Fall Banter, Observation and General Discussion 2018

[CapturedNature]

It's met fall even if it doesn't feel like it but I thought I would start a new banter thread as we march through autumn towards winter.

[HoarfrostHubb]

Dark beers and pumpkin spiced pumpkins incoming.  

Weather will have to wait a bit though

[Damage In Tolland]

Gypsies got 1 so far. Got a lot more to go, but it’s a start 

[PowderBeard]

36 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Dark beers and pumpkin spiced pumpkins incoming.  

Weather will have to wait a bit though

Shipyard Pumpkinhead has been available since the beginning of August at many liquor store. Fall beers are like Christmas, every year the stuff is out earlier.

[BrianW]

26 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Gypsies got 1 so far. Got a lot more to go, but it’s a start 

So many trees in CT are getting devastated from diseases and insects. This article mentions your area and the gypsies.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-dead-tree-costs-20180827-story.html

[HoarfrostHubb]

43 minutes ago, PowderBeard said:

Shipyard Pumpkinhead has been available since the beginning of August at many liquor store. Fall beers are like Christmas, every year the stuff is out earlier.

Yup. My wife had one early August at a restaurant in North Conway.  

I was disgusted 

[PowderBeard]

45 minutes ago, BrianW said:

So many trees in CT are getting devastated from diseases and insects. This article mentions your area and the gypsies.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-dead-tree-costs-20180827-story.html

I've already gone through a couple gallons of oil spray to kill their nests and have a lot more to go. In rebuilding our stone walls I found lots on the underside of stones. We have a couple trees in our yard I'm getting worried about.

[Damage In Tolland]

41 minutes ago, PowderBeard said:

I've already gone through a couple gallons of oil spray to kill their nests and have a lot more to go. In rebuilding our stone walls I found lots on the underside of stones. We have a couple trees in our yard I'm getting worried about.

What town? 

[Damage In Tolland]

1 hour ago, BrianW said:

So many trees in CT are getting devastated from diseases and insects. This article mentions your area and the gypsies.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-dead-tree-costs-20180827-story.html

The amount of dead Oaks along roads in many parts of town is insane. They just did a crush job in certain locations the last few years. There’s also ones this year that were not totally eaten , but all of them have turned brown . So I don’t know if that means they died or just done for season or maybe the humid summer contributed. Maybe Tamarac would know. But, I do not recall seeing any with brown leaves the last 2 summers like this one .

[Hoth]

Made my first butternut squash soup this morning. Happy fall everyone!

[Baroclinic Zone]

Spiced beers are nasty, pumpkin beer is nasty,  gimme a nice stout or porter with rich dark roasted malts in the fall

[kdxken]

2 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

The amount of dead Oaks along roads in many parts of town is insane. They just did a crush job in certain locations the last few years. There’s also ones this year that were not totally eaten , but all of them have turned brown . So I don’t know if that means they died or just done for season or maybe the humid summer contributed. Maybe Tamarac would know. But, I do not recall seeing any with brown leaves the last 2 summers like this one .

Unfortunately those trees are dead and will not be returning 

[Sugarloaf1989]

0% Gypsy Moth damage here in my part of Enfield. Last year it was very bad around Palmer/Wilbraham and the Mass Pike area. My dad has 3 60 year old + Oaks in the backyard and they seem fine. The one thing we avoided this year was the disgusting amount of sap leaking from them all summer long. Last year that was terrible. 78/58 at BDL, glad we live here.

[tamarack]

25 minutes ago, kdxken said:

Unfortunately those trees are dead and will not be returning 

Brown leaves where all else is green generally means death to the tree (or branch) that's turned. Only exception I can remember was late in a very dry met summer in Ft. Kent, when leaves turned brownish at the top of Charette Hill north of our house.  That spot, where hilltop began its south-facing slope, had a significant component of natural origin red oak, farthest north I've seen the species other than plantings.  The oaks were still green while the sugar maples, aspens, and hophornbeams were going brown.  Illustrated why the oak had persisted there - more drought tolerant than all its neighbors.

[weathafella]

Speaking of extermination-had to do in a hornets nest on my property Thursday.  My wife happened on it and got stung multiple times.....quick benedril FTW.

[CapturedNature]

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

Brown leaves where all else is green generally means death to the tree (or branch) that's turned. Only exception I can remember was late in a very dry met summer in Ft. Kent, when leaves turned brownish at the top of Charette Hill north of our house.  That spot, where hilltop began its south-facing slope, had a significant component of natural origin red oak, farthest north I've seen the species other than plantings.  The oaks were still green while the sugar maples, aspens, and hophornbeams were going brown.  Illustrated why the oak had persisted there - more drought tolerant than all its neighbors.

Unfortunately I think there are whole patches of forest which are gone here.  It's not just roadside trees.  There are a couple of areas where when you look at the hillside either see brown leaves or bare trees.  It really stands out this time of year while most trees are green.

Speaking of foliage, I had to do a bunch of driving around today and there's clearly early changers out there along with some trees having that "leathery" look.  Yes most are green but you're not very observant if you don't see the others.

[Ginx snewx]

22 minutes ago, MetHerb said:

Unfortunately I think there are whole patches of forest which are gone here.  It's not just roadside trees.  There are a couple of areas where when you look at the hillside either see brown leaves or bare trees.  It really stands out this time of year while most trees are green.

Speaking of foliage, I had to do a bunch of driving around today and there's clearly early changers out there along with some trees having that "leathery" look.  Yes most are green but you're not very observant if you don't see the others.

Truly is sad. Just was laying on the grass looking out over the valley, whole strands brown. Geezus what a fantastic Chamber day. You know its a chamber day when the shade is so cool, when you leave the water it is actually chilly out of the sun. The deep blue sky today is spectacular.  

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

7 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

Truly is sad. Just was laying on the grass looking out over the valley, whole strands brown. Geezus what a fantastic Chamber day. You know its a chamber day when the shade is so cool, when you leave the water it is actually chilly out of the sun. The deep blue sky today is spectacular.  

The past two days never happenned, apparently, fake cocs. 

[weathafella]

Man Burlington may be the place for us.  Definitely matches our vibe and energy vs Boston.  Will come back for a longer spell in the fall.

[Damage In Tolland]

1 hour ago, MetHerb said:

Unfortunately I think there are whole patches of forest which are gone here.  It's not just roadside trees.  There are a couple of areas where when you look at the hillside either see brown leaves or bare trees.  It really stands out this time of year while most trees are green.

Speaking of foliage, I had to do a bunch of driving around today and there's clearly early changers out there along with some trees having that "leathery" look.  Yes most are green but you're not very observant if you don't see the others.

Stafford as a whole is crushed . This year did you guys in there 

[HoarfrostHubb]

39 minutes ago, weathafella said:

Man Burlington may be the place for us.  Definitely matches our vibe and energy vs Boston.  Will come back for a longer spell in the fall.

Great little city.   

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

2 hours ago, weathafella said:

Speaking of extermination-had to do in a hornets nest on my property Thursday.  My wife happened on it and got stung multiple times.....quick benedril FTW.

They’ve been horrible. We’ve been dealing with them at work on almost a daily basis. 

 

I was stung in the face twice last week after I ran over a nest or whatever that was in the ground when mowing the lawn.

thankfully I’m not allergic but it was unbelievably painful for hours 

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

Hoping for some relief as we move forward here. Been an unbearable summer for those of us who work outdoors.

 

[mreaves]

1 hour ago, weathafella said:

Man Burlington may be the place for us.  Definitely matches our vibe and energy vs Boston.  Will come back for a longer spell in the fall.

 

1 hour ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Great little city.   

As we like to say up here, the great thing about Burlington is that it’s so close to Vermont!

[powderfreak]

1 hour ago, weathafella said:

Man Burlington may be the place for us.  Definitely matches our vibe and energy vs Boston.  Will come back for a longer spell in the fall.

I loved living there.  Just amazing small city on the west coast of New England.  

Nice hot summers that you love too, lol.  

Also has the best sunsets you'll ever see...Lake Champlain with the Adirondacks as the backdrop is one of the best views in the northeast.

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

21 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

I loved living there.  Just amazing small city on the west coast of New England.  

Nice hot summers that you love too, lol.  

Also has the best sunsets you'll ever see...Lake Champlain with the Adirondacks as the backdrop is one of the best views in the northeast.

...and winter? 

[weathafella]

33 minutes ago, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

...and winter? 

Better vs Boston.  81 inch snow climo

[weathafella]

58 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

I loved living there.  Just amazing small city on the west coast of New England.  

Nice hot summers that you love too, lol.  

Also has the best sunsets you'll ever see...Lake Champlain with the Adirondacks as the backdrop is one of the best views in the northeast.

We’re staying in an air bnb right on the lake with spectacular views.

[powderfreak]

54 minutes ago, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

...and winter? 

You definitely notice a difference moving from say the latitude of the Mass Pike up to just south of the Canadian border.  I went from valley location at Albany, NY to valley location at BTV and it was quite the increase in winter in that transfer.  Your cold/snow season is longer because of the latitude.  Cold fronts hit there first in New England.  BTV is a nice winter upgrade for anyone who lives in a valley south of here or on parts of the coastal plain on the whole, even with the lower chance of a big dog event. 

The issue with BTV is that significantly more snow and winter-appeal lies mere miles away into the western foothills and then even through to Montpelier.  As a snow lover, that nagged at me a bit.  I was so close to more of what you might think of as "NNE winter" appeal.  A lot of events feature more snow just 10 miles away.  But you weight that against living in one of the best small cities you'll find.

 

[J.Spin]

2 hours ago, powderfreak said:

I loved living there.  Just amazing small city on the west coast of New England.  

Nice hot summers that you love too, lol.  

Also has the best sunsets you'll ever see...Lake Champlain with the Adirondacks as the backdrop is one of the best views in the northeast.

 

1 hour ago, weathafella said:

We’re staying in an air bnb right on the lake with spectacular views.

BTV does have quite an amazing vibe with Church Street, the UVM and Champlain College campuses, Waterfront Park, Lake Champlain, the Greens, the ‘dacks, etc.  It’s easy to see why it’s so often making those “top 10 places to live” lists, for what they’re worth at least.