Clear, with a chance of Brr.

Is that a stampede of brass monkeys?

Looking out the window, I’m not holding out much hope for hitting that high of 35 today.

The last three or four years North Texas has been getting the winter weather like I heard my grandparents talk about, and I saw a couple of year back in the 1970s. The times that Da’ took his mandated vacation during the winter, I distinctly remember playing in the snow, and being very, very cold. Somewhere I have pictures my mother took of a house in Electra in the 1980s where a cold snap not only ruptured a pipe, but was cold enough, long enough, that the water gushing up through the roof encased the house in a pretty thick shell of ice.

Those following years with much milder winters meant that the houses around here that were built over the last couple of decades or so aren’t really set up for cold temperatures down to the teens — when folks moving here ask my advice one of the first things I mention is try to find a house with a fireplace. That can be hard to do — Jim Curtis and the Grants have fireplaces, but Cedar was somewhat dismayed to discover that the fireplace at her house was decorative only.

We’re in somewhat the same situation: the house originally came with a fireplace — and still has the chimney — but one of the past owners decided to have the fireplace closed up. Grr.

Cold snaps aren’t all bad, though. A good spell of dry cold does wonders for keeping the spring and summer bug populations in check.

Also, Rita gave me a fig tree about five years ago that we have never really gotten any fruit from. Earlier this year I called the County Ag Extension Office (These days it’s called “Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service”, but most folks I know still call it by the old name) and asked if they could help with my fig problem. Couple of days later a nice Ph.D lady from A&M called, and walked me through some Fig Facts.

Turns out that fig trees only grow the good figs on new growth — which I didn’t know. You can get some itty-bitty secondary figs on old branches, but for the good, first growth figs, you have to have new branches. After looking at some texted pictures of my fig tree, she advised me to wait until “two or three days of freezing temps” and then to ruthlessly trim it back. Looks like the branchlets are going to be flying on January 16th.

I‘m going to oil and sharpen the loppers and the pruning shears, listen to the wails of dying bugs, try not to worry about the pipes in the house, and plan for a bountiful fig harvest in the Spring.

Ian