Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Iced In!


This morning, I was awakened at about 3:30 to a very loud rolling thunder. I think I said something along the lines of "Good grief!" to my husband! Since that time, we've had rain, sleet, and snow, along with very high winds and freezing temps. All of this is very unusual for my neck of the woods. Okay, maybe not all that unusual, but definitely not usually combined in one fell swoop.

This is my garden & backyard this morning. Lovely, isn't it?
That would be my garlic in that bed. To the right of the garlic is the lettuce, hopefully safe under the cover of a sheet and plastic.

Currently, the sun is trying to peek through and we've got flurries. This is so wild! I'm also waiting on a call back from my boss with the final word that we're closed. Seriously, no one's going anywhere in this weather today. Tomorrow, the road conditions probably won't be much better either. Driving on a solid sheet of ice is treacherous anyway.

So many of you wanted to see a bigger picture of my Quaker Friendship Sampler, so here you go! I really enjoyed working on this a couple of weeks ago. I've had to put it away to work on an exchange piece, but it'll be in my February rotation.



Last Thursday, I started my tomato and pepper seeds. This is the first year I've tried to grow them from seed inside. I planted them in plastic cups, then set them in aluminum pans and set them on a shelving contraption the husband brought in from the garage. The contraption is set up in my spare junk room bedroom.


We put a space heater under the bottom shelf to increase the warmth in that room since it's the coldest room in our house. Then, because the heater was trying to heat the entire room, the husband draped a big sheet of plastic over the shelving contraption. When we open the blinds in there in the morning, I'm afraid someone's going to see it and think we're growing the weedy plant! LOL Believe me, if we were, we'd have a much more sophisticated set up and you'd not be able to see it from the outside!


I've been checking on the cups daily and spraying them with water. This morning, on the coldest day of the year, I awoke to feed sprouted seeds! I'm so excited since this is the first time I've done this! Once they're sprouted, they'll be moved to an area with lights set up directly over them and about 1" from the top of the cups to help them grow straight and strong.

If you click on the pic, you can see it larger and see the seedlings.

These are Sioux tomato seedlings and Pantano Romanesco seedlings.

Well, I have received official word that we are closed at work today. I think I'm going to go make nice with my electric blanket and take a much needed nap! I sorta feel the need to bake to warm up the house, but a nap sounds so much nicer. :) Taking my cue from the kitties.



Until next time, happy stitching!

4 comments:

Mary's Stitchin Time said...

So glad that they have officially closed your store for the day, Stephanie. A on-line news story said the streets of Dallas were deserted this morning. Not surprising with all the ice.

Hope the growing things outside weather this ok! Enjoy your extra day off.

Mouse said...

OOO better off staying indoors and having that nap .... well done on the seedlings ... we haven't even started on our allotment stuff yet .....lovely stitching on the quaker piece :) love mouse xxxx
www.talesofastitchingmouse.blogspot.com

Robin in Virginia said...

Enjoy your snow day, Stef! Maybe you will have another tomorrow! Great job on the seed sprouting! Your garlic doesn't look too bothered by the icky weather!

Anonymous said...

Oh---I love the sampler, and how the lighter colors look on the shade of fabric you are using. So pretty.

Time for me to start my seeds too. We've got no snow, but I'll start them inside just the same. I sure hope your garden survives! Nothing like losing it after you've worked so hard!