winter – My Little Country

Well, the cold in Texas has gone away for this week, but it has been replaced with rain amounts that necessitate any kind of local travel to be taken in a boat. We’ve gotten over eight inches of rain in three days. Where the hell is that in August? But moving on…

As I mentioned in my last post, due to the extreme cold a week ago, I took to sleeping in a sleeping bag. I unexpectedly discovered that I actually liked it. It’s like being in a snuggly little cocoon and I never get cold. However, I did find that it’s not without negatives.

First off, absolutely don’t eat any kind of food that causes any type of gastric distress and secondly, you must remember that you are in a sleeping bag, and not under sheets. I had the bright idea (not really) of getting in my sleeping bag while on top of our definitely-taller-than-I-remember bed. All was well for the first several hours, until I was awakened by our budgie peeping his head off and I tried to get out of bed, forgetting that my legs (and body and arms) were well-encased in an enclosed nylon sack. In one quick second, powered by nylon’s amazing “slide-i-ness” property, my entire body shot off the side of the bed like a just-popped champagne cork. I landed on the floor with a sound that could have been best described as “the ceiling collapsing and falling on the floor” (at least, that’s what my husband said). My knee and upper thigh took the full impact and somehow my knee was perfectly skinned even though I landed on a rug wearing a long pair of flannel pants and still wrapped in my bag.

Fortunately, I pretty much only bruised my pride and other than the skinned knee, I was fine. I wish I could say that I learned my lesson, but I still craved sleeping in my bag and tried it on the bed again a few days later.

Some people never learn.

Here’s our hottest piece in the 2024 Late Winter Collection! This gorgeous ensemble is available in two color combinations: Leaden Skies/Frozen Eggplant and Glacial Pool/Frostbitten. You’ll be sure to be the talk of the town when you flaunt this sassy number! Pairs well with woolen socks or Uggs.

Welcome to January in Texas, where it’s 70 degrees on a Saturday and 18 on a Monday. A magical and wonderful place where there were bell peppers growing up until this past week and today it looks like a frozen tundra. It’s supposed to be a blistering -1 with the wind chill tonight. I don’t mind it getting cold, but negative digits? Even temps in the teens are rare here, thank God, or at least they WERE up until 2021. Now we’ve seen them almost every year since. Anyhow, I’m now laid up on the couch, swaddled in sherpa, flannel, microfleece, and F-Uggs (fake Uggs). Last night I decided to play “camp out” and sleep in our living room. I got into camping equipment a few years back and decided to break it out and give it a trial run.

If you’ve ever tried sleeping on an air mattress in cooler weather, you will have quickly learned that it will suck the heat right out of your body like a straw. So, for this experiment, I tried out my Klymit Double V sleeping air pad (see pic below)

and combined it with some camping quilts from Sam’s and a Kelty Mistral 20 degree women’s sleeping bag. I also got to try out my Flextail Ultra mini air pump that I bought in December of 2022 when I was in a flu-induced semi-psychotic state while laying in the sun on our front porch floorboards. Note to self: Disable my Amazon account when I have a fever of 102 degrees or more. I cannot be held responsible for purchases made under these conditions.

Anyway, the good news is that everything performed beautifully and I wouldn’t hesitate to take all of stuff on a chilly camping expedition. Now for the bad news…

If you’ve lived in Texas for any time at all, you will come across cowboy wisdom-isms…usually on a t-shirt or some sort of decorative wall plaque or magnet. One of those sayings is “Don’t squat with yer spurs on.” And after last night, I have another. “Don’t sleep in a sleeping bag after you have eaten two bowls of broccoli soup.” Please trust me on this. You do NOT wanna do this to yourself or to the ones you love.

Let’s chat about more pleasant things, though. Though this season is fairly blah in the garden and outdoors, there are still beautiful things around. One of the best things is firewood, and a heck of a lot of it. We brought up a lot for this storm and put it on the porch. Side note: Jason and I made grapevine wreaths and swags this spring, and then I gathered the yarrow you see here and made this wreath. You can’t tell, but it’s painted a deep gold with some gold glitter.

Purty Thangs:

So what grows in the garden in early January? Well, a lot, actually. Here is some Waltham broccoli (transgressor!!!). I won’t be planting it again. Not due to its effects, but because it didn’t form very good heads. I’ll go back to Packman if I can find it.

In this bed, which my daughter grew, we have Japanese red giant mustard greens, curled kale, snow peas, Dutch cabbage and Swiss chard.

Here’s one I haven’t tried yet: savoy cabbage. If it survives this stint in the deep freeze, I can’t wait to try it!

Here’s a closer look at that red mustard! It’s so pretty in the garden.

Next are some Asian greens that have just decided to replant themselves. I think it’s Chijimasai greens from Baker Creek, but they could be hybridized by now. Either way, they are delicious and laugh off the cold weather.

Last peppers of the season! It was a terrible drought year in ’23, so I wasn’t surprised that the peppers kinda sucked for fall/winter. Usually I get TONS in November and early December. Oh well. I am excited about the persimmons, too. They are delicious and seedless! Hachiya…that’s the variety.

Last of all was a view from today at our local lake. Anyone fancy a Polar Plunge?

Now, dear readers, it’s time for me to feed the fire and finish up dinner. One item which will definitely NOT be on the menu tonight is what I’m now dubbing “Toot Soup”. It was an experimental concoction that I dare not repeat.

I’m hoping that you all are staying warm, friends!