Funny, I started this, well I wrote the title! weeks ago..and then I forgot. Summer is definitely gone here, quite a long time ago. For all the seasons, just like in our emotional life, we have to pack them up, and plan for the new one. It is much easier to pack up seasons in the physical sense, no doubt!
PLANTS..
Well there are the annuals, and while I still have some holiding on, and I won't yank them out until they are really done, but yes annuals need to come out. I always hate taking any plant out, I feel like it is some sort of death. Why can't they just live all year round? So out come the annuals. The perennials need to be cut back in some cases, or sometimes they just lose every single leaf and wither away, I mean you think the plant is a gonner, and the next spring it comes back--I find that a small miracle! The evergreens, a great time to give them a bit of a hair cut and prepare them for the long winter ahead (if you live in a winter climate like I do.) And of course the leaves, the leaves, the leaves, I will be spending many an hour picking up leaves. I cannot believe how many leaves are just on one tree!
FURNITURE..
One year I left my chair pads out all winter (I am not sure what I was thinking) and they got pretty darn weathered, not that all summer in the sun doesn't do the damage too. But I decided no point in leaving them out all winter to get perpetually soaked, so I finally brought them into the garage. I am going to clean them up with a light spray cleanser and that way they will be ready for next summer. The frames of the furniture stay outside to face the winter. It probably won't look so hot by next spring, and I think a spray painting is in its future. I guess if I was really good I would buy all the plastic covers, so you might want to think about it, certainly if it is wood, but then again, I don't really like wood furniture, certainly not in a rain soaked climate.
PLAYSETS..
Well these stay out all year, and I think mine is going next spring. I almost feel like looking at it now, like it is a house of cards, and one more card on top, and the thing will just cave in. Wood, again why wood, it is just rotting away at this point. I have diligently restained it two years in a row, and can totally see the destruction of rain and snow and wind the following spring when it looks like it is on death's door (for a playset that is.)
KIDS TOYS..
I keep a large trunk outside where all the kid's toys goes. And I only keep what fits in there.
Every year about this time, I go through it, and toss out the broken and well loved outdoor toys that no longer are working--amazing how kids go through things. Amazing how kids put things away--throwing them in there like a wishing well. So it is all cleaned up again and straigtened up waiting for next spring. If it is broken or in bad shape, do NOT keep it. Toss it out. Recycle if you can. Don't keep junk lying around--my major pet peeve.
CLEANING GUTTERS..
Well this is not exactly putting away summer but much more preparing for winter..and I get mine done, which reminds me I have not..gutters can get loaded with leaves and other debris, and wait until that major rain, and suddenly your gutter is spewing water all over the top, most likely right at your front door, because this is the way life is. This did happen to me last year, and I am happy to say I was still married, so I was able to send my husband out in a rain coat and ladder to fix it, not so this year..
LEAKS..
Again more preparing for winter. Windows and doors, caulk where you need to. I have a window that leaks like a pasta strainer, and my neighbor was going to fix it last year before he almost fell right down off the roof (so that ended that..) and it was leaking the other day, and I am dumbfounded as to who will fix it--a roofer? Ugh, I blew this, I should have had it done last summer when I had more extra cash. Leaks are bad, they lead to rot, I don't even want to write that..
HEATER..
Remember when the house was so warm all summer? I love it really warm and seldom use the AC, but that might not be for everyone. The flip side is the winter is coming and I have to manage my heater, so not to pay big bills one month later..so I work on turning it down even just a couple of degrees from where I would really like it, and I see the savings. Like my dad would say, put on a sweater!!
Embrace the change of seasons. That is where I try to stand. It will happen anyhow.
PLANTS..
Well there are the annuals, and while I still have some holiding on, and I won't yank them out until they are really done, but yes annuals need to come out. I always hate taking any plant out, I feel like it is some sort of death. Why can't they just live all year round? So out come the annuals. The perennials need to be cut back in some cases, or sometimes they just lose every single leaf and wither away, I mean you think the plant is a gonner, and the next spring it comes back--I find that a small miracle! The evergreens, a great time to give them a bit of a hair cut and prepare them for the long winter ahead (if you live in a winter climate like I do.) And of course the leaves, the leaves, the leaves, I will be spending many an hour picking up leaves. I cannot believe how many leaves are just on one tree!
FURNITURE..
One year I left my chair pads out all winter (I am not sure what I was thinking) and they got pretty darn weathered, not that all summer in the sun doesn't do the damage too. But I decided no point in leaving them out all winter to get perpetually soaked, so I finally brought them into the garage. I am going to clean them up with a light spray cleanser and that way they will be ready for next summer. The frames of the furniture stay outside to face the winter. It probably won't look so hot by next spring, and I think a spray painting is in its future. I guess if I was really good I would buy all the plastic covers, so you might want to think about it, certainly if it is wood, but then again, I don't really like wood furniture, certainly not in a rain soaked climate.
PLAYSETS..
Well these stay out all year, and I think mine is going next spring. I almost feel like looking at it now, like it is a house of cards, and one more card on top, and the thing will just cave in. Wood, again why wood, it is just rotting away at this point. I have diligently restained it two years in a row, and can totally see the destruction of rain and snow and wind the following spring when it looks like it is on death's door (for a playset that is.)
KIDS TOYS..
I keep a large trunk outside where all the kid's toys goes. And I only keep what fits in there.
Every year about this time, I go through it, and toss out the broken and well loved outdoor toys that no longer are working--amazing how kids go through things. Amazing how kids put things away--throwing them in there like a wishing well. So it is all cleaned up again and straigtened up waiting for next spring. If it is broken or in bad shape, do NOT keep it. Toss it out. Recycle if you can. Don't keep junk lying around--my major pet peeve.
CLEANING GUTTERS..
Well this is not exactly putting away summer but much more preparing for winter..and I get mine done, which reminds me I have not..gutters can get loaded with leaves and other debris, and wait until that major rain, and suddenly your gutter is spewing water all over the top, most likely right at your front door, because this is the way life is. This did happen to me last year, and I am happy to say I was still married, so I was able to send my husband out in a rain coat and ladder to fix it, not so this year..
LEAKS..
Again more preparing for winter. Windows and doors, caulk where you need to. I have a window that leaks like a pasta strainer, and my neighbor was going to fix it last year before he almost fell right down off the roof (so that ended that..) and it was leaking the other day, and I am dumbfounded as to who will fix it--a roofer? Ugh, I blew this, I should have had it done last summer when I had more extra cash. Leaks are bad, they lead to rot, I don't even want to write that..
HEATER..
Remember when the house was so warm all summer? I love it really warm and seldom use the AC, but that might not be for everyone. The flip side is the winter is coming and I have to manage my heater, so not to pay big bills one month later..so I work on turning it down even just a couple of degrees from where I would really like it, and I see the savings. Like my dad would say, put on a sweater!!
Embrace the change of seasons. That is where I try to stand. It will happen anyhow.
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