Where The Heck Is The Sun?

On the flip side, the levels of the great lakes recovered from all the rain last summer.

Up here we get a couple of weeks of summer. If it is less than 10 days of summer it is a bad summer, if it is more than twenty days, it is a great summer.

a reply to: Iwinder

I'm in Manitoba and I honestly can't remember the last time I saw sunshine... it's been cloudy and gray for literally weeks with sporadic snowfall off and on.

No vitamin D for me neither, my friend !

a reply to: Iwinder

It appears that where I'm working at the moment has taken your sun, as the last 12 days have been around 48 degrees C...that's 120 or so in Fahrenheit I believe.


^%@&$ing hot!!!

a reply to: Iwinder

Ideology. The solar-is-the-greatest people would tell you that it's worth tax dollars to put solar panels at ground level in the Amazon if they thought it could happen. Same goes with wind-power advocates--they'd drop them smack dab in the bottom of a cave if they could get the approval and tax dollars to do it.

Anything is worth trying to prove that fossil fuels are unnecessary, right? (/sarc)

a reply to: Nyiah

LOL you coming from Florida, you've been lucky so far here in MI. I sure hope it stays this way, not a repeat of last winter.

I'm in the middle of the mitten. We had a crappy summer, and it has been grey and gloomy for a while now. Today included.

I miss the sun.

Apologies for the thread-jack in advance. I'll try to not ramble in responding here

originally posted by: chiefsmom
a reply to: Nyiah

LOL you coming from Florida, you've been lucky so far here in MI. I sure hope it stays this way, not a repeat of last winter.

I'm in the middle of the mitten. We had a crappy summer, and it has been grey and gloomy for a while now. Today included.

I miss the sun.

I got firsthand accounts of last year's winter from friends here, I was very green with jealousy. I'm actually hoping for it, as unlikely as it looks to be this winter. I LOVE the cold, the colder the better to me. Lol, it's been joked time & again that I was built for the tundra/Siberia and I can't really argue much -- I've been wearing tanks, shorts & sandals out in the 20's. I am mindful to not stay in the cold long enough to risk frostbite, but if frostbite risks were non-existent, I'd never come indoors, hands down. It's hilarious really, I've been asked a handful of times dressed like that what part of Canada I'm from. The looks when I say "Florida native!" are utterly priceless, rotfl.

Even if it doesn't get as frigid as last winter, I'll settle for lots of snow. We're in the W MI snow belt, and I hope to be really wowed. We almost moved to the Houghton area in the UP, we were stoked at the snow averages up there. We're down here though, so we're not going to get massive snow dumps on that scale. But a good knee-deep dump would make my year!

For what it's worth, I'm looking forward to MI summers. I'm told to expect much cooler than I'm use to, and that any heatwaves are short-lived. I'm not going to miss 95 degrees for weeks and weeks on end, nor 110 degree heat indexes (or the heat exhaustion I ended up dragging myself into a fire station with after walking a little over one block one day this summer, 119 heat index that day -- I screen-capped that PWS reading when I got home!)

Wisconsin here, and it's just been dismal for the last couple of weeks. There have been a few sunny days here and there. It's actually been in the 40's here with mist and fog the last few days. I'll take it over the cold we had last year, though.

originally posted by: rickymouse
On the flip side, the levels of the great lakes recovered from all the rain last summer.

Up here we get a couple of weeks of summer. If it is less than 10 days of summer it is a bad summer, if it is more than twenty days, it is a great summer.

Agreed on the Lake Levels recovering, but you can keep those summers you enjoy to yourself if you don't mind:-)
Just thinking about a 20 day summer is depressing so I will not think about it!
Regards, Iwinder

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: Iwinder

down here in the Detroit area.. ..we have had many beautifully sunny days and amazing sunsets as well with pretty pinks and purples.. ..and really really bright clear full sun.. ..don't know what you're talking about?

It's amazing what only 60 miles will do for different weather patterns, now check out this link which is right now being displayed on the satellite imagery on this site.
classic.wunderground.com...
Just click on Local satellite and zoom out and behold the mess you are about to see.
Hows your skys right now?
Thanks for posting and don't take my reply the wrong way I am trying to be positive where possible but I am having some issues with the dark dank never sunny weather.

Regards, Iwinder

originally posted by: Char-Lee
a reply to: Iwinder

We of course here are missing the rain! Things are weird for sure, plants bloom whenever and nothing is going to have a predictable cycle soon it seems!

Thanks for your observations you so kindly posted, yep just Last summer we had our pond taken out and redid that area of our yard with a Hosta Garden. We could not have timed it better as Ponds need sunlight and all our pond plants were hurting to the point of dieing from lack of sun.

There is no predicable cycle right now where we live and good point.......We have some semi tropical s that go out side for the summer and come in for the winter. Not one of those plants made it out to our humble deck and none of them flowered at all despite all of our attention paid to them.
No sun = No flowering at all.

Regards, Iwinder

a reply to: Iwinder

Well, right now its 5:20pm and the sun is setting, becoming dark. Cloudy skies, no big puffy clouds, just cloudy across the entire view I have.

Ive had some spectacular sunshine the last few though. So bright in fact, in my office I have large cellophane dark pull-down shades facing west and the setting sun. Ive had to lower them down the last few days...the last couple weeks in fact.... because the sun has been so bright!

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: Iwinder

Well, right now its 5:20pm and the sun is setting, becoming dark. Cloudy skies, no big puffy clouds, just cloudy across the entire view I have.

Ive had some spectacular sunshine the last few though. So bright in fact, in my office I have large cellophane dark pull-down shades facing west and the setting sun. Ive had to lower them down the last few days...the last couple weeks in fact.... because the sun has been so bright!

Thanks for the reply mysterious, I envy your enjoying those sunny days and perhaps we should consider moving south to Windsor?
I hope you continue to get those sunny days that we are not you bastard:-)
Keep in touch with this thread if you can? Thanks again
Regards, Iwinder

a reply to: Iwinder

I will...us being neighbors kinda n all!

originally posted by: Iwinder

originally posted by: Char-Lee
a reply to: Iwinder

We of course here are missing the rain! Things are weird for sure, plants bloom whenever and nothing is going to have a predictable cycle soon it seems!

Thanks for your observations you so kindly posted, yep just Last summer we had our pond taken out and redid that area of our yard with a Hosta Garden. We could not have timed it better as Ponds need sunlight and all our pond plants were hurting to the point of dieing from lack of sun.

There is no predicable cycle right now where we live and good point.......We have some semi tropical s that go out side for the summer and come in for the winter. Not one of those plants made it out to our humble deck and none of them flowered at all despite all of our attention paid to them.
No sun = No flowering at all.

Regards, Iwinder

Oh yes! I remember that thread, I still have pictures of your pond!

originally posted by: CranialSponge
a reply to: Iwinder

I'm in Manitoba and I honestly can't remember the last time I saw sunshine... it's been cloudy and gray for literally weeks with sporadic snowfall off and on.

No vitamin D for me neither, my friend !

Yep It's been two years straight for us now with very little sunlight at all. Certain plants in our yard which once bloomed like mad or looked beautiful are now either dead or ripped out or they look terrible.

There was a time when the Fall season guaranteed Azure Sky's and the smell of burning leaves and the sights and sounds of all your neighbours all outside either doing yard clean up or just enjoying the sunny days......that is all history now.

Since I was 12 years old I have been cutting,trimming,edging and all inclusive yard care stuff so I do watch the sky and I do know my plants and what they should be looking like.
What I am saying is 42 years of being outdoors all the time and tending to plants and yards taught me to take notice of irregularities no matter what they might be.

So with my self taught skill to observe I have come to the conclusion the last two years minimum have been so far out that I hate even thinking about it.
My other bitch is the wind.......most brutal and almost constant now. The new buzz words on the weather sites are "partly cloudy" and "Breezy".

My translation is No sun at all and the wind will blow you and your outdoor furniture onto your arse:-)

Thanks for posting.
Regards, Iwinder

a reply to: Iwinder

You've been getting the crazy-assed winds there too ?!

I don't recall ever seeing so much wind in all my life... I've actually woken up in the middle of the night from the sounds of the gusting winds outside, on a nightly basis.

It was like that all summer, and now right into winter as well. I live in cottage country surrounded by lakes and pine trees (not out in the open prairies that Manitoba is known for), so neverending gusting winds where I am in particular are not normal by any means.

Wind, rain, overcast grey skies... All summer, and now it looks like the winds and grey skies will be all winter too.

Not a good growing season this year by any stretch of the imagination.

We couldn't plant anything until starting into the second week of June (usually it's by the second or third week of May) because we still had frost during the night, and then fall kicked in by mid-August (usually the leaves don't start turning until late September). Needless to say, my garden veggies and fruit bushes this year were sorely lacking.

I could count on one hand the number of days that the temp went over 30 celsius this summer... ugh.

My hubby is calling it "the year without a summer".

originally posted by: CranialSponge
a reply to: Iwinder

You've been getting the crazy-assed winds there too ?!

I don't recall ever seeing so much wind in all my life... I've actually woken up in the middle of the night from the sounds of the gusting winds outside, on a nightly basis.

It was like that all summer, and now right into winter as well. I live in cottage country surrounded by lakes and pine trees (not out in the open prairies that Manitoba is known for), so neverending gusting winds where I am in particular are not normal by any means.

Wind, rain, overcast grey skies... All summer, and now it looks like the winds and grey skies will be all winter too.

Not a good growing season this year by any stretch of the imagination.

We couldn't plant anything until starting into the second week of June (usually it's by the second or third week of May) because we still had frost during the night, and then fall kicked in by mid-August (usually the leaves don't start turning until late September). Needless to say, my garden veggies and fruit bushes this year were sorely lacking.

I could count on one hand the number of days that the temp went over 30 celsius this summer... ugh.

My hubby is calling it "the year without a summer".

I agree with you and your Hubby, this was the last year we will even bother with planting vegetables at all, we will still do the spices and one or two potted grape tomatoe plants and that is it for the food items.

We have gone heavy on the Hostas and Begonias as they tend to do well without sunlight.
Its a real game changer for us where we live for sure.

Regards, Iwinder

originally posted by: Char-Lee

originally posted by: Iwinder

originally posted by: Char-Lee
a reply to: Iwinder

We of course here are missing the rain! Things are weird for sure, plants bloom whenever and nothing is going to have a predictable cycle soon it seems!

Thanks for your observations you so kindly posted, yep just Last summer we had our pond taken out and redid that area of our yard with a Hosta Garden. We could not have timed it better as Ponds need sunlight and all our pond plants were hurting to the point of dieing from lack of sun.

There is no predicable cycle right now where we live and good point.......We have some semi tropical s that go out side for the summer and come in for the winter. Not one of those plants made it out to our humble deck and none of them flowered at all despite all of our attention paid to them.
No sun = No flowering at all.

Regards, Iwinder

Oh yes! I remember that thread, I still have pictures of your pond!

Ok Char-Lee I will send you some pics of our now gone pond replaced by a Hosta garden at great expense:-)
This no sun issue has cut into my beer money severely and being Canadian this is bad bad bad.

Regards, Iwinder

originally posted by: Iwinder

originally posted by: Char-Lee

originally posted by: Iwinder

originally posted by: Char-Lee
a reply to: Iwinder

We of course here are missing the rain! Things are weird for sure, plants bloom whenever and nothing is going to have a predictable cycle soon it seems!

Thanks for your observations you so kindly posted, yep just Last summer we had our pond taken out and redid that area of our yard with a Hosta Garden. We could not have timed it better as Ponds need sunlight and all our pond plants were hurting to the point of dieing from lack of sun.

There is no predicable cycle right now where we live and good point.......We have some semi tropical s that go out side for the summer and come in for the winter. Not one of those plants made it out to our humble deck and none of them flowered at all despite all of our attention paid to them.
No sun = No flowering at all.

Regards, Iwinder

Oh yes! I remember that thread, I still have pictures of your pond!

Ok Char-Lee I will send you some pics of our now gone pond replaced by a Hosta garden at great expense:-)
This no sun issue has cut into my beer money severely and being Canadian this is bad bad bad.

Regards, Iwinder

Ours basically is just sitting growing weeds!