First Notes of January

January 2014

The last time I posted an entry on my blog, bees were still visiting my herbs and flowers. Now we're already almost two weeks into the new year, and the polar vortex that covered so much of the northern and eastern parts of the country left its print on southeast Louisiana as well. For two nights, temperatures plummeted into the teens. We covered our citrus and fig trees with blankets, old tablecloths and sheets to keep them from freezing. The banana trees will have to come back from the roots. Last night's rain has created a soggy mess in our yard and gardens. I went out this afternoon for a few minutes to note that the small dill plants that had sprouted earlier in the season are droopy but still living, and much of my flower and herb beds are covered with winter weeds.

This is a dispiriting time of the year in our area. Even when the weather is temperate, such as it was today, soggy ground prevents one from clearing out weeds and debris in the gardens. It's difficult to imagine how beautiful and green the gardens will be in the spring, but this is the time for that kind of dreaming.  Gardening catalogues get me through January. By late February, I should be out in the garden preparing for spring.

Meanwhile, we are excited to have had frogs move into the little pond near our patio. This is a pond that previously had been in a half-whiskey barrel on the patio. We took out the plastic liner and dug a hole for it in the bed near the patio, so now that it's at ground level it's within hopping reach of frogs. The chirping of the frogs brighten these dull January days. Today I managed, after several tries, to get the song of the frogs on video. Just as I would sneak up to turn on the camera, the frogs would be startled and become silent, but I placed the camera on a windowsill in the house, overlooking the patio, and took this video through the glass (and not so clean) window. However, Tom the federal worker is not convinced that these are our pond frogs calling. They might be tree frogs near the house. (Note: The frogs calling are spring peepers, not the ones that are in our patio pond.)


Our cat, Persephone, spends much of the winter days lounging in the house. "Talk to the paw," she says in the photo below.