Do you remember that old Four Seasons song?
Let’s hang on to what we got
Don’t let go, girl, we got a lot
Got a lot of love between us
Hang on, hang on, hang on to what we got.
That’s what I’m singing to my plants today and tomorrow. Yes, the dreaded hard freeze will be here for two nights, not one. Crap. I followed Janet’s advice and watered everything at dusk yesterday. I’ll have to cover everything with sheets around 5:30 pm, as I have to get to the CD Release Party by 6 or so. Earlier than planned, but better to be safe. And I have to bring in all the plants from the porch and there are a lot of them.
And then I’ll have to do it again tomorrow, if all goes well tonight.
The only bee balm blossom that’s still going strong – the others are long gone. Will he make it through the freeze?
Don and Dan (who stayed the night with us) are on their way to the radio station, which is in the Catskills. They’ll be on live from 11 -12 this morning – if you’re interested in listening to them you can catch the program streaming live here.
Tonight is the CD Release Party, with lots of friends coming to celebrate. Some of them will also be performing along with Don and Dan. I wish you all could be here, too! I know we’d have a lot of fun.
Quandary: what does one do when one has a stack of books from the library, among them All the Light We Cannot See, which said person knows she should read but for some reason isn’t very excited about, and an email arrives informing that person that after weeks of waiting in a long queue, Make Me by Lee Child is finally sitting on a shelf reserved under said person’s name at the local library?
(Quite a long and awkward sentence but you get the picture.)
Answer: One drops everything in her own personal ‘queue’ and runs to the library to check it out, which she will be doing as soon as the radio show is over.
I mean, come on, it’s Lee Child. It’s Jack Reacher. End of story.
Dad is being transferred to rehab today and it is the one we wanted him to be in all along. He had a rocky day yesterday. We finally figured out that he’d been given a sleeping pill in the middle of the night and he was out of it for most of the day. By the time I spoke to him a second time later in the day, he sounded better.
We’re grateful that everything has worked out in the end. Now to rehab and, hopefully, back home in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed.
Okay. To those of you battling the hard freeze, I wish you luck! Wish me luck, too.
Happy Saturday.
First off…yes…run to the library! This is an exciting day for Don and Dan….hope it’s everything they want it to be! Wishing you much luck on the whole covering up for the hard freeze business. Evidently, it only got to 30 last night…all my plants that I covered are alive and well. Now, to do that all over again tonight…only 30 for a low predicted. That’s terrific news! Have fun tonight….and yes…we would all have a blast if we were all together! ;)
30 tonight, maybe 28 tomorrow. Did you cover with sheets?
Yes I did! I doubled over the larger sheets…worked fine. I even draped a sheet over the trellis for my clematis…that worked too! ( I have a lot of old sheets….never threw them out.). Good Luck! ;)
xo Thanks!
We had snow and frost throughout September, so I don’t know what to say about your plants! Oddly enough, we’re supposed to have a beautifully warm fall day today. Glad to read that your dad is being moved to the right facility – that must be a huge relief for you and Meredith. Have a wonderful time at the CD launch party – it sounds as though it’s going to be a terrific evening.
I’m really looking forward to it, Barbara. Have a wonderful fall day!
You have a busy day today! We are having the freeze tonight and tomorrow. Brought my plants in last weekend, as it seemed to be getting chilly at night. Have fun today at the party!
Hugs,
Deb
Thanks, Debbie! I just listened to the radio show and it was great!
Crossing fingers and toes that your plants will not be too affected by the freeze coming your way. Remember to water them too. And have a blast! You’ll be all smiles watching Don (and Dan) perform. My late husband’s side job was a mobile DJ and I loved watching him “work the room” and encourage people to get up and dance. Good news about your Dad. Why was he given a sleeping pill?
Easy answer: he couldn’t sleep! He was suffering some discomfort as well.
First of all, it’s Jack Reacher so yes drop all and get that book!! I hope things work out with the plants and the hard freeze. Enjoy the party and I wish I could be there it would be so much fun. I’m glad your Dad is doing better. Busy day for all!
hugs,
Linda
Very busy! It seems we’re either doing nothing at all or crazy busy!
You’re an excellent plant mommy, Claudia. As good as you are a Border Collie mom. Always making extra efforts for the living things in your care. Best of luck to all your garden kids and have lots of fun at the CD “premiere” !! ?
Thank you, Janet. And thank you so much for that advice. I wonder if I should water again tonight or wait until tomorrow….I’ll have to research that.
Wish I was that lucky on Make Me. I’m number 44 on the library wait list. I just have to grin and bear it – it is free after all.
I’ve been on the list since before it came out – I was 100 something at the beginning, so I’ve been waiting for a long, long time!
If you have been on the list for that long I would go for the Jack Reacher Claudia…You can always read the other one later…Have a great time tonight..what fun it would be for all of us ladies to be there…
It sure would, Nancy!
I read both of them. The Jack Reacher book is wonderful. How Lee Child manages to get Jack out of the situation is amazing. It is so clever. The other book is in a class of its own. It can drag in some areas, but it is magical. You will be so glad you have read it. Enjoy!
I’m just now getting into Make Me. I love Jack Reacher!
Claudia, I hope your Dad is better . I hope your time with friends is wonderful I did listen to some of Don’s songs…I liked them. Blessings, xoxo, Susie
He is very talented, Susie, and he writes from the heart. Thank you!
Freeze here last night and tonight, too. Down to 28 both nights. I put all my outside potted plants in the garage and covered my roses with a sheet.
I don’t think the Morning Glories made it – the zinnias definitely didn’t. I think it got even colder than predicted. Sad.
I, too, have had All The Light We Cannot See sitting on my table (for months!). Everyone raves about it but for some reason it is just not peaking my interest. I suppose I will get to it eventually.
I skimmed the beginning, but I can’t get enthused…I know I just have to be patient…
Claudia, you have A LOT going on in your life right now!
Our hard freezes have been very rare in the past several years here in Southern California where I live but, yes, the ranchers totally irrigate the fields when they know a freeze is coming and I have seen orchards where the water from the sprinklers is frozen in an arc so that, next morning, there are ice sculptures among the lemons. They also use large windmills to keep the air moving whereas in ‘olden days’ they used ‘smudge pots’ (AKA orchard heaters) which had to stay lit all night and encased our valley in soot the next day (they used some kind of fuel-oil, I want to think kerosene; later deemed to be environmentally unacceptable). For the home landscaping, we’ve used sheets/tarps/blankets, having to be careful not to weigh down delicate branches or blooms. Last year, for what I think was our sole freezing event (one or two nites), my husband rigged up various lights, ala holiday lights as someone else here had mentioned yesterday, but it takes a lot of extension cords and careful placements…and wouldn’t be something I’d ever attempt because I’m a novice at that sort of thing, whereas he works with electrical stuff for his living and knows what he’s doing.
What always bothers me so much is the people who won’t bring in their outside pets when there’s a freeze. The folks on the weather news will say, “Don’t just bring in your plants; remember to also bring in your pets.” But a lot of stupid people are impervious to the instruction. Just because they might be an outdoor dog doesn’t mean they’re Superdog. I have had neighbors with crappy old dog houses which are not insulated. You can at least even put an animal in an outside shed or in a garage; up onto a covered porch. The family of my husband’s ex-wife lived on a farm in the Midwest and never brought in the farm dog in cold weather. One morning, while my husband and the wife were visiting, they opened the door to find the dog frozen-deceased on the path leading to the front door of the house. It was 40 years ago but my husband, a massive dog lover, has NEVER gotten over such a thing. I want to hope and pray that as more and more people in America embrace dogs and cats as integral to their daily lives in the home environment and as part of a family, that pet comfort and safety is a forethought and not an afterthought.
Well, I don’t think the morning glories made it, Vicki. The zinnias definitely kicked the bucket. The pink geraniums in the barrels seem to be hanging in there, so I’ll cover them again tonight.