Cold Belonged to Christmas
In the flicker of the candlelight one could see a neat little frosty cloud in front of every mouth. From under the choir loft, where the confessional stood, one could hear the shuffling of hobnailed boots and also, eventually, the rubbing of hands and the feeble attempts to keep warm when it was below zero outside with yard-long icicles growing from the church roof.
But cold belonged to Christmas as heat to the haying days. This was as it should be and no one gave it a thought.
Maria Augusta Trapp The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
The cold weather has finally arrived. Here in Ohio, winters can be severe or mild. Some years we have really cold winters with lots of snow, other years it’s just dreary and rainy; this year as been the latter. I’m certainly glad the cold weather is here as I love bundling up to head out for walks. For me, one of my favorite things during cold weather is pulling on those knee high wool socks. Lucky for me, I got a few new pairs of SmartWools for Christmas, just in time for the cold weather. All my other wool socks have developed holes and were getting a little threadbare.
For some reason I feel like the cold weather is cleansing, not just for the garden but for me as well. I’m happy it’s finally cold!
What’s your favorite piece of warm weather wear for those cold weather days: scarf, socks, hat, gloves…?
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Quote of the Day: Francis C. Farley
“Instead of being a time of unusual behavior, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself.”
~Francis C. Farley
Merry Christmas from Chiot’s Run
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Here Comes Suzy Snowflake…
“To appreciate the beauty of a snow flake,
it is necessary to stand out in the cold.”
-unknown
Yesterday about noon the snow started flying here at Chiot’s Run. It happened at the perfect time, as I was working on my Christmas cards. Not too long before the sun went down I grabbed my camera and headed out into the cold to capture the first snowfall of the season!
“The Sweets” aka the feral garage cat, doesn’t come out of the garage much unless she hears or sees us out. She’s really missing having me in the garden a lot during the day. Whenever she hears the door open, she appears in a flash and is rubbing on my legs legs to get some attention, so much for being feral right! Everywhere I went yesterday, there she was, right behind me. As you can see by the second photo, she got some of Miss Mama’s green in her eyes!
Mr Chiots was hunting all day in the neighbor’s woods behind our house and he came home while I was out. I managed to sneak a photo of him all dressed up in his warm woolen layers. He’s off to the family hunting cabin today to meet his cousin, who’ll be deer hunting for the first time – wish them luck!
I’m happy to have it on the ground as long as the cold weather sticks around. Nothing brightens up a dull dreary winter day more than some beautiful white snow. Not to mention, I need to make up for all those white Christmases I missed while growing up in South America!
Do you get snow in your area?
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Everything Was Damp and Gray
Everything was damp and gray in the moment between fall’s rich color and winter’s severe elegance.
Robin Mather from The Feast Nearby
This week has pretty much summed up this quote, it’s been raining, and raining, and raining some more. Then it turned to damp snow and ice, and then more snow. Lots of wet weather to signal that change between fall and winter.
I still love how interesting everything is in the garden this time of year. And now that I’m feeling better I was inspired to throw on my wellies and get out to get a few photos of the garden before the big snows arrive. Here’s what I saw in my garden on Monday.
I can tell that winter is fighting with fall and it will soon win. The air is starting to get the crispness to it and there’s a noticeable lack of smell when you go outside, except for the faint scent of woodsmoke.
Has winter arrived in your garden yet? What weather predominates for you right now?
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Quote of the Day: Nigel Slater
The seed catalogs have become an annual source of inspiration, information, and temptation. Winter afternoons are often spent thumbing through seed pamphlets and trawling internet sites before putting in my order for violet-colored beans and fire-cracker red chilis. It is almost impossible not to get carried away. You could do worse than follow my habit of writing out your wants list in the late afternoon, then taking a red pencil to it the next day. A night’s sleep can often induce a reality check.
Nigel Slater Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch
It has begun. The first seed catalog arrived in my mailbox earlier this week from High Mowing Seeds. Usually I don’t see one until a few weeks from now, like most things it gets earlier and earlier each year. I have yet to order from High Mowing Seeds, though I will this season. They carry seeds for ‘Roxy’ lettuce which I found at the local farmer’s market and really loved. That’s one of the great reasons to shop at your local farmer’s market if you’re a gardener; you might find great new varieties that will do well in your area.
I’ve still been feeling a bit under the weather from that cold that I picked up in Cincinnati and I’m not quite back to 100% yet. The worst part is that when you’re feeling bad your creativity goes out the window. When you have to be creative for your job, it makes everything really difficult. It’s been tough to keep the blog posts coming every day here on Chiot’s Run for the last two weeks and I apologize if they’ve been a little less than exciting and a little light in the photo area.
I haven’t been taking photos because I haven’t been feeling well. Usually I take between 25-100 photos each day, I’ve only taken 20 photos in the last 14 days – that tells you how I’m feeling. I dusted off my camera yesterday to take photos for this post and felt like my creativity was coming back. It’s still not quite back to “normal”, but enough to come up with a little something interesting for this post.
This seed catalog will get shelved with the others that arrive until January. I simply cannot make myself think about planning the garden and ordering seeds for 2012; there’s still too much to do in the garden and around the house for the holidays. Also, I’m still really tired and worn out from being sick.
Have you received your first seed catalog yet?
