North Pole Weather 5/21/12

Sunrise was at 4:05 this morning, and it will not set until 11:33 tonight for 19 hours 27 minutes above the horizon. The days are beginning to lengthen more slowly; the summer solstice is still a month off but definitely approaching. It’s twilight all night, now, with the sun only getting about 5° below the horizon. In compensation, it’s now more than 45° high at noon. Still not quite reliably above freezing at night, but I’ve started leaving the hardening plants out, under floating row covers. Froecast next week are for low 30′s at the coldest, so I’m going to start getting the rest of the transplants out (at least in the daytime) and start planting as soon as the rototilling is done.

The lilacs are budded out enough I can tell which branches are dead and prune them away, something they’ve needed for several years. To my surprise many of the “dead” branches had side shoots with live buds, so I didn’t have to remove as much as I thought I would. The Amur maple needs the same treatment, but the buds aren’t quite large enough yet to be sure which branches are actually dead. You can tell it’s an import – the wild roses are well leafed out, the balsam poplars are shedding their sticky bud covers, and the rhubarb is almost ready to cut lightly. The white violets are actually blooming next to the house, and a number of perennials have new leaves.

It’s Haiku day on the blogathon, so I thought I’d put in a link to a haiku I posted earlier.

#WriteMotivation Check-in:

1. Get the garden going. Given the earlier springs up here lately, I’ll try to get the beans started indoors by April 25 and the squash by April 30; plant outdoors before Memorial Day. Get seeds in before Memorial Day if possible. This will involve getting the hoops to support plastic covers up on all three raised beds.

Seeds and some transplants are waiting on getting the rototilling done, but the beds are fertilized, have soil amendment added, and ready to till. Hoops and plastic are ready.

2. Keep up daily blogging using my existing schedule: Alaska weather Monday, review Tuesday, quotation context Wednesday, wild card Thursday, Jarn’s Journal (back history on my sf novels) Friday, Science/technology/health Saturday, and Six Sentence Sunday Sunday.

Fine so far.

3. Keep up Context? Tweets daily @sueannbowling

Fine so far.

4. Put at least two interesting science links a day on Homecoming’s page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Homecoming/109303925759274

Fine so far.

5. Get outdoors for at least a couple of hours a day when the weather cooperates, either gardening or tricycle riding.

I’m going to have to count the time I spend at the Farmers Market. I’ve been working on the garden, but haven’t dared take any long trike rides as I never know when the rototiller and/or handyman will get here. I hope that’s out of the way soon; I’m running out of things to do in the garden and yard until the rototilling is done.

6. Read over entire trilogy for flow; put bits on Six Sentence Sunday; find a beta reader or two if possible.

I’ve read it over, the Six Sentence Sunday posts are scheduled for the rest of the month, and I think I have one beta reader.

Farmers’ Market: Fairbanks, Alaska

The Tanana Valley Farmers Market is open!

Writers’ Guild booth

Not for produce – even the greenhouses aren’t producing anything but plants yet. And it’s cold – only a few degrees above freezing when the market opened. But there were lots of seedlings, potted perennial plants. and shrubs. Handmade jewelry, quilted and knitted items, local yarns and hand-decorated clothing were interspersed with jams and jellies, baked goods and candy. Food stalls were doing some business, though many people did not realize the market was open yet, or were attending the parade downtown. (Usually it’s quite a wait in line to get in to the more popular stalls.) Wood items varied from hand-turned bowls to furniture to birdhouses, and ceramics were also on display. And this year the Fairbanks branch of the Alaska Writers’ Guild has a table set up in the indoor part of the market.

Hand decorated clothing

So far we have three authors and six books, but we’re hoping to get more. The authors take turns running the booth – there isn’t really room for more than one person at a time. We’re still working out the schedule, but I hope it will be half days – a full day is a bit much, especially as the building is unheated.

I was shopping as well as selling books, and came home with several basil plants and some pear butter – from Alaska-grown pears, no less! I knew crab apples and lots of berries grew up here, but I have to say the pears surprised me. I’ll have to find out the variety, though I suspect they’re grown in a very favorable location.

Food stalls. The photo was taken while most people were downtown watching the parade. There are picnic tables behind the row of stalls.

If you happen to be in Fairbanks over the summer, come by the Farmers’ Market. It’s on the red and blue line bus routes, and it’s open Saturday 9-4, and Wednesday 11-4. Sundays 11-4 will be added at the end of the month, but only the outdoor canopies are used for that. Not good for selling books.

I don’t know for sure that it’s the farthest North Farmers’ Market in the 50 states, but it must be close to it!

North Pole Weather 5/14/12

Sign of Spring!

The sun rose this morning at 4:29 am, and will set at 11:08 for 18 hours 39 minutes of daylight – that is, with the sun above the horizon. In fact it doesn’t really get dark this time of year, and in two more days it’ll be civil twilight all “night,” with the sun never getting more than 6° below the horizon. The problem with astronomy up here is that when it gets dark enough to see the stars, it’s too cold to say outdoors very long.

The birch pollen count was high last week, and official greenup was May 10. Official? It’s based on when Chena Ridge, west of town, starts looking green instead of brown, and the day is identified by a local weather forecaster – but it’s a pretty obvious change, if you can see the ridge. I can’t, but midweek the birch leaves were showing in my yard, and today there’s a definite green mist to them. What’s more, the ground was thawed enough to till – I was able to get a spading fork in to full depth by Wednesday night.

A green mist is showing on the birches.

The weather forecasts for the rest of the week suggest nightly frosts are still possible, so I won’t even consider planting anything yet. The flats of plants are still going out as soon as the temperature is above 35°F and coming in before I go to bed. I’m certainly going to try to get someone to do the rototilling soon, though.

#WriteMotivation check in:

1. Get the garden going. Given the earlier springs up here lately, I’ll try to get the beans started indoors by April 25 and the squash by April 30; plant outdoors before Memorial Day. Get seeds in before Memorial Day if possible. This will involve getting the hoops to support plastic covers up on all three raised beds.

On schedule, but waiting for rototilling.

2. Keep up daily blogging using my existing schedule: Alaska weather Monday, review Tuesday, quotation context Wednesday, wild card Thursday, Jarn’s Journal (back history on my sf novels) Friday, Science/technology/health Saturday, and Six Sentence Sunday Sunday.

Fine so far.

3. Keep up Context? Tweets daily @sueannbowling

Also up to date.

4. Put at least two interesting science links a day on Homecoming’s page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Homecoming/109303925759274

Barely made it Sunday, but no problem the rest of the week.

5. Get outdoors for at least a couple of hours a day when the weather cooperates, either gardening or tricycle riding.

The weather is intermittent showers—not heavy, but I’ve been chased in several times from the garden, and I don’t want to risk getting wet miles from home—it’s still too cold! I’d say I’ve made it given that I specified “when the weather cooperates.”.

6. Read over entire trilogy for flow; put bits on Six Sentence Sunday; find a beta reader or two if possible.

Done, but I still would like to find a beta reader. Any volunteers?

North Pole Weather, 5/7/12

The sun rose this morning at 4:54, and it won’t set until 10:44 this evening for 17 hours 50 minutes of daylight. We’re still gaining about 7 minutes a day. The real daylight, if you include civil twilight, is even longer – civil twilight ends after midnight, at 12:07 in the morning, and begins again at 3:27. Yes, that means it’s still pretty light at bedtime. Even at solar midnight the sky is dark blue rather than black, and the super moon Saturday night never rose above the trees to the south.

Beans and herbs hardening off.

It’s warming fast, though nighttime frosts are still more likely than not. The beans have not only sprouted, they are growing so fast I’ve started putting them outdoors during the daytime. We’ve even had our first thunder of the season — earliest in 27 years.

#Writemotivation Check in:

1. Get the garden going. Given the earlier springs up here lately, I’ll try to get the beans started indoors by April 25 and the squash by April 30; plant outdoors before Memorial Day. Get seeds in before Memorial Day if possible. This will involve getting the hoops to support plastic covers up on all three raised beds.

Far too early to plant anything (it’s still freezing at night) but the beans are up and hardening, the squash is beginning to sprout, and I made the hoops yesterday.

2. Keep up daily blogging using my existing schedule: Alaska weather Monday, review Tuesday, quotation context Wednesday, wild card Thursday, Jarn’s Journal (back history on my sf novels) Friday, Science/technology/health Saturday, and Six Sentence Sunday Sunday. http://homecomingbook.wordpress.com/

So far so good.

3. Keep up Context? Tweets daily @sueannbowling

So far so good, also.

4. Put at least two interesting science links a day on Homecoming’s page

Almost didn’t make it yesterday, but so far I’ve kept up.

5. Get outdoors for at least a couple of hours a day when the weather cooperates, either gardening or tricycle riding.

This past week the weather hasn’t cooperated much, but I’ve done at least an hour a day (usually two) on the stationary bike and/or rowing machine.

6. Read over entire trilogy for flow; put bits on Six Sentence Sunday; find a beta reader or two if possible.

I’ve read through it once; still need a beta reader. Any takers?

North Pole Weather, 4/30/12

The sun rose this morning at 5:19, and will not set until 10:20 this evening. We’re on daylight time, but I’m not really sure why – we certainly have no shortage of daylight! 17 hours today, and we’re gaining about 7 minutes a day. Solar altitude at noon has crossed the 40° mark, most of the snow has melted, and I’m putting the mints out to harden in the daytime. But at the darkest time of night the sun is only a little more than 10° below the horizon.

Violets and delphinium are popping up next to the south wall of the house.

The forecast is for quite a bit cooler this week, with rain and snow possible. I hope the snow doesn’t stick! I’ll probably get out the hose today, but I certainly won’t leave it hooked up at night.

I’m doing the #writemotivation check-in again this month, with a longer list of goals now OLLI is over until fall. My goals aren’t all writing this time either. Specifically:

1. Get the garden going. Given the earlier springs up here lately, the beans have started to sprout (indoors) and I’ll try to get the squash planted today if I can find pots; plant both outdoors before Memorial Day. Get seeds in before Memorial Day if possible. This will involve getting the hoops to support plastic covers up on all three raised beds.

The chives in the holes in the cement blocks making up the raised beds have reached eating height already, though we're still having hard freezes at night.

2. Keep up daily blogging using my existing schedule: Alaska weather Monday, review Tuesday, quotation context Wednesday, wild card Thursday, Jarn’s Journal (back history on my science fiction novels) Friday, Science/technology/health Saturday, and Six Sentence Sunday on Sunday. http://homecomingbook.wordpress.com/

3. Keep up Context? Tweets daily @sueannbowling

4. Put at least two interesting science links a day on Homecoming’s page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Homecoming/109303925759274

5. Get outdoors for at least a couple of hours a day when the weather cooperates, either gardening or tricycle riding.

6. Read over entire trilogy for flow; put bits on Six Sentence Sunday; find a beta reader or two if possible. Anyone interested?

North Pole Weather 4/23/12

The snow is melting rapidly, the path to the shed is shoveled, and the tricycle is out – I rode about a mile yesterday. We’re forecast to have highs in the 50’s next week, though it’s still below freezing at night and could be below zero. I’m going to plant the beans (indoors) this week. Spring is coming!

It’s light almost all the time I’m awake, now – sunrise today was 5:44 in the morning, and it won’t set until 9:56 this evening for 16 hours 12 minutes of daylight, almost 7 minutes more than yesterday. The closed car now gets so hot I’ve turned on the air conditioning. We only have a couple more days of nautical night – starting April 25 the sun will never dip more than 12° below the horizon.

Pussy willows are out, and I took a few pictures from the trike. The weeds are turning green (aren’t they always the first?) and I’ve spotted new growth on delphiniums, violets, columbine, and hardy geraniums against the house even though I haven’t raked the leaf mulch out yet. Chives are showing green, too, with a nice onion flavor. It’s far too early for rototilling – there are still patches of snow in the garden, and I’m sure it’s still frozen solid, but I’ve started visiting the commercial greenhouses. Plant Kingdom had a good assortment of mints, and I bought 11, but my favorite (Corsican mint) wasn’t there. Don’t know why it’s so hard to get hold of. Maybe they’ll have it at one of the three I haven’t been to yet.

Guest Blog #IAN

A very quick note. I have a guest blog up on But What Are They Eating about some of the foods my characters eat–and why those using esper talents must eat so much to avoid low blood sugar.

North Pole Weather 3/5/12

Ice bird carving in front of the hospital lab.

The sun rose at 7:43 this morning and will set at 6:22 for 10 hours 39 minutes of daylight. Spring may not be here officially, but sun on snow was almost too bright to look at Sunday. My snow stake agrees with the official snow depth: 20”. That’s actually not too bad for this time of year; not so much that it will take forever to melt, but enough to insulate the ground from getting any colder. Regretfully, I’ll be back to “sun will rise” next week—this post goes live at 8 am my time, and daylight savings will once again put sunrise before I get up. Only for the one week, though. We’re gaining 6 min 45 sec a day, and by March 19 I’ll again be getting up after sunrise.

It’s been on the cold side—temperatures above zero in the middle of the day but well below zero at night. No sign of melting yet, and I’m going to try to photograph the ice sculptures before they start thawing this year. (Watch for tomorrow’s post.) They are, however, beginning to accumulate snow. Never very much at a time, but we seem to get a fraction of an inch a day rather often this year.

The commonest real birds this time of year.

I ordered my bean and squash seeds yesterday. Rocdor (yellow) and Gina (Italian type), both of which I know do well up here, and are actually earlier than the regular green beans, are my bean varieties of choice; Gold Rush and Contender for zucchini. I enjoy visiting the local greenhouses too much to order seeds for herbs and flowers I know will be available as starts locally. Besides, I try to avoid pesticides indoors, and my seedlings almost always get bugs if I try to grow too many.

WriteMotivation:

My goals for March were:

1. Learn to use at least one legal method of getting images other than photos I’ve taken on my blog. (I’d love to have some shots of Africa on Jarn’s Journal, for instance.) Progress? Mostly looking up creative commons on Google, and finding a few pictures I’d like to use. I’ve also talked to a friend about using some of his African photos.

2. Continue to blog at least 5 days a week. (I’m doing 7 now, but I’ve signed up for a number of adult classes in March.) Progress? So far I’ve blogged every day and have posts lined up for 10 of the remaining 26 days.

3. Edit Chs 2 and 9 of my WIP to give more showing, less telling. Progress? I think I have Ch 2 done.

4. Participate in at least one Platform-building challenge–hesitate to commit for more without knowing what they are. Progress? I accepted the first Campaign Challenge and posted the result. Not sure if achieving this goal in February counts, though.

And I received notice that my second novel, Tourist Trap, is a finalist in the Reader Views Literary Awards contest! So I’m on track, at least.

North Pole Weather 2/13/12

The sun will rise this morning at 8:57, and set at 5:14 for 8 hr 16 min with the sun above the horizon — 6 min 49 seconds more than yesterday. The daily increase is almost constant now, as is the gain in noon altitude — .3° a day. The sun will be almost 12°, 24 times the solar diameter, above the horizon today.

It’s warmed up almost too fast, and there’s been a little dripping water. We don’t need that this time of year! Water just freezes into ice, and a thaw produces roads like glass. Warm weather is fine once it’s late enough in the season it will stay warm, but right now it’s more of a nuisance. Not that I mind the +20’s forecast for next week; I just don’t want it getting any warmer until March.

It’s staying light long enough I can attend afternoon seminars and drive home in daylight. That means I don’t have as much time for writing, and I’ll have even less when OLLI (adult learning) classes start at the end of the month. But right now I’m just enjoying the freedom to get out of the house without counting every precious minute of daylight.

Indoors, the Christmas cactus is blooming, and most of the citrus plants have put out new leaves. Haven’t started anything for the garden yet, but it’s time I begin getting my orders in to those luscious seed catalogs. Rocdor and Gina beans from Park’s definitely — this year the raised beds will be ready and I think I’ll go back to starting the beans indoors.

North Pole Weather, 2/6/12

The sun will rise at 9:24 this morning and set at 4:50 for 7 hours 28 ½ minutes of daylight. It’s high enough to shine in my south windows pretty freely, now, almost 10°. High enough, in fact, that it was downright blinding on the snow Saturday. Won’t be long before I can go to afternoon events and be able to drive home before dark.

It was cloudy Sunday, but today is supposed to be clear, with temperatures as high as 20 above. Sweater weather, after the month we’ve just finished. That’s not a good forecast for breathing, though – clear skies and warm temperatures this time of year mean really warm temperatures aloft – a ground inversion that will give us an air pollution problem. Politically, the problem is that fine particles and carbon monoxide are not visible the way ice fog is. They’re as bad or worse for your health, though.

I’m a little worried about the Christmas cactus. The buds are beautiful, ready to open, and promise to be an unusual color. The leaf-stems, however, look like they don’t have enough water. I hope this is just an indication that all of the water is going to the buds, but I’ve moved it into the kitchen were I can watch it more closely as well as enjoying the flowers.

P.S. As of 9:30 this morning the sky is clear and the temperature is up to 0°F. Also, the Yukon Quest got off to a good start from downtown Fairbanks Saturday, and is being covered on the internet both through our local NPR station and via the Quest organization.