tropical diseases here in the 18th, 19th century - it's a swamp. I'm sure this contributes to why nothing has been changed even w/ the onset of air conditioning.

Honestly - as someone who actually was married in DC, in July, at the Jefferson Memorial (right on the edge of the tidal basin - complete w/ tourists in paddle boats pulling up to watch) - it can be BRUTAL. My DB still refers to our friend that manned the cooler of bottled water as "Ken, the Messiah" given the weather. And it had been cool until literally that morning when the weather changed from 70s to 90s - and the ceremony was at

5:30. I can't imagine the possibility of any significant, outdoor ceremony being held here during the summer. *snip*

Ellice

We have had one hell of an ice storm! People have reported that trees are breaking and falling with sound like gun shots.

Cheryl, called me about an hour ago. She is without power. At this time I have power but, we had a tree limb just miss DD car in the driveway and we have a mess to clean up in the backyard. One half of NH residents are without power state wide. There was no power at my work or DH's due to lack of power.

So far DD's boyfriend, a co-worker from my work, plus my sister's family have called to see if they could crash here. I am lucky as my home is on a power grid that supplies several nursing home and a major hospital, so we are seldom without power for more than a couple of hours. I guest we will break out the air bed and party here tonight.

At this time it may be a couple of days before Cheryl is back online. We have to survive the refreezing and frigid temps tonight.I'll keep everyone up to date.

Bobbie V.

remove the knot with a net to reply

Tell her I am thinking of her - I am used to sitting in the dark, freezing.

ME TOO! I'm also used to sitting in the dark, but here at least I don't have to worry about the freezing part and in the summer I just sit with as little clothing as possible and my battery operated fan blowing directly on me.

Tell her I'm sending good thoughts for a quick return of power.

Lucille

Thanks for the update, Bobbie. I was only doing mail quickly while in between doing some tasks with DH - we just got back from the post-airport pick-up go to lunch. And of course, it's Friday night - so he's off to ref a high school game (should be fun - the football team of one of the school just won the VA state championship - I expect it will be a spirited crowd - their hockey team is pretty good as well, with a lot of Tier I players for their clubs).

Anyhow - I'll give Cheryl a cell call. I hope none of you suffer too badly. A few years ago when there was a big storm here - we actually drove back from FLA, to arrive in about 4' of snow - with DH rushing to get on the ice for of course some big time game. And the godson that was supposed to have gone and shovelled for us didn't do it - so we actually barely got down our road - in the Expedition - parked in the middle with our shovelling neighbors' assisting. DH heaved thru, got into the house, came back with his gear and off we went. We actually couldn't even get into our house on the way back so stayed in a hotel. Lived on the street that was always last to get power back - ending up out for 5 days. Slept the other 5 nights under lots of comforters!

Ellice

I wish you'd keep it! We're supposed to get that system from you and we are now in a blizzard watch for the weekend...supposed to start sometime Sat. afternoon. OTOH, it might actually give me the chance to finish-finish the pieces of the nativity set that are stitched, washed and ironed! And, if I could get DH to get a tree tonight, it would be ready to decorate by Sunday. :)

Joan

Speaking of heat - Sniffed any pepper lately?? ROTFLMAO

Fred

nothing changes, nothing changes.Don't back stitch to email, just stitchit.