Readying for winter

I've only just started saying goodbye to summer and it's already time to think about preparing for winter. And the need to get certain things done before it's too cool to leave the windows open always sneaks up on me. Today I realized that next time I have a warm day when I'm at home, I need to clean the ovens, because once winter sets in, cleaning them is really difficult: they make the house so smokey that if you can't open the windows, you really don't want to do it any more than absolutely necessary. So you have to wait until as late into the autumn as possible, then clean them once in middle winter, and then as early into spring as possible. And I suddenly find myself looking at that autumn date already.

Same thing with giving the dog a bath.

And that means I have to put up the hose reels, take down screens, clean out the culvert, take down the container garden, run down the tractor, test out the generator, and a bunch of other things of the same ilk. Plus this year I have to be ready for the dog-related burdens: ensuring she has somewhere to go outside to do her business (and thus learning how to use the snowthrower), and the mounting worry that with the inability to take her for exercise in the harsh weather, she's going to become unmanageable. (Plus now I have a shed whose roof will need snow removal, too. I'm going to be busier than ever.) And there's not one but two bee's nests to deal with!

I'm a little irked that between having my chainsaw out of commission and then waiting two months for a forester to return a call, I missed pretty much the whole summer, and it's down into cold weather and busy weather already when I'm finally able to start thinking about taking down a few more trees. I don't know if I'm actually going to have time to do any this year after all.

If only I didn't have to work, then I'd have just about the right amount of time to do the things that need doing.