What is your weather like ... today

[jmajid]

I have noticed my goldfish and comets (is there a difference?!?) are always the first out in the morning - rain or shine - they are first out to patrol and look for food - i have one that is getting friendly and follows me around when i walk around the perimeter... we have started naming them all - knock on wood...
The koi on the other hand are afternoon and evening folk it seems - they were out there yesterday afternoon with the comets/goldfish foraging for food but they are definitely not morning folk! Maybe they dont like the cold as much?
Anyways - yesterday was a misty/foggy start with a 60s day / today not as much foggy bbut more rainy and prob 60s again

 

[HARO]

I have noticed my goldfish and comets (is there a difference?!?)

A goldfish is not necessarily a comet, but a comet is a goldfish. So are the commons, shubunkins (calicos) , fantails, Ryukins, orandas, black Moors, celestials, and dozens of other varieties. All are goldfish, and all will interbreed with each other to produce that most common goldfish of all, the cull.
John

 

[j.w]

30 miles north of us tons of snow..................we only got rain, rain and more rain

 

[callingcolleen1]

Minus 12 Celsius, (10 F), just plain cold, tired of all the cold, top and middle ponds have lots of ice today so it was very cold again last night. Weather forcasters claim it should be warmer next month, that is only four days away! We shall see, but somehow I don't think I will be planting panzies in the whisky barrel out front like I have in previous March's. Now I hear it may turn out to be a cooler than normal spring too, no good news to report....

 

[sissy]

was 54 today but felt cooler because of chilly wind .Rain tomorrow and maybe a chance of a trace of snow wednesday and then steady 50's .Gotta get this new liner in but need for it to dry up for awhile

 

[MitchM]

Took the dogs out for a walk today and saw some fresh cougar tracks from last night on the driveway. I've set up the trail cam again to see if I can catch a glimpse of it.
Haven't seen the ground since last October and we have another cold snap coming this weekend. -25C/-13F.

Colleen, get some seedlings started for a garden! That will help you beat the winter blues.
Mine are coming along great. The tomatillos sprouted this past week.

 

[addy1]

I usually start seeds, will get some started once we get home

 

[CountryEscape]

Jmajid, a Comet is a goldfish with longer flowing tails. They are usually red and white in color. Shubunkins are calico/tri-colored goldfish, sometimes regular short fins but most often longer fins like the Comets, I think.
I learned a hard lesson this winter! Since it was my 3rd winter with ponds, I didn't dream I would be in shock with my electric bill from last month (Jan. 15-Feb. 15). It was literally double from the Dec. 15-Jan. 15 bill. I went from $182 to $355!!! I called the company, and they asked if I was running a space heater. With the propane price hikes ($1.50 up to $5/gal now!!!), people went out and bought all the space heaters, thinking that would save them money. Well, their electric bills went out the roof! In my case, I had no space heater, just a heater in each of the ponds, and one in the horse's water trough. I just left them plugged in 24/7 for well over a month. Now, keep in mind the big arctic blast we got initially was Jan. 3-8, and this huge bill was AFTER that time frame! So, all that snow on the ice must have insulated the water, and the heater didn't run as much, or just not as many days. Anyhow, it's neat as the lady was able to tell me my average usage daily, and she could see the spikes when the temps went sub zero. She said I went from using 15-20 kilowatts/day to 111-120/day! Holy cow!!! Then she said, "you went back to what your normal daily use is about a week ago". Yep, unplugged all the heaters week ago last Fri. So, lesson learned. I'll chop ice on the horse trough, unless it gets solid or the water freezes, and I'll only turn on the pond heaters when absolutely necessary, not run them full time. Lesson learned ... the hard way.

 

[sissy]

I got my electric bill and first one after new pumps and it was 127 dollars and almost 30 dollars was taxes and use fees .Last month with my old pump using so much electric my bill was almost 200 dollars .My house is all electric and I keep it warm in here because of hubby and my poor little chihuahua's .Those laguna pumps are really great and I plugged the first one in on the 6 th of the month

 

[CountryEscape]

The electric company offered to have the guys come out and show me what was pulling the most electricity in my house and property. I pretty sure know it was the heaters, and my appliances are old, but she said I use very little most of the time, she was surprised. My electric is likely more per kilowatt that other places, I have the most expensive company in this area, but can't complain, no choice in that. The rest of the year, my bill runs from $120-150, was only about $30 per month higher in the winter, so figured that was doing pretty good. Just never imagined it would jump that much in one month.

 

[sissy]

I know when I replaced my appliances which were new in 2004 would save me .I put in all LED bulbs and tvs and puter monitors are LED ,I was amazed at how little electric all the new stuff pulls .Fridge is the big 30 one and only uses 15 dollars of electric a year with normal use and has LED bulbs .Plus my electric company has a rebate program and I got money back on each appliance i bought .It was worth the cost of buying new .

 

[addy1]

My aerator has done a great job keeping the ice at bay, just a few times the holes shrunk to a foot in size. Usually bigger. Our electric bill did not change.

 

[MitchM]

This will be an expensive utility winter for most of us, no doubt.

 

[addy1]

For sure, huge bills for a lot.

 

[Catfishnut]

This will be an expensive utility winter for most of us, no doubt.

I hope that the XL pipeline project approval gets passed. That won't exactly help everyone's home heating bills, but it will help the economy of our state and other states, the US and Canada in general and maybe other countries. Being from Nebraska, I reside at the epicenter of the major debate over this issue. There are already thousands of miles of countless piplenes carrying all sorts of fuels and chemicals criss-crossing our state and some folks are really up in arms about this one lone proposal. I don't actually understand the logic they are applying here on this issue. I also don't agree with the Obama regime and the EPA regarding the coal industry. We need to utilize these fuel sources wholly until we have perfected and refined other methods and resources and make them economically viable.

I am all for green energy, totally. But, let's not jump off the logic cliff until we have built the net at the bottom.

The new thing now from the EPA is emmisions from wood burning stoves and fireplaces for home heating! This is getting rediculous folks. For instance, the EPA of the US has banned the simple tungsten filament light bulb and replaced it with a mercury and lead laden flouresent tube that you have to call in HAZMAT teams to remove if you break it. Way to go EPA!

And it still isn't getting warmer now is it? Another polar vortex slams us and where has the global warming gone to? OH... the Antarctic. Yeah... Where the ship of researchers went to study the vanishing polar ice and got trapped within it for several weeks because IT WAS STILL THERE!

Well, I am not worried about the supply of energy resources in North America. Between Canada, the US and Mexico, we have so much more energy than they can even brag about. They have been drilling nat gas and oil wells in our western states for decades, but have them capped now because there is no infrastructure to pipe the stuff out to point of use. They are ready to go, but it isn't economical to set up a pipeline to service them all at this time. The resources are there and we can be self-sufficicient, if the government and legislatures and EPA and activists would get the hell out of the road of progress.

Gordy