BRACING FOR A COLD SPELL

Firewood – check

Windows securely closed – check

Doghouse door installed – check

Space heaters in place – check

Furnace filter replaced – check

Electric blanket on bed (and operational) – check

Farmhouse plumbing winterized – check

Etc.

We live with our weather apps these days. The weatherman is sticking to his story. We might see record-breaking lows through Monday. It will rain with snow likely in the upper country.

All things considered we drove back to the farm yesterday. It’s always a lovely trip along the Clearwater and up the mountain, but it’s especially lovely in autumn with the deciduous reds and yellows nestled among the pines and firs. We were there before 9:30. I don’t think the temp was ever above 35, and it seemed to get colder in the afternoon.

Mike’s goal was to finish installing two lighting units in his shed. Honestly, I would have put it off until spring, but he was anxious to see them work, and they did. Success! The lights operate off a 12-volt battery, and he says he can use old motorcycle batteries because it doesn’t take much juice to run the lights.

While Mike was busy in his shed, I turned on the oven and baked banana bread, a lovely way to put some heat in the house. I gathered up a few projects to take back to town and filled the laundry basket with sheets and towels. I think outdoor line-drying is over for the season.

At my request, Nick and Hallie brought a large storage bin of Christmas lights down from the attic. Many are left over from another era, so I went through them and boxed up many strings for donation. I also found some newer ones – I wondered what happened to those – and I’ll use them on the tree this year. Mike questioned getting rid of those lights, but we haven’t used them in years, and realistically speaking, we aren’t going to. Why keep them? The same goes for my Christmas ornaments, but I AM nostalgic about those.

Speaking of lights, I keep a string of seasonal lights on a timer in the kitchen window. The current set was jack-o-lanterns. I plugged them in and discovered they had burned out. Again, it was an old string left over from a previous life, so I removed the plastic pumpkin heads and tossed the string. I replaced with the chili peppers, not quite ready to hang my holiday string.

After lunch, Mike commenced to drain the pipes, and while that was going on, we went down the lane to pick apples from the “Winterstein” tree, carrying a box and our picker pole. We picked 8 or 10 apples, but they were sparse, high in the tree, and mostly overripe. So now we know – best to pick early in October, I think.

We didn’t see gopher activity for several months, but they’re at it again, undoubtedly reconstructing their tunnels. I got out my spoon handle and my applicator and set to work. I find the spoon handle works best for locating holes and tunnels, but once I find a good deep hole, the applicator is helpful.

Arriving back in town mid-afternoon, it was significantly warmer than it had been at the farm – 53 degrees. KW