Jerry and Che dug out the garden plot today. Best Valentine's Day gift ever!  It feels like Spring is on the way. I have found Red Maple in bloom already in the little hundred acre wood (good dye plant). And what I think is some sort of blueberry. But I'll have to investigate further. 

December goes on. Mostly gray and rainy. Cold. This doesn't bother me. To me, it gives me a chance to reflect. The gray and cold slows down the blood and the mind. Today, however, was sunny. The sun shone so brightly that it turned the other wise dull and drab winter weeds into shimmering jewels.  I took my walk in the woods. I found a grapevine and started a wreath. Along the way other winter plants joined the circle.  There are so many plants in Georgia that I still don't know... I did learn how to identify the Long Leaf pine. The larger cone. The beautiful flat bark of burnt umber and sienna. And some other color lurking beneath. Sometimes green. Sometimes not.  I don't know pines. I was raised in South Florida where all the pines had long ago been killed by development and draining of the Everglades before that. 

I wanted to share these products to any big stitch quilters out there. Roxanne quilting betweens, no. 9. They have a big enough eye for 12wt. thread to pass through. I use the old fashioned, cheap-o needle threaders. The Roxannes are very sharp. No struggling with embroidery needles.  We found a baby maple tree today. She is tucked into the little wooded area behind our house. I love maples. 

We just went through the two coldest days we've had since we've been here. Had a hard frost yesterday morning; 29°. And frost again this morning.  October in South West Georgia is warm and friendly. Leaves begin to change color. Lots of sunshine. Fall decorations and the anticipation of Halloween. But November is a different month here. The leaves go from red, gold, and orange to brown and dead. The trees become more barren and stark. The empty branches reach up like veins to a dying grey sky heart.  And you can feel the holiness; the quiet of the Christmas season approaching.

It is going down to 29 degrees tonight. A good night for chili.  Ground beef 1 can kidney beans drained  1  can cannellini beans drained  1 small can corn drained  2 cans stewed tomatoes  2 or 3 potatoes, diced and parboiled.  1 tsp. allspice 1/2 tsp. chili powder 1/2 tsp. cumin salt and pepper to taste I call this the San Patricio chili recipe. I got the recipe from my mother, who got it from my father's mother. Both Irish women.  There is no strict way to make chili. I brown the meat in a big pot, then throw all the other ingredients in and simmer for a half hour or so. Serve topped with shredded cheddar and sour cream and a side of cornbread. 

We had Thanksgiving dinner with the family on Thanksgiving eve. So on Thanksgiving day, Jerry and I took a day trip to High Falls State Park .  This was my first trip to the Georgia Piedmont. I'm learning the different regions of Georgia. Piedmont, mountains and where we live, the southwest coastal plains. We've not been to the mountains yet. But, having seen the Georgia Piedmont, I'm guessing that the Georgia mountains look a lot like the Tennessee and North Carolina mountains, where we have been many times, and love.   Beautiful in a quiet and sylvan way. It reminded me very much of where my people are from, upstate New York...Wallkill.