Getting ready for fall here is really all about getting ready for winter. Traditional fall -- colorful leaves, bright blue sky, crisp air -- means we are only a few weeks away from chilly gray skies that promise snow.
Ten Things I Do To Get The House Ready For Fall.
- Take screens out of the windows to improve the view. This takes about five minutes -- easy peasy.
- Replace the pots of flowering plants on the front stoop with mums. I have prepared for this by neglecting the pots for a week -- they are looking a little droopy. We haven't had a killing frost yet, although it has been close, so I really should keep watering them.
- Bring in the umbrella from the deck table. This one is especially easy this year, since that umbrella never made it out onto the deck in the first place.
- Move all the deck furniture to one side, stack the chairs. This probably won't happen until Halloween or so. The move is just so we can have Younger Slave Son use the snowblower on the deck once or twice.
- Put my down comforter back into its cover -- extra warmth! This may happen sooner rather than later. I have been a tiny bit chilly when I first get under the comforter.
- Dream about wearing winter woolens.
- Pull the dock and boat out of the lake. I wish -- they haven't been in the lake for a couple years.
- Ask Smokey if Da Jeep is ready to plow snow.
- Ask Smokey if my car is ready for winter -- antifreeze, oil, tires. It usually is, but I worry about these things.
- Discuss whether Smokey can get rid of another car before the snow comes (to help clear out space to pile snow).
