Question of the Day, Sunday, August 23, 2015

micknsnicks2mom · Aug 23, 2015

this is a busy time of year for me; lots to do in the late summer/fall.

since here at TCS we have members all around the world, it may not be late summer where you live.

for today's Question of the Day --

What are some of the things on your 'to do' list for this season, for this time of year? (can be anything -- for example, mowing the lawn or mulching garden beds, going to the beach or to the mountains, getting ready for starting the new school year, skiing or sledding, swimming in a pool/stream/lake or going to a bbq/cookout, or etc)

i'll start!

it's late summer here, and i've got a mixture of more fun things and chore-like things on my 'to do' list.

i'll start with the chore-like things:

stack firewood. my last load of firewood will be delivered this coming wednesday, and between that and the rest of the previous load i've got roughly 13+ face cords left to stack.
trimming down my flower garden beds. i'm working on reducing the amount of time i'm spending working on my flower beds. so i'm leaving a selection of flowering plants throughout my garden beds, and trimming down everything else. my goal is to be able to simply mow the lawn and around those select flowering plants, and use a line trimmer to touch up around those plants as needed.
clean out the wood stove chamber, and clean the chimney pipes
comb snick's hair -- this is a chore because snick does not enjoy being combed. poor girl sheds quite a bit during the warmer weather, and her coat is so thick that the sheddy hair doesn't come out on it's own.
move snick's sub-q fluids cases upstairs -- so they don't get overly cold in the basement during the winter months.
order more fluids and needles/giving sets for snick's sub-q's. i order to last us through the next year, and it's important that snick's fluids arrive before it's cold enough that they could freeze in transit.
put the storm windows down.
add another blanket to the bed, and at some point during the fall will change to microplush or flannel sheets.
continue mowing the lawn until the grass stops growing sometime this fall.
soon enough the leaves will start falling from the trees, and so begins raking the leaves.
i have a little project i just added to my 'to do' list. i'll be making a shelf to hold my computer power strips and routers. i've got some boards out in my mini barn, sandpaper, wood stain, and tools to do the job. i'll just need to buy a couple "L" brackets to use in mounting the shelf to the wall.

...and more fun activities:

making raspberry-peach freezer jam
(possibly) making some peach butter and freezing it
making some applesauce and freezing it
i'll start baking again this fall
planning Christmas gifts, especially for my snick and jaspurr
i'll enjoy setting up my new computer system this fall
and i'll take out my new lawn tractor with the snow blower attachment, to get used to driving that and handling the snow blower controls. my old lawn tractor uses more of a standard/stick shift idea, and the new lawn tractor is an automatic. i'm actually looking forward to the snow this year, because i'll be using my snow blower on the lawn tractor to remove 95% of the snow this winter -- just shoveling little areas like in front of the doors.

okay, now it's your turn!

Winchester · Aug 23, 2015

Chores:

Continue mowing until the first freeze (and sometimes after that, depending on how things go). Then it's cleaning the mowers and all that good stuff.
We'll be closing the pool soon, probably right after we come back from Canada. We don't turn the heat on in the house until we have the pool pump closed down for the winter.....evens out the electric bill a little bit.
Tearing out the vegetable garden, taking the fence down, ripping out the plants, etc. I'll have to bring in the butternuts fairly soon; they're changing color to that neat orange. And that's pretty much all that's in the garden right now, other than a few peppers here and there.
Cleaning up the walnuts. Although this year has not been a really bountiful year for the walnut tree, they're dropping now and need to be picked up. It's a shame I don't use them. Thanks to the squirrels hiding their walnuts, we have some nice walnut saplings growing here and there. And some small oak trees from the deer with the acorns. Rick would like to plant those about the yard, but I don't know where.
We'll be using the hedge trimmer to trim back the flower gardens. One swoop, some raking, and done.
Rick needs to get rid of the brush in the back of the yard. He'll take it down to the municipal building; they have a mulcher and they turn brush into mulch.
I'm going to start a bit of fall cleaning in prep for Christmas cleaning. That's just cleaning the kitchen cabinets with lemon oil, washing the windows, power-washing the back of the house, etc. Rick will get the outside of the windows, while I clean the inside. The rest of it is pretty much stuff I do all the time anyway.
We'll be changing over to flannel sheets, too, probably sooner than we'd like. And I'll throw the electric blanket on the bed. I cannot get through the colder weather without the electric blanket (neither can the cats; BooBoo, esp, complains bitterly about the colder house).

Fun Stuff:

Pick apples, make applesauce, apple pies, a few jars of apple BBQ sauce, and some apple dumplings
Change all the dinnerware from Fiesta over to the Winterberry for the holidays. I usually change the kitchen over to Christmas around the beginning of November, which really isn't all that far away. (I hate thinking about winter)
Try to cut my holiday baking list down to a low roar. I always end up making more cookies than I should. And then there's the cranberry gumdrops and the homemade marshmallows (wonderful in hot chocolate!) and the almond brittle. I'm not baking much this year....I'm really going to try to cut things down.
Shop! I love shopping for the holidays. I love being out and about, shopping for Rick, for the grands, for the family. Shopping for decorations for the tree and for the house.
Planning menus for the colder weather. It's a whole different ballgame then. We use the crock pots more often, we have more oven meals, lots of stews and soups. I'll be baking more breads and rolls. We'll still grill as long as we can, but I'll be cooking more than I do during the summer.

cassiopea · Aug 23, 2015

Quite a few, but a good one right now is finishing painting the living room!

Kat0121 · Aug 23, 2015

This time of year isn't much different from any other time of year here so no, not really. We pretty much do the same things here year round. It's still hurricane season but we really don't change our routine unless there's one in the forecast. At least I don't as I don't have much room for a ton of extra stuff. It will still be summer until well into November and December. The AC in the house runs pretty much 10 months a year. It gets too hot in the house for the furkids if I don't.

Norachan · Aug 23, 2015

Chores.

I'll have huge amounts of fallen leaves and dead wood to clear out of the cats enclosure this autumn, but I usually wait until December before I do that.

I need to make a shed to cover the outdoor gas bottles. Last year the poor gas men had to dig them out of the snow and chip ice off of them every time they came to change them. I should probably put down a few paving stones so it's easier to move them too.

Some of the plants need to be covered with newspaper and bubble wrap before the really cold weather starts.

I need to start getting the winter store shed full of cat food and canned goods in case I get snowed in.

(Argh! It's still August and I'm thinking about winter already)

Fun things to do.

Now that it's getting cooler I can do some more hiking. I want to do some of the trails near Matsugatake this year.

Lots more horse riding! Autumn is the best season for riding too. The horses are all lively after eating so much summer grass and there aren't as many horse fly around.

MoochNNoodles · Aug 23, 2015

Hmm.. I've still got peppers to pickle and can; if the bugs will leave enough alone! I need to weed the garden desperately! We are doing some things to maintain the trees in our yard. DH is concerned about one in the front yard. It's about time to start fall shopping for our kiddos. I need some new jeans and things this fall too. I think everything else is pretty routine. I did get an e-mail alert that it's time to start my fall garden plans. I'm just not sure I will do any fall planting.

swampwitch · Aug 23, 2015

Summer's a slow time for my job but starting next week it will be busy for a couple of months. That's the only seasonal work I have to do.

There are a few repairs and other things I'd like done on the house so I have appointments for estimates the next 2-3 weeks. My husband's going to be taking off some time from work in September so that will be fun, and also we should finish up the unpacking then and pick out a few more pieces of furniture that we need.

micknsnicks2mom · Aug 24, 2015

@Winchester -- it looks like you have a hefty 'to do' list for late summer/fall!

your mention of walnuts dropping reminds me of a family story from years ago. my dad had asked a neighbor up the road if he would mind us collecting some of the dropped walnuts from a lovely black walnut tree, which the neighbor was fine with. so we collected many, many walnuts. we laid them out on the floor of the second floor of our barn to dry. now we did not remove the husks. this was well before the internet became very common to use in looking up how to do things, and i think my dad just assumed that the husks would dry out and turn into the shells of the walnuts. fast forward something like a couple months, and we go up to check on how the walnuts were doing drying out. well, almost all of them were gone, but there were also bits and pieces of the husks and such scattered across the floor. my dad's conclusion was that the squirrels had gotten into them.

micknsnicks2mom · Aug 24, 2015

Cassiopea said:
Quite a few, but a good one right now is finishing painting the living room!

now, several people here at TCS have mentioned painting rooms in their homes recently. i had just planned on having painters come in to paint each area in my house as it's home improvements were completed, but now i'm considering doing some of the painting myself. i suppose it'll depend on what i feel up to getting involved with when the times come for each area, whether i'll have the time and energy to devote to doing the painting myself.

micknsnicks2mom · Aug 24, 2015

Kat0121 said:
This time of year isn't much different from any other time of year here so no, not really. We pretty much do the same things here year round. It's still hurricane season but we really don't change our routine unless there's one in the forecast. At least I don't as I don't have much room for a ton of extra stuff. It will still be summer until well into November and December. The AC in the house runs pretty much 10 months a year. It gets too hot in the house for the furkids if I don't.

i've heard that in states like florida and texas, the cooling bills for the summer/warmer months can be higher than the heating bills for the cooler/colder months. even though i live in northern NY State, my cooling bills in the summer months are slightly higher than my heating bills during the winter months -- it's actually about $8-9 per month more during the summer months. this is because i use the wood stove as my sole heat source during the cooler/cold months. and the ac runs more in my home for my snick and jaspurr too.

Kat0121 · Aug 24, 2015

mickNsnicks2mom said:
i've heard that in states like florida and texas, the cooling bills for the summer/warmer months can be higher than the heating bills for the cooler/colder months. even though i live in northern NY State, my cooling bills in the summer months are slightly higher than my heating bills during the winter months -- it's actually about $8-9 per month more during the summer months. this is because i use the wood stove as my sole heat source during the cooler/cold months. and the ac runs more in my home for my snick and jaspurr too.

That is definitely true because we really don't have heating bills. There's only a handful of days a year that the heat gets turned on. it really never gets cold enough to need it. Most people here don't own more than a light jacket either. My FPL bill in the summer runs in the $120-$140 a month range and is about half that the other 2 months or so a year. The cats love snuggling on and under my blankets during the cooler months.

micknsnicks2mom · Aug 24, 2015

Norachan said:
Chores.

I'll have huge amounts of fallen leaves and dead wood to clear out of the cats enclosure this autumn, but I usually wait until December before I do that.

I need to make a shed to cover the outdoor gas bottles. Last year the poor gas men had to dig them out of the snow and chip ice off of them every time they came to change them. I should probably put down a few paving stones so it's easier to move them too.

Some of the plants need to be covered with newspaper and bubble wrap before the really cold weather starts.

I need to start getting the winter store shed full of cat food and canned goods in case I get snowed in.

(Argh! It's still August and I'm thinking about winter already)

Fun things to do.

Now that it's getting cooler I can do some more hiking. I want to do some of the trails near Matsugatake this year.

Lots more horse riding! Autumn is the best season for riding too. The horses are all lively after eating so much summer grass and there aren't as many horse fly around.

i hadn't thought to use newspaper and bubble wrap to help protect plants during the winter months. that's a very interesting idea...

hiking sounds very nice! there are many hiking trails all over new york state, but sadly none within walking distance of where i live.

Willowy · Aug 24, 2015

Well, electricity costs more than natural gas or propane (at least around here). So, yeah, my heating bills are lower than my AC bills but only because of the cost of electricity. I don't think it actually uses more power than the heater.

I probably should pull the weeds out of the rock garden now. Last year I put it off until a warm day in January but it looks kind icky in between.

micknsnicks2mom · Aug 24, 2015

MoochNNoodles said:
Hmm.. I've still got peppers to pickle and can; if the bugs will leave enough alone! I need to weed the garden desperately! We are doing some things to maintain the trees in our yard. DH is concerned about one in the front yard. It's about time to start fall shopping for our kiddos. I need some new jeans and things this fall too. I think everything else is pretty routine. I did get an e-mail alert that it's time to start my fall garden plans. I'm just not sure I will do any fall planting.

i grew sweet peppers a few years ago, and the bugs just seemed to gravitate to them.

i'll probably end up buying a couple thermal henley tops as well as 3-4 thermal bottoms for this winter. i pretty much live in those during the winter months. hmmm.........maybe some socks too, as it's been a year since i've bought them and they do wear/get holes in the heels -- i'm tough on socks, though i never walk around in socks (and no slippers) indoors.

micknsnicks2mom · Aug 24, 2015

SwampWitch said:
Summer's a slow time for my job but starting next week it will be busy for a couple of months. That's the only seasonal work I have to do.

There are a few repairs and other things I'd like done on the house so I have appointments for estimates the next 2-3 weeks. My husband's going to be taking off some time from work in September so that will be fun, and also we should finish up the unpacking then and pick out a few more pieces of furniture that we need.

that's nice for you, having summer be a slow time for your job.

i love home improvements! so it's very exciting for me, having estimates done. my next set of home improvements will probably be in the spring of 2018, because i'm planning on having quite a bit done all at once. so it'll be late summer or fall of 2017 when i get estimates, choose the contractor (will almost certainly end up being my roofers as they do some other things, and the things they do, they do extremely well), then make the up-front/down payment on the contract for the job.

micknsnicks2mom · Aug 24, 2015

Kat0121 said:
That is definitely true because we really don't have heating bills. There's only a handful of days a year that the heat gets turned on. it really never gets cold enough to need it. Most people here don't own more than a light jacket either. My FPL bill in the summer runs in the $120-$140 a month range and is about half that the other 2 months or so a year. The cats love snuggling on and under my blankets during the cooler months.

my snick and jaspurr stay close to the wood stove all winter -- so do i!

we had a big rate increase (over 3 years) from our main gas/electric service provider. so last year i decided to use only wood stove heat during the winter months. it actually costs me less and the heat is much better/temperature in the house is warmer using the wood stove, wood as my heating fuel.

micknsnicks2mom · Aug 24, 2015

Willowy said:
Well, electricity costs more than natural gas or propane (at least around here). So, yeah, my heating bills are lower than my AC bills but only because of the cost of electricity. I don't think it actually uses more power than the heater.

I probably should pull the weeds out of the rock garden now. Last year I put it off until a warm day in January but it looks kind icky in between.

my understanding is that in my area, the propane costs more than even electric heat.

swampwitch · Aug 25, 2015

mickNsnicks2mom said:
i've heard that in states like florida and texas, the cooling bills for the summer/warmer months can be higher than the heating bills for the cooler/colder months. even though i live in northern NY State, my cooling bills in the summer months are slightly higher than my heating bills during the winter months -- it's actually about $8-9 per month more during the summer months. this is because i use the wood stove as my sole heat source during the cooler/cold months. and the ac runs more in my home for my snick and jaspurr too.

It's pretty expensive to run air conditioners; my BIL in Houston said he pays about $400 a month on electricity in the summer months. Unfortunately, summer lasts about 10 months a year there. He has central air and his house is about 2000 sq ft.

Willowy · Aug 25, 2015

mickNsnicks2mom said:
my understanding is that in my area, the propane costs more than even electric heat.

Oh wow. This year I'm paying $1.25 a gallon for LP (I lock in the price at the beginning of the year), last year I paid around $1.65 a gallon. I don't know how a gallon compares to a cubic foot so I have trouble comparing it to natural gas like I had in the last house :lol3:. But the total cost over the year seems pretty similar. I'm paying $.133 per kwh for electricity. Rural electric is expensive :/.

Question of the Day, Sunday, August 23, 2015

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