The bright-side of this cold weather is....

14 years ago

Rather than cry and continue to complain about the freeze damage to our plants (of which we have no control over....), I thought we could start a thread on the "positive-aspect" of this cold weather. Remembering, there is always something positive out of all circumstances!!

This thought can happily carry us through our gardening maintenance that I'm sure we'll all be doing this Saturday! ;-)

The bright-side of this cold weather is.....:

For me, I really enjoyed being able to use my fireplace!!! Lighting a fire in the fireplace in actual cold weather was great instead of 'pretending' it's cold when it's really only 65 degrees.

Okay...who's next?

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Comments (43)

frednumber3
14 years ago
I'm originally from Buffalo and moved down here 3 years ago. When did it get cold? We open pools up there in this weather!
Don't even know how to turn the furnace on. LOL
floridays
14 years ago
you must have missed my post under the grouchy thread...

The bright side of this is that all of the fruit trees and plants will be heavily pruned back so that the upcoming Hurricanes won't do too much damage!
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You are so right. I love reading - in the summer with a glass of ice tea and the winter I love International Coffee French Vanilla or Capuccino. I have saved a lot of painting magazines over the years but finally decided to go through them and tear out what I knew I would be interested in and toss the rest. That was so hard to do. I still cannot part with my Decorative Artist yet, have 20 year supply. Part of my "Library" is in the bathroom. I could never go there without reading material LOL, it seems my children and grand children do the same thing. My husband says it takes me longer to pee than anyone he knows. This weather has made it a good time for me to organize so that is what I am doing today. I have so much material that I need to go through - I love material and furs- always looking for special stuff for the Santas I make. I will have to post a picture of the next Santa I make. I feel so bad for those who are dealing with the ice and snow. To be without electricity is awful, went through that after Hurricane Ivan, 95% of our county was without power. We had none for several weeks but I wised up and bought a generator. Little did I know that you can't get gas if there is no power because the pumps won't work. So now I stock up on that to. It was an awful time and the weather was extremely hot. But I can always cool off with a shower or jumping in the pool, for some reason I can never get warm enough if there isn't enough heat. Your husbands sound like mine. He is always looking out for me, even coming to my work to fill up my gas tank because I hate to pump it. I always tell him I have to die first because I don't know what I would do if he wasn't around. I am going to get a taste of it next week, he is going to the Orient to play golf for several weeks, I will be off to the children's house to sleep - you know I am too scared to stay by myself at night - just a big wuss!!
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whgille
14 years ago
Hi Saintpfla

I got to use the fire pit that I bought in Mass. We had a party for 2, three nights in a row.lol

Behind is the avocado tree, not covered and toasty warm!

Silvia
fawnridge (Ricky)
14 years ago
No mosquitoes!
ljlloyd
14 years ago
Uhm.....

Collards that survived got an extra flavor boost from the chill....
katieauthier
14 years ago
Dang Ricky you beat me with the mosquitoes but you forgot to add the single malt goes down quite smoothly lol

Katie
amberroses
14 years ago
[Must surpress negative thoughts]

Well...maybe there will less chilli thrips and other pests in the summer this year.
KaraLynn
14 years ago
My cats who I usually have to bribe with treats to get them to stay on my lap have been extra cuddly since it got cold!
imagardener2
14 years ago
Fruit trees and blueberries that need chill hours got them :-)
goldenpond
14 years ago
wedelia is a brown died up mess YAY!
coffeemom
14 years ago
I wear things with sleeves. It hides my old lady waddle upper arms?
(I'm really trying here)
gardencpa
14 years ago
ditto on the mosquitoes. And I guess I won't wonder how far I should trim my plants back in March. It will be obvious! Oh, and soup tastes better when the weather is cold.
scents_from_heaven
14 years ago
We need the cold weather to kill the fleas so that the pets can go outside and have less infestations. You are correct that the cold gives collards, mustard and turnips a sweeter taste. The weeds actually browned up and are now under a new bed. Some of the plants I regretted planting in the ground hopefully will not come back and most importantly of all

MY HEAT ALLERGY did not bother me. I have enjoyed the cooler weather and being able to do outside things I normally can not do without itching and feeling miserable and my asthma has not flared up.

This weather also gave me an opportunity to see what loves the cold and what needs to be protected better next year. I know I will have peaches as they got a lot of chill hours and I am looking forward to braised peaches with island chicken. Happy now and happy days ahead. Besides there is Rickj's swap to look forward to and time to spend with GW friends all across the state at other swaps and such. Linda
puglvr1
14 years ago
My Pug got to wear his new shirt that he got for Christmas
without complaining,lol...ordinarily when he sees a shirt he runs the other way.
{{gwi:780720}}
an_ill-mannered_ache
14 years ago
brown and yellow are a change from green... sigh.
katkin_gw
14 years ago
Ah -- no,, maybe --- no, I am really trying here!!! lol
I can't wait for Sat.
stuartwanda
14 years ago
Me either Katkin! I see no positive except the weeds are dead and so is most of the grass! It is a positive sign that my electric is going up and that is a down side!
trini1trini
14 years ago
I am waiting on Lowe's to mark the half dead plants down to 50 cents. I'll need them to replace the totally dead plants in my yard.
SaintPFLA
Original Author
14 years ago
Seeeee?...Good Job!!! Very positive outlook on this historic cold! Make lemonade outta lemons! Don't you guys feel better now! :-D

Good attempt even to you who struggled with this little exercise...ahem...you know who you are... ;-)

Okay...a few more thoughts on this:

1) A glass of good brandy tastes sooo much better in the cold and by a fire.

2) Sweaters cover up the poochie-stomach that developed over the holidays

3) Ditto on the No Mosquitos....that one cannot be emphasized enough!

3) Home-made Macaroni & Cheese

4) Hot chocolate with marshmallows (and Frangelico!)
gatormomx2
14 years ago
Using the seat warmer button in the car was a thrill today .

Ran out of propane - a first - ever . Now I know my tank holds 100 gallons .

Who needs so many citrus trees any way ?
This is an opportunity to plant different edible trees that are really , really cold hardy but can tolerate Florida summers .

The Summer heat will have a whole new perspective .

" Going green" really means green Spring growth to us GWers . And will it ever look good too !
johnjsr
14 years ago
There hasn't been a shark attack at Daytona Beach since this started. ;>)

john
tomncath
14 years ago
For those of us living right off the mangroves the no-see-ums won't be a problem this spring :-)
corrie22
14 years ago
meat loaf, stew, chili, corn bread, brownies, yellow cake with fudge iceing, pole beans with fat back, black eyed peas, collards and turnips, pot roast, pot pies, anything in the crock pot, BBQ with onion rings........

I'm with Kristi, this is a stretch...

I HATE COLD WEATHER!
coffeemom
14 years ago
I have yet to hear if the cold has done anything to the iguana population. If they all dropped dead that would be the best thing ever!!!!!!
billbrandi
14 years ago
The bright side of this cold weather is.....

1. My peach trees got their chill hours.
2. My 16 year old daughter, who laughed at me in my snuggie from the TV ads, took mine and can never laugh again.
3. I got to wear all those sweaters from Xmas's past.

and.....to the writer re: the wedelia. Yes, it's brown but you can't keep an invasive plant down for long. Dig it up now if you want to get rid of it.
solstice98
14 years ago
I'm with you on the hot chocolate but I add Baileys to mine. Yum!

Other good things about the cold weather:
- I love using all of my quilts.
- maybe this chill will shock the silk floss tree into blooming (finally!).
- sweaters & hoodies & socks - I forgot how cozy they feel.
- homemade soup!
- switchings from martinis to manhattans!

Kate
katkin_gw
14 years ago
Ok, Ok, home made soup!!! I've made some I haven't made since I left NJ 15 years ago. And I do love my fireplace, but this is the first time I've use it with the heat on. Usually we light it to take the chill out on a cool evening. We are one day closer to Sat and 80o, for us zone 10ers anyway. :o)
sharbear50
14 years ago
Irish Coffee, Hot Buttered Rum, Beaf Stew, Chicken Cacciatore, all the good hot stuff you don't want to eat/drink in the summer heat.
sharbear50
14 years ago
Oh yeah, coffeemom, I like the long sleeve shirts too. LMBO!
hester_2009
14 years ago
1. Now I'll have to prune the plants I never wanted to because they were always blooming! (cape jasmine, powder puff, tc.
2. Didn't' put on any pounds despite sitting around eating chocolate.
3. After living here for 20 years, my lumpy wavy hair has never been so straight!
4. Have learned to love the hot flashes
5. Felt a warm kinship with all of you over this incredible freeze.

Loving today - warmer and so sunny!
katieauthier
14 years ago
Being able to laugh at all the visitors from up north who are walking around in shorts and tee shirts loving sunny Florida haha :)

Katie
mary_ruth
14 years ago
We just moved here a little less than a month ago (Space Coast from VA).
It is not that cold to us since we just got here
We have caught up on the latest movies ($4 morning movies)
Made homemade minestrone soup yesterday, yummy
Was warmer at the beach the other day than 1 mile inland!
All this FREE A/C on high... will remember that in the summer time.
All the FREE heat coming soon, just have to be patient.
Spring will be that much more liberating! Can't wait!
an_ill-mannered_ache
14 years ago
this article in the times today lists some bright sides...

"Then there are the cold-blooded invasive visitors from warmer climes Â iguanas and pythons. Both started out as pets before reproducing into the thousands once set free by reckless owners and hurricanes. Now, scientists hope, many will have been killed off by the cold.

"A lot of these invasive exotics come from southern climates, and they wonÂt be able to withstand a cold spell for this long," said Linda Friar, a spokeswoman for Everglades National Park. "And as they die off, the native species, the alligators and birds, are happily consuming them."

Here is a link that might be useful: cold snap
corrie22
14 years ago
Peanut butter and banana sandwiches!
kayjones
14 years ago
I'm with Zoo-Katie! The tourists are a riot - laying down on the beach in bathing suits, sitting on their condo patios with shorts and no shirt, asking if they can get in the pool, getting into the ocean in 50-degree water! I love watching and talking to our friends/folks from from the tundra - they are LOVING this cold weather - it's a heat wave to them!!! As for me, I am FREEZING cold! Even my Border Collie doesn't want to go outside.
gardencpa
14 years ago
This post was really helping me look at the bright side. I was almost feeling great.

And then...

Today...

I got my electric bill.

Ouch!
krazyjorge0424
14 years ago
No one has mentioned roses.... roses must have loved the cold weather in florida!
goldenpond
14 years ago
Yes my roses are Blooming and my zinnias weathered the storm a bit brown tinged but smiling still!Im ready with more seeds!
gardenmagic40
14 years ago
Opening up new vistas without paying the pruners. We can clean up later when the time comes.Which brings up a question about ground orchids. In 6 weeks or so when clean-up begins,how much debris gets cleaned up around the ground orchids. Should I wait for the new growth to show up or just clean up around them under the little fronds. So many people want to start cleaning up too early. I've lived here 40 years,we still have many chances for more frost,freeze,sleet. So keeps the rakes and pruners under wraps and enjoy the time. There will be much to do later.
mark_h37
14 years ago
Ditto on the mosquitoes. I took the opportunity to learn how to construct a temporary greenhouse over part my garden. It has worked so well and been so enjoyable to spend time in, that I am considering building a more permanent one in the future.
scents_from_heaven
14 years ago
Enjoying spending time with my friends hee on GW instead og spending hours dooing yard prep for spring. It took less time to prep beds the pqst severt weeks then it would have. I fread the heat of summer and the inability to spend much time outdoors and being cooped up n the house. Linda
sharbear50
14 years ago
Mark h37, do you have a picture. I would like to try this for next year.
johnjsr
14 years ago
I'll bet the cuban tree frogs took a hit.

The bright-side of this cold weather is....

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