Views of the Neighborhood – Ready for the Cold

~ John W. Howell

We expect the Arctic cold to hit this week, so I thought it would be a good idea to cruise the neighborhood to see if folks are prepared. Our temps will drop at night to below freezing, so plants will need covers. We are catered by 24 Diner of Austin. Our entertainment is Simon and Garfunkel.

Menu

CHEDDAR BURGER  Brioche bun, cheddar, pickles, red onion, roasted tomatoes, smoked aioli

BACON AVOCADO BURGER Brioche bun, bacon, avocado, charred poblanos, smoked aioli

24 BURGER
Brioche bun, swiss, house pickles, sauce gribiche, bibb lettuce, tomato

THE 24 VEGGIE BURGER Brioche bun, Havarti, vegan mayo, spicy pepper relish, avocado. Housemade veggie patty: beets, mushrooms, lentils, bread crumbs, rice, pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds

WAGYU SLIDERS Blackening spice, bacon, caramelized onions, blue cheese dressing

PATTY MELT Rye toast, Swiss cheese, caramelized onions, smoked aioli

M’S GRILLED CHEESE Sourdough, cheddar, havarti, roasted tomato

BLACKENED TUNA SANDWICH Brioche bun, cabbage cucumber slaw, jalapeno remoulade

Picture of an old time school bus

So let’s go

Color-matched covers.

A massive cover for a large plant.

Now we’re talking. Blue tarps everywhere.

Petty sky and subtle coverings.

The University of Texas flag looks windblown. The plants look embarrassed.

The oleander will be comfy, but the bed does not have a quilt.

Half is better than nothing.

Three fugitives from Halloween.

Grandma spent months making that cover.

No fooling around here. The straight stuff.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. Stay warm this week and enjoy the music and food.

 

104 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Ready for the Cold”

  2. One of my favorite songs. Every time I hear it, I get a hankering for a vodka and lime, but right now I’ll make do with a Topo Chico lime. Of course there are those pages of unpublished rhyme as well, but never mind that.

    I’m afraid we’re going to miss our snow and just get freezing rain, but my plants won’t care; they’re all sitting in the dining room.

    Liked by 2 people

  10. Good luck with saving your plants, and I hope you are prepared. Since we get cold here regularly, we don’t cover anything.

    But we have to lay in extra bird seed and suet. We might even get snow. Since we invested in a warm water re-circulator our pipes won’t freeze (and I know some of our neighbors’ will) and we also invested in a generator, since power outages are common.

    We never had any of these problems at our old house – it was built right!

    That patty melt looks especially enticing.

    Keep the girls warm!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. We got a Generac – not cheap but runs on natural gas and is connected to the house. Previously we had a medium sized gas powered one – incredibly noisy and we had to keep filling it!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m not sure. Taking photos and then making comments might not classify me as a good neighbor. No one has stopped me so I guess they are good with it. Thank you for the comment Samantha. I would like to follow your blog since I love history but I have been unable to find a follow button.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Same here in my part of Florida. Looks like people threw their bedding outside. Lot of my potted plants are in my laundry room. One is covered with a very charming beach towel. The others will die back, be cut back next month and bloom again. Same cycle every year. Meanwhile, people were out food shopping like it was the end of the world this morning. I was just out to confirm that fact. Yum, the grilled cheese is really good. Stay worm, John. 🥶❄️

    Liked by 1 person

  16. We’ve been below freezing here for so long that I’m sure our plants have forgotten what it feels like to be warm … or to see the sun. At least one can hope your cold spell won’t last too long — and then you can send some warmth up this way!

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Yep, I am seeing the same scenario around here. It blew in here last night. So cold!! But by the end of the week, we are supposed to be back up to 60, so it’s temporary. Thanks for the tour!!

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  18. Not ready for the cold and I’m not going to ever be ready for the cold. Not when temps are expected to dip into the single digits here this week. It’s very uncommon for it to get that cold in these parts. Imma feel like the Miami Dolphins this week, since they also have an allergy to freezing temps. I’ll take the Wagyu burger with a couple three fingers of Woodford please. Hold the ice.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. I’ll take the 24 Burger please. Here in Dallas it will be 21 degrees tonight, well early morning. However, that is still warmer than when it was forty below the time I slept outside in a tent in the forest on the northern border between Sweden and Finland. That was my military service.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Well we had a stove inside the tent. It was a big tent for 10 people. However, we were doing things outside a lot and that was a bit cold. They gave us milk with dinner and you could watch the milk turn into crystals with seconds. Not tasty or healthy.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Kitty is living in a closet in my den. She roams around it when I’m asleep. One day at a time. It will be a long haul.
        Due to her previous unfortunate circumstances, the vet says she has reverted to indoor feral.
        I have installed a pheromone diffuser.
        🙀X 😿X

        Liked by 1 person

  25. Beautiful bright sun before the freeze. I laughed when I read “embarrassed plants” and “grandma spent weeks making that.” Some of them are very creative, others, I wonder why they bothered. We are expecting a couple of night with a hard freeze.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. We just don’t have plants like that. We get enough winter that apples and stuff can hibernate well. I will cover vegetables to avoid that last freeze of the year. I tried to nurse a fig along for a few years but finally gave up.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The figs here had a real problem with the 6 days of below freezing two years ago. They can handle a couple of days of freezing nights but not much more. The reason we try to keep the plants is after the few days of freezing it goes back to 60s and 70s. Apples do not do well here and I think the low number of freezing days is the reason.

      Liked by 1 person

  28. I would like the Bacon-Avocado burger, please … no ketchup! I love that people are caring so well for their plants! I’m surprised, though, that it will be below freezing there! Surely this doesn’t happen often? We’re supposed to be at -3° F by Tuesday morning, so I can definitely empathise! Thanks for the tour of the neighborhood and I hope you guys warm up soon!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Not all. We once had a beautiful Japanese Maple (in freezing Toronto)) planted by our front porch. We tarped it all up with loving care – until my husband didn’t realize when he salted the porch and it melted, it was all going into the soil. The beautiful tree never survived.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. We’ve got our paws crossed for you. My daughter in the Houston area received snow yesterday and today I heard New Orleans received 10 inches of the white stuff. That just seems unfathomable! Stay safe and warm while that cold system is in your area.

        Liked by 1 person

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