winterizing

It's getting down to 0 at night, now. Yesterday I turned off the water to the exterior tap, and to the one in the garage. Drained them, then drained the hoses. I hate this job. There always seems to be more water in the hoses, no matter how many times I work it out.

This weekend is Thanksgiving; we're having it with friends, bringing a (gluten-free, dairy-free) pumpkin pie. We'll see how that goes. The more -free you go, the less things taste like the things they're supposed to be. My partner said the pie didn't taste bad; "not as coconut-y as I'd expect, given the can of coconut milk." Well, then.

After that, next weekend, Thanksgiving again, with my partner's parents (who couldn't make it in this weekend) and another couple of friends. Some people get sick of turkey easily, but not me. I've never really been able to get sick of food; I can eat the same things all the time and I'm good. If I like it once, why wouldn't I like it twice? If I like it twice, why wouldn't I like it...

Another couple of weeks and there'll be snow on the ground. Soon I'll need to look at getting the winter tires on. All the October tasks. I had the furnace inspected along with the AC earlier in the year. Should be good there. Now is the season of heavy sweaters and fall jackets, long walks with the dogs through the sidewalks filled with leaves.

tracker

I live off-grid out in the forested mountains of Vermont, so this is also the time of year for me to be winterizing before the snow blankets everything. I have a big pile of logs still stacked outside my house that I need to buck, split, and stack for this winter's firewood. Definitely running behind on that chore, but at least I've already got enough wood processed to get me through January. I'll just have to keep plugging away at it on my weekends for the next couple of months until it's all done.

Winter really is my favorite season. I love how quiet, calm, and clean everything is during this long, harsh, beautiful season of the year. I love hearing the barred owls and coyotes at night, watching the chickadees each day at my birdfeeders (or feeding them from my hands if I stand still long enough), observing the flock of wild turkeys coming to forage in my yard, and tracking the red fox who trots up my driveway and around my house a few days each week. I love being able to head out into the forest on my snowshoes or cross-country skies any day of the week, and I especially love being able to walk outside and read fresh tracks in the snow, telling the past day's stories like the morning newspaper in the oldest language on Earth.

Hail to winter and all her delights!

noisydeadlines

Fall is my favourite season! This year it was weird in my region: we were still having high temperatures (28C-30C) while the leaves were turning yellow/red. And then suddenly we had 2-3 days of constant rain and now temperatures are all around 15C, but we didn't get any days below zero yet. It seems snow will come a little bit later here.

Getting ready to turn on the furnace as well. Last night I took out the blanket and it was so cozy! I always sleep better in the winter months.

Winter is a lot of work, but I still like it!

petpave

Same task with hoses is ahead of me. But temperatures still extraordinary high in October. I don’t bother much replacing water from hoses, just take them to the garage. Remains of water usually comes out in spring when taking them out. Getting wet garage floor :)

elijah

coming from a tropical part of the world and having never experienced single digit nor negative degrees celsius weather, these descriptions of preparations for winter piques my interest and paints a lovely picture in my mind.

winter

I actually like winter a lot, even the bone-chilling days where it hits -30 and colder (you just can't stay outside for long). It's nice having distinct seasons. But there's a lot of work involved, too, not just prep like this, but also regular shovelling of driveways and paths, breaking out the snowblower for the really big dumps that are too much to move on my own.

I'd trade it all for no-winter, though. My parents live someplace that...isn't warm, per se, but it almost never gets below zero. They put their parkas in storage when they moved and haven't had to get them out since.

elijah

Where I'm from the coldest it has ever gotten is 0 at some very hilly highrange spots. Snowfall is unheard of.

In general we have the monsoon rains in june/july, clear skies, receding monsoon rains, cool winter, spring/summer in march.

The extreme weather we get is either flood levels of rain or well drying summers.

Snowy winter does sound nice to experience once in a while but yeah living there isn't my idea of a perfect weather either.

tetris

I've heard horses described in terms of bloated gas bags, but never heard of the water drin. That's new