Orange You Glad it's Autumn?

[Phalon]

How did your Wolverines go?

Like your Cats, the Wolverines won the championship for the second year in a row - the Big 10 Championship. Now it's on to the bowl games for the national championship title...and unlike your Cats winning last year, the Wolverine's fared horribly last time. In fact, the last time they shared in a national championship title was in 1997, when they tied for first place. Before that, it was in the 40s when they were National Champions! We are way overdue, I'm thinking!

I've pretty much decided I don't need a new laptop - at least not yet, anyway. Once I got it all sorted out after Little Beastie decided it'd make a good napping place, it seems to be working okay.

Four days away from summer, and it's probably been the coldest and wettest spring I can recall, also doesn't look like improving any time soon unfortunately.

We're about a week away from winter here...officially. It's been wintery-feeling for a while now...and autumnal-feeling, and spring-like - sometimes all in the same 24 hour period! Last Friday, I planted daffodil bulbs in the morning (which we do in autumn), froze my behind off shoveling snow in the afternoon, and drank my coffee on the porch the next morning in just a sweater (and jeans, of course).

[katina2nd]

Probably a silly question actually, with a name like the Wolverines how could they possibly lose, feisty little critters they are, probably only shaded for ferocity by our own deadly Echidnas.

Best of luck in the nationals.

Fifteen days into summer here, and I'm sitting in the study with the heater on, could probably count the really decent days we've had during Spring and Summer on your fingers, I'm starting to think we may be entering a new ice age.

[Mini Mia]

The temperatures are dropping. I will probably have two sinks dripping water during the next few nights. I will need to keep an eye on my gas tank, as last year I let the tank run dry. (It took almost two weeks for it to be refilled, because the gas company only had one driver, who was already way behind when I ran out of gas.) I had it on my calendar to check once a month, but it ran out just a week away from the next update. I have it set at every two weeks now.

[Phalon]

Probably a silly question actually, with a name like the Wolverines how could they possibly lose, feisty little critters they are, probably only shaded for ferocity by our own deadly Echidnas.

Is the coast clear now?? Heard all that snarling and gnashing of teeth, and had to run for cover. Even now, just reading the words "deadly Echidnas" gives me the shudders!

I will probably have two sinks dripping water during the next few nights.

At first, I thought you were talking about leaky faucets, with a slow drip that seems to echo throughout the house in the dead of night. You're talking about leaving them drip on purpose though because of the cold? We don't do that here - by "we", I mean nobody that I know. I wonder if, like our furnaces are different in the northern climates, our pipes are different? I believe they're buried deeper anyway, but I could just be making that up (I seem to remember reading it somewhere, some time ago, though).

It's been cold and snowy here - high temperature yesterday was 27F. No where near autumn, though winter doesn't officially begin for a couple of more days. The girls are coming for our Solstice Celebration on Wednesday, weather permitting. Fingers crossed.

[Mini Mia]

Dripping faucets is something my parents did, and would remind me to do when the temps got down into the 20s and below. Even the newscasters will warn people to drip their faucets during super cold nights. (Especially the outside faucets.) My part of Kentucky only tends to have a few days during the weeks in Winter when the temps drop into frigid degrees. Maybe even for a couple of weeks at most during the Winter. So, I'm guessing our pipes don't get the insulation that the more colder northern sites tend to get. (I wish they did.) Plus, I live in a double-wide trailer, and they're not built as good as other homes are. I've had the kitchen sink pipes freeze up in my other trailer. Thankfully Dad and my b-i-l used a heater to thaw it out and prevented the pipe from bursting. I remember hearing of a lot of busted water pipes in Texas when a lot of houses lost power for a few days during freezing weather a year or two ago. I'm even betting that your house has more insulation than the homes here do. And trailers are the worst about keeping the cold out, as the insulation tends to slide down to the bottom of the wall over time.

[Mini Mia]

. . . hmm . . . Perhaps people with basements don’t have to worry with their water pipes freezing and bursting? It’s the pipes coming up out of the ground and into the house that can freeze. Although maybe having them deeper in the ground helps? I’m sure the foundation may help, but if the pipes get no heat at all during the extreme cold, then they’re more likely to freeze, I suppose. Not really sure how it works, I just know we drip our faucets during really low temps. And from Thursday night until early next week, temps will stay below freezing, dropping down to zero one night.

I recently learned, the dripping water doesn’t actually prevent the pipes from freezing. It allows for air/gas pressure to escape when the water thaws and melts. The air/gas pressure is what bursts pipes.

[Phalon]

Dripping faucets is something my parents did, and would remind me to do when the temps got down into the 20s and below....

Everything you explained makes perfect sense...

...and then there's this...

. . . hmm . . . Perhaps people with basements don’t have to worry with their water pipes freezing and bursting?

I realized this the day I posted asking you about the dripping faucets. I was down in the basement putting away wrapping paper on a shelving unit, and just happened to notice the water pipes. Even though the basement isn't heated, it usually stays right around 55ish degrees in winter; rarely if ever, does it get below 50F. All the pipes are interior - meaning nothing is against a wall, except where it comes into the house, which is well below the frost/freeze level of the soil. Except for the kitchen sink - that pipe is fairly close to an exterior wall - maybe about 10" from the wall. I remember during the Polar Vortex when the temperatures got well below 0F, we kept the kitchen cabinet door under the sink open.

[katina2nd]

Dec 19, 2022 13:33:47 GMT -6 Phalon said:

Is the coast clear now?? Heard all that snarling and gnashing of teeth, and had to run for cover. Even now, just reading the words "deadly Echidnas" gives me the shudders!

And so it should.
I may have to revise my opinion about the ferociousness of Wolverines though, if this video is anything to go by, around the two minutes twenty mark ....................

[katina2nd]

Ummmmm, thought that was a pretty cool video, not sure I had to post it twice though.

[stepper]

Everything you explained makes perfect sense...

...and then there's this...

. . . hmm . . . Perhaps people with basements don’t have to worry with their water pipes freezing and bursting?

When I lived in New Jersey the house had a basement with an outside spigot cutoff in the basement. I just turned off the water and then opened the spigot to let it drain out. We left the water to the outside turned off all winter and then turned it back on in the spring.

[Joxcenia]

Autumn is starting out with summer temps. It is supposed to be in the low 90s/60s the next couple of days. Then a day in the high 80s, and nights in the mid 60s. Then starting Thursday the temps turn into the 70s/50s & 40s. Next weekend starts out in the high 60s/low 40s, but goes back up to the 70s/50s. So, Autumn weather is coming.

[Phalon]

Still dealing with computer issues; supposedly a new one is on its way - third time's a charm maybe; I had ordered twice prior.

Beautiful start to autumn here - warmish to warm temperatures, overcast to sunny, and colored leaves starting to pop...and drop.

Gotta run....hopefully this quickie post will actually take.....

....it didn't. Three times, I've had to sign back into the internet. Third time's a charm???

[Phalon]

HA! Yes!

[Joxcenia]

It’s mostly still green here. There are hints of color here and there, but not in amounts that are very noticeable. The fields of corn and soybeans are brown. The soybeans still have a hint of green close to the soil. The corn should be harvested soon. The soybeans in a few more weeks. A sure sign of Autumn, even when the temperatures still feels more like Summer.

October is property tax time. I turned 65, so I don’t have to pay property taxes anymore. Cool. And I FINALLY got to cancel my Anthem BCBS insurance. I had to wait until my new insurance processed my eye doctor appointment claim to make sure it was working. So, now I’ll be putting that $1592.92 a month into my savings account. Yay! I’m glad I made the eye appointment for August 2nd, because my family doctor checkup was September 14, and I would have had to keep paying that price for the next month or two. I guess turning 65 has some perks.

[stepper]

We went 119 days where the temps were at least 90 degrees - until today. And we finally got some rain - 1.4 inches so far and it appears to be moving south, but it's too late. I think the lack of moisture killed my red maple. It was dry and the few leaves still on it were crispy & brown when I finally got kicked out of rehab and sent home. My yard hasn't fared well either. There are substantial dead and brown spots on both sides of the driveway. None the less, today's high will be in the 80's and the weather pattern has changed where we don't have the high-pressure center right on top of us anymore. Hopefully better times are coming. I even heard a prediction of 60s over the weekend. Of course, that's the morning low, but that hasn't happened for months!

[Joxcenia]

I'm glad you finally got rain. Sorry it was too late. I hope there's still life deep down in the trees and plants that appear to have died. I'm also glad you aren't suffering intense heat anymore, although the 80s can feel extreme sometimes, depending on the "feels like." I've got my fingers crossed on temps dropping more into Autumn temps there.

[Joxcenia]

S	10/8	69F/47F
M	10/9	72F/43F
T	10/10	74F/52F
W	10/11	82F/58F
T	10/12	79F/62F
F	10/13	72F/50F
S	10/14	63F/45F
S	10/15	62F/42F
M	10/16	63F/43F
T	10/17	62F/43F

[stepper]

After the summer we had, 40's would be the equivalent of freezing!

[Joxcenia]

It's definitely frigid during the nights here. Saturday night, the temps were supposed to have dropped down to 39F, but it stopped at the low-40s. Next Thursday & Friday keeps jumping up into the low-80s, and then back down to the high-70s. No telling what the temps will actually be by the time we get to those days. The other days go up & down a few degrees, but stay pretty much in the same ballpark.

[Joxcenia]

I cannot believe that October is almost halfway over. Here, there will be one more day in the low-80s, with the other days being mostly in the 60s. One day will be in the high-50s, and two days in the low-70s. The nights start out in the 50s, but drop into the 40s on Sunday and stay there. Haven’t seen the 30s just yet, but I’m sure they’re coming. Autumn is definitely here. Trees are still mostly green, with hints of color here and there. Soybeans were harvested late evening, into the night, so I can see traffic on the road again. No crops until corn next Spring/Summer to block my view again. Watching the days get shorter and shorter. As far as I’m aware, daylight savings time will end in November. They haven’t done away with changing the clocks yet. JUST JUMP BACK 30 MINUTES AND LEAVE IT THERE!

[stepper]

The eclipse was pretty cool!

[Joxcenia]

The one we had a few years ago was nice as well. There will be another one in April 2024. It's supposed to last a couple minutes longer than the last one did. April 8, 2024

www.google.com/search?q=April+2024+Solar+Eclipse+Path

[stepper]

The one in April 24 will also cross directly over our area, but it's going to be a full eclipse. It'll get totally dark for a while.
The weather here is much more seasonable now, but we're still desperately in need of rain.

[Joxcenia]

Well, just when you think Autumn is here to stay, the temps rise up into the low 80s again. I haven't had the a/c on for several days, but I had to break down and turn it back on yesterday. Before it got hot enough to turn the a/c back on, I had the thermostat set at 67F, but the heat never kicked on. So, it seems I'll have to wait until November for Summer weather to finally be over.

[Joxcenia]

70s & 80s, and then 50s on the 30th. It appears Halloween will be cold. 🥶 Soon it will be time to change the clocks. Something I was hoping would be over by this Autumn. Dang it!

[Joxcenia]

From the 30th to the first few days of November, the temps will be: 50s/30s. So, finally getting a chance to use the heat. Still got the air on at the moment. 70s & 80s still going on. There’s still a lot of green going on, but there’s more colors popping out here and there. Supposed to get rain this weekend. That’ll probably take care of most of the loose leaves. That’s usually what happens just as everything starts becoming beautiful, rain and winds destroys it.

[stepper]

Latest forecast is that the temperature will drop 40 degrees over the weekend with highs in the 50's and possibly even in the 40's for Halloween. For us that's freezing and will upset numerous kids and parents, and it'll seriously cut down the number of Trick or Treaters too. Fortunately, I have a newly acquired Snoopy sweater perfect for this occasion!

[Joxcenia]

We're getting three nights below freezing. I will finally be turning off the a/c until next May, most likely. November rarely has days warm enough for the a/c. I cannot believe that November will be here in just a few days.

T	10/26	81F/67F
F	10/27	81F/57F
S	10/28	65F/55F
S	10/29	64F/37F
M	10/30	49F/29F
T	10/31	50F/28F
W	11/01	49F/29F
T	11/02	55F/35F
F	11/03	60F/39F
S	11/04	64F/42F

[Joxcenia]

Welp. Turned my a/c back on. It will be on for a few days. The highs keep changing. It’s mostly mid- to high-70s, but sometimes an 80s comes and goes. It drops into the 60s on Thursday. I do remember the time El Niño had autumn and early winter so warm that we had the windows open on Christmas one year.

[Joxcenia]

The few trees that were beautifully colored were wiped out during the few days of rain the other weekend. One was the Popular tree in my front yard. It was a gorgeous yellow. Most of the trees are a dark green still, but a few colored trees are peeking out here and there again. I’m hoping that when all of the trees have turned, we’ll have a few weeks to enjoy them. Autumn tends to be wet. It’s when the tobacco is taken down out of the barn and packed together in stacks for stripping. I loved telling people my mother was a stripper, and seeing the looks on their faces. Then watch their faces relax when I talked about her stripping tobacco.