by Deborah in the UP

Day 1, Nov. 1, 2010
Monday is usually the day I go to town, do banking, do my shopping. Ah,… no shopping for the month of November.. Whoa… Weekends are when I work, when I work, during this time of the year. I worked on Friday, so did my banking that day, and stocked up on a few things that I really knew I would need. Like cat food and chicken feed. I can re-balance what *I* use, but how can I explain no chow to the cat? He and the chickens depend on me to keep them fed. So, yes, Friday was my Monday, and it was still October..

So, today, not going to town, I worked on my Fall prep list.. It’s almost complete now. I had those few minor things to do: cut back the herbs, move shovels to the porch and deck (hope I didn’t jinx myself.. lol… even though snow IS predicted for this weekend), moved flower boxes to the ground, dumping annual flowers. The cistern has been turned and the gutters taken down. I put up more permanent winter walls for the chickens on their yard, and already turned the bird baths over. I filled the bird feeder this afternoon and hung it on the Sheppard hook that had held flowers this summer. Within an hour, the chickadees and the nuthatches found the new food source. Gave me a good smile.

With a bit of extra time on my hands, I cleaned out a cupboard.. My vitamins. Removing all the out of date stuff, immediately cut the stash in half! I do get lax on taking my supplements, but I do eat well, and fresh.

Last major prep to do is empty and winterize the hot tub.. I’m just not ready to do that.. Yet…….

Breakfast was a slice of homemade toast with a single slice of white American cheese.
Lunch was a can of cream of mushroom soup with an extra can of mushrooms added.
Dinner was a chicken leg, baked, plus some fried eggplant, after an appetizer of asparagus spears wrapped in procuitto.

Day two:
Voting day, and it was so nice outside I did a few of the remaining winter preps: raked the driveway of big rocks that would cause havoc with the snow blower , swept the deck again, put a new alarm on the food shed (persistent bears, but the alarm does work!).

Day three:
Snow is predicted for tomorrow, so I’ve decided it was time.. To drain and winterize the hot tub. I’ve really enjoyed soaking at night with these cool temps but I don’t want to hassle with the draining while it’s snowing. There’s usually a good 6” of water left in the foot well that needs to be scooped out, and standing in that cooling water with bare feet isn’t always comfortable, but I had a brain storm! I have a small submersible pump for the flowing bird bath, and extra tubing; oh, my, worked like a charm! Took that water down to nothing. Then I added two gallons of RV antifreeze into the pump, as it filled it pushed the remaining water out. The tub is buckled down and all set for the winter. All that remains on my list is to set the four flower boxes that sit on the deck railing, down underneath the edge of the deck. That would take two minutes and could be done in the snow. For right now, all the asparagus ferns and vinca vines look so nice, I want to leave them there.

I’m working on a new entry for the Living in the Woods series. Every now and then I do remember some of the more pleasant times and want to share them. For now, though, I’m remembering how different my childhood Halloween was from today.. Where even 5 year olds were safe on the streets of Detroit, and no one ever considered putting razor blades, pins or drugs into the candy. It saddens me that the children today need to have their goodies passed thru a metal detector, or just have community parties at the fire hall or local school gym to know their candy hasn’t been tampered with. To quote someone else, I need to “wrestle with reality”, and accept the changing times.