Oh, fall is approaching. You can feel it too, can’t you? The days are noticeably shorter. My hoodie is required for morning feeding now. Today, after a rainstorm yesterday, the morning temperature was in the 40s. Oh my.
Doink is eating overtime getting ready for the approaching cold weather.
It has been the mildest of summers here, so I’m not ready for it to be over yet. There were not enough warm evenings spent watching chicken TV. I didn’t get to sneak a single nap in the heat of the afternoon laying in the shade on a blanket. Not one.
As everyone who has spent time with me in January knows, I’m not a fan of cold weather. Yet as much as I brace myself when I think about surviving another winter – last year’s was epic in its sub-zero temperatures – there are things about winter that I actually like…
No Garden Hoses – Oh, how I despise hoses. They kink, they tangle, they get caught on rocks and stairs and just about everything as I drag them around the yard watering the flowers and the garden and the multitude of animal waterers that summer requires. Rolling those suckers up for the last time in fall is such a joy. Winter is two milk jugs filled up a couple of times a day. Way, way easier.
It sits there, just waiting to kink.
No Flies – This has been an horrid summer for flies in these parts. I know my compost piles go a long way in giving the pests a great place to breed, but they’re everywhere. I’m looking forward to that first freeze that knocks the buggers out. I prefer to see my breath in the air, not the flies!
No Spiders – Good lord walking into a spider web first thing in the morning is so unpleasant.
This guy has built and rebuilt webs outside the shed door all summer long. I walk into them daily. Ugh.
Time For Contemplation – Summer is a time of work, of action, of movement. Yesterday I was wallowing in the sand on the floor of the new chicken shed as I put in insulation and interior walls. I was a dirty sweaty mess. Today I’m loading up the pickup with all the junk we’ve accumulated over the summer and going to the dump. I love the hard work, but there’s so little down time, and many days I’m just too tired to think when all the tasks are done. In winter, I catch up on my thinking.
Time for Indoor Projects – I’ve got piles of denim waiting in my sewing room. It’s been waiting all summer, because I’ve barely walked into the room, much less sewn something. Those snowy winter days are just right for a sewing marathon.
Pillow cover? Couch quilt? I don’t know yet, but I’m ready to get started!
Since I can’t stop the seasons from changing, I’m going to start imagining myself curled up on the couch wrapped in a newly sewn quilt. Relaxing. Thinking. (Ok, I’ll probably be watching TV.) Until then…there’s work to be done.
(Shared at Backyard Farming Connection, Homestead Barn Hop, Clever Chicks Hop, Simple Saturdays, From the Farm Hop, Old-Fashioned Friday, HomeAcre Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, Down Home Hop, Maple Hill Hop, Tuesdays With A Twist and Thank Goodness It’s Monday)
The same summertime aggravations exist for me here in Southern California except they don’t all go away for winter – especially the very aggravating hose battles! Enjoyed your post – made me laugh! I follow another blog and she posted a wonderful denim project you might enjoy looking at – http://babajeza.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/es-geht-weiter-making-progress/. She sewed the pieces together by hand but I’ve been trying to figure out how to use a sewing machine instead. Patience is not my virtue and hand sewing requires buckets full 🙂
Wow, that is amazing! I’m experimenting with zig-zagging random pieces together – or at least I was last winter. Maybe I’ll pick up where I left off 🙂
It was in the 40s this morning? No wonder I slept so well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought of you when I woke up at 5:30am because I was freezing… 🙂
My irritating spider is at the door of the chicken run where I go every morning to open their pop door. You’d think I’d remember and knock it down with the broom first but no, I run into it every morning!!!!!!!
I feel your pain. Every. Morning. 🙂
OMG, Joan, I had to laugh out loud reading this! I DETEST hoses, all hoses, especially the ones that say “never kink.” HA! Right. And the flies! DEAR GOD. I live about 60 miles south west of Chicago, and I have NEVER, EVER, seen this many flies! Japanese beetles maybe, and then some flies that come to dine on their dead bodies, but never hordes of flies. Ugh. AND spiders! Huge, juicy, and I’m sure poisonous ones in webs all over! I can barely plant a foot somewhere by the landscaping without looking first to see if I’m ensnared! And now we are in the hottest of hot, humid, slow moving weather fronts of all summer. I can handle some heat, let me tell you, but combined with dripping humidity? DOUBLE ugh. I am ready, oh-so ready for winter. And I swore after last year’s winter, I would never say that again. I lied.
I’m thinking there’s a lot of hose haters out there! The Farmer’s Almanac forecasted “bitter cold” for our area this winter. Great. Just great. 🙁
We’re certainly going into the autumn here in Italy, and really before we’ve had a proper summer. It’s been warm weather for the last couple of weeks but before that, rain, rain and more rain. Unheard of here. Bad for the crops. The sunflowers need a little more warmth before they’re ready to hang their heads and be harvested.
But autumn here also brings the grape harvest, followed by the olive harvest, bringing delicious home made wine and cold, stone pressed, green as pea soup olive oil. The changing of the seasons. Love it.
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In the 40s??? My goodness, where are you? It was 65 in Charlotte when I walked the dog this morning and I put a jacket on. I said a prayer as I was walking with a big smile on my face, thanking God for the beautiful, crisp Fall-like weather. Fall is my favorite time of the year, especially as the leaves start to change. It’s when God does His best work with the Earth.
I love stopping by and seeing all your beautiful animals. Reminds me of our childhood farm. Wonderful memories. Stopping in from God’s Growing Garden.
Kim
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Stopping by from Maple Hill Hop // I’m with you on the hose issue! I am sick of even looking at my hose, nevermind taking the 20 minutes to untangle it. I’m hoping for another 2-3 weeks of warm weather to finish off my late summer crops, but there’s definitely a chill in the air!
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Wow you were in the 40’s! It’s still warm here and will be for a couple more months. My fried skin is so over these hot days. Never sure how winter will roll out here but I can agree with you on the hose things… Detest the rolling too, always a mess. Sending wishes your way that your mild summer will last a bit longer for you.
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You know, I’m glad you posted this. I was beginning to feel sad that summer is almost over, and feeling like we’ve been so busy that I didn’t have time to enjoy it. But then again, you’re right that fall and winter give a lot of time to do other things besides can your vegetables… 😉 Thanks for the positive outlook!
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I am so looking for some cooler weather here in South Carolina. The morning are starting about more pleasant but still by noon it is in the 90’s. I too am looking forward to those winter projects. I have a new grand baby on the way so I have a couplebaby things I need to finish.
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