Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

I'm happy to say that we have sunshine here in Glens Falls, NY, today.
The current temp at 11:13 AM is 33 °F (1 °C).

As spring moves closer, I hope to watch that temperature climb. We still have lots of snow on the ground, but the piles are slowly melting. The snow is no longer white, but has that dirty look, which isn't as appealing as new fallen snow. It's "Transition Time".

What's your weather these days?

Notice that I've removed the date from the topic title. This topic will remain open and hopefully will roll right along. We can watch our weather gradually change.

Who will see the first crocus? :)

Jaye wrote: "partly cloudy and cold here today. Joy, somewhere you mentioned that you have a lot of books on the back burner. I'm planning to borrow that catagory for a book shelf. thanks ! jaye"

Hi Jaye - The "To-Read" Shelf, which Goodreads already provides for us, serves as my "back burner" category. It's the same thing as a "back burner" category.

BTW, where is the weather you reported? Is it in Rochester, MA?

Jaye wrote: "PS where does a comment go when you check ''add to my Update Feed''? does it generate an email? thanks for your help"

Jaye, those "feeds" have always puzzled me. I suggest that you ask that question at the Goodreads Feedback Group. You can find that group at the following link: ====>
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...

At the Feedback Group, someone will always answer your question. Sometimes even the creator of Goodreads, Otis Chandler himself, will answer your question. He calls himself "Chief Architect".

The Feedback Group posters have always answered my questions. So I recommend them highly.

Forecast for today in Glens Falls:
=====================================================
"Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. Light and variable winds."
=====================================================
Oh, boy, temps in the 50s... and sunshine!
Perhaps I'll take the dog for a walk today.
They say walking is good as a weight-bearing exercise to ward off the development of osteoporosis.

Jaye wrote: "yes, Rochester Massachusetts. Small town. Near Cape Cod. On Buzzards Bay"

I guess that puts you near some nice beaches! You're lucky! Are you a boater too?

I see that your temp is currently up to 41°F at 10:48 AM.
Ours is currently 36°F.
Hope it keeps going up.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
It looks as if today will be a beautiful day. The forecast says:
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 56.
South wind between 3 and 6 mph.
Current temp at 7: 25 AM-ET is: 26 °F (-3 °C)

Happy "First Day of Spring" to all!

Have you noticed today's Google logo on the Google search page? It features a "caterpillar" design by Eric Carle, the children's book author and illustrator, who created the celebrated children's book _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_ .

See the logo at: ====>
http://www.google.com/
(Hover over the logo to see the attribution.)
If the date has passed, you can find the logo on the Google Logo web page at: ====>
http://www.google.com/holidaylogos.html

The forecast for Glens Falls, NY, today is:
"Sunny, with a high near 41. North wind around 8 mph."
Forecast from: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick....

I've been enjoying the nice weather recently and have started taking spring walks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After being about 70 the past few days, this morning it is 30. Yuck!!! Not supposed to do that on the first day of Spring. It does, quite often, though.

PS-Don't get your hopes up. The forecast for tonight is:
Clear, with a low around 11 F. (-11.67 C)

Jim wrote: "After being about 70 the past few days, this morning it is 30. Yuck!!! Not supposed to do that on the first day of Spring. It does, quite often, though."

LOL - Jim, the temp here at the moment is 25°F (-4 °C).
Yuck is right!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Treat April as a friend you do not trust." -Anonymous
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And March too. :)

You live in the middle of NY state, so you can't whine about the cold & snow. I live a long ways south of you. I can! So there!

;-)

Hope you get warmer soon, too.

LOL, Jim. I'll have you know that I have an official Whining Certificate. That's because I wish I could spend some time in Florida during the cold seasons but I can't afford it. So that allows me to whine all I want. :)

You may whine with me! :)
I find that whining helps.

PS-Our current temp is: 31 °F (-1 °C).
Still below freezing!!!!! :-(

Hi joy! It's been awhile since I last visited this group. I've been really busy. The weather in this part of the globe is really hot. i think about 30 degrees C. It will still go up. Summer here is just on its way. The temperature can reach till i think over 40 degrees C. Well, I need to buy myself a bottle of sun screen 'coz the current one is almost finished. Hope to be around more often. God bless :)

Hi Joy! It is going up to 59 degrees today. It is a mostly sunny day. I love sunny days.

Lucille wrote: "Hi joy! It's been awhile since I last visited this group. I've been really busy. The weather in this part of the globe is really hot. i think about 30 degrees C. It will still go up. Summer here is just on its way. The temperature can reach till i think over 40 degrees C...."

Hi Lucille - It's good to hear from you again.
I've done some temp conversions. See below:
30C = 86F
40C = 104F
Below is the conversion web page I use: ====>
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/elp/wxcalc/te...

I must admit that 104F/40C is a bit warm! But it's good swimming weather and I love to swim.

Perpendicularandi wrote: "Hi Joy! It is going up to 59 degrees today. It is a mostly sunny day. I love sunny days."

Yes, a sunny day can really cheer us up.

I forget what part of the country you're from, Randi. I've lost track.

Our forecast for today here in Glens Falls, NY, is:
Sunny, with a high near 51.
Southeast wind around 6 mph.

A good walking day.

Good morning one and all on this sunny Saturday, 3/28/09.
Weather report looks very good for Glens Falls, NY:
Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. I'll take it!

We got 1-1/8" of rain yesterday. Another 1/8" today & made the low 60's both days. Wonderful! We really needed the rain. Perfect timing, too. A friend who works for the forest service dropped off Burr Oak, Hazel Nut & Persimmon trees, 6 of each. I got them planted today.

Jim, good luck with the new trees. Wow, 18 trees! That's a lot of trees. How big will they grow?

Today at the library I saw a basket woven out of Black Ash splints. I never knew anything about this. It's interesting how they get the splints from the trees.
See a photo of a woven basket here: ====>
http://cgi.ebay.com/HANDWOVEN-Ash-Spl...

One website said: "This tree (Black Ash tree) is a ring porous wood that can be pounded to produce individual growth rings for splint to be used in basketmaking."
FROM: http://basketmakers.com/topics/bymate...

The trees get various sizes, Joy. I'm not sure on the Burr Oak, but it's a slow growing White Oak, so it will be a long time. Persimmons get pretty big, 80- 100', I believe. I know I've seen them up to 3' in diameter. Hazel Nuts are more of a bush. They'll get 15' tall or so.

We're in the mid 50's now & had thunder storms last night. It's raining again today & we've gotten another 1/2" of rain. It's supposed to clear & get into the 60's today, though. Hopefully soon enough to do some mowing today.

Last night a neighbor stopped by & told me another neighbor has a big Walnut log that I might get. Guess I'll have to drive down with the tractor & get it. As a finder's fee, he wants a baseball bat made out of Walnut.

One of the tricky things about planting trees or shrubs is knowing how much room to leave them for them to grow. It's a shame when one chokes out the other. This happened to our bird's nest spruce which was choked out by a couple of junipers. It was a cute little bush.
See a photo here: ====> http://www.environmental-care.com/pla...

Have fun with that walnut log. You must be well-known around your parts for valuing wood. Is there a particular method to making baseball bats, i.e, following certain wood grain?

Our weather today is as follows:
Temp at 9:09 is 46 °F. Occasional rain. A chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. Much cooler with the high in the mid 40s. North winds around 5 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent.
FROM: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/f...

Good thing I took advantage of the nice weather yesterday. Ed, Romeo, and I enjoyed a lovely walk around the neighborhood.

I was way off on the weather here. It's 41 here, not 51, like I thought. Cold & windy with some rain peppering us all day, it looks like.

I've never made a baseball bat. I'm guessing it's like anything else of that nature. It should be split out & allowed to dry thoroughly before turning. I got a look at the log, but no one was home. It's a big one. I'm not sure my front end loader will be able to pick it up in one piece. I might have to take my tractor down there & get another neighbor with a trailer to bring it here or maybe we'll go a bit further down the road to Mr. Dallas' place. He has a sawmill set up in the back of his property. Maybe stop by here so I can cut a few pieces off for bowls first. I'll have to see what everyone wants to do.

Yes, leaving room for trees is something few people do well. They're so tiny when you put them in. I'd rather plant them a little close & thin them later IF all of them grow. I'm getting 10 Redbuds from the Arbor Day Foundation. I think I'll make a small grove of them in one corner of the lawn. They grow slowly & never get too big. Pretty though.

Jim! I'll bet you would have been a great success as the manager or owner of a Garden Center!
I can see how you love doing this stuff. You are so motivated!

Good luck with your roses. We never had much luck with them because we neglected them and we have very poor clay soil besides. Pics here: ====>

http://picasaweb.google.com/Sea1934/M...

http://picasaweb.google.com/Sea1934/M...

The bushes are very thin and scrawny but they still produce pretty roses. I'm always amazed when I see that they're still trying to survive. They were supposed to grow up and become a huge privacy hedge but that never happened. I had ordered the small bushes from a catalog years ago.

I don't know nearly enough about plants to be a good gardener, Joy. I'm slowly learning more, but I have a very long way to go. Thanks for the vote of confidence, though.

Roses? We don't do roses. They take too much care, except for Multifloral Rose, which takes too much killing. I think you misread "Redbud" for "Roses". Redbuds are a small tree that are native in this area. They get a lot of pretty flowers in a few weeks.

The wood is great to turn, too. Has a dark heart with a creamy sapwood. Doesn't have the dust problems that Walnut does. The dark center stays put. In Walnut, the dark heart tends to powder in to the light sapwood & it's a bear to keep the lighter wood pure looking.

Also Walnut dust is toxic, just like the shells. Not 'drop dead' toxic, but enough to give you a headache. Indians used to drop walnuts & butternuts (the Butternut AKA White Walnut is the only other member of the Juglans family in NA.) into ponds to stun fish. The husks kill off grass under the trees, too.

Walnut will kill a horse. You can't use Walnut shavings in their stall or it causes them to founder. If they do so badly enough, you have to put them down. I don't know how much it takes, but I know it's something everyone avoids, just like Cherry trees.

Cherry tree leaves, when they first start to wilt, make a type of cyanide, I've heard. They get sweet & animals love to eat them, but it will kill them so we have to be very careful to clean up any Cherry that goes down in the field. Red Maple leaves are supposed to have a similar issue, but I've never known anyone to have a problem with them. I don't think either are wives tales, but it may be they have to eat a lot to have a problem.

Jim wrote: "I think you misread "Redbud" for "Roses". Redbuds are a small tree that are native in this area. They get a lot of pretty flowers in a few weeks."

Thanks for the info, Jim. Live and learn! LOL

Never knew that about Walnut wood or walnuts. I know that the nut itself is supposed to be a good anti-oxident. See: ====>

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tn...

http://www.straight.com/antioxidant-c...

Jaye wrote: "Dark, raining, thunder. the poor dog is shaking under the chair. wow, sounds like the grand finale on July 4th."

Poor dogs, no matter what we do for them when it's thundering, they can't be comforted.
Hope the sun shines for you tomorrow, Jaye.

Sunday/you can't beat our "weather" and not that you'd want to: On St.Pat's Day it was eighty and mostly we've been in the sixties or seventies; jonquils blooming along with flowering trees, grass so tall it needs cutting and then came yesterday's snow/ice storm..First ice and then five inches of snow. we have skipped spring, well we had a week of it and one day of summer on St. Pat's day and now we are back to winter, like we've gone right into next December..It was weird driving to church this morning after looking last week at spring flowers and such and today all th epine and fir trees so loaded down with snow and branches bent to the ground..What next? I am afraid to watch the weather reports..nina ps Joy did you know Thomas Jefferson visited Lake George?

Jim wrote: "We got 1-1/8" of rain yesterday. Another 1/8" today & made the low 60's both days. Wonderful! We really needed the rain. Perfect timing, too. A friend who works for the forest service dropped ..."
I have a wonderful recipe for persimmon cookies. I could send it to you and when your trees start producing fruit you'd have it. We used to have persimmon trees at our lake property and our next door neighbor who lived there year round would pick them fast as they ripened before the deer got them. But it is a lot of work getting all those seeds separated from the pulp. And our area is full of red buds but not blooming yet.They one of my favorites. nina

I appreciate that recipe, Nina. I'm not sure how long it takes a Persimmon tree to produce fruit. I'll have to look it up, but I'm not sure of this species. It should be the one native to the area. There are a lot of cultivars & ornamental ones around, too. Most of the latter come from China & are much smaller, I think.

Jim wrote: "After being about 70 the past few days, this morning it is 30. Yuck!!! Not supposed to do that on the first day of Spring. It does, quite often, though. "

Nina wrote: "Sunday/you can't beat our "weather" and not that you'd want to: On St.Pat's Day it was eighty and mostly we've been in the sixties or seventies; jonquils blooming along with flowering trees, grass ..."

Nina wrote: "Sunday/you can't beat our "weather" and not that you'd want to: On St.Pat's Day it was eighty and mostly we've been in the sixties or seventies; jonquils blooming along with flowering trees, grass ..."

Jim, I'll look up the cookie recipe and send it to you.. It is for native persimmons; not the Oriental or large ones you find in the grocery stores. I guarantee you will like it. If I remember correctly you must wait until the first freeze to pick the persimmons. nina

Joy.
Wondering if you saw my comment that Thomas Jefferson visited Lake George..Did you already know that fact? nina

Nina wrote: "Joy. Wondering if you saw my comment that Thomas Jefferson visited Lake George..Did you already know that fact? nina"

Yes, Nina, I saw your post just now and read about the snow storm you had. What crazy weather! So changeable.

As for Thomas Jefferson, yes I did know that he visited Lake George.
Thanks for mentioning that, Nina.
In fact, below is a famous quote in which he praises the beauty of Lake George:
====================================================
"Lake George is without comparison, the most beautiful water I ever saw; formed by a a contour of mountains into a basin thirty-five miles long and from two to four miles broad, finely interspersed with islands, its water limpid as crystal and the mountainsides covered with rich groves of silver fir, white pine, aspen and paper birch down to the water, here and there precipices of rock to checker the scene and save it from monotony. An abundance of speckled trout, salmon trout, bass, and other fish with which it is stored, have added to our other amusements the sport of taking them."
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to his daughter, 1791
FROM: http://www.lakegeorgehistorical.org/n...
====================================================
BELOW IS THE QUOTE THE WAY IT'S OFTEN DISPLAYED:


ISN'T THAT A GREAT RECOMMENDATION! :)

Jim wrote: "I appreciate that recipe, Nina. I'm not sure how long it takes a Persimmon tree to produce fruit. I'll have to look it up, but I'm not sure of this species. It should be the one native to the area. There are a lot of cultivars & ornamental ones around, too. Most of the latter come from China & are much smaller, I think."

I went to Wiki to learn more about persimmons and I found the following:
====================================================
"Medical precaution"
"Unripened persimmons contain the soluble tannin shibuol, which, upon contact with a weak acid, polymerizes in the stomach and forms a gluey coagulum that can affix with other stomach matter.[9:] The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy notes that consumption of persimmons has been known to cause bezoars that require surgery in over 90% of cases. More than 85% phytobezoars are caused by ingestion of unripened persimmons.[10:] Persimmon bezoars often occur in epidemics in regions where the fruit is grown.

Horses may develop a taste for the fruit growing on a tree in their pasture and overindulge also, making them quite ill. It is often advised that persimmons should not be eaten with crab meat, nor should they be eaten on an empty stomach.
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persimmon
=====================================================

A word to the wise is sufficient. :)

You can tell easily if a persimmon is ripe. If your lips pucker, don't finish eating it. And as I mentioned we always waited until a frost "ripened" them. good luck! I made the cookies for eleven years and so far no bezoars, as far as I know..nina

I've heard you can't eat an unripe Persimmon. It's worse than eating a lemon. After the first frost, the sugars build up & then they're sweet. Pretty cool.

I don't remember ever tasting a Persimmon. I'll have to try one.

It's good to know that an unripe Persimmon is recognizable. :)

Joy,

The persimmons sold in grocery don't taste like the native grown..I don't know if persimmons grow in your area..do they? nina

Nina wrote: "Joy, The persimmons sold in grocery don't taste like the native grown..I don't know if persimmons grow in your area..do they? nina"

I really couldn't say, Nina. I'm not up on things like that. :)
I'll have to ask around.

Today the Glens Falls weather report predicts a sunny day with temps in the lower 70s. Glorious! Hallelujah!

Our weather in a nut shell is WINDY..hardly can open the front door for fear it will take me with it to who knows where..And it is hot; in the eighties..I watered all my almost withered pansies and put out more azaleas. My small back garden is full to the brim with pansies and bright red tulips..It is cheery and with watering they seem to be holding their own in the wind; although the cardinal gave up trying to eat from the bird feeder as it swung high and low. Hope tomorrow things calm a bit.nina

The weather here is windy. It has been for three or four days now. It is in the middle 80s (hot as far as I am concerned) and should storm tonight, tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday. Some should be severe (can't wait).

Nina and Randi,
We had wind here yesterday too. In fact the fellow who came to measure our house for gutters said he had to stop working on his current client's house because of the high winds. Yes, the wind also knocked over my laundry rack outside several times.

Nina, how lucky you are to be able to have so many flowers already. I been seeing more each day. The forsythia's are in bloom all around town.

Here in the North Country we're advised not to put our flower pots out until the end of May for fear of the possibility of overnight frost killing them.

Randi, we've had some overnight showers and thunderstorms in the area but tomorrow promises to be "partly sunny and warmer with highs in the lower 80s". I'm looking forward to it.

We hit 83 yesterday & are supposed to get the same today. It was breezy, but not too bad. So far, today is looking calm. I hope so. I really need to spray weeds. Between rain & wind, I haven't been able to for weeks & it's getting ahead of me.

Jim wrote: "We hit 83 yesterday & are supposed to get the same today. It was breezy, but not too bad. So far, today is looking calm. I hope so. I really need to spray weeds. Between rain & wind, I haven't..."

Wow, 83! Temp here is currently 70F at Noon. I suppose it will go up a bit.
The weather report says: "This Afternoon: Sunny, with a high near 85. South wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph."

Windy but hot! :)

We've been in the 80's now for a while, and today it's windy and mostly sunny here. Here is just north of Lake Pontchartrain in Southeastern Louisiana. We get more freezes in the winter than New Orleans, but nothing compared to the North. I don't think I could stand that, having lived down here for all my life so far.
I do miss being south of the lake though, the soil is so rich down there, everything grows so easily. Up here, the ground is just plain poor. Azaleas do well on account of all the pine trees though, so I'm thankful for that anyhow.

Of course the reason the earth is so rich down there is the constant flooding. So, what a choice! Oy.

Pontalba wrote: "We've been in the 80's now for a while, and today it's windy and mostly sunny here. Here is just north of Lake Pontchartrain in Southeastern Louisiana. We get more freezes in the winter than New ..."

That was interesting, Pontalba. I forgot that you were from Louisiana. I've never been there.

Azaleas seem to flourish on Long Island in NYS, but up here in the North Country, you don't see as many. I wish they would grow easily around here because they are so beautiful.

Rich soil. That's the secret to everything that grows. Wish we had more of it. We have clay soil at our summer place. It's terrible for supporting plant growth. Discouraging.

We are finally getting lovely spring weather here in Vancouver. Reasonably warm and sunny mixed with cloud. The younger generation are in T-shirts and shorts. The rest of us are still wearing jackets, but at least we all need sunglasses!

It is extremely windy. It is in the upper 70s, but you can't tell that from the wind. We have been having rain off and on all day and had a thunderstorm this morning. It is humid. I live in KS.

Debra wrote: "We are finally getting lovely spring weather here in Vancouver. Reasonably warm and sunny mixed with cloud. The younger generation are in T-shirts and shorts. The rest of us are still wearing jacke..."

Hi Debra. Even I put on my shorts yesterday because it was so warm. The clothing situation this time of year tends to get a bit messy with so many kinds of clothes to keep organized. But it feels good to throw off all the heavy apparel.

Even our Maltese dog got shaved down. He seems to enjoy feeling so much lighter and unencumbered by all the matted hair they cut off.