I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Autumn Tasks
EJ and I have a large-ish white board on which we list our debts/bills, home improvement/maintenance projects we want to get done,, money-making ideas, and other such things. We keep the board in our laundry room and get it out when we want to check off our progress or add to the list. Sunday we got out our whiteboard and wrote a list of the tasks we would like to get done before winter. Then we prioritized them according to which things we needed to buy now and which can wait. All the tasks need to be done before it snows, but some need to get accomplished while the weather is still warm and some can wait for a few weeks or even a month or two. After we finished our list and had a good idea of our priority and timeline, we went shopping. Hannah wanted to go with us, but we told her, “Not this time, Hannah-Banana!”
Our first stop was Meijers, where we bought auto maintenance items.. EJ will work on the vehicles in the next week or so before it gets cold. EJ also bought his tags for deer hunting. We bought a few other items as well, some of which were not on our list, but they were on sale. Meijers has a lot of good sales, but I usually do my grocery shopping at our little local store because I end up spending too much money at Meijers.
Our next stop was TSC. We need to get both t-posts and fencing up to protect our fruit trees from the deer before the ground freezes, but we bought the t-posts yesterday and have to wait until our next paycheck to get the fencing. We’ve got a little time. Probably next payday we will buy a winter’s supply of cat, dog, chicken, and wild bird food/seed at TSC and another feed store. We like to have enough so we don’t have to worry about getting low or running out during winter storms.
We drove home, unloaded our purchases, ate lunch, and then drove to the hardware store and bought four bales of straw. We need more straw for the garden and for the chicken coop, but we could only fit four in the suburban. We will get more bales later.
When we got home, I took the bales of straw into the coop, keeping one out to spread on our strawberry plants in the old hot tub. The weather is cooling with temps sometimes dipping in the low 40s overnight and I especially want the strawberries to be protected from unexpected frost. I’ll cover the other plants in the garden soon. Later I brought in my house plants for the winter. I keep them out on the deck all summer long and bring them in when the temperature cools in the autumn. Some of the plants I have had for years, and I don’t want to risk them getting killed by frost.
Meanwhile, EJ did a few auto maintenance things and then we put away the hoses in the front yard. I don’t think I’ll be watering the trees or flowers anymore. We haven’t yet put away the back yard hose, but we will do that soon. I’d like to mow the lawn at least one more time, and also wash the windows after I take the screens out. I don’t want to take the screens out until I have to. We have a lot to do!
After we had all our tasks done, we relaxed. Well, sort of. I did several more practice tests in preparation for getting my driver’s license renewed. This morning I did a couple more, and then I drove to the Secretary of State office–what other states call their DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles). I was a bit nervous, but I figured I was prepared as I could be and I just wanted to get it all over with. The clerk took my money, input my eye color, height, and weight into her computer, and then gave me a simple vision test in which I just had to read the top line of letters and state where I saw a blinking light. I passed that test! Then I had to stand in front of a screen and get my photo taken. The clerk said that I had a “deer in the headlights look” for my first photo so she retook it, and it looked better–but only slightly. Ugh. My license photo never, ever looks good–not ever. I always shudder and say, “whatever.” I was expecting the clerk to tell me to sit down and taken my written test, but instead she said, “That’s it. You’re good. Have a nice day.” I was tempted to exclaim, “B-b-but I thought I had to take a written test! I studied for it!” but I shut my mouth and left with a sigh of relief. It feels like forever since I had to renew my license in person, and I couldn’t remember if I had to take a test or not. I’m sure there were times when we’ve had to take the test. Well, I guess I’d rather be over-prepared than under-prepared and I think it doesn’t hurt to review all the driving rules just to refresh my memory. But, whew, in four years I can simply renew by mail.
After I returned home, I started washing clothes and hung each basket of wet clothes on the clothesline. There is a chance of rain for the rest of the week so today is the best day to do laundry. It was breezy and a cool outside this morning. Definitely sweatshirt weather.
During his lunch hour, EJ called the gravel guy to order a load of gravel. They will deliver it on Wednesday or Thursday and then we will be very busy shoveling and raking it into ruts in our driveway. It’s a lot of work, but I just tell myself it’s my exercise program! It will be more pleasant to work during the autumn coolness than summer heat.
I Love To Go A Gardening 
Fall is arriving down here also, but it truely has been a wonderful season and now the cooler days will give us the energy we need to finish up the out doors. We tore off the front boardwalk and deck this summer and it is completely replaced, now to tie up the landscaping. TJ we love the life you and EJ put into your home and farm, and thank you for journeying for us. Love You All.
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Wow! Sounds as if you have been really busy too! I’m bet your new boardwalk/deck looks awesome!
Winter always seems to overtake us every year before we are able to accomplish everything on our list. But we try to do more each year. 🙂
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