C: Ol’ Man Winter is Coming…I Can Just Feel It.

snow I had to turn the heat on this morning for the first time this season.  This harbinger of winter has me thinking about doing all the winterizing chores that need doing around here.  I need to cover the outside water faucets and make sure the light bulbs in our two well houses are lit.

Those tasks are easy enough to do, but there are larger ones, too, that I dread dealing with.  For one thing, the back refractory board in my fireplace is crumbling.  This means I need a new one.  This has not been as easy as I had hoped since I don’t know the manufacturer of my fireplace  insert.  Apparently, I will have to go “generic” and cut one to fit.  Just one more thing on my “learn-how” list.  In any event, it must be done before a fire is built.  And we simply must have our fires in the winter…

The other thing is the generator.  I have one of those gasoline-powered jobs, and it won’t start.  I’ll have to find a way to get it to someofireplace-main_Fullne who can repair it.  My thought is that it won’t be rocket science, but I haven’t a clue.  We don’t have many days without electricity, but it is nice to be able to have heat and lights, at least.  This generator will not run the well, too. 

There are various other smaller tasks I’ll have to see to before the hard weather sets in.  At least I don’t have horses or livestock to worry with. Much as I miss my horses,  I believe I’d be beside myself right now worrying with getting hay in for them and dreading the freezing rain days when feeding must still be done and water troughs broken of their top layer of ice.

I have to admit that all these preparations make me sometimes think “condo,” with its no-upkeep.  But, then, I look at my dogs who have always run free and think of the solitude and serenity of my forest-facing back porch and scratch the idea.

I guess everything has its price! C

Comments

Suzanne said…
Now you've gone and done it. I was doing a very good job of denying the fact that winter is coming. One thing about being a homeowner is that you must either be a millionaire to hire out, or learn to do things yourself. You're doing a good job!!

Try changing the spark plug (or cleaning it) on that generator. Right now we've got one of those in the garage that simply refuses to fire up! We bit the bullet and invested in a natural gas powered whole-house generator. There are other models that can run on propane. This this is a lifesaver when the power goes out and water threatens! It cuts on automatically 10 seconds after the power goes out. This is a neccessity with a 89-yr old in the house and the temps outside are 20 below zero.

- Suzanne
October 15, 2010 at 8:09 AM
Unknown said…
Yes, Winter is a coming...and I am looking forward to it so much.

Everything you are doing is worth the time and the effort. You know this. Yes, everything does have its price, but your heart needs to be where it's home and free.

I have missed you. I'm back now.

Marlene
October 15, 2010 at 11:08 AM
Anonymous said…
Have you tried spraying some starter fluid into the air intake after you have primed it? If that doesn't work, take it to a small engine shop.
October 15, 2010 at 3:45 PM
Jody Blue said…
It was a chilly one here this evening while I was sitting at our boy's football game and my cuddle duds failed me...but then so did my wool socks winter coat and blanket. We came home and turned on the pellet stove lickidy split! We have not even started on our winterizing to do list...why is it that we wait 'til the snow flies to get serious!?!
October 15, 2010 at 11:12 PM
Zuzana said…
Yes indeed, I have had to put on the heat everywhere this weekend as well. It is very chilly today, below freezing in the night and only 40F in the day. But it is sunny.
Luckily I need not to worry with any special preparations for winter, only the more mental one, like the exponentially increasing darkness.;)
Have a lovely weekend,
xo
October 16, 2010 at 3:40 AM
Eggs In My Pocket said…
Yes, I know winter is coming, but I so want to enjoy the wonderful fall we are having. I really dread winter this year because I will have to drive in the frozen conditions at 6 in the morning.....sigh. Have a great weekend. blessings,Kathleen
October 16, 2010 at 11:40 AM
Ayak said…
We all have to make compromises to achieve the environment/home that suits us best. Hope you get all the chores sorted xx
October 17, 2010 at 12:08 AM
Anonymous said…
What do you think concerning adding some more pictures? No offence, site is really great. Just as I’ve heard humans acquire information much more efficient if they see certain helpful pictures.

Joahn Tayfon
handheld cell phone jammer
October 31, 2010 at 12:36 PM
Anonymous said…
It is extremely interesting for me to read the article. Thanks for it. I like such themes and anything connected to this matter. I definitely want to read more soon.


Avril Swenson
escort privat schweiz hausbesuch
November 13, 2010 at 6:20 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guest Post by K: Whirlwinds of Change & a New Normal

Image
  Cowgirl V:  Shortly after the tornado that struck Tuscaloosa, AL, I asked my sister if she would consider writing a guest post about her experiences there.  She is a registered nurse who previously worked with Hurricane Katrina refugees. V   Enormous, menacing killer tornado looming over Tuscaloosa, Alabama April 27, 2011   Well, it has finally started happening.  I knew the day would come, but it has taken much longer than I expected.  You see, I live in a tornado ravaged city.  The April 27 devastation that occurred in Tuscaloosa, Alabama did not destroy my home.  In fact, we had no damage.   We were out of town when the storm hit but were glued to the television as we watched it begin to tear across the city.  I cannot describe our feelings we had as we watched this giant storm make its way across the city.  Then we had to come home.  We actually came home a day early to see what we could do to help. ...
Read more

C: GIVEAWAY!! Our First Ever! Join the Fun!

Image
As promised in my last post, this is your chance to WIN!! If you read the previous post, you will see that I am intrigued by by-gone etiquette rules. I have two copies of this book, one dating from 1945 (for which you can all vie) and one from 1950. The questions I am asking below are from the 1950 book because I had not yet dug the other one out when I starting composing this one. The topics we cover in this quiz seem foreign to me, and we think they will to most of you, since the classes are so mixed up these days. Emily, herself, notes this trend. You can almost hear her sniff as she says in her introduction on Page xii: The smart and the near-smart...are all mixed up together. The walls that used to enclose the world that was fashionable are all down. Even the cartracks that divided cities into smart and not-smart sections are torn up. And, I must say, V and I probably hail from the "not-smart" side of the tracks...sigh. Okay, here are the rules (such as they are...
Read more

C: Lessons on a Bridge

Image
We have a graceful bridge over the Arkansas River, uniting the North and South of our metropolitan area from its western side.  I don’t travel this bridge very often—maybe three or four times a year—finding that my travels take me more east-west and, if I go north, I usually travel on the Eastern side of the loop. But this week I had court in another county, and the logical route home brought me by way of this bridge.  It was on that day (last Thursday), that something occurred to me.  Never —not one time, I’d venture to say—do I traverse this bridge without thinking of an incident that occurred there in 1999.  Yes, 13 years ago, and the incident is still in my mind every time I cross the bridge.  I told V about this, and she c onfirmed that she, too, often thinks of it. This young lady’s name is Carson Prince.  In 1999 she was  the nineteen-year-old daughter of two attorneys, one of them the former mayor of our city.  In April 1999 drivers...
Read more