Baby It's Cold Outside

Yes, it is! We've lucked out and the nasty sleet and snow has missed us down here - so far. But it is COLD and windy. The old lady can't take it. It takes my breath and makes my chest hurt. So I have been staying pretty close to home these days. Thank God for my computer, which makes me feel as if I haven't been isolated. But they keep telling us we're going to get snow tomorrow, so I did go around the corner to the hardware store this morning to get some ice melt. I'll need that if my handicap ramp is coated with ice. Otherwise I can't even go out for my mail.


It hasn't been all that long yet, but I know that it won't be much longer before I start getting cabin fever. I don't like being cooped up indoors. and I want to get out with my camera. I keep thinking of all the places I'd like to be to take pictures. It gets a little weird as I try to come up with shots I can take inside the house or from the windows. Not taking pictures is not an option. It's what I do.


This is when I start thinking of things to complain about. For instance - Why, when I type in some word for a tag or label to my post, does Blogger feel compelled to add words to it? I just typed in "cold". Blogger decided I meant "Cold Spring Village". If I type in "Isaac" Blogger will invariably turn it into "Call from Isaac". Then I have to (assuming that I've noticed what they have done) stop and delete the unwanted words. I pick on Blogger a lot, don't I?


So, have you planned your garden for next spring? I have received garden catalogs in the mail already. And yes, I have already sat and circled all the lovely things I'd like to buy from the catalog. Not that I will send for all those things. My initial perusing of the catalog involves ALL the things I would like, and has no relation to the size of my garden or my own capabilities. I've circled everything from ground cover right up to blue spruce trees, and from carrots and squash to giant phlox and holly hocks.


My daughter called me today from California. She's thinking of putting in a winter garden. I envy her the California climate. She had sent me some seeds along with my Christmas present, and I couldn't identify some of them. I knew that the great big brown "magic beans" were scarlet runner beans - even though the ones I have harvested from my vine were miniatures compared to these. But I couldn't identify the others. Turns out - she can't name them either. They are from something she doesn't know the name of but says she will send me pictures of the pretty, fuschia colored flowers. I'm sure I will enjoy them. I'm also sure they will not grow nearly so big and beautiful as hers, because nothing grows in New Jersey the way it does in California. Everything there is larger than life. That's why my scarlet runner is never as glorious as hers, and its beans are so much smaller. We may be the "Garden State", and we do produce some fantastic flowers and vegetables. But we will never really compete with the west coast. I have sometimes had to ask her what certain flowers are there, only to be told its name and been amazed that it is the same flower I have grown, but in California it looks so different.


I think most of my gardening next spring will be done in containers. They are much easier for me to manage now. But I will try to get very large containers and lots of good, rich potting soil. For now, I think I'll go take a nap and dream of my wonderful garden to be.