I hate Michigan winters!

[K-Dog]

On Sunday it got cold enough for my pipes to freeze, and so now I am without water waiting for the temp to go up enough for them to thaw back out.

[Matt Algren]

Mine froze yesterday morning. Ugh. Thank God for space heaters and hair dryers.

[K-Dog]

How cold did it get where you live? It was like 4 here.

[tymejumper]

Where you at? I am near Grand Rapids. It was like 6 below for wind chill. I feel better than down in South Haven, they got over a foot of snow and called a snow emergency, no one can do anything!

[K-Dog]

I live over by Ann Arbor. My brother lives near Portage, they probably got more than their fair share of snow there.

[tymejumper]

I have family in Portage and Kalamazoo. You live on the East side of the state, no wonder you are more liberal! I live in West Michigan, alot of Christian Reformers that are very strict. Its kinda hard to change mind and hearts over this way, but it is happening!

I am glad I do not live nearer the lakeshore. Its horribly icy and also trecherous that way. They always get the worse ice and winds there. Of course, we just missed out on this last blast as we are to far north. My mother in law lives in the U.P., and they have tons of snow there.

[K-Dog]

Yes, Ann Arbor is probably the most liberal part of the state, with the possible exception on the Douglass Saugatuck area. I think the reason for that is primarily the U of M campus, but I could be wrong. It is actually a really good place to live, except it gets so d*&^ cold here.

[drobs]

My sister lives in Grand Haven. Brother In-law works in the auto industry.

[Rick336]

I live in North Carolina. I had a New Year's party where my brother brought over an extra bag of ice and left it on the front porch. It's now six days later and the full bag of ice remains there still (three hundred miles below the Mason/Dixon line).

Rick

[tymejumper]

Originally Posted by drobs

My sister lives in Grand Haven. Brother In-law works in the auto industry.

Hopefully in this state he will continue to work in auto! My wife is laid off of auto for 8 months now, so soon she should be called back.

[bnmoore]

Most of the time we can go an entire Winter with fewer days with lows in the teens than we've already had here in Georgia. Looks like the Farmer's Almanac folks were correct.

The Acubas lining my front porch look melted.

[K-Dog]

Originally Posted by bnmoore

Most of the time we can go an entire Winter with fewer days with lows in the teens than we've already had here in Georgia. Looks like the Farmer's Almanac folks were correct.

The Acubas lining my front porch look melted.

It is hard to believe just how accurate the farmer's almanac tends to be. I wish it always said we will have a nice warm winter with no problems of ice or freezing, but it never does.

What is an acubas?

[drobs]

Originally Posted by tymejumper

Hopefully in this state he will continue to work in auto! My wife is laid off of auto for 8 months now, so soon she should be called back.

He's been pretty luck so far, company he works for makes mirrors for domestic and import. Seems they have a pattent on those compass rear view mirrors that is keeping them busy.

[bnmoore]

Originally Posted by K-Dog

It is hard to believe just how accurate the farmer's almanac tends to be. I wish it always said we will have a nice warm winter with no problems of ice or freezing, but it never does.

What is an acubas?

It's a typo, it's aucuba. It's an evergreen plant. I let mine grow larger than usual as a privacy screen. I've lost one before in a hard freeze. Most of the time the ground doesn't stay frozen long enough to kill them. Mine are a little big to dig up and take indoors.

Drop aucuba japonica variegata into google/images.

[drobs]

Originally Posted by bnmoore

It's a typo, it's aucuba. It's an evergreen plant. I let mine grow larger than usual as a privacy screen. I've lost one before in a hard freeze. Most of the time the ground doesn't stay frozen long enough to kill them. Mine are a little big to dig up and take indoors.

Drop aucuba japonica variegata into google/images.

Cool

Looks almost like the variegated Hostas we have growing around our patio in the summer.

Are they fast growing?

[K-Dog]

My mom has plants that look kind of like that, but they die in winter and grow back in the summer.

[bnmoore]

These don't grow all that quickly. They're under an awning. I have a seeper hose run under mulch and wood chips. They're also on the North side of the house and don't get direct sunlight.

[BrianB]

Originally Posted by K-Dog

On Sunday it got cold enough for my pipes to freeze, and so now I am without water waiting for the temp to go up enough for them to thaw back out.

I remember Michigan winters as a young boy. We rarely saw the ground after the first snow fall in Hazel Park. Thank goodness my parents didn't live in western Michigan close to the snow machine (lake Michigan).

It's still cold enough to freeze pipes even in southwest Ohio. My home care aide said her pipes were frozen this morning. She couldn't use the washer. Here's wishing that no one's pipes burst.

[tymejumper]

I also remember that as a child. I remember the snow being so high and the snowbanks also. We could sled right down them. It would always seem that it would be still snowy at the beginning of April and we got Spring Break later, like the end of April to the beginning of May