November 2013 Back to October
Friday 1st 6 to 10 to 7°C. 450Wh 150W max. Clear overnight but started to cloud over just after dawn and was raining by 9am. Continued with steady straight down rain all day. mostly light but quite heavy during the aftenoon. A total of 15.3mm
Probably the the dreariest day of the year.
Saturday 2nd 5 to 12 to 6°C. 1.61kW 1.2kW max. A very windy day. Sunny for a short while in the morning but then poured down in the afternoon, clearing after dusk just in time for those having a firework party.
Sunday 3rd 4 to 14 to 5°C. 2.65lWh 1.5kW max. Clear cold night with a foggy clearing to sunny intervals and heavy showers. The wind dropped so felt warmer. Feeling unwell with usual symptoms so didn't do much.
Monday 4th 1 to 8 to 2°C. 2.31kWh 1.2kW max. Cold clear night but started to cloud over in the morning with a few spots of drizzle. Then cleared again after dusk. Still not very well.
Tuesday 5th 2 to 9 to 5°C. 1.29kWh 1.4kW max. Warmed up overnight though only because it started raining again. Became drier by lunchtime and there was even a single sunny interval early in the afternoon before it started drizzling again. Feeling better so continued potting on the pansies though it wasn't very warm even in the polytunnel.
Wednesday 6th 7 to 9 to 8°C. 463Wh 120W max. Continous light to moderate rain (9mm) all night and day till late in the evening. Even more miserable than last Friday. At least we are warm and dry in our well insulated house heated by our new wood stove.
Thursday 7th 2 to 9 to 3°C. 4.46kWh 1.5kW max. Sunny intervals with a few short showers. The first dry still day for some time so took the opportunity to take the fine net off the fruit cage. I has to come off because if it snows it doesn't go through it and the weight will bend the aluminium poles. Frost is forecast so built a polycarbonate box round the celery bed and placed fleece over it. Celery is our favourite vegetable at this time of year but it can be damaged if the temperature drops below 0°C for more than a short period.
Friday 8th 2 to 7 to 1°C. 556Wh 80W max. Clear and frosty overnight but clouded over by morning to another miserable grey cold damp day though it never really rained just a few spots of drizzle. Cleared again after dark and looks like it might drop below freezing by the morning. A good job we covered the celery.
Saturday 9th 0 to 8 to 2°C. 2.35kWh 1.1kW max. Cold clear frosty start staying sunny till lunchtime but clouded over after that. clearing again in the evening. Continued to pot on the pansies and primulas but the temperature even in the polytunnel was only 10°C and my fingers too cold to do this for more than an hour. What is strange is that, despite two frosty nights the begonias, geraniums and other summer flowers are still OK. Usually by this time I would have cleared them away and replaced them with short stemmed chrysanthemums but I can't do this as they have been ruined by the long spell of wet windy weather. Chrysanthemums don't mind cold weather but they hate being continuously wet and the flowers have died back and gone moldy. I am beginning to wonder whether they are worth the work of taking cuttings and potting them on in the late spring; this is the third year in a row when they have been ruined by wet weather in late autumn.
Sunday 10th 0 to 9 to 3°C. 4.48kWh 1.4kW max. Cold clear frosty start followed by a clear sunshine which lasted all day. Too cold to do any gardening even in the polytunnel so started sawing up wood for the stove. Pat finished clearing away the runner and climbing beans so we decided it was time to let the hens into the rest of the kitchen garden apart from the the leeks and parsnips. They will enjoy clearing and fertilising the ground for next spring.
Monday 11th 4 to 14 to 10°C. 654Wh 200W max. Warmed up overnight to a very humid morning and stayed overcast all day with frequent short heavy showers.
Tuesday 12th 1 to 8 to 1°C. 2.04kWh 800W max. Frosty and misty start. Cleared a little later in the morning but always a lot of cloud till after dusk when it cleared completely to a bright moonlit night. Looks like the temperature might fall below 0 before dawn. Covered the pots of late potatoes in the polytunnel, which are growing very well, will a sheet of fleece, just in case.
Wednesday 13th 0 to 8 to 6°C. 3.12kWh 1.2kW max. Cold clear start then sunny intervals and thin cloud till late afternoon when the wind picked up for a time, dropping again by late evening. The temperature did drop below freezing just before dawn but only for a short time so there was just a little frost on the grass in the fields; it doesn't appear to have affected anything else.
Thursday 14th 2 to 7 to 3°C. 1.21kWh 800W max. Clear night but not as cold as the previous night though the strong wind made it feel colder. Very dark skies with heavy blustery showers clearing in the afternoon but still windy. Not a day for working outside, not even the polytunnel, so touched up some paintwork in the bedrooms.
Friday 15th -1 to 9 to 7°C. 946Wh 400W max. Clear and frosty overnight but clouded over by dawn and remained overcast apart from a short bright spell after lunch. But it was still and dry so felt a little warmer than you would expect. A good day for sawing and splitting firewood.
The frost has finally got to some of the summer bedding. The coleus and marigolds are dead or dying and I expect the rest to be affected in the next few days as some proper cold weather is forecast.
Saturday 16th -1 to 11 to 3°C. 665Wh 150W max. Another dull day. Woke up in the night feeling unwell with the usual aching and asthma and didn't get any better all day.
Sunday 17th 3 to 11 to 8°C. 747Wh 200W max. Yet another dull day Still unwell in the morning but better by lunchtime, in fact well enough for nearly two hours cutting and splitting firewood. If the forecast of colder weather is correct we will need it.
Monday 18th 7 to 8 to 2°C. 588Wh 200W max. Mild start but rained in the morning and was a lot colder after it passed with a biting northerly wind. Cut some more firewood.
Tuesday 19th -2 to 8 to -2 to 0°C. 2.97kWh 1.3kWmax. Cold bright frosty start but clouded over by 10am and started to snow, but it didn't last long and didn't settle. The rest of the day was sunny intervals with a few wintery showers before clearing in the evening and cold enough for frost on the garden furniture and buildings before clouding over again and warming slightly.
A flock of fieldfares turned up in the garden, feasting on the fallen apples. A sure sign that it is much colder further north; we don't usually see them till late in December. Started to remove the tomato plants from the poltunnel. Did about 2/3rd of them before my cold fingers drove me back inside.
Wednesday 20th 1 to 8 to 5°C. 2KWh 1.2Kw max. Warmed up over night and rained quite hard (9mm) in the morning before clearing in the afternoon but also becoming very windy (25mph with gusts up to 38mph and a windchill of -4.5 byt late evening). Not a day for working outside, not even in the polytunnel
Thursday 21st 1 to 7 to 3°C. 2.69kWh 1.3kW max. Rained most of the night but cleared by mid-morning with clear blue sunny skies till late in the afternoon with only a light breeze so felt quite pleasant despite the low temperature. Cut some more firewood.
Friday 22nd 1 to 7 to -2°C. 4.2kWh 1.3kW max. A clear sunny day with only light winds;quite pleasant for late November.
Not very warm outside, despite the sun, but it went up to 11°C in the poytunnel,warm enough to finish clearing out the rest of the tomato, aubergine and courgette plants. We have left the peppers and chillies as they are not as affected by the recent cold damp weather. Sometimes in a mild winter the chillies have survived to the next year.
Saturday 23rd -3 to 6 to -1°C. 1.83kWh 1.2kW max. Another bright but cold day but with thin cloud so not as sunny as yesterday. Continous frost overnight has finally done for the dahlias and begonias.
Put out the bird feeders; the smaller ones inside the fruit cage where the squirrels can't get at them and the armoured ones down the side of the garage. Just peanuts and black sunflowers; they don't seem to like anything else. In the past when we have fed them mixed seeds all the rest were just thrown out looking for the sunflower seed. Started digging over the vegetable garden much to the delight of the hens as I turned up earthworms, wireworms, centipedes and millepedes. More important they will scratch up and eat any weed seeds which germinate over the next few months.
Sunday 24th -1 to 7 to 3°C. 865Wh 300W max. Generally overcast with a few short brighter periods and some spots of rain in the afternoon. Moved the pots and troughs of summer flowers into the polytunnel. Some, such as the coleus, to dry off so they can be emptied and recycled, some, such as the dahlias, gladiolas, canna, tigridia and begonias so they can dry off the bulbs/tubers/corms for winter storage inside and others, such as the fuchsia and geraniums to rest and hopefully survive till next year. The fuchsias almost certainly will survive though they might die right back like they did last year; the geraniums will only survive if we don't get a prolonged frosty period which penetrates the polytunnel enough to freeze them solid even when covered in fleece.
Monday 25th -3 to 5 to -2°C. 3.12kWh 1kW max. A mainly sunny but very cold day and clear evening promising another frosty night. A good day to finish digging over the vegetable garden.
Tuesday 26th -1 to 8 to 5°C. 600Wh 200W max. Overcast sky but feeling a little warmer.
Tried to finish potting on the Bellis perennis but gave up after 48 of them with very cold fingers. The air might be a little warmer but the soil is still very cold.
Wednesday 27th 6 to 10 to 7°C. 332Wh 120W max. A very dull day with a strong northerly breeze making it feel colder than the thermometer suggested. Cut and split some more firewood to keep warm.
Thursday 28th 7 to 10 to 6°C. 387Wh 120W max. Another dull day with intermittent periods of light fine drizzle and mist. At least it was warm enough to continue potting on the Bellis.
Friday 29th 5 to 11 to 6°C. 567Wh 800W max. Cleared overnight with a really good sunrise, but (red sky in a morning, shepherds warning) it clouded over to a day of blustery showers and a cold northerly wind. There was a short period of brightness around midday which was good as I could go for my bike ride which was hard work battling the wind. Cut and split some more firewood.
Saturday 30th 2 to 8 to 5°C. 2.94kWh 1.1kW max. A much brighter day but still with the cold Northerly wind. I continued to pot on the Bellis and tidy up the garden and polytunnel while Pat did some shredding.
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