Getting Ready For Winter

As amazing as it may sound, I think we’re on the verge of being read for winter. It seemed to be a bit of a scramble trying to get things done before the snow comes, not to mention finding the time in between job hunting, hockey, and parenting. Factor in really short days and inclement weather, and it’s amazing that we’ve even arrived at this juncture, but arrive we did. If it were to snow tomorrow, I’d be disappointed, no doubt, but at least some of the big things are taken care of.

First off, I managed to squeak in one last mowing of the lawn, and don’t ask me why this was so significant to me, but it had some definite symbollic importance. Have you ever had a million things to do that really weighed heavily on your shoulders, and yet you do the less important thing because you know how and are comfortable with it?  This is the story of my life, and despite the fact that there is a barn to finish and firewood to split and stack, not to mention a glorious freelance career to kickstart, I seem to fall back on mowing the lawn, because I know I can do it, and it gives me a sense of accomplishment. Does anyone really care about the lawn? I guess I do, because on the flip side, when the I have no time and the lawn starts to look unkempt, it really brings me down. Strange how the mind works, is it not?

The final mowing was relevant in the sense that it gave me a chance to properly store the lawn mower, which entailed running the tank dry and clearing the carburettor (I never knew how to spell this word). My understanding is that you want that carburretor clear in storage so it doesn’t gum up and become clogged. I’ve experienced this firsthand and had to have the the thing cleaned. I’ve been told it’s because of the ethanol additives in fuel, it really harms high-revving engines like mowers and chainsaws. With the chainsaw it’s easy because you just tilt the saw and pour off the gas. You can’t do that with a mower, so you have to use a syphon.

Speaking of chainsaws, I also cut up some more wood and prepared that for storage, as well. Same deal, you need to clear the carb, which I managed to do. Now all our heavy gas powered equipment is stored and we are ready for winter, sort of.

There are still the issues of firewood and the barn, but they are not as time sensitive, sort of. In my ideal world, I would have all the trim done and all the firewood split and stacked before the snow, but who lives in their ideal world? The barn is in progress, I’m happy just to have the siding on, and the firewood for this year is all set. I have about 4 cords that need to be relocated and split and stacked, but again, if I can’t do it, I’ll live. Maybe having the flexibility isn’t such a good thing.

Either way, things are better than worse, if that makes any sense. A week ago I was fretting over the lawn and the power equipment, and now that’s all done. Of course, there is still some raking that needs to be done, but that could be the one thing I put off until spring.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Dave Olsen for the pic.