Spring

[Johanna]

Denise- you forgot to mention how your summer only lasts for approx. three weeks, then it snows in August. I am coming to see you one of these days, though. If I can't hire a dog sled team, maybe I can get a helicopter drop? I want to sit in your kitchen sooooo bad! You can put me to work shoveling up after the animals, as long as I don't have to know any technical terms for any horse parts. I will bring your horses some Ohio apples, if they are allowed to have them, and they won't be mad at me for not knowing the name of that very long back muscle. I will tell them how Johnny Appleseed gave up and died before he ever got to Alberta, and the guy with the orange tree seeds went bankrupt or froze to death or both. They have a statue of him downtown, from what I hear, but it has never unthawed enough to be seen by the public.

Johanna

(I love teasing Denise and she knows it. She'd tease me back, but then she'd have to tie the tin cans and string to the horse to get an Internet signal...)

[UKRay]

Denise, have you EVER considered moving house... maybe... somewhere warmer... maybe...

It started out this morning at -25C (-15 F), but the wind blew and by this afternoon it got to + 10!!! (50 F). Not a lot of melting as the sun wasn't out, but, there may be hope yet.

And to all who have the 70 - 80 F weather now, enjoy. That will be our summer - when you're all inside with the air conditioning going full blast!

[Denise]

Hey, it is 11C here (over 50 F) today!! Too bad if I saw a few snow flakes coming down earlier in the day... And Ray, we are moving, hopefully within the month. And it will be warmer where we are going. For the last few months I have been looking out my kitchen window into what will be my kitchen window. It is almost finished now and since it will have a fancy wood stove in it, I'll be toasty!! (To forstall any further teasing, the wood stove is NOT to cook with. We do have electricity and natural gas up here!)

Johanna, I can't recall snow in June, July or August in all the years we've lived here, and I'm not sure about May and September. The rest - yeah, we have has at least had a quick look at the white stuff then. But hey, you can grow apples and plums and cherries and peaches up here (select kinds, of course) and even grapes! And I know people who have had lemon trees, though thosse were inside, of course... But despite your teasing, you are welcome up here anything. I'll be watching for you next time a helicopter goes over.

I'm kind of wondering about our Swedish contingent. They are even north of where we live, though they are closer to the ocean. What's the weather like there these days? Tom? Knut?