Battening Down

Sweltering in nearly one-hundred-degree heat, it's hard to believe the predictions of rain, wind, and nearly a thirty-degree drop in temperature due next week, but it would be foolish to ignore the prognosticators.  There are some outside chores I've been putting off that have now moved up on the list.  The chicken coops are in pretty good shape, but the goats have pulled a plywood wall panel loose on their barn and that needs to be nailed back or replaced.  That hasn't been a priority because it was just extra ventilation in the heat.  Odds and ends of yard tools, etc., that have been left out, handy for the next task, need to be gathered up and put away.  Larry cleaned out the gutters earlier, but I need to start thinking about getting the chimney swept.  Tree Guy stopped by yesterday to talk about a plan of attack for all the wood that is yet to be split and stacked.  The little daughter of my milk customer changed the costume on the ceramic goose by the front door...it gets a new outfit every month and she just couldn't wait to put on its witch's Halloween hat and cape for October.  Without my noticing, the oak leaves have started to turn color, and every breeze carries a few floaters drifting down.

In a couple of weeks, I will have lived here at Farview fourteen years.  Because it was such a momentous change, the memories of our move up the hill are as clear as if it were yesterday.  It was all so new; a totally different lifestyle.  We had no idea then what we needed to do to get ready for fall or winter.  Now it is hard to remember that I ever lived anywhere else, and I know darned well that I'd better get busy.