# Now That Summer Is Over



## Steve (Sep 23, 2012)

Now that we have gone through summer, how are we getting ready for fall and winter..
Summer was great but where we live, the winters are long and fierce..
We had our first major frost the last day of August..

Personally, I have already winterized the camping trailer..
Put away the fishing boat..
Taken most of the veggies out of the garden except the onions..
Put away most of the patio furniture..
Removed the air conditioner from the window..
Put away all the lawn ornaments..
Put away the garden hoses before they freeze..


I have much more work to do but at least I got started..
We have already had enough cold weather to have the furnace on as well as the fireplace..
The electric blanket is next.. 


Just wondering what others do to prepare for winter...................


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## SeaBreeze (Sep 23, 2012)

Winters are much milder where I live.  Since I go on camping trips a couple of times a year, I no longer have a vegetable garden to tend.  We've removed the small air conditioner from our bedroom window already, and when there's a frost here, we will just detach our garden hoses.  We don't have much patio furniture, just several folding chairs on the porch, so they stay put.  You have a lot more work to do all year 'round than I do, but it's a small price to pay to live in such a natural location.   We were just out camping a couple of weeks ago, and we saw some snowfall on our last day, very pretty dusting over the aspens and spruces.


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## Knightofalbion (Sep 23, 2012)

There is wonder in every season. Though the cold weather is not welcome with me. Keeping warm and the ever increasing cost of heating is a worry...


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## TWHRider (Sep 25, 2012)

No gardens or flowers here - much as I would love to have them.  In my old age I have to pick my battles and since my horses are a born-in-the-blood-addiction and I've never been without a horse, all my energy goes to them.

We retired south of the Mason-Dixon so the winters are mild.  We still get below freezing nights and I even had to plow the drive two winters ago.  

We do have various flowering bushes around the house that need watered during droughts, so the water hoses at the house get put away but not at the barn.

We keep the one inch rubber hose active 365/nights/year filling water buckets every night.  During freezes, it is disconnected from the outdoor water spigot, well-drained, stretched out on a slight slope to allow any excess to drain.  While the outdoor spigots are frost-free, my Yankee winter mindset still made Mr. TWHRider wrap them anyway - lol

We don't have a creek or a pond so the horses are totally dependent on us for water.  We switch out the summer outdoor water tubs and stall buckets for ones with heaters so the water won't freeze.  It not only keeps the water at a tepid 42-or-so degrees, I feel I have paid dues busting ice, all my life, and I have earned the right to pay a few dollars extra in electric each month to save my arthritic hands and back - lol

We don't have to bushhog so the farm tractor gets moved to the back of the workshop.  My John Deere is a sub compact that pulls a compact manure spreader, has a belly mower and a front loader, so stays in service all year long.  Her block heater gets plugged in during the cold months, but stays plugged into a battery tender 24/7 all year long.

We like things cold, so tend to use more A/C than propane for heat in the winter.  I can't keep the A/C at 62 in the summer as it's too costly but, I set the thermostat at 62 in the cold months and we run the gas fireplace all winter.  It heats the living room nicely yet the bedroom is cool for sleeping.

 My fingers still freeze up in these mild winters so I buy those 99 cent hand warmers and stick them in my cotton gloves.  They keep my hands warm in the worst of these southern cold days or nights.  Hulky gloves or mittens are out of the question when it comes to handling horses and everything that goes with them so the hand warmers work very well in thin gloves.

I still have all my snowmobile "stuff" from when I lived up north, so if I have to get on the tractor on a cold blustery day, I suit up.


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## Iodine (Oct 1, 2012)

October 1st and it's in the 90s today and we still have our a/c on so we haven't done much to prepare for winter.  We can leave our lawn furniture out because there is a roof over it.  There are 2 picnic tables that we just leave out in the weather no matter what.  We will have to cover some faucets and a pump that isn't in a pump house.  We have firewood stored up.   I guess we don't have too much more to do.


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## Rick (Oct 20, 2012)

Here in the Tampa Bay area, about all I have to do is break out a light jacket for the coldest days and find my long pants for the dozen or less days I can't wear shorts. I spent the first 37 years of life shoveling snow and I'm glad that's over. Occasionally I'll go home for a week in winter to see snow or drive eight hours north to Atlanta but that's enough for me.


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## Steve (Oct 24, 2012)

October 24th and there has been some traces of snow already.. Just up from us, they have already received over 25 cms of the white stuff and it is only the beginning....

I generally don't put on my snow tires till the middle of November.. I drive a Ford F150 with a Triton V8 and I install 4 of the ultimate best snow tires there are.. Winterforce tires by Firestone.. Although studs are allowed, I didn't stud my tires...


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## teamrose (Oct 24, 2012)

I live in beautiful South Florida. It is hard to tell one season from the next. I don't do anything to get ready for winter. However, this is Halloween and I do decorate the house for the kids enjoyment.


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## Steve (Oct 25, 2012)

We do absolutely NOTHING for Halloween..
There are NO kids around us..
There are NO adults around us..
There is NO-ONE around us....


Like I said previously, we live in the real country.....


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## loriann (Oct 25, 2012)

Around this time of the year I get ready to put out my Christmas lights. Halloween is just around the corner so I will bring the pumpkins in and then my family will come over and we will start decorating the inside of the house and the outside. This year has went by so fast.


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## Elzee (Oct 25, 2012)

Well, there isn't much to do for winter where I live, here in the south. We moved almost 5 years ago from the northwest. My husband and I are so glad to have gotten out of the damp weather and the rain. Next month, we will need long sleeve tee shirts and light jackets, so I am washing the jackets and purchasing new long sleeve shirts and tee shirts. We will need warmer coats, hats, scarfs and gloves for December and January. And I have them stored where I can easily access them.  

Not much to do since we live in a nice apartment. No more raking leaves. YEAH!

I have collected some pretty fall leaves (that's the extend of my raking leaves, I suppose) and decorated my mantle with a fall theme. Bought a few small pumpkins from a charity, to add to my apartment's fall decor. There are no trick or treat visitors that come to our apartment although the apartment building's office will have a Halloween party. I think I will skip that as it is for families with small children. Already invited my grown kids over for Thanksgiving. 

I plan to purchase mini lights to string along our balcony's rail - for the Christmas holiday.


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## InsomniacGirl (Oct 25, 2012)

We don't get much of a winter here in Texas, maybe a few weeks if we're lucky, lol! But we do go about cleaning up the property, such as raking leaves, adding to the pile of dead tree branches we've got when we want to light our chiminea, washing windows outside. Inside I try to do a real good cleaning, and sort through things we no longer use or need and donating them. We own an older mobile home that always needs cosmetic work done, so we usually do that in the fall or winter months.


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## SeaBreeze (Oct 25, 2012)

Steve said:


> October 24th and there has been some traces of snow already.. Just up from us, they have already received over 25 cms of the white stuff and it is only the beginning....



October 25, and we had our first taste of the white stuff last night, just a couple of inches of wet, heavy snow.  Supposed to get more tonight.  I like the first snows, lovely to watch.  My tires are good, but did replace my wipers today.   This is a pic I took on our camping trip last month of an autumn snow dusting in the mountains, there's a deer that was drinking from a pond.


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## Steve (Oct 25, 2012)

Actually today was a balmy 70f and sunny.. 
Go figure, one day it is snowing and the next day it is almost like summer.....


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## Ozarkgal (Nov 5, 2012)

The days here alternate between cold and warm here this time of year,but December-February gets very cold.  We do all the usual things like taking the hoses in, wrapping outdoor water faucets and winterizing our yard equipment.  I have 5 outdoor cats for vermin that make their home in a little chicken coop that has nesting boxes in it.  I stuff the boxes with straw so they have a cozy place to snuggle up.  Since I only have one closet in the cabin, I have to alternate our winter and summer clothes from a cedar chest to the closet for the seasons.  I just did that today. 

 My range is gas propane and we have a propane wall heater for back up heat in case of power failure, so have to make sure the propane tank is full for winter. Have to get the the schnauzerface's winter sweaters out, because they are definitely warm weather dogs and want their sweaters on for their morning potty run.  No horses anymore and I don't miss the frozen water buckets, cleaning stalls and hooves packed with snow or mud. But I do miss going into the barn on a cold evening and hearing them munching their hay and grain, all cozy in their Big D blankets in cleanly bedded stalls.


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## R. Paradon (Nov 6, 2012)

I am always ready for winter.  The picture of me with short hair is during the summer...the one with the longer hair is winter!   NO WINTER IN THAILAND!


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## teamrose (Nov 6, 2012)

It's threads like this that really make me appreciate living in South Florida. The temperature goes from really hot to warm. There are only a few days out of the year where a sweater is even needed. Once we pass hurricane season, it's all downhill.


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## Steve (Nov 7, 2012)

Perhaps the title should now read *"Now That the Snow is Here*" as we have already had a taste of the white stuff.. Not much, but a taste..
Much more to come......

We love the winter and the snow as we do winter activities ....

Our village relies on snow to survive.. There are so many winter activities in our area that bring in money to our village from locals as well as tourists...

Besides the environment requires snow.. Without the moisture, we would have severe forest fires...


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## teamrose (Nov 7, 2012)

Everyone is doing all of their winterizing. I don't miss the changing of the seasons one bit. Florida to me is paradise. Hurricane season and non hurricane season. What more can we ask for?


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