After enjoying temps in the upper 70s last week, we're looking at highs in the 50s early this week.

It was 56 degrees at midnight, but it has been 43 degrees for a couple of hours now, so we may have hit today's high temp at midnight.

The wind is blowing hard out of the north, about 15-20 mph and gusting to 30, so our wind chill is in the low to mid-30s too.

I'm already missing the warmer weather. I know it is time for the cold to arrive, but that doesn't mean I like it.

Since it clearly is too cold to work outside, I think I'll drag Tim out to finish our Christmas shopping today (hee hee) or at least to start our Christmas shopping.

Our weather forecaster said on the news this morning that "coat and glove" weather finally had arrived here, and I do believe it has. Of course, since this is Oklahoma, it likely will be much warmer in a few days.

If we are chilly here this morning, some of y'all who are further north must be flat-out cold. I guess if there is anything in a container that I want to save from the cold weather, I'd better move it into the garage tonight.

Dawn

This is garden planning and reading weather.

I found a new company for heirloom seeds I had never seen before, Ohio Heirloom Seeds. I found them looking for some specific tomatoes listed in Dr. Hale's book.

Glenda

I noticed last night they had abruptly dropped 2 of the 3 OK counties from the Winter Weather Advisory, and with no explanation either....not even "We're sorry" or "My bad". LOL

We're cold for another day or so and then it warms up again, but I think it likely the garden freezes early tomorrow morning or early Wednesday morning unless we have a really stiff breeze all night long. I went out one last time around 4 or 4:30 p.m. and stripped the garden one last time, picking a lot more hot and sweet peppers and beans, and a few more tomatoes and black-eyed peas and winter squash. I left oodles of small peppers and small green tomatoes on the vines. It was a bittersweet (and very cold!) last harvest.

Glenda,

I sort of hate to see the warm weather end, but it is that time of year, isn't it?

We had a high of 79 degrees one day last week, and 77 on a couple of others so it feels really cold today by comparison.

It is good garden planning and reading weather and seed-ordering weather too!

I just hate that last afternoon before a freeze is imminent. Before I closed the garden gate one last time, I stood and stared at all the veggies and flowers and herbs, and said a silent prayer of thanks for a really productive gardening year. Maybe my garden won't be frozen and dead tomorrow, but if not, then it probably will be on Wednesday morning, so it was good-bye to the garden. I just hate the good-bye part.

Dawn

Yesterday, sitting at my dining room table I saw some green Habaneros on the plants. Got my coat on, and went out to get them. Guess, Jerry missed them.

I am not really ready for the cold... appreciated the warm temps we had till now way to much. My joints will be aching...

Moni

We only went down to 35 degrees here in Marietta last night, and I guess the wind blew all night so there's no frost damage I can see on anything, including my Castor Oil Bean plants (now 12-15' tall), cassia alata (candletree), tropical hibiscus (they're on the patio thought), 'Haight-Asbury' red hibiscus, or large, green elephant ears. The garden looks fine too. Tonight, though, should be several degrees colder.

Game bird, Did snow fall? I saw some mixed rain/snow on the radar last night, but couldn't tell if it made it to where you live.

Jay, Our local meteorologists sometimes say "well, the models say _____ but I think ______ will happen, and they usually are right about that, so I guess they are earning their pay. LOL Also, they have Doppler radar and they sure know how to use it. They have a long-time storm chaser who works with them during severe weather. During last year's tornado that touched down in Lone Grove, they sent him where they/he agreed the tornado was most likely to touch down, and it did touch down VERY close (about 1/4 miles, I think) to him while he was broadcasting live. So, folks like us who were listening to his live broadcast knew exactly when/where the tornado touched down right as it happened. That happens a lot, so I think they have the part about tracking severe weather down pat, but they have less success in forecasting our hit-and-miss rain showers.

Moni, Although we went down to 35, it already was up to 39 by the time I stepped outside and is 43 here now, so it is warming up really quickly. Maybe this cold spell won't stick around long enough to cause you too much grief. I know that for us, the real cold is tonight but then we warm up really nicely for the rest of the week.

Dawn

As I suspected, the broccoli made buttonheads and the brussels sprouts made nothing on stunted plants. But the winter radishes are good. The daikons are hot but the winter rose, lovely greenskinned pink flesh round ones, (from Baker's)are spicy sweet. Good plain or in kim chi. The turnips got huge, need to pull them, and the mustard shot up 6' flower stalks during our recent warm temps.

I was looking forward to Radicchio as it was beginning to head but went out one morning a couple weeks ago and the deer had come into the garden and eaten all the mature lettuce and all the radicchio, leaving the rutabagas interplanted with it alone. Guess we're going to have to follow your example, Dawn, and build a taller fence.

My Dr suggested that my hatred of cold, cloudy weather has something to do with the low Vit D levels. Hope she's right, because if so I won't feel so sluggish and tired after I get the levels back up. But so far, I still hate it.

Dawn I feel the problem with the NWS here is they have all new forecasters. The interesting thing is too type in a KS zip code for Elkhart and then the OK zip code across the state line. The KS forecast comes from Dodge City, KS. The OK forecast from Amarillo, TX. You can see a 10 degree or more difference in temp predictions and like this last weekend 5 inches or more in snowfall predictions. We are really in no mans land here. Like you noticed last summer they will have warnings and even say Elkhart is getting moisture and we won't get a drop. And the radar even shows we are. Read today that the KS NWS is getting a new radar system which they claim will help them out this way. A lot better they claim. But the main thing I think is experience. The Dodge City office had two long term weathermen retire a couple of years ago. They were very good. And now it seems the ones that come in don't stay long. The old ones used to say the "we think this will happen instead." The new ones for both sites just give what the computer says and if they are different give both. I think this area is unique and knowing patterns really helps. That is why the private forecaster is so much more accurate. He hit the one this last weekend while the others missed it big time. He started forecasting for this area in the mid 70's. So a lot of the time he is the only one I listen too. Jay

I have three bowls of tomatoes, peppers, black-eyed peas and green beans sitting on the counter and I guess I'll do something with them tomorrow. I'll probaby mostly freeze them. With over 300 jars of food canned this summer and fall, I have officially 'ended' my canning season by putting away all my canning supplies and saying "I'm done" although Tim has been lobbying for me to make some autumn jellies. I could pick another 2 or 3 gallons of peppers but at this point I'm just not going to. I've long surpassed the 'too many peppers' point, and likely will grow only enough for fresh eating next year because there's enough in the freezers and root cellar (canned and jellied) to last at least two years.

The Freeze Warning now covers about 2/3s of the state, including my county, so I'll be surprised if we don't freeze here along the Red River, given that cloud cover has gone away and the wind has dropped. I keep saying it is time and I know it is, but I'm going to miss the vibrant red blooms of the Texas Hummingbird Sage and the Pineapple Sage, the lovely golden-orange flowers of the black-eyed susan vines, the tiny white flowers of the sweet alyssum, the deep dark purples of the morning glories, and the stunning pinks and fuschias of the four o'clocks. Heck, I'll even miss the big white flowers on the daturas....oh, and the lovely lilacs and bright reds of the gomphrenas. Once everything is dry and brown, I sure do miss the colors.

Oddly, we still have a lot of oak trees with foliage that is completely green (but not the post oaks--they turned brown early this year) and our red oaks are just now beginning to turn red. The Aristocrat Pear outside our bedroom window is still green too. Most of the trees on higher ground have lost their leaves though, and it is just the ones closest to the house that haven't.

Can I start counting the days until spring now?

Dawn