Is it August already?

My gosh, where did summer go? Seems it was stuck in the mid 70s for a long time, and now we are sliding into the cool and rainy fall. I don't mind too much, the rain knocks down the bugs and this is the time I really gear up to put things away for winter.....

Firewood. Can't have too much firewood! We have a couple dump truck loads of logs to get sawn, split and stacked-that is a priority. I am very thankful we got the woodshed built, it's going to be much easier than dealing with tarps buried in snow and ice, lol

Garden. Can't let things go too long, so this weekend I will put the mature green beans and whatever else needs taking. I also need to do up a couple more batches of zucchini relish-which means a trip to the grocery store for more peppers. Bell peppers and hot peppers for the beans-the peppers in my greenhouse are not quite large enough to help with these two items, darn it! Although the Ace bell peppers have been marvelous in salads, yum!

Yard. Time to think about mulching my very few perennials, and get things put away for the season. I just need a few lengths of hose for the next two weeks or so, then they can be drained, taped into loops and hung up out of the way until next spring.

Chickens. We have decided to move the chickens into the barn for the winter, but instead of a basically open stall with little shelter, this time we will put together a smaller, well insulated house for them. We'll hang a real light and put that on a timer too, of course. I hope there is space to add a small fenced enclosure under the barn roof too. They definitey need a warmer place so this is another "must get done before the snow flies" item on the list. Speaking of the chickens, my one eyed rooster is faring very well now. His mate has turned off broody and I am just letting her sit when she wants. They are really chowing down on the garden plants and trimmings too, and seem to be doing great. Three hens, one to three eggs a day, lol

Horses. Fall is when I make an appointment for floats and exams. It will be a hefty bill this year, due to having another horse needing a float also, but it's worth every penny spent. This is when I discuss little things that I have observed, just to check on them. And I will be sure to ply my vet with goodies from the pantry, especially considering she dropped everything a couple weeks ago, to tend Sully. It turned out to be nasty bug bites, but the steroid shot did the trick :)


School. Yes, school time already, first day is this coming Monday for my son. He is very excited to go (remember when we felt that way?) and boy has it been a real struggle getting him registered. The state has passed this mandatory chicken pox thing...and it's turned into a real mess for a lot of parents-especially those who work full time. My son had the first shot, but got a medium case of chicken pox just over three years ago. All speckled up, itchy, fever, the works. I did the right thing any parent would do, and kept him home so he wouldn't infect anyone else. Bad move on my part, I did not have proof! So it was quite a scramble to get the vaccine because there wasn't enough to go around but I managed. When I went to register him, I heard from the nurse that about one quarter of the kids still had not gotten the shot so could not attend school. Boy is the first week of school going to be a mess! Anyway, new clothes are on hand, new shoes, and we have an entire (large!) box of supplies for the year too. Whew.

I did ask the nurse about the school's plans for an outbreak of H1N1, and I don't think they have a handle on what they are going to do, quite yet. A little disconcerting to me, since you would assume they'd know what do with health emergencies, right? Of more concern is my hub, given he works on the Slope. Those camps have stuff going around all the time, people come from all over the US and the world to work there and the conditions are very crowded in the camps themselves. All I can do is send along a LOT of Purell and hope for the best that his naturally excellent hygiene habits will suffice.

So I think I have quite a lot to keep me busy until the snow flies. Six weeks to go, maybe eight if we are very lucky!