December 29th, 2020

What you see here is part of my potted garden.  Only instead of being in the actual garden - or rather the courtyard where it normally lives, it was in my kitchen.  It was an emergency and a  temporary thing, I assure you. Soon enough they were back outside in the elements where they belong.

Over Christmas Day (and a few days following) we had a bit of a cold snap.  Depending on where you live, you might have experienced it yourself.  Or course, again depending on where hang your hat, in December freezing cold temperatures might be a perfectly normal thing.  But in other places, like here, not so ordinary. And it requires a bit of thought to manage.

When I saw that the temps were bound to dip into the thirties over night, my first thought was, I need to close the windows.   I am a bit of a fresh air enthusiast and as soon as the heat and humidity of summer are over and done, I have windows open.  Even when it's really chilly, yes, I am wearing a hoodie but our windows are open. I love the smell and feel of fresh air.  But even I have my limits. When the thermometer is flirting with literal freezing numbers, the windows close.  Or at least most of them. We left one open just a wee bit.

My second thought was, "Oh dear" what about my potted garden? I wouldn't want any harm to come to those plants. I know it's silly but I am very fond of them.   And in all honesty, a good freeze will do a nasty bit of work on a potted garden.  I wasn't certain that they would come to harm.  I wasn't even positive that the numbers would be in the frost zone. But I also decided that I didn't want to risk it.

Tim and I talked about it a little bit.  Of course, as he also assured me, it's my garden and therefore my choice, but he really doubted that the plants would come to harm.  His feeling was that the courtyard is a relatively protected area, up against the nice warm house and cozied in by the courtyard wall.  And I'm 99% sure that he was correct.  Still that 1% of doubt had me carrying the plants inside late in the evening and tucking them behind the kitchen chairs under the front windows.  Just in case. 

This is the view from the window over the sink.  And by the way, there are more plants than you see here.  This was mid-plant transfer.

.There was some mild concern that some bugs or lizards or other outside creatures tucked into the plants that might have come into the house with them. But I decided I would deal with that if and when it becomes a problem.  First order of business was save the plants.

I chose that particular spot in the kitchen for them because first of all, it's out of the way and nobody will trip over them, and then also because it's directly below an wonderful old fashioned bay window. Lots of light.   They may not be outside, but they still get to bask in the sunshine. Without the fear of frost.

Yes I suppose it does prevent us from using two of the 4 kitchen chairs. But seriously, Tim and I are two people, there are two other chairs still available for use.  It is only a temporary inconvenience.  Like a Christmas tree which also takes up space that is normally otherwise used.

I know a lot of people who keep plants in their houses all of the time. I love how lush it looks.  And I keep hearing how much better their quality of air is with all of those plants converting Carbon Dioxide to Oxygen.  And I am a plant fan. I truly am. Flowers and plants and anything green and growing. And yet, and yet, I have no plants in my house, normally.  Odd eh?

Well my friends, this is a small house. It's adorable and I love it, but it's small.  There is not a lot of room for people let alone plants. Especially live growing plants which take up continually more space as they grow, which would - to me - close the space in. I love visiting a greenhouse but I do not wish to live in one.  It gives me a kind of claustrophobic feel.   Any open, empty space in this house is open and empty for a reason.  It's not just waiting until we find another thing to fill it up.  

Needless to say, as soon as the weather changed, the plants went back outside.  I don't know if I actually saved their little plant lives or not.  I will never know. It doesn't matter. If the weather gets crazy again and the mercury drops around the freezing mark again, they will  come back inside again.  Just for the duration.

It was a crazy weather pattern.  We had the 30's here, my friend in Tennessee had her first "White Christmas" in many years, and middle son and his wife in Massachusetts had a basement full of water from torrential rain.  All on the same night.  Like I said, Kind of Crazy.   Me?  Well I hauled out some of the few sweaters I have saved and tried to remember how to properly layer clothing to stay warm and still not look like I was smuggling blankets under my clothes.  I wore long pants, socks, closed toed shoes. Any time we were in the car, I had the seat warmers on in the car cranked all the way up and drank endless cups of hot water (to warm me up from the inside y'see).  Tim, on the other hand,  wore a long sleeved shirt with his shorts. Yeah that was his concession to colder weather.  We are definitely two very different people :)

So there you have it.  Outside plants inside.  Florida with freezing temperatures.  It's like the world has turned upside down.  And still we carry on.