Batten the Hatches

The predicted rain started sometime in the night.  For a change, I am prepared.  While down at the barn, I put the covers back on the windows for the girls.  There are clear roof panels among the metal ones that keep the recesses of the barn from becoming the Black Hole of Calcutta.  (I just looked this up and discovered that there actually was a black hole of Calcutta, a phrase I've used for years, usually in reference to my workroom.)  Prior winds had ripped the old tarp to shreds, so I put a new tarp over the woodpile, brought another wagon load of firewood up to the house, and restacked the loose logs so that fewer touch the ground.  I had picked up a supply of goat and chicken feed the day before, and made a trip to town for my own supplies yesterday.  It's too soon to turn off water lines, but, by golly, I think I'm ready for winter when it comes.