As I type this post at 5:15 pm (Thursday Feb.7) our temperature is still 74 degrees.  When I poured my coffee at 6 am this morning, the temp was 64.  It's been over a week with crazy high temps for February.  As a cold front moves through tonight, the high tomorrow may reach 45 and windy.  It's the sudden drastic changes in pressure and temperatures that play havoc with my RA causing flares.  The last one was about two weeks ago when the severe cold set in during the night dropping the temperature to 9 degrees with a 30 degree high during the day.  It was brutal on the left hip.  Cliff drove me to the doctor the next morning for a depomedrol injection in the hip, followed by Epsom soaks, Motrin, and two days later I was able to walk again like a normal person.  The negative side of the depo injection is that it accelerates cataracts but if I don't get the inflammation under control, it'll destroy the joints, the arteries and the organs.  Such a dilemma!  Cliff had took over and did everything again for me for two days.  It's usually short-lived before I'm back to my energetic self.  Days ago I cleaned off the back porch, wiped the chairs and table and we've been sitting outside each afternoon.  I don't remember ever enjoying ourselves on the porch in February. Of course without a freezing winter and a snow cover, the pollen and mold spores are high which aggravates allergies causing runny eyes and sneezing.

Friday, February 8.................
Temperature this morning at 6 am was 54 but our high today was 46.  After Zumba and yoga class, we came home from the gym, had lunch and Cliff worked on Turbo Tax and I baked.  The cold front wasn't as bad as I expected.  While Cliff did our taxes, I searched online for an easy recipe to baked the rutabaga that had been sitting in the refrigerator drawer. I found a recipe which included red and white onions with carrots and rutabagas.

Delicious!  Easy.

Two days ago I discovered a chili recipe from Ree Drummond, "The Pioneer Woman", which used Masa Harina in her chili.  Never heard of it.  Our Ingles carries Masa brosa which is used in Mexican recipes so I went ahead and bought that to use.  It worked and the chili turned out great! 

                                             The Pioneer Woman's Chili

My friend, Barb, forwarded an article on "winter sowing" the other day, which started me saving clear containers to use for my little winter green houses.

I've been collecting containers, planting seeds to overwinter outside on the porch.  Theory has it that some seeds need cold before germinating and sprouting in the spring.  The mini-greenhouses remain outside through cold snowy conditions and will sprout when the weather warms in the early spring.

Poor confused flowering plant at the front of the house.  We hope we don't lose it before spring.