Sunday Letter: 11.28.21

Good morning, Sunday Letter friends—

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving (or at least survived it).

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. I love this time of year as we begin to anticipate the Christmas season and the birth of Jesus. The word Advent is derived from the Latin word “Adventus” which means coming in Latin.

My house is still decorated for Thanksgiving but over the next few days, I will put away the turkey decor and bring on the holly-jolly.

But first…

Delta Child

Mid-week, I’m headed to Little Rock to speak at the at the Women’s Leadership Luncheon, part of the Arkansas Farm Bureau State Conference. I’ve been writing a column for Arkansas Farm Bureau’s Front Porch Magazine for nine years now—my column is called Delta Child—and I was thrilled to be asked to talk at the luncheon. I’ve spoken to lots of book clubs and library groups and garden clubs and others, and I appreciate and enjoy every single invite. This Farm Bureau invite hits a soft spot deep where I live because of my family’s farm history.

I’m excited and honored and I should probably start thinking about what I’m gonna say LOL.

Snipping Flower Stems

A friendly reminder—if you decorated with fresh flowers for Thanksgiving, now would be a good time to change out the water and snip the stems of each flower to keep them fresher longer. I try to do this every day or two so the blooms last longer.

In the first picture below, the yellow globe-like flowers have become my new favorite in flower arrangements. These fun flowers are called Billy Buttons (Craspedia Globosa). They provide structure and whimsey (they look Dr. Seuss-inspired to me) and  may be the longest-lasting cut bloom I’ve ever met.

The roses in the second picture came from our garden. When I cut the stems before the forecasted hard freeze, there was a tiny unopened bud I didn’t think would open inside. But it did.

 

Even with several hard freezes under our garden belt already, our yard has plenty of greenery for flower arrangement filler.

Herb-Roasted Acorn Squash

In the fall, I like to buy a variety of squash—partly for decoration but also to eat. Last week, I tried a new recipe from The Real Food Dietitians, and it was DELICIOUS. I’ll be making this again soon. Maybe today.

I bet the basic recipe would work for other squashes too.

Acorn squash has high levels of potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and fiber. And I need all these vitamins and minerals in my life.

Porch Flowers

A few days before Thanksgiving, I perked up my porch containers for fall/winter. I planted happy-faced violas in a variety of colors and ornamental cabbages as big as those heavy medicine balls Coach Graham made us lob around during junior high basketball practice.

Don’t you love hardy flowers that survive snow and ice? After last winter’s crazy deep freeze temperatures, my violas not only survived, they bloomed better than ever through spring.

Getting my hands dirty again provided a therapy session before the busyness of preparing all the Thanksgiving food. Now that the house is quiet again and the leftovers are mostly consumed, I can enjoy my porch flowers while stringing Christmas lights.

Things Momma Says:

(watching the nerve-wracking Alabama/Auburn football game last night)

We could be drinking, but I don’t have any liquor.

***

Thanks for reading this rather disjoined Sunday Letter. (It is Sunday, isn’t it? Friday felt like Saturday; Saturday felt like Sunday; and today, well, I’m not sure what today feels like yet.)

I do know Christmas will be here in 27 days. And I do know I appreciate each of you. Thanks for always showing up to read my ramblings.

Now I’m off the walk Annabelle and Gracie who are staring at me intently.

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