How cold can it get?

I'm sitting here remembering all the broiling hot days we had in May, June, July, August, September, and October. We kept saying Will this summer never end?

And right this second, I'm wishing for those 100+ temperatures. It was so cold the other night that some of the flowers just froze up. They are sitting out in the flowerbeds, wilted like cooked spinach, and not looking like flowers at all. Yesterday, there was frost all over the pastures in the morning, and the temperature dropped farther down the thermometer after breakfast. We drove into town last night for the Christmas Parade, dressed in layers of clothing and watching home-made floats gliding down Main Street. Residents were sitting in lawn chairs and wrapped up in blankets; kids were running into the street to catch the candy being tossed by the angels and elves riding on the floats.

The town also arranged for a Holiday Farmer's Market yesterday, but we forgot all about that, even though the day's schedule was sitting right on the kitchen counter. Next year, we will make sure to get into town for the Market, then leave before the parade starts. The parade was strictly old-time, old-town, mainly geared for the children. Which was fine-- they all seemed to be having a great time. But I guess we're too jaded for that kind of parade. We've seen street parades in Germany, and Disney parades in Florida and California. Plus all the Christmas festivities in New York City. How can a tiny Texas town compete with all of that? It simply can't. It is what it is, and although last night's parade needed more bands and more music, it was still nice to see an entire community come together to watch angels in glittered halos and pixies in red tights sitting in the backs of red pick-up trucks all decked out in green and red lights.

Today is warmer, but it started to rain early this morning and hasn't quit all day. We had planned on getting the big tree this afternoon, but I don't want to be walking around the Lowe's parking lot looking at wet Christmas trees, so we put that off till the weather gets warmer and dryer.

I've been letting Gatsby in the house because of the drop in temperature. He still sleeps out in the garage at night, but he's making himself at home in the TV room during the day. He seems to be more comfortable with Gracie than our two inside cats, probably because he spent so much time with Gracie out in the yard all summer long. So far, there have been no cat fights, although I did hear a teeny hiss from Mickey Kitty yesterday. Gatsby was too close to Mickey's favorite chair, and I guess Mickey was anticipating being ousted by Gatsby, which never happened. Gatsby is a gentleman cat, without a doubt, so we named him well.

The chickens seem quite content with the beach umbrellas in the front yard of the coop. I was out there a little while ago, and they were underneath the umbrellas, probably wondering why they weren't getting wet from the rain. Audrey has started to cock her head to one side and listen to me as I'm talking to her, which is what Dolly used to do. Last night when I went out there to lock up the coop, Audrey was on the roosting bar and she sat still and let me pet her, listening to my voice all the while. She used to just ignore me, in the pre-hawk days when we had more chickens.

We were also going to buy two more chickens this weekend, but we put that off also, because of the freezing temperatures yesterday and the rain today. Just two chickens is what we've decided. Actually, what I've decided, since I'm the one taking care of the birds. I want to be able to keep them confined to the coop and the umbrella-covered front yard of the coop, and I can't do that if we over-crowd the space with too many hens.

Needless to say, I don't trust the hawks anymore. Not that I did before, but it was just too heartbreaking to lose three chickens to those hawks and I don't want to take that chance again. When I think of all the days when our chickens would walk up the steps to our back porch and sit there looking into the door.... and I would go out there and shoo them away. Of course, now I'm sorry I shooed them, and I'm also sorry the remaining birds can't have free run of the property again. There's just no way to keep them safe that way.

And it is the saddest thing to take an egg out of the fridge now, knowing that Dolly and Henny Penny aren't here to give me their warm little miracles every morning. Nature is what it is, and I know that, but that still doesn't make it any easier when I see those eggs.