Brrrrr!

Finally! We have cold weather!

Last year here in southern coastal Delaware where Bill and I reside at our almost one acre Casa Tipton-Kelly, the winter weather was mild. 

We did not get any snow. 

We did not have any extended stretches of days of twenty degree weather. 

As a result, this summer we had a very destructive invasion of army worms that devastated our lush back yard of almost one acre. I was told that was because the mild winter we had last year didn't kill off the grubs that were lying in wait just below our verdant surface of expensively maintained lush carpet of green Kentucky blue grass, which I often received compliments ("You have such a great lawn!") all summer long. Not last summer after the forty-eight hours that the army worms turned that lush green lawn into a brown, smelly (army worm urine, thousands if not millions of the) Mars like landscape. There was nothing I could do but hang my head in shame every time a neighbor saw my lawn and gave me that Pity Look that one gives neighbors who don't take care of their lawn. We all know one of the requirements of American culture in a fou fou development, a LUSH GREEN LAWN. I joined the ranks of the scuzzies last year with my stinky brown lawn. Now with this freeze, those frigging army worm grub are GONE, GONE, GONE.

I can deal with the freezing cold weather, even the snow. We have a propane gas heated house. I love gas heat. I would prefer natural gas but that wasn't available for us. In Pennsylvania we had a heat pump which sucked. We were talked into that by the builder. Come to find out that was the cheapest option for him when he was building our house. Electric heat is not only expensive, I find it very uncomfortable. Propane gas heat isn't cheap either but at least I don't have $400 plus monthly heating bills, which is what I would have for the electric heat backup to the heat pump. There is no heat to be extracted from the outside by a heat pump when the temperature is in the Twenties. Propane gas cost us $260 a month which is expensive enough.

So we're in a cold spell here folks. If this is what it takes to get rid of those army worms, I'll take it.

Stay warm everyone!