Community Chat

[ladyroxanne]

dh doesn't share the things he does to prepare for winter.  he does put the umbrella and cushions from the furniture away.  i know that.

i'll have to ask what he does to prepare even though we have fairly temperate temps along with some rain.

[beckyb1012]

Did a Happy Dance all day yesterday since I had to pull out a jacket for the first time.  Did not need it by lunch but hey it is a start.  Love the winter.

[SaRina]

Sharpening my Yaktrax.

[Brooklynny]

My prep is a process that begins October 1st through the week before Thanksgiving.  I bring out the blankets, take the comforter and drapes to the cleaners, wash the windows.  We have our boiler serviced every summer, so it's ready to fire up when it's time to turn on the heat.  I take down our patio umbrella the weekend before Thanksgiving (even though the weather's turned chilly by then), the patio table and chairs are covered, store garden decor that's not weatherproof, grill goes into the basement, prepare the garden for winter, and of course, the sweeping of the leaves.  We've got a huge Norway maple in the front yard, and it must drop a million leaves!  It literally takes weeks to sweep them all up.  We had our roof done two weeks before Sandy, so we don't have to worry about it again for years to come.  After all that, I can relax and focus on planning our holiday dinners!

[PINKdogWOOD]

@sunshine45  Geez, you sound like us.  Let's get through autumn first.  Like you we have too much stuff yet to do.

Leaves are barely showing color here although this morning I noticed our dogwoods out front are beginning to turn a rich burgundy.  We're in the middle of 4 days worth of rain, right now we're having a thunderstorm with lots of rain (day 3).  It's so dark outside right now looks like it's about 7PM. 

Few leaves have dropped so we get to look forward to about 5 times worth of leaf raking/removal.  HATE IT!  We also have a lot of potted plants large & small to bring into the dining room lined up in front of (straight) bay windows.  And before the plants come in....

I'm in the middle of freshing up the paint in living & dining rooms.  I painted living on Monday & Tuesday.  Trying to get this work done before....

New wall to wall carpet to be laid.  Measure Tech was here for an hour measuring the entire house minus the L-shaped stairwell 1st flr to 2nd, not having that done.  My tech Dwayne could not have been nicer.  He took measurements, plugged into his tablet. When he finished he showed me my exact layout of every room in the house, so cool!  I'm waiting to hear about new estimate.  We were at Home Depot last weekend b/c they have a great sale going on (tech told me it'll probably be a permanent deal with them ie, free install & furniture move, all we pay for is pad & carpet.  We brought sample colors home so we know the color.  As soon as I get the call on accurate measurements we go back to HD to finalize depth of padding, firm color choice, pay and get scheduled.  We need this work done before plants come in.  I'm so excited about having this done I can't stand it!!!

We also have a new gutter DH is picking up tomorrow for north side of garage that has 2 holes in it - darn thing leaks like a sieve.  Cannot wait to get that thing up.  DH said he can recruit a couple a guys from his work to help him with that. 

Only until ALL of this work has been taken care of, THEN we'll be as ready for winter as can be.

[itsmagic]

When I put the snow tires on in November, then I'll be ready for winter. 

[cotton4me]

We don't do anything special to prepare other than to make sure our snow removal supplies are current (e.g., ice melt, snow shovels, windshield scrapers, etc.); otherwise everything sells out when an impending snow storm is predicted.  

[hoosieroriginal]

I agree - let's get through fall first - don't push us into winter yet.  I have a ton of trees that haven't fallen yet so I will be busy the next couple of months mowing/mulching leaves.  In November I'll put away my outdoor furniture and tuck away my pots.  Winter - we probably won't be getting much snow till January like last year here in Indiana.

[Jacie]

Oh goodness, it's a heat wave in MN right now. Low to mid 70's today. Out in my gardens dividing some perennials! Cleaning out pots etc. The leaves haven't even turned yet!

However, it is MN and we can plunge at anytime after the first frost, generally in Oct.

I did put my polar fleece sheets on the bed yesterday!

[colliegirls]

It is still hot here, but ready for barren trees, rainy days, cloudy skies, and dead looking grass??  Of course NOT!  YUCK!