It has been getting colder through the week, which one might expect in October. Last Tuesday though, the temperature reached 27C, and humidex was 34C. It was summer’s last gasp. So here we are, just a few days later with out first frost.
This morning when I arose at 5:45 a.m., I am an early riser, the thermometer outside the kitchen window read -2C. The colours in the yard, and on the rooftops, were muted white, with a thick layer of frost.
Attila covered up the garden last night with yards and yards of plastic sheeting, purchased specifically for this purpose. Since the weather reports indicate that the night time temperature will not drop below 5C again for the next two weeks, it is hoped that the garden would be protected from frost damage, and carry on for another few weeks.
After waiting for the sun to rise and bring some warmth, Attila uncovered the plants. The cascade of tiny shards of ice from the plastic sheets, as they were removed, sparkled in the sun. The casualty list is short so far, the basil perished. The rest of the garden looks as if it survived, but we will know for sure by tomorrow, when any effects will become obvious.
Worldly
Weather
Mainly Sunny
Date: 9:00 AM EDT Saturday 5 October 2019
Condition: Mainly Sunny
Pressure: 103.3 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 5.2°C
Dew point: 4.0°C
Humidity: 92%
Wind: NE 11 km/h
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious.”
William Feather
1908 – 1976
This seems petty to me. Although I’ve observed this to be true for many people, as a morning person I have never experienced this phenomena. I do not understand it. I don’t find cheerful people with sleeping habits other than my own obnoxious; unless they prevent me from sleeping. I have to say though, I’ve never lived with another morning person, so I spend most beautiful early hours in solitude, contemplating life in the quiet of gentle morning light.
I thought plastic was not sufficient to protect plants from frost! There ya go … another assumption uprooted. -Kate
Kate, we have had great success with plastic sheets protecting our garden from frost, but only light frost, if it gets to intense, it fails. We figure it is worth a try!
Maggie: FINALLY! I have found a blog that I am totally thrilled with. I am a retired Registered Nurse, after 47 years of working. I have been retired 3 years. My husband is a retired police officer, forensic specialist, and we live in the Dallas Texas area. I think I am looking for something of a “pen pal”…..after you get to know me, I think you will understand why. I piled up in the bed, on a Saturday night, and have been reading your thoughts for the past 3 hours, and have totally enjoyed you. My
Email is : poochkas@aol.com. ( one of my dog’s names). Look forward to hearing from you….margarett
Basil plants are fragile. They don’t like the heat, either. Friends who give us one to watch while they went north won’t ask us again! The first few really hot days and that was the end of it.
They are fragile Joan! Attila topped the plant and it remains to be seen if it puts out any new growth! Unfortunately there is another frost warning tonight! Attila is out there covering everything up again, so we shall see. He did bring in a lot of green tomatoes, peppers, beans, and ground cherries, so I think he isn’t confident that the garden will keep going after this. It is an experiement.
Welcome Margarett, so glad you shared some time here, 🙂 Retirement is grand, isn’t it!
Thanks for the welcome. I look forward to getting to know you!
We had a first frost the other night, also. And last night it became seriously cold when it hit 33F/1C. (Not as bad as what you had, though.) But the last few days have been lovely, the gray skies have been banished and the deep blue is a wonderful backdrop for the gold that is now starting to creep into our trees in the front yard.
We head to the cottage on Friday afternoon to shut things down. We won’t stay the entire long weekend, I’ve found I don’t enjoy cooking Thanksgiving dinner without my full kitchensworth of supplies.
I will miss the warm days we spent there, even though we had almost no beach to enjoy until we got to September. (The water was too high.)
We are finally getting a break with our heat here in Texas….high today is 80! Then a couple of warm up days, then cooler for the weekend. I finally cleaned out my closet yesterday. Many of my clothes no longer fit and most have not been worn since my retirement, 3 years ago this September. Most of my 47 year nursing career was in management, so most of the clothes were business suits, etc. It was quite a chore, and Mike took 6 large bags to Good Will. I had never had any health issues, other than a couple of catastrophic falls until October 3 years ago. I won’t describe here the entire story but it has been a nightmare. I am 5’11”, and my weight dropped to 104. I am now right at 125 and don’t look like death warmed over. Needless to say, I ain’t what I used to be!..
I will be hugging the heating pads and resting the back today, and get some reading done. I may try to work on my daughters Afghan….almost done-working on the border now. In the past, I could crochet all day long. Now I have to break it up in 30-45 minute sessions. I do not care for TV; but I have read over 800 books since retirement. I had always preferred the real books; now, I use my Kindle App on my tablet. I know I was born in the wrong century….I prefer late 1800’s- 1930’s. Just the fashion alone makes my head spin. But how in this world the women wore the clothes without AC….I will never understand. I hope you don’t mind my rambling on and on. BTW, does your site allow attachments? My gardening love is my back deck and yard. Maybe I can share some thru email? Take care my new friend.
Teri, we seem to get your weather a few days later, lol. The trees in our neighbourhood are not showing much colour, just turning brown, but there are spots that are colourful leaves to enjoy.
Wishing you wonderful weather for your last visit of the season to your cottage. I know what you mean about cooking a Thanksgiving dinner without a full kitchen. Once I prepared a Thanksgiving dinner at my cottage, many years ago, for 20 people. I baked all the pies and desserts at home and brought them with me in coolers, and cooked the entire main course turkey dinner with fixins on the small electric stove in the cottage. The tables were two 4 x 8 sheets of plywood and we managed to seat everyone. It was great fun, but I only did that once, lol.
Margarett, ramble on!
Wow, it is warm in Texas! I am a northern North American through and through, love the cooler weaher, but not the frigid weather (-20C and below). Wow, 104 is pretty lean for someone who is 5’ll”! Not a pleasant change! 125 is better, but you are still pretty lean. I can see why the Texas weather agrees with you, no body fat to keep you warm!
Attachments? To be honest I don’t know, lol. Give it a go and see if it works, if it doesn’t I’ll do some poking around and see what I can come up with.
I find that I can only comfortably crochet for about a half an hour, if I push beyond that the aches and pains kick in. My skills are still at a beginner level, but I am pretty happy sitting with my yarn work.
I love a good read too. 800 books is a lot of books! Right now I have two on the go, a large History of Great Britain volume, and a novel, Anil’s Ghost. I have to be careful buying books because once I’ve read a good book I’ve bonded with it, and it has to go on the bookshelf. I can’t give away my books! So I seldom buy them, mostly used when I do.
I too have wondered at the clothing worn by people in past centuries, how did they manage in the heat! I remember in the book, Hawaii, by James Michener, the character Jerusha is worn down by the heat and the European garb, but that is the only reference to the issue I can remember bumping into.