By LYNNE IRONS

Last Saturday’s cold snap lit a fire under me. There were so many last (for me, first) minute winter preparations.

I stapled a bunch of grain bags over the hardware cloth windows of my hen house. The girls were mighty chilly last Friday night. When I closed their door that evening, their feathers were blowing around on them. I always feel sorry for birds in winter with their bare legs and feet.

By Lynne Irons

For years, I viewed alyssum as old lady plants. Now that I have become one, I know why. First of all, they are completely reliable. Mine are blooming happily along regardless of several freezing nights here in Vineyard Haven.

I generally start several flats of them and just lay the contents of the entire flat along borders and in problem areas under taller plants. I rip off sections and fill in all the empty spots in pots and window boxes.

By LYNNE IRONS

Suzan Bellincampi’s All Outdoors column last week was so informative about plastic bags. All I could think about was the scene in The Graduate: “I have one word for you, Benjamin — plastics!”

By Lynne Irons

Every year the human heart loses several grams of muscle mass and therefore pumps less blood as we age. Those of a certain age experience the change of temperature with less good humor as the years fly by. I, for one, am fond of woolen long underwear for my outdoor activities. I do work outside year round. Remember, there is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. I have a cashmere sweater that I wear next to my skin. The point of this paragraph is to encourage you to bundle up and get into the garden.

By Lynne Irons

Roger Spinney shared a wonderful concept with the Baptists last week. The word humility comes from the Greek for humus. Talk about being grounded. What better way than to get our hands into some soil.

By LYNNE IRONS

You would be hard-pressed to find someone further politically left than me. However, the other day I was potting up some plants and listening to old bluegrass tapes (Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys.) They have a song called Let’s Keep Old Glory Waving and Never Let It Touch the Ground. I was thinking about the American flag and what it means.