That Wimpy Southern Cold

When my grandparents visited us in Mississippi (from West Virginia) 40 years ago, they'd always claim that Southern cold was worse than their cold back home. It was bone-chilling cold that seeped inside you -- a humid cold.
We Southerners get accused of great wimpishness in the winter. About ten days ago, we had an inch or so of ice, followed by an inch or so of snow. It stalled us for four days -- incapacitated! This week, we woke again to a couple inches of snow, without the ice, and all was fine. Snow is expected again this week. Three weeks in a row! We don't have three snows in a decade in the Deep South, much less three snows in a month. Shocking!

my friend, Jan

 Yes, I did go to the farmers market this morning in the cold rain. For the first time, we moved our tables into a tiny building across the street from our usual location and held our market indoors. The building is unheated, so we watched our breath for two hours. I sold a grand total of nothing. Sigh. My friend Jan, above, is sporting typical Oriental rain get-up  -- 1972 foul weather gear, complete with the safety harness in case you go overboard!! I love her sailor's hat.
As usual, post-market, a few of us went to K's house, warmed our toes by her fire, sat and chatted for two hours, and finally leapt up and exclaimed, "I must get home!"
At home, I put my soaked split peas on to boil and made soup. I'd never made split pea soup before. It reminds me of my mother, who used to keep a pot of soup bubbling away on the back of the stove in the winter.

 Split Pea Soup:
1 16-oz. bag of dry split peas
water to soak peas overnight, and water to cover them well while cooking
3 or 4 carrots, diced small
1 onion, diced small
2 cups celery, diced small
2 cloves garlic, diced small
salt to taste
1 ham hock
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
Bring peas and water to a boil, reduce to simmer. Add all ingredients and simmer for 3 hours or until peas are mushy and carrots are very soft. This soup turned out very well.

Adam's croissants

 We had a covered-dish supper at church tonight. Adam's been watching the Great British Bake-Off again, shame on him, and is thus inspired to bake high-calorie breads that we must foist upon other eaters. He took these to church.
This morning I returned at last to my all-time low in my weight-loss endeavors, after a long and frustrating Christmas food season and endless plateau in spite of being Very Good. Such are the agonies of weight loss. But I'm in it for the long haul, and I'm so very pleased with the weight I've lost thus far, I can't imagine not continuing. So forward we forge.

Adam gave Beau a good brushing today and he was pure fluff. He's nearly electric!
Cold weather, warm soup, a good puppy dog, and bread baking. Not a bad combination for February so far.