December 2018, Week 1

5 years ago

Hello, December, you dark, gloomy long month of short days that ends our calendar year!

Is anyone doing garden work this week? I am not. I will, however, be continuing to decorate the house for Christmas and I use lots of faux and dried florals and greenery in all the decorations. When you live in our climate and have forced-air heating, the air just stays too dry for real evergreen greenery indoors. Even beautiful fresh greenery turns brown and drops needles too quickly to be viable indoors for long. The fake greenery and the dried stuff don't look as good as living plants and fresh, real greenery but at least it lasts.

The strong winds of the last few days brought down what was left of the leaves in our trees. Between the bare, naked trees and the wheat-colored fields, suddenly it looks more like winter than ever. The herbs that have been hanging on and looking pretty good in the garden are likely to get slapped down pretty hard by the cold nights that are returning in force this week.

We've had a big wasp trying to come into the house the last few days, despite me telling it "no, no, no" over and over again. We still have moths and a few butterflies, but I haven't seen any grasshoppers lately. We also still have spiders, flies and Asian lady beetles. Don't they know it is winter time?

I noticed at Wal-Mart this weekend that a ton of holiday decorations and such had sold and they're already starting to push it into a somewhat smaller area and consolidate it. So, hopefully, the lawn and garden center will regain some shelves from the holiday madness soon and they they can start putting early season gardening supplies on the store shelves.

We do not have any snow in our forecast for this week, but we do have a slim chance of freezing rain at the end of the week. I figure some of you who are further north do have snow in your forecast for late in the week. Right? Maybe it stays mostly west. Who knows what will happen. I love snow but don't know that I'm really ready for it to feel quite that wintery yet.

We finished getting the lights up on the exterior of the house. The Christmas trees in the mudroom and living room are up and fully decorated, which took many, many hours and some 'help' from the grandkids. Other areas that get tabletop displays and such are decorated as well. I still need to do a few holiday-type decorating things, but I think I'll finish them tomorrow or the next day. Maybe then I can spend more time looking at the seed catalogs and figuring out what I want to order.

December is not my favorite month. The days are so short and just keeping getting shorter and shorter.....it already feels like it gets dark far too early. Of course, the good thing is that January follows December and we usually can start planting some things (indoors or out, depending on your geographical location) in January.

I've been carrying the pots of amaryllis bulbs out each day to get some sun, and then back in at night. That's about to end with this new cold weather. I'll probably move them to the sunroom and just hope the cats don't destroy them.

Have a great first week of December everyone.

Dawn

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luvncannin

5 years ago

We got snow

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Comments (36)

hazelinok
5 years ago
I like December. But, one month of December a year is enough.

I'm pretty sure there's things I want to comment on from the other thread. I'll look tomorrow. I have the day off. THANK GOODNESS. This weekend has been nuts! From shopping for and setting up for OMEA on Friday to working it all day on Saturday...I'm doing good to walk upright today. Wore comfy shoes to work today and then took a 2 HOUR nap. It was good. Had the first holiday party of the year tonight. It was fun, but I'm happy to be home.

No gardening news. The lavender and the red bee balm STILL smell good...and I enjoy it as I'm walking around in the areas they are planted.

Here's (one of) my favorite December videos. I like the "gardeny" type of theme. Such a pretty song and interesting video. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkOKCWDJ4iA
okoutdrsman
5 years ago
No actual gardening going on here, either! Once I get caught up on game processing, I need to start cleaning it up tho. That and start hauling compost and mulch!

Asplundh delivered another load of chips! This one was about twice the size of the first. The first truck I guess is one they use for training for drivers to get their CDL and had load restrictions. Oh well, I'll take'em all! Rough guesstimate, I'd say I have 12-15 cubic yards piled up ready to spread as mulch or use it to mix in and compost.

Still working on the grow list for next year. I started out thinking I was going to grow tomatoes and onions for a friend that has a small farm over by Seminole. He was looking for ways to offset the risk of crop failure for his CSAs. I guess they've decided to go a different direction with their farm, so that plan changed. Fortunately I hadn't reached to point of spending any money toward it.
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December 2018, Week 2
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Nancy, I knew y'all would be amused by my decision to make salsa. It isn't making it that I find so difficult---it is the struggle to get all the canning done in addition to all the summertime gardening chores, all in the endless summer heat---especially since my kitchen faces the west. Being able to make the salsa in autumn or winter is so much nicer. Also, it comes down to quantity. I made only about a third of what I used to make, so before I had time to get tired and burned out, I already was done. Anyway, it just didn't feel like Christmas without counters and tables covered with gift bags containing jars of salsa. So, now that I have cluttered up the house with gift bags (we buy them in lots of 100 online from U-line) and jars of salsa, it feels like Christmas. Like it or not, and on hot summer days I kinda hate it, this has become our tradition. 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To me, there's something that is just so nice and cozy about spending chilly, cloudy, rainy winter days indoors in the kitchen, cooking or baking with Christmas lights twinkling on the tree, and elsewhere. Even when the dogs are grabbing ball-shaped Christmas ornaments and running off with them, and the cats are attacking everything on the tree, it still just.....feels like Christmas. Oh, and when I was making salsa all day, I didn't even have to run the furnace because the hot, steamy kitchen was heating up the whole house. I didn't even realize how hot and steamy the house was until I went outside around 5 pm to feed the deer and birds (and squirrels and coons and possums and whoever else shows up....) their dinner. It was windy and chilly, but not rainy that day, and I did wear a coat. When I walked back into the house, I was stunned at how hot and steamy it was just from the day-long salsa canning operation. The difference between the indoor air and outdoor air reminded me why summer canning is so miserable.... Rain makes our cats and dogs crazy. It is almost like they want to go out even more than usual because it is raining and they can't. They drive me crazy with whining and fussing and sitting at the door and wanting to go out into pouring rain. We had mostly light bands of the rain, not the heavier ones that hit y'all, so we only have about 1.6" in our rain gauge, which is plenty since we just had good rainfall last week as well. We have nothing but mud again. I guess winter mud season has begun. The wind has been pretty rough. I think our highest recorded wind gust was only about 41 mph or something, so we never got the drastically higher wind, but even wind speeds in the 30s and 40s create quite a brutal wind chill. Jen, Our dogs are the worst beggars when I'm baking. I guess the aromas drifting out of the kitchen fire up their appetites. I bet you will be busy with extra dogs during the holiday season. There's a pet boarding facility in our county and two of my friends used to work there. They always were insanely busy during holiday periods. It is so nice of you to make puppy gift bags. Jennifer, I'm glad y'all were able to cross getting Ethan a replacement vehicle off your list and now have one less thing to worry about. Traffic was brutal here too. We got paged out to a couple of wrecks yesterday, but the worst wrecks were well north of us, including a double-fatality crash in the evening where 3 VFDs had to extricate two people, both in critical condition, from the wrecked vehicles in addition to the one who didn't survive the impact. It was so horrible, and to think that two families lost loved ones this close to the holidays is just so sad. Hopefully the other patients recover well from their injuries. It is astonishing how many more car wrecks there are when it rains, and a crash like that can change families' lives in an instant. Chris just drove in from Dallas this morning, and told me a few minutes ago that he was battling strong winds in the rain all the way home, so the highways must have had one of those strong bands of wind and rain over them at the time he was driving. It doesn't seem that bad here at the house, but we are in a low-lying area and have acres and acres of trees serving as wind blocks, so I think we don't feel the wind as much here at home, at least sometimes. We did have thunderstorms, which seems odd for December, but our weather is nuts so that doesn't even surprise me that much. I'd say name the chicken whatever makes you happy. But.....sometimes pet names can sound ridiculous to other people. We once had a dog named Biscuit (Chris names him after Limp Bizket) and then got another dog named Honey. When they were out running on the property and I was out calling their names wanting them to come home, it sounded like I was calling my breakfast to come in, i. e. "Honey! Biscuit!" Both are long gone now, and since then I've been more careful about giving animals names that sound like food. Well, except for Pumpkin. He was orange so that name was just a natural for him. Your young roo will realize he is in charge in late winter or early spring when it is time for him to fertilize the girls' eggs so y'all can have chicks if you choose to let the hens set on eggs and hatch them. It is a hormone thing. I am sure it must be triggered by daylength or something once a rooster reaches a certain age. Trust me, he'll turn into Mr. Macho Man when he realizes he rules the roost and that the rest of the chickens are his harem. From that point forward, he'll have an attitude and he will be so proud to show off his boss-man attitude. He might develop a lot of swagger that borders on being obnoxious. We'd had a few roosters over the years who thought they'd spur every human who walked into the coop or the chicken run once the spring season had begun. Generally I could put a halt to the constant spurring by whacking a rooster once or twice (not hard, just enough to get its attention) with the broom. Once you establish that the rooster is not allowed to spur people, life gets much easier. It's all good, though, because once he reaches that point, he'll be a rock-solid protector of his girls, herding them together underneath shrubs or trees, for example, when hawks are flying over. He'll also fight fiercely to protect them. I agree that it can be hard to keep things looking nice when you have indoor pets. It is a constant struggle, but one that we willingly endure because we love both our home and our animals. I feel like I'm constant mopping up pet paw prints, wiping up assorted messes (we should own stock in Chlorox Wipes), and sweeping up/vacuuming up pet hair. It is never-ending. For as much hair as the cats and dogs shed constantly, I have no idea why they are not bald. I have nothing gardening-related, other than that first bloom on the first amaryllis has opened and it is solid white and so very pretty. I placed the amaryllis pot on a shelf in front of a black chalkboard today so the white flower stands out like crazy in front of the chalkboard. That plant has two blooming stalks, each of which normally produces 3 or 4 flowers over a period of weeks, and now a third stalk is arising from the bulb and will produce at least one flower bud. It is an oddly shaped bud, like someone sliced the top off (though it is intact) and gave it a flat-top haircut, so to speak. It will be interesting to see if that bud produces a normal flower. The next plant to bloom is one that has produced only one flower stalk so far. I had the four year old this morning while Chris went to Dallas and back again, and beginning tonight, we'll have both girls for the weekend while Chris and his girlfriend both work. We have lots of fun holiday activities planned and they are excited. It is hard for the little one to understand how much longer she has to wait for Christmas to get here. Every time she comes into the house, she asks if today is the day to open presents. By now, she should know that the answer is 'No'. Today she informed me that she needs a new baby doll because the two dolls she has here at the house "need" a little sister. I personally feel two baby dolls underfoot are plenty. Anyhow, our holiday shopping for her is all done already and I have no desire to fight the crowds to do more shopping. I'm grateful it rained. There were some pretty big fires (800+ acres) yesterday in parts of western OK that had the wind gusts in the upper 50s but no rain. Those of us who received rain could have had the same wildfire issues if we had remained dry. As annoying as the constant rain can be while it is falling (I feel like those rain bands have been circulating over us for days and days, and it really has been only two days), it is good to get the rain after the plants have frozen and are brown, crispy and ready to burn. After today/tonight, we get some better weather for a few days so that will be nice. I miss the sun when it is not shining and visible. Dawn
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Nancy RW (zone 7)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Well, rats. Just lost my post. As I was saying, I'm not fond of January. February has always been my least favorite month, up north, and now down here. The rest of the months are okay. hahaha. December, although I don't typically decorate the house, it's fun to think I might at some point. Same with baking. Especially cookies for neighbors. That's almost as good as actually doing it, right? I really really think I may make a few fruitcakes. Honest. Found a super duper good-looking recipe that makes the fruitcake look like a real health food--prunes, dates, raisins, raisins, baby raisins (currents), orange zest and juice, glace cherries, candied citrus peel, chopped toasted pecans. Sounds like health food to me! I'll report back if any of this actually happens.

Jennifer--that was interesting; and kind of lovely. Thank you for sharing!

Yes, on the bee balm and lavender. I have both out in the center bed and when I was weeding out there and gathering the leaves, I got giant smells from both--AND the fennel, and the lemon balm and oregano and rosemary. I brought the Tuscan Blue rosemary inside for the winter. Although our house is SO dark we can't have any plants in it, I had an aha moment last year. Duh. I have 2 sets of 8' fluorescent lights in the cat/art/quilt room, and so now it is also a plant room. The cats, thankfully, haven't messed with the plants in there.

PROBABLY no real gardening this week. Cold at night for now. . . 22-25. But at least now I'm getting excited about winter-sowing and ordering the few seeds I need.

One of our neighbors from down the way stopped to warn us that someone went through all the mailboxes the past couple nights. For us, it's not a big issue, since we're here all day--but it's a huge issue for those who are gone during the day. Sure enough, just noticed our mailbox door was down. And see the deputy driving through the neighborhood.
jlhart76
5 years ago
Our department christmas party is Wed, so I need to run by the thrift store tonight and find a gift (our theme this year is thrift store/recycled, so I'm not just being cheap.) Then I need to make some sort of cookies/candies, part for it, part for us, and part for church. We adopted the elementary school in our neighborhood and will be doing a gift basket for the teachers. Since I'm asking everyone else to bring stuff, I better bring some, too. Right?

No gardening other than watering the stuff I brought inside. Some has gone dormant, which Cliff keeps asking why I have "dead weeds" in the house. Going through my seeds to see what I have to share & what I want to grow next year. Then I'll have to narrow it down to what I can realistically grow in the space I have.
slowpoke_gardener
5 years ago
Nancy, that sounds a lot like the fruitcake mom use to make. I started to order a couple of fruitcakes from the link that Dawn posted. When I ask Madge about buying the cakes she said that she would like to make one like mom ( I really think it is too much work ) , but we will see.

I have not done much to the garden. I still have a lot of clean up work to do. I still have turnips, I dont know how good they are now. I have sweet potatoes plants growing in the house even though they are not getting enough heat or light . I hope to have slips by next spring.

December is the worse month for me. I feel like we worship a fat man and a bag of toys. There is nothing wrong with giving gifts, but the best gift we can give anyone is our time and our love.
Nancy RW (zone 7)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Larry. . . I'm gonna do it! Here's a link to the one I'm doing. Look--only 2 hrs 45 minutes for prep and cooking. (45 min for prep). https://www.rockrecipes.com/old-english-fruitcake/ Looks yummy!. Amen to the best gift we can give, but I like December for that reason. It's a chance to give to those who need it most. And it's a chance to pay it forward randomly.

I have a feeling my clean-up is done for about 3 months. It's clean enough. If we have an occasional warm-enough day, I will continue to distribute straw, wood chips and whatever else I can in the beds.

Now I just got myself all hyped up about baking. I decided I'll make cookies for all our kids and mail them off. How un-Nancy-like. But it will be so much fun. I DID bake Christmas cookies off and on for years, AND make Christmas candy--divinity, fudge, toffee, penuche, peanut brittle, the works. Bet bunches of you did, too.

The Seed Savers and Baker Creek catalogs just showed up. Wow. Wow! Pretty to look at, huh?! Still will get most of my stuff from SESE, Seed Savers, Pinetree. . . . . .
luvncannin
5 years ago
I had a letter at PO I had to go sign for. I was sweating I thought wonder what that could be...

My okra seeds from Panama! I am going to grow it alone next year so no crossing. Then I will have lots of seed to share.

I got Johnny's cat today :)
okoutdrsman
5 years ago
Two more loads of wood chips!
hazelinok
5 years ago
Maybe I should sign up again for chipdrop.

Hi Everyone.
slowpoke_gardener
5 years ago
Nancy, thanks. I think the cake sounds great, but I think Madge will try one a little less involved.
okoutdrsman
5 years ago
Jennifer, I would certainly sign back up! I did!

You don't have to create a new account, just log into the existing one go through and make any changes if any.

I visited with Chris Webster of Providence farms, yesterday. Almost two hours in the cold and spitting snow! I love what the small farms are doing by providing a better option when it comes to quality foods. I only wish I had the time and energy to set up and do something similar!

We've been so busy, we haven't done much in the way of decorating. The tree is up, but we are waiting until all four grandkids can be here to do the actual decorating. Hopefully this weekend!
hazelinok
5 years ago
Okay. I'm signed up again for Chip Drop, Bruce. I already had the account so it was easy.

Did you visit Providence Farms, Bruce? Or see Chris out somewhere. I also wish I had the time and energy....

Kim, seeds are always exciting! It's like an early Christmas present!

Larry and Nancy, I've never made fruit cake. Maybe I should try it.

Jen, I hope you have fun at your party today. I like the thrift store idea! We've also adopted a school in the neighborhood behind our church. Lots of poverty in that particular school, so we take things for a "Christmas Store". The kids and parents can shop for gifts to give each other. We have had an overwhelmingly amount of participation..and a wide variety of items for all age groups. Excited about this.

My cats were fired up this morning. Pretty sure 5 ornaments were knocked off the tree and a lower branch is bent...maybe beyond all hope of being made right again. My new tree skirt wadded up to one side. Sigh. I don't dare place any wrapped gifts under the tree. That's IF I had gifts to wrap (and place under the tree). I still haven't shopped yet. Hoping to get that started this weekend. Sure hope we don't have bad weather. No time for that.
slowpoke_gardener
5 years ago
Hazel, Madge is mixing up her fruit cake now. You should have seen her face when I ask her to save a small muffin size mixture to put some pepper jelly in. She put in a table spoon of brandy, but in my opinion that is not enough, and I would jut like to see what the pepper jelly will do to a little piece of the cake.

At one time I had trouble with the Christmas tree and presents being attacked by kids and a dog. I installed a small electric fence to keep the dog out of the presents and from tearing up the tree, it worked pretty good with the kids also.
slowpoke_gardener
5 years ago
I just tried some of the fruitcake mix with pepper jelly, it was okay, but was expecting it to be better. I need to try something to add a little heat without the pepper whang to it.
Rebecca (7a)
5 years ago
4-8” of snow for this area Saturday. Yuck, but I know it’s good for the soil.

Would it be a good idea for me to keep up my squirrel battle during the winter?
hazelinok
5 years ago
Oh please! Let us not have bad roads this weekend. I need to get stuff done.

So...about the cats. I put a few drops of orange EO and citronella EO in the squirt bottle. The cats aren't enjoying the smell. I think the smell is lovely.

I NEED to have cats in my house and I NEED to have a Christmas tree...so must find a way for it to work.
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
5 years ago
It sounds like everyone is very busy, even if not exactly busy with gardening.

I've got almost the whole house decorated, or at least the entire downstairs....every single room has a tree in it, though most of the trees apart from the mudroom tree and living room tree are just 2' tall tabletop trees. I decorated the staircase railing yesterday as well as Tim's office and just have a little bit left to do in the kitchen, which is my project for tomorrow. Every flat surface has some sort of Christmas display on it, and it looks awesome! I will love it for the next couple of weeks, and then I'll start getting tired of it all and will start looking forward to the holiday being over so I can pack it all away until next year. I know this because it happens every year. : )

Today I had a sick husband at home (I think it is just a cold) and a sick grandchild (seems most likely her issue is allergies) and one healthy grandchild (one grandchild cannot be left behind if the other one is coming here) so I did not, technically, achieve anything except keeping everyone warm, hydrated, fed, entertained and medicated as needed. Tomorrow I'll do the projects I had planned to do today. I did have President George H. W. Bush's funeral on the TV, but didn't hear as much of it as I had hoped because somebody in the house was talking nonstop pretty much the whole time.

The nights are so cold (24 here this morning despite the fact that we are so very far south), but the days still are warming up into the 50s. However, there is a chill in the air, even in the 50s, that wasn't there before....so it is almost like that chill is a warning that the colder air is headed our way....and soon. Fifty degrees with a chilly wind just doesn't feel as good as 50 degrees without that wind.

The first amaryllis plant is trying to bloom far too early. I've moved it to a darker, cooler corner and am trying to slow it down a little bit---the flower stalks are not tall at all yet and I don't want for the flowers to bloom practically in the soil.

Rebecca, As much trouble as the squirrels have given you, I think it would be worthwhile to keep up the battle with them if you can. Perhaps harsh winter weather will help you win that battle somehow.

Apparently Pumpkin is a reformed cat. He hasn't climbed the Christmas tree once yet. He just hides underneath it and watches the world go by. This is the first year he hasn't been climbing all over it and knocking it down or knocking ornaments off of it. or him, this calm demeanor is relatively new. I guess our baby cat is maturing.

Tim came inside today and told me somebody was bleeding and had tracked blood all over the mudroom, so I went looking for the source, expecting to find a grandchild, dog or cat with blood on them. Nope. It looks like some human stepped on a old strawberry I had tossed out to the chickens, squashed it with their shoe, and tracked in strawberry juice onto the floor. I cleaned it up, just relieved that nobody was bleeding. That was about the most exciting thing that happened here today.

Most of my Cyber Monday packages arrived today, so my shopping is mostly done. My plan is to go out Saturday and do the rest of the Christmas shopping, and call it 'done' and be finished with it before the weekend is over. It is a very nice plan, formulated before the weather forecast took a nose dive so I don't know if it all works out the way that I wanted.

Most of you have had a fairly firm forecast for several days and know more or less to expect snow, freezing rain, sleet, rain, ice or some combination thereof, and you know when it is coming and how much to expect. Our forecast has remained much less settled than that because our area has been forecast to sort of hover just above freezing and to stay snow, sleet and ice-free. For the last couple of days, in the mornings, there is nothing but rain in our NWS forecast for the coming storm. Then, in the evenings, they drop our forecast temperatures a few degrees and put snow and/or a mix of rain/snow into the Saturday forecast. Then, the next morning...the forecast is back to only rain again for Saturday. You just have to laugh---the instability in the forecast clearly is a sign that the models just aren't in full agreement yet. So, I have a Christmas shopping plan for Saturday, complete with a list of each store I'm going to, what I need to get there, and in which order to hit the stores (planned for maximum efficiency) and then a back-up plan that includes holiday baking and such if I find myself iced in at home. If the power goes out and I cannot bake, I have a stack of gardening catalogs to look through and lists to make and such.

Oh, and I am inclined to believe that we will be colder on Saturday and will get some ice or sleet or freezing rain or something....mostly because at night this week, we've been dropping about 3-5 degrees lower than the forecast low. If that is not a sign or a trend that sort of foreshadows what is likely to occur this weekend, I don't know what is.

The funniest thing about today? Perhaps it is that the 4 year old saw wrapped presents beneath the tree and gleefully announced "we get to open the presents today" and simply refused to believe me when I patiently told her that we were not opening presents because Christmas still is 3 weeks away. Tim told her. Her older sister told her. We might as well have not bothered speaking. She didn't like it at all. Determined to override our refusal to open presents, she decided the smallest wrapped presents were for her baby dolls (they are not, of course) and that we could at least let the dolls open their presents now. We did not. It probably would break her heart to know that there are no presents beneath the tree for her baby dolls. I'm pretty sure she thinks I've turned into The Grinch just because I wouldn't let her have Christmas today. I probably was the same way when I was four years old, but that was long ago, and I don't remember a lot about being four years old. I'm thinking I won't put any more presents under the tree until the right day arrives. You know, I do understand how impatient she feels---I feel the same way when garden planting time is almost, but not quite, here yet.
jlhart76
5 years ago
Dawn, I have the 43 year old version of that. Cliff had to buy his gift (an xbox, he had already been looking and knew where to find it at the price he thought was fair), so it's sitting in our spare room taunting him. He's somewhere between trying to convince me we should open our gifts early, and complaining that he's a grown man and shouldn't have to wait for something *he* ordered. Then he gets pouty and tells me he knows how much Christmas means to me and he'll wait. Now I understand the glee my parents felt at torturing us.

The small tree is up, strung with white lights. Cliff has asked for colored ones, so I may either re-string it or just add colored bulbs. But the majority of my ornaments are breakable, so I need to get some inexpensive plastic ones. With all the dogs we have coming through here, putting up my big tree may not be a very good idea.
Nancy RW (zone 7)
5 years ago
Dawn, LOVE the strawberry blood story!!
Nancy RW (zone 7)
5 years ago
Oh my oh my oh my. I am drowning in busy-ness. How did I ever have time to have a job??? AGGHH. I'll be back with y'all shortly in the next day or 2.
AmyinOwasso/zone 6b
5 years ago
Well, it's Thursday again, but I DID find the new thread this week.

We lost another chicken last night. No sign of her body, just a few feathers. While the dogs have figured out how to get into the pen, they were not out there at the time. They want to get to the Husky that lives behind us. That dog has 2 strands of electric fence on IT'S side of the old, rickety privacy fence, but Honey has almost made a hole from our side. The agenda for today is to fix both the wooden fence and the chicken pen fence.

After Friday, Ron has vacation till the end of the year.

I got my Christmas present yesterday (yes I ordered it.) https://www.gardeners.com/buy/deluxe-tractor-garden-scoot/40-131.html#q=scooter&simplesearch=submit&start=1

I had one, but it had no handle, you couldn't steer it, and it was heavy. This one can be pulled, the front wheels steer and the handle locks so you can use it like a cane to stand! The tool basket has drainage holes, which the other one did not. This is still heavy, but at least it has a handle to pull it around.

I'm not looking forward to the coming weather. My daughter's big Christmas party is Friday night. The youngest has National Guard duty this weekend, too. DIL works at the Hospital. I hate this time of year. Did I complain about being hot last summer? Much rather be hot than cold. Mutter, mutter, mutter.

Haven't gotten to a grow list yet. I want to winter sow perennials this year. Not that there is any place to put them.

There were things I wanted to comment on, but time to go. XOXO
shankins123
5 years ago
Success!

After the evil, marauding squirrels had their way with my garden this year (they ate ALL of my tomatoes and watermelons, dug up and ate some of my carrots, etc.), I trimmed my bushes back and managed to get this one lovely tomato, grown under heavy, heavy netting.

I pulled the bush before that first freeze and hung it upside down in my garage to ripen.

Here you find it paired with a little "cutie" so you may gauge its mammoth size.

I shall eat it on a half of a BLT :-D

Sharon
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
5 years ago
Jen, Having a husband who cannot wait for his Christmas gift is about the same as having a child who cannot wait, right? Just an older, larger child. (grin)

Almost all our ornaments are unbreakable. The few breakable ones that have survived the dogs and cats up to this point probably are living on borrowed time and are pretty old. I haven't bought breakable ornaments in years, except for the orange ones I bought at Hobby Lobby this year for the Halloween tree and later the Thanksgiving tree out in the mudroom, and I would have bought unbreakable orange ornaments if I could have found any in the stores. When I decorated that tree for Christmas, I couldn't get those glass orange ornaments into the storage box quickly enough. I think Pumpkin broke 4 or 5 of them all by himself this past autumn, which partly explains why we have so few glass ornaments overall as it is.

I have the big tree in a different location this year and it isn't quite as sheltered from the dogs as I'd like, but so far, so good. There have been years (when the cats were younger) when we wired the tree to a couple of screws in the wall to help hold it upright, but we haven't done that in several years now. It was such a PITA to have to patch the holes and tough up the repaired areas after Christmas was over and I'm relieved it hasn't been necessary lately.

In our house, if somebody wants something added to the tree after I'm finished decorating it, he is going to have to add it himself (which, believe me, he'd never do). Can't your DH just have colored lights next year?

Nancy, It was a hoot. I couldn't imagine who was bleeding, though with dogs and cats that have been outdoors, you never know. I was relieved it was only the strawberry, which the chickens apparently didn't find and eat before somebody's feet found that strawberry.

Amy, I'm sorry about the chicken. Do y'all have hawks? We have had trouble with them from time to time. Or, coons? I have found coons can be very wily and certainly are deadly to chickens.

It sounds like Ron has a nice, long vacation lined up. Y'all have had a pretty rough autumn and I bet he is ready for some rest.

I admit that I think of you every single time I see that deluxe tractor garden scoot at Gardener's Supply. I always look at it and wonder if the one you have (now I guess I should say the one you had) is as nice as that with the handle and the basket and all. I'm glad you're getting such a lovely and useful Christmas gift.

I'd be dreading the weekend weather too if we were going to get what y'all are expected to get up there. I hope that you and yours all stay safe and warm. I complain about the summer heat and the winter cold every year---the older I get, the more I want to live in a climate-controlled world even when I am outdoors. I do think the heat bothers me more than the cold, but that doesn't mean I love the cold weather or anything crazy like that. When I was younger, I'd dash outdoors for a few minutes without a coat in cold weather, but now I am careful to put on the coat, hat, gloves, boots....the whole nine yards, and I make sure I always have my phone with me in case I fall. Sometimes we get terrible medical calls where a person has fallen down outdoors (or is thrown off a horse, or knocked down by cows or whatever), is unable to get up and lies on the ground for hours before they are found. Then they have to lie there on the ground even longer while waiting for first responders to arrive and assess their injuries. Usually a broken hip, pelvis or leg is involved and whoever finds them in that condition knows they shouldn't move them. I always want to have a phone with me so I'm not that person who has to lie on the ground, injured, for hours, if anything happens. It probably would be easier to just stay indoors when there's ice, sleet, snow, freezing rain or any combination thereof, but how many of us can just put our lives on hold and sit indoors and not go out anywhere? I am dreading this cold spell and we aren't even going to get anything close to the worst of it here, unless the whole storm shifts much further south.

Sharon, CONGRATS on the tomato! I hope you enjoy every single bite of it.

is a shame the squirrels and birds make it so hard for a gardener to get a tomato crop any more. I don't have trouble with squirrels or birds with tomatoes so far (knock on wood), but they ravage the plum and peach trees so much that I'm thinking of just cutting the fruit trees down since the fruit is nothing but squirrel chow any more. The one thing that has kept me from cutting down the old fruit trees is the fear that without the fruit to steal, the squirrels might invade the garden and start stealing tomatoes. Squirrels do appear to be intelligent animals---they never, ever, ever steal any of the persimmons off the trees.

Our weekend weather forecast is so up and down and constantly changing that I don't even know what to expect any more. Well, it is going to get colder, and the odds are very high that some sort of precipitation will fall from the sky. Most likely it will start as rain here, and eventually turn into snow or sleet or freezing rain or all three even though no large accumulations are expected. It is crazy. I've tried to avoid getting too bogged down in worrying about what will fall or when, and we haven't rushed to a grocery store to buy bread, milk, bottled water or anything else. To be fair, since we shop at Sam's and CostCo, we usually are well-stocked with everything anyhow and no panic shopping is needed before a winter storm. If nothing frozen is falling from the sky on Saturday morning, then we are going Christmas shopping---obviously we'll head south and not north to go shopping. I guess our only worry will be whether we make it back home before frozen stuff starts coating the roadways. Hmmm. That could be a problem. If I wasn't so stubbornly determined to go out on Saturday, we could just wait until Sunday to go out and do the same amount of shopping, but I have had it in my head all week that Saturday is the shopping day, so there's that. I might change my mind about Saturday shopping if I wake up and ice is falling. I'm not crazy. Since we pretty much have the girls every other weekend and this is the weekend we aren't scheduled to have them, I need to get the shopping done for them while they're not here with us.

The Baker Creek catalog arrived in the Thursday mail. I didn't see that much in it that was new, but a couple of herbs caught my eye. Oh, and a couple of jalapenos. I won't even tell y'all which ones and ruin the surprise....you'll have to see the catalog yourselves and figure out what was eye-catching.

I might make salsa Friday, or on Saturday if we are snowed in/iced in but still have power. Or next week. We're down to the last 4 jars of salsa (canned in 2017) in the pantry, and that makes me feel uneasy. You just cannot let your stockpile of Annie's Salsa get too low. When I harvested onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, etc. this year, I chopped and froze them in quantities suitable for making batches of Annie's Salsa because even though I didn't spend the summer canning, I knew that the time was coming when I'd need to make us some salsa at some point.

A second amaryllis plant has begun to form its first bud. Like the first one, the flower bud is forming very low on the plant, which is just peculiar. I don't know what is wrong with them this year. I have them outdoors in the sunshine every chance I get so they ought to be gaining more height before they try to bloom. Even on a cold day, I take the time to open the drapes and place them in the sunniest window at any given time. I might even move them from spot to spot to follow the sunlight all day if I remember to do that.

In our forecast, the chance of rain for Friday really has dropped very low---20% I think, but then the chances still are high for Saturday. Thus, I'm guessing the system bringing us the wintery weather has slowed down a bit and will arrive here later than originally expected. That's probably not a bad thing unless it hits us really hard on Saturday. I haven't gone and looked at the models the last few days....but I've been enjoying watching all the TV mets from central OK posting new, rapidly-changing numbers on FB Live every day. I think it is hard for them to find the balance between letting folks know well in advance that bad weather is coming versus waiting for the models to settle down and come into better agreement. I don't pay too much attention to the weather models until we're 24 hours out from a major weather event. The one thing you can be sure of is that whatever the models are showing 5-7 days out is going to change as the event moves closer in time. I wonder if there is a single loaf of bread left in any store in central OK at this point?

Dawn
jlhart76
5 years ago
They're posting so rapidly that some aren't even bothering to check their posts. Someone posted an update that we're expecting 24" of ice. 2 feet of ice? Really??? I know typos are common, but when your job is reporting factual information, you ought to proofread.

Dawn, if anything I'll go switch out a couple of lights for colored ones. Then I can factually state that it has colored lights. But I'm too lazy to restring them (main reason it has white lights is because I bought it at a yard sale & they had eft the lights on it).

As for the heat/cold debate, I always maintain you can add extra layers but can only take off so much. But I prefer dry cold, not that fluffy white spawn of satan.
Rebecca (7a)
5 years ago
I got the BC catalogue yesterday. I was kind of underwhelmed by it. I guess most of what I’m focusing on this year is online. I’m pretty good on veggie seeds. Its flowers for me this year. I’ll probably bring a bunch to Spring Fling if we have it. Has anyone grown salpiglossis? They look fun.

My cat cat decided I needed to be awake at 4:00 this morning. I have no idea why and I did not appreciate it.
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
5 years ago
Jen, That sounds like a plan---switching out a few bulbs.

I wonder if the OKC metro TV meteorologists are too driven by ratings and maybe need to just slow down and watch the weather unfold a bit more slowly and not hype things too much in advance? I know they probably are very frustrated that so many people are furious and feel like the local TV mets let them down with an inaccurate forecast but then, all of us here in OK know that our weather is notoriously changeable and hard to predict.

I am not a meteorologist, but I told Tim all week that this storm probably would go south and miss OKC.....and, so far, it is. Really, logic dictated this would happen because whatever the models are showing for, let's say Saturday, on Sun-Mon-Tues is not what they'll be showing by Thurs-Fri-Sat. That's just how it is. The models that far out are wildly inaccurate, so it is pretty easy to look at what they are forecasting on Monday and then to figure that by Friday or Saturday the weather will be vastly different from the early model runs.

It has rained on and off all day, but only in light amounts. Of course it has....because they were predicting 2-3" for us, so naturally we won't get that. lol. We didn't get as warm as forecast (44). It literally stayed 41 degrees all day from maybe 6 or 7 am until about 5 pm when the temperatures began a slow downward trend. Slightly heavier rain is falling now, but I bet we haven't gotten even a quarter inch total yet today. We may supersede that by quite a bit before midnight. Dogs and cats stayed in all day and are immensely bored. For a while I was fearing for the Christmas tree ornaments but only two of them (non-breakable ones) were knocked off the tree by a cat. Pumpkin spent the afternoon sleeping in an empty laundry hamper. Why? I guess because he could.

Rebecca, I agree about the BC catalog. I have felt that way for years and buy less and less from them over time...much less than I used to. Partly that's because I've downsized the garden a lot the last few years, and partly it is that anything they have that is really interesting to me is....well, something I've already grown for the most part. Honestly, once a person like me has gardened their entire life, you get to the point that after decades and decades of growing stuff, there's just not really anything new much new under the sun, no matter which catalog you're looking at. Oh, and I also keep adding perennials each year so that just leaves less and less free space for anything new grown from seed each Spring. It all is good, I guess, but I miss the old, old days when I could find interesting stuff in catalogs that I couldn't wait to try. Now my attitude is more like "been there, done that".

Since it rained all day, I didn't even walk down to the mailbox to get the mail. There cannot be anything in it that is worth a walk in the cold rain.

I fed tons of birds today---just kept putting out more sunflower seeds for them in between rounds of rainfall. I hope it helps them stay warm tonight. They were voracious eaters, so I guess they feel the colder weather coming tomorrow.

Y'all stay warm and dry and safe if any of this winter precipitation finds you.

Dawn
okoutdrsman
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Jennifer, I went to Providence Farms. I was needing some pork fat to use in summer sausage and after exhausting every possible source around my area, I reached out to some friends in the OOLA group on FB. Chris had some and was kind enough to offer it up.

It's almost funny how many are upset at the meteorologist right now! Even with the equipment and training, it's still a reminder they don't control it. It wasn't until the system made landfall that they were able to make somewhat predictions and those seem to be following the course they reported.

Speaking of summer sausage, I guess I better get off here and go check the temps and see if it's ready to pull off the smoker!
hazelinok
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Bruce, glad you found your pork fat.

I'm just relived that the weather isn't going to be as bad as predicted. I do feel sorry for the groups who canceled parties and other events tomorrow because the weather predictions was so gloomy. I *felt* in my gut that it wasn't going to be as bad as they said.

Tom is smoking meat for a group tomorrow. I will hopefully go shopping. Have bought very few gifts this year so far. I'm not quite "in it" yet. Hopefully next week, the holiday cheer will find me. I'm not unhappy, I'm just back in October still.

The cats and the tree. haha. I'm keeping the vacuum next to the tree and turning it on whenever Finbar won't listen to "no".

I'm pretty sure I had some good thoughts to share about the above comments, but they've left my mind. That tomato, though, that looks good. Who is missing fresh tomatoes already? And fresh peppers? I do have frozen ones, but they aren't quite the same, are they?

Edited to say, I think that Walmart is already getting prepared for garden stuff in the "seasonal" area! The Christmas stuff is already being cleared out! What in the world?
Rebecca (7a)
5 years ago
Kim, you got what we were supposed to get.
luvncannin
5 years ago
We were supposed to get ice so I am thankful its it's just this and I have off until Monday at 5
hazelinok
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Had a scare today. Finbar went missing for over 10 hours. I had a crazy thought that maybe he went to Nancy's house. LOL. (I can only joke about this because he finally came home 20 minutes ago.) Good thing is he's tired and not tearing up stuff. I start thinking crazy stuff...like the neighbors only decided to do a bonfire tonight because they had accidentally run over him and they were trying to dispose of the evidence. Crazy, I know. I was just so worried.

That is quite a snow, Kim! I'm so glad we were able to go shopping today. It's cold but we didn't get the freezing rain. Thank GOODNESS. Ethan went to a party tonight. I'm a little worried about the roads once the temp drops to 31 or 32. Told him to go slow. All the kids are having Smash Bros parties (Or at least the dorky kids are) since the new game was released yesterday. Ethan doesn't really play video games anymore...or not very often. BUT he wanted a new system and that is what he's getting for Christmas. I'm not going to lie, I am sort of excited about it. It's been 2 or 3 years since he's wanted a video game at all. It's still not Legos or action figures, but it's a "toy". Right?

I honestly have no idea what is going on in the garden. I get little tremors of being excited about starting seeds and next year's garden. I'm still new enough that I want to try LOTS of new things...only I know it won't be this year. Just the basics...because of senior year and such. Even the basics are exciting though. And things like how I'm "improving" the soil behind the shop for a future butterfly garden. Dumping chicken poop on it daily...and bedding when the coop is cleaned out. BUT, I'm trying to be mindful of the season and not get too hyped up about the garden. I love the season and once I get past tomorrow, I think I'll be good. My solstice craft experiment pooped out tonight, so I'll probably think of something different.

And...what new tomato should I try this year? (see...it creeps in) I'll keep Early Girl and SunGold...because, well, there is no need for explanation. BUT, I do want to try a couple of others. This year it was Arkansas Traveler and Eva Purple Ball....maybe I'll try them again. They did okay. It wasn't a good year, really, for me and tomatoes. They got off to a rough start.
Nancy RW (zone 7)
5 years ago
Hahaha, HJ. Speaking of Finbar missing, tonight it's Jerry missing. Last week it was Tom. Darn cats. I know, I try not to get upset but always do. Stupid cats.

We got nothing here in the way of precipitation. Wow, Kim! I'm in a rush tonight; I'll have to catch up tomorrow. Best to you all!
Nancy RW (zone 7)
5 years ago
HJ, Jerry finally showed up 10 minutes ago. I guess he just wanted to remind us all who is really in control. Littlle sh__! He was only gone 7 hrs. Missed dinner. GDW asked if I was going to feed him, I said, heck no. If he wanted dinner, he'd have been here. LOLOL. And he didn't get dinner! Which is fine, he is definitely not underfed.
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
5 years ago
Kim, I was watching reporters from The Weather Channel reporting on your snow this morning as it was still falling, and it was so pretty. I'm glad you have the weekend off so you don't have to go out and drive in it, especially after the roads refreeze tonight. When our local TV met told us on Wed or Thurs that the models were trending further south, I started wondering who would get the snow----and it never occurred to me that it would be Lubbock.

Nancy, Lately the problem cat has been Lucky. She got stuck in the garage one day and I finally found her around 9 pm when I had walked the property calling her and was getting no response. Tim and I both had checked the garage for her previously and not found her, so I'm guessing she was either asleep or ignoring us. Maybe she just was tired of toying with us that last time so she decided to pop up near the garage door, looking at us as if to say "Me? Are you looking for me?" A couple of nights later, she still was missing at bedtime. We found her in the chicken coop. At least when she goes missing, she has found a way to get shut up securely inside a building so she's safe from the roaming wildlife even if I don't know it at the time. The other cats all come in before dark, but she was feral to semi-feral when she found us and came to live here and there's still a lot of the wild, roaming instinct in her.

Jennifer, I am so glad you found Finbar. I hate it when any of the furbabies wander off and cannot be found.

I understand your happiness that your son still wants something that could be considered a toy. You know, there is that old saying that the only difference in men and boys is the price of their toys.....

Tell us what some of your favorite tomatoes are and we can suggest varieties with a similar flavor profile.

Our Wal-mart is already pushing holiday stuff together and consolidating it on fewer and fewer aisles in order to free up space for lawn and garden stuff on at least one or two aisles. I noticed this only this morning and was glad to see it. This is the earliest I can remember them doing that. They also just this week put out a rack of children's swim suits, which we saw while shopping for hard-to-find coats and winter hats. Nowadays, American retailers seem to operate under the axiom that the early bird gets the worm.

Bruce, I'm glad you found the pork fat and hope the making of summer sausage is going well.

It rained on and off for the last 24 hours---never very heavily, but it also never really stopped. We had everything from light mist to light drizzle to light rainfall. Cold rainfall. Our low temperature this morning was 36, our high temperature this afternoon was 37 and right now it has dropped to a new low of 35. How's that for very little variation? At least the thermometers didn't have to work very hard today. We never got cold enough for snow, sleet or freezing rain, which probably was a good thing. We have about an inch of rain in the rain gauge, so we're back to muddy paw prints on the floor. Oh well, that's why God gave us mops.

We got most of our Christmas shopping done today, and basically will focus on finding stocking stuffers for everyone tomorrow. I'm relieved to be this far along in the process so early in the month.

No new gardening catalogs came in the mail today. Bummer!

Speaking of gardening activity, I saw a commercial on TV today for Golden Girl chia pets. Oh, and Bob Ross too. I might have laughed at this commercial. I am almost starved enough to be growing something that I considered buying one. lol lol lol

The yard was really pretty today. I put out lots of bird seed for all the birds (and deer and squirrels as well, apparently) and the yard was full of all kinds of birds, but especially doves, blue jays (the largest number of them I've ever seen here at one time) and cardinals. If the old southern belief that cardinals are the souls of dearly departed relatives come back to visit you is really true, then we were having a huge family reunion in our yard today.

I have noticed that our sole gingerbread house makes the kitchen smell delicious, so today I baked more gingerbread. The whole house smelled great while it was baking. I then did the only thing a bored woman could do on a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon. I ate some of the gingerbread. It tasted as good as it smelled.

That's all the news from here, and tomorrow starts a new week. It sure seems like December is flying by.

Dawn
Nancy RW (zone 7)
5 years ago
I miss ya, Dawn!

December 2018, Week 1

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