This Texas weather has simply been craaazyyy! One day it is 84, the next we are getting freezing rain.. el yucko.. as I like to say. No, that is not a real Spanish phrase to my knowledge, just one of those Spanglish things going on here LOL. I can say a Spanish phrase that is often misspoken is “no problemo” by all of us English speaking Americans. Technically, that is SOOO incorrect, it should actually be, “no problema”… the difference is the ending, but I digress..
Back to the weather I say! It has been one of the coldest winters I think I can remember. To me, a normal winter is 50 to 70 degree weather with a few fluctuations, but this year, it has been a more steady 30-50 degrees instead. With my development of his myeloproliferative disorder, I am feeling it more so than in the past. My hands and feet stay cold a LOT now, which is weird for someone of such a hot natured body system. One of the first things I do when I walk into work.. run up to one of the guys and put my ice cold hands on their arms, by their wrists. For some reason, that seems to work for warming up my hands when other things aren’t. I have even tried running my hands under hot water, but alas, that does no good either. The guys don’t mind so much, especially since they are being very supportive as my friends, knowing the health crisis I am going through. Plus, they also are aware that I mean nothing by it, and I asked if it was okay to do so. They like playing macho.. so it’s just a feed to their ego, at least so they tell me LOL.
I have also been sooooo surprised that one of my plants has not only survived, but is THRIVING in this weather. I had bought a mixed hanging basket last summer. It contained a Creeping Purple Jew and a Swedish Ivy. The Jew plant thrived during the hot, hot summer, and the Swedish Ivy is now thriving with the near freezing temps. It is even blooming, which totally blows my mind. I have the plant sitting in the corner on my patio, and the Jewish plant has died, but is acting as an insulator to the Swedish Ivy against the cold concrete. Plus, when they re-did our patios 2 summers ago, they put the wood siding all the way down to the base of the concrete, so the plant is not in the direct wind, which my apartment patio faces due north. As for my purple Jew.. that is my favorite houseplant on the planet, so earlier in the fall, before the temps fell, I gave my mom a few cuttings from it to plant. She planted those cuttings in a pot, and when the temps fell, brought all of the plants into her garage out of the cold. The plant has thrived, though no where near as well as during the summer. But, that is good for me because she says I can have cuttings back off it to replant in the hanging basket and other pots on my patio during late spring. I would bring my plants inside my apartment, but i tried that before, and my cat decided to dig the dirt out of the pots, plus, she likes eating my Purple Jew, and before you ask, no, it is not harmful to her system.. I checked MONTHS ago. I will perhaps attach a picture of my plant once I get all the files transferred to my new computer from the old..
Well, we’ll see what mother nature has in store for us this week, so more to follow…
