Dear Sunday Letter friends,

Did you have a productive week? I did! I base this news entirely on the fact that I cleaned our oven—ha. Momma finally received a first dose of the Covid vaccine. Yay. I can’t wait to get one, but I know it will be a while for me. It has been a long time since I’ve not been old enough for something, but as it stands, I fall way down on the bottom of the vaccination list.

That’s okay.

I’ll wait my turn, keep wearing a mask, socially distance, and cheer on those who can get vaccinated (while being a little jealous).

Being a homebody does have its benefits in times of pandemic.

Hello, Deer

I finally finished my second Paint by Number piece. These are so much fun to paint, but I’m not sure what to do with them once I finish. For now they are both hanging on our bookshelves, but I don’t like blocking books. (Maybe I’ll eventually frame and hang them in the stairwell.)

Here’s MY LINK, if you want to order your very own kit. (Not sponsored, but I may earn money from the Affiliate Link in this post.)

I have two more pictures in queue to paint, which is a good thing, since we are in for six more weeks of winter according to our buddy the groundhog. Doesn’t seem he was exaggerating either. We have several single degree lows in our immediate forecast. (Colene, if you are reading this, I imagine you will be around fifty below zero in Iowa… Ugh.)

Bottom line, we are in for some good hibernating weather.

Exciting Firsts!

My gardening itch really flared last week when we had several warm-ish afternoons. I really, really wanted to cut back my roses, but knew better—it’s still a little early, and pruning roses encourages growth. Growth is NOT good since arctic temperatures are headed our way.

Instead, I spent the afternoon outside, repotting a few of our houseplants.

It had only been two years since I divided and repotted my zebra plant. Zebras grow fast! Again, I repotted them, along with a few other houseplants that had grown too big for their britches.

It was certainly a day of exciting firsts. Not only was it Gracie’s first official gardening day, it was also her first Groundhog Day.

🐶💓 Oh, how fun was the bag of potting soil! 🐶💓Being outside! 🐶💓Going in and out of the garage! 🐶💓Rolling around in the dry leaves with Annabelle! 🐶 💓

Schnauzer life is mighty good.

Gracie had a nice little chat with my vintage Scottie dog planter. Thought she was talking to herself, I’m pretty sure. Like Punxsutawnney Phil, Gracie saw her shadow too. Yep, confirmation of more winter. But it can’t last forever.

Grow Your Own Groceries

If you are an Arkansas gardener and you aren’t hooked up with The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research & Extension, you are really missing out on a wealth of information and assistance. What a fabulous job the Arkansas county agents have done during this time of coronavirus! Last year, the master gardener programs across the state pivoted to mostly on-line learning (like most everyone teaching anything).

One of the positives to come from the pandemic—as people are spending more time at home, there has been a huge surge of interest in home gardening. In response to this interest, U of A Research & Extension is offering Grow Your Own Groceries live Zoom classes on the first and third Thursdays of the month, at noon. Each class highlights one fruit or vegetable, includes growing, harvest, and cooking tips.

Last week, I attended the class on growing blackberries. It was informative and engaging, and naturally, now I want to grow Ponca blackberries.

Several other classes are on my calendar already.

These classes are FREE and available to anyone who registers. You don’t have to live in Arkansas. You don’t have to be a master gardener. If you are interested in a particular topic but can’t attend at noon, the recorded presentation will be emailed to you later. (You do have to register. While the classes are taught based on Arkansas growing zones, you should be able to adapt them to your area.)

How incredible is this?

We.Can.Be.Students.Together:))))

👇

REGISTER HERE

Edelweiss

It hurt my heart to learn Christopher Plummer passed away last week. I will always best remember him as handsome Captain von Trapp.

(From an NPR interview regarding his singing)

SIMON: Did they dub your voice?

PLUMMER: They did for the long passages. It was very well done. The entrances and exits from the songs were my voice, and then they filled in – in those days, they were very fussy about matching voices in musicals. And Julie, of course, had been – you know, trained since day one as a – I mean, she was …

SIMON: Yeah.

PLUMMER: …tone perfect since she was in her cradle, which is an exasperating thing to admit. And it was awfully hard to match her and her sustained, long notes. So yeah, I was – they did it very well ’cause it sounded very much like me.

From The Sound of Music, the song Edelweiss refers to the Edelweiss flower (Leontopodium alpinum), a European mountain flower, belonging to the sunflower/daisy family.

Look how interesting! The petals are thick and fuzzy like white felt.

This flower lives in rocky areas of the Alps. Its dense hair protects it from cold weather and ultraviolet rays. Although short lived, the Edelweiss is a symbol of rugged beauty and purity.

Nature =😎

Things Momma Says:

Momma: I’m surprised to see you so early on a cold morning.
Me: I had to get out of the house. I’m losing my mind.
Momma: I know what you mean. I was about to run down the street naked.

***

Stay warm, Sunday Letter friends. If you are a Super Bowl fan, I hope your team wins.

Before I go, I have a favor to ask. Please say a prayer (or send positive vibes) for my cousin Cindy. She is suffering from a terrible health issue and could certainly use relief.

Thank you!

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

(Credit to Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay for the photo of Edelweiss flowers in the first photo of this post.)