Dawn even the NWS had raised their predictions for next week a little this morning. Still 15 degrees or so colder than most others are saying. I think it will be cold. How cold and how long is the question and where there seems to be such a difference on opinions. I think a lot of it has to do with different computer models of what the jet stream will do. The NWS here has seemed to be on the extreme low side all winter so far. Sunday they were saying upper 30's and we hit 53. Our local forecaster is way more accurate and as of yesterday he wasn't going out on a limb too far but wasn't sure we would see the extreme cold the NWS is saying. Of course the NWS only goes out 7 days. Will be interesting what they say for next Wed when they update as that is when the others feel the temps will start moderating a little and warming up slightly. I don't put a lot of faith in anything over 24 hours out. But do put more with the majority opinion. Intellicast has had the most accurate this winter so far. Jay

When I put my maters in the ground last Sun the projected low for us was 31; now it's 27. I have bunches of 4 and 5 gallon buckets which will cover the plants. I also have lots of half and whole gallon jugs to fill with hot water to set under the buckets, so I think the maters will be ok. And if not I have backups for most of them. But the fruit! What am I to do about the fruit? The almonds and plums are already gone but the peaches, pears, cherries, apples, grapes, strawberries and figs are all in bloom. AAACCCCHHH. I'll put sheets over the strawberries and fig bushes but the fruit trees are all pretty big. We may tie old feed sacks around some of the limbs and try to save something at least. And baby chicks are due to arrive Friday morn. Dh plans to insulate the brooder box and turn on the heat lamps Thursday to get it good and warm in there.

Lowest was 10 F. a few nights ago. There was one inch of fine snow that covered everything overnight. Still arctic cold but very bright due to snow cover and stronger sun, and wind is gone. Interesting to see how the plants change in appearance during these events--rhododendron and Aucuba leaves fold. Now that it is a tad milder, see the Trachys looking better. Amazing! Supposed to hit 50 f. In a few days with showers. Basically though been a dry winter. Saw an extended forecast calling for colder than normal for February in the East, then much warmer than normal March and April in the East.

Nancy, Y'all have had quite a bit of cool weather already, and I think that helps the rosemary because the cooler weather has hardened off the rosemary to gradually cooler weather (or, at least, this is how it is supposed to work). The years in which I've lost rosemary were ones where the autumn stayed flat out hot forever, and then the first cold spell hit hard in December like a tornado flying across the plains, and the rosemary could not take the sudden change from very warm weather to intensely cold weather....like, 70 degrees one day and then 18 degrees the next night, with worse temperatures following after the 18 degree night. The only other time I've lost rosemary was in a winter that was very cold/very wet and the soil just stayed too wet for the rosemary for months. That's why I now have one rosemary plant in a bed raised 18" above grade level and the other one in a large urn that's a couple of feet tall---if the rosemary is not in well-drained soil now (the urn has a cactus soil blend to which I added extra decomposed granite), then I'll never have anything in well-drained soil because I don't think I can make anything drain better than that tall bed and that urn. I hope you have fun painting the furniture and making decorating decisions. I enjoy doing things like that so much. I don't know if 4 cold days will faze the bugs at all. It is so complicated. Some insects have anti-freeze type substance in them that helps them survive winter, so I think it just depends on what insect you're talking about. Time will tell. This morning Tim removed a very, very large leaf-footed bug from his car that we assume got into the car trunk at the police station. It was hideous-looking. I told him to not bring home ugly bugs like that. It was a good 50% bigger than any leaf-footed bug I've ever seen here, and maybe even more than 50% bigger. It possibly wasn't a leaf-footed bug (I didn't go over and observe it that closely) and might have been a kissing bug, which I don't think normally could take our cold weather up here. Regardless, except for that hideous thing, I haven't seen many insects lately and take that as a good sign. Possibly they all are just hibernating, as they tend to do, in mulch, beneath leaves, etc. We need a really cold, prolonged spell that lasts weeks to knock back the insect population significantly and I doubt we'll get that, but constant recurring cold spells, with warm days in between, could help kill insects. One thing to do is to rototill the garden soil in cold weather, so you stir up bugs underground and expose them to colder air surfaces at the ground level. That exposure helps them freeze to death. Rebecca, While they may prefer well-drained soil, I grew calendula in the ground in beds with barely amended clay for several years after we moved here and they did fine. Granted, it was one drought year after another, except for 2004, so they might have done better in the clay in dry weather than they would have in wet weather, but they also did well in 2004 when it was pretty wet in the spring. You can find southern peas dried, canned, frozen or (at some stores) freshly shelled and sold in plastic containers or bags in the fresh produce section, ready for cooking, usually with an expiration date of about 7 days. I don't know if you'll find any specifically labeled PEPH--but you might if your local stores carry one of the brands of vegetables produced in the south. Margaret Holmes' veggies include canned White Acre peas, but I'm pretty sure all their other southern peas are listed on the label as Field Peas or Blackeye Peas (either of which might/might not include PEPH types) and I think Glory Foods' peas also are only listed as Blackeyed Peas on the label. I'm pretty sure I've seen PEPH sold canned before, but don't remember where or which brand it was. Keep in mind that the average consumer calls all southern peas (whether they are PEPH, black eyed, green eyed, crowder, zipper, lady or cream peas) black-eyed peas and it generally is only gardeners or southern chefs who would refer to different kinds of southern peas, like PEPHs, with their proper name. If you want southern peas in what might be a more palatable dish, you can buy (or make) a traditional southern dish called Hoppin' John. Some Hoppin' John recipes are basically just peas, onions and peppers along with a few spices and others also include tomatoes or other ingredients. Here's one example: Margaret Holmes' Canned Hoppin' John When I make Hoppin' John, I usually use a lot of jalpenos so ours is pretty hot. Our PEPHs are shelled, frozen, and ready to cook along with our New Year's weekend ham, but when I want them fresh and have run out of frozen ones, Central Market has them freshly shelled, sold in plastic containers, for a very reasonable price almost year-round. I believe theirs generally are raised in far south Texas. Nancy, Canned southern peas are nowhere near as good as fresh or frozen, but they'll serve the purpose for observing the southern tradition of eating southern peas, preferably on New Year's Eve at midnight as the new year begins, for good luck. We just wait and have ours at noon and at dinner on New Year's Day since we aren't going to be awake and eating peas at midnight. Keep in mind I am anti-canned veggies because my taste buds prefer the flavor and texture of either fresh veggies or frozen veggies. That doesn't mean all canned veggies are bad, but just that I find the other forms preferable. They are people, I am sure, who hate the frozen version and prefer the canned one too. Kim, I'm sorry you're ill for the holiday weekend. Please stay put and take care of yourself and get well. Flu is running rampant right now. The linked map shows how widespread the flu is, as of last week: Weekly Flu Map for W/E 12/23/2017 It probably is wise to stay there in Denton until the weather settles down since all sorts of light winter precip are possible over the next few days. We're under a Winter Weather Advisory here through 6 a.m. tomorrow (and y'all are under one in Denton until midnight) but nothing really is happening here yet. I'm hoping nothing falls from the sky. We had drizzle before we reached freezing temperatures, but by the time the temperature dropped to freezing this afternoon, the drizzle had ended, so I think we're lucky so far. Jennifer, All southern peas count towards fulfilling the Good Luck requirement. I've lived in the south all my life, and it never has matter which southern peas you ate for good luck, as long as you ate southern peas. When we lived in Fort Worth, our next-door neighbor, a lovely woman in her 70s/80s got together with a bunch of people from her church every New Year's Eve and they ate southern peas right at midnight for good luck. They said if you weren't eating them at midnight to welcome the new year, you wouldn't have good luck. We've always just waited and had ours at noon on the 1st. It probably is a silly custom, but it doesn't hurt to eat the peas, so why not do it? Amy, Uggh. I wouldn't have been able to eat oyster stew again either after finding that big wad of hair...and I don't want to think about where the hair might have come from. Tim is outside making a shelter for a feral kitty who's been hanging around, and we've been feeding it this week and trying to tame it. Feral cats here usually will not survive all the predators wondering around in the winter, so I'd like to bring him or her indoors to stay safe from the predators and the cold weather, but most feral kitties won't let you pick them up and bring them in, so a big box with a fluffy old comforter on the covered patio will have to suffice. I might take a heated throw blanket out there, plug it into an outlet in the garage, and try to keep the kitty warmer on Sun and Mon nights if I cannot get it to come in tomorrow. (Most cats like me better, by far, but this one prefers Tim, so he might have better luck trying to pick it up and bring it in. We do always wear thick leather gloves when attempting a feral cat rescue.) It is cold and cloudy here, but otherwise quiet. Our VFD/PD/EMS GroupMe mermbers are giving us constant updates from all over the county and beyond (if they are traveling), and even though there's been drizzle and there's been freezing temperatures, there hasn't been freezing drizzle yet. We're keeping our fingers crossed. Dawn