Brrr !!!

Here we are cozily in our little cottage awaiting another cold front, and this one is colder than the last one we had. Right now at 7:15 p.m. it is 49 and feels like it is 37, because of the wind that we are experiencing. It has been horribly windy all day long. We are not used to this kind of weather. :-) It used to be cold like this when we were kids, but through the years it got warmer. Last year was our first really cold winter in a long time. Here we are having colder temps even earlier this year than last. Tonight the expected low is 28 and with the wind, will feel like it is 14. I did not cover any plants, I did bring some plants inside, but that's it. We are more or less protected by privacy fencing and hedging. ~ We just went outside to move my potted bay tree to a more protected area.

I want to thank all of you who left comments about our Christmas tree and decorations. The only ornament that I made in the pictures on the tree was the red crocheted piece with flowers. The other hand made ornaments were from others. The little ballerina my late MIL made in a porcelain class that she took. This is one of my favorite ornaments. She also made the lace angel hanging over the arch that leads to the Nativity and Heavenly Host area. Twelve of the ornaments along the ceiling are DH's from when he was living at home. Mr. and Mrs. Lion were the last two ornaments given to us by DH's mom before she passed away. DH made the creche. Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the three wisemen and the donkey and cow, are little mud figures made in Spain, that we bought when we lived there in the early70's. I always go out and pick rosemary to put in the creche, as rosemary is for remembrance. In the silver s & p shakers at the front of the creche we have frankincense in one and myrrh in the other. The foil star in the shelf of angels was made by us as newlyweds in Spain. I got the idea to hang ornaments along the ceiling many, many years ago. I went around the ceiling with little brads and hammer in hand, placing the nails about 4" apart. I use Christmas tree hooks to hang them.

Today we did errands and one of our stops was Home Depot. We stopped at their Christmas tree display to see if they had any trimmings. DH had seen some the other day. I asked the salesperson there if they were free and he said yes, so I took a couple of nice smelly branches, thanked him and wished him a merry Christmas and we continued on our way. They do smell nice.

I made two loaves of Avocado Bread today, like zuchinni bread, only made with mashed avocados. I'll let you know how they taste. They smelled yummy while baking. Tomorrow I want to make banana bread, using up three ripe bananas.

Ok, before I fall asleep here at the keyboard, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The first three are Dainty Bess.









These next two are La Marne.






Confederate rose is next.






Here we have St. Vincent's Lilac.



And last but not least, tiny orchids, which are now indoors until the cold weather is past.



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If we had no winter,

the spring would not be so pleasant:

if we did not sometimes taste of adversity,

prosperity would not be so welcome.

Anne Bradstreet

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Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL