Winter Preparations Underway

Saturday was the beginning of a fully packed weekend for us.  It began bright and early and long before the sun was up when I had to take my daughter to the high school to ride the bus to a marching band competition at Idaho State University.  On the way home I stopped at Walmart and picked up two gallons of RV antifreeze.

Next stop on the way home was Fred Meyer to pick up a few groceries for the week ahead and to take advantage of a digital coupon I had downloaded for five boxes of Capri Sun on sale for 99¢ each.  I really wanted to get those to have for the girls to pack in their school lunches.

By the time I got home my youngest was up and we had a quick breakfast before grabbing gloves and tools to go out and prunes some of our trees.  We had a lot of pruning to do this year and a lot of the branches were touching the roof on our garage.  We climbed onto the roof and worked from there to cut back the branches.  We tossed them off and swept the roof finishing up in time to watch the Canadian Snowbirds fly over our house as part of the big air show taking place over the weekend.  It was a spectacular way to take break from our chores.

Once the planes were done we moved down to the yard to cut up the limbs.  We stacked the larger pieces in the back yard to dry out for next year.  We cut up all the smaller branches and filled up two of our neighbors borrowed compost bins to set at the curb.  Then we moved onto the next tree and trimmed it.

Cooper's Hawk - wikapedia pic

I changed gears for a bit and got the motorhome winterized.  I'd started on it Friday evening so I was anxious to get it finished up.  I blew the water out and ran the anti freeze through the waterlines, toilet and poured some down the drains.

Canadian Snowbirds

One of our neighbors took this!

Some of our friends stopped by to watch the Air Force Thunderbirds take to the sky over our house and once that was over they stayed to give us a hand with some of our pruning.  We also had a nice visit.

After my oldest got home from her competition we grabbed the laundry basket and headed out to the motorhome to clean out the pantry and bring in the food and bottled water.  She was pretty impressed that I'd finished up the winterizing without her.  She was sure I'd need her help and quite frankly I thought I would too, but I managed.

Sunday morning we were right back at it after our big Sunday breakfast.  We pruned our large maple tree and cut up those limbs adding to our woodpile in the backyard.  We cut up the rest of the branches and made a big pile to wait until after the garbage man comes.  I think we'll be filling bins to set at the curb for a few weeks.  While we worked the air show started up again and it was a lot of fun to work and watch them file overhead.

There was a lot of dead wood on that maple poor tree and I had a small stack of shreddables in the house so we grabbed a box of matches and lit a fire in our fire pot.  We cut up all of that dead wood and got it burnt up along with the shreddables.  We weren't about to let a good fire go to waste so we cut some sticks and roasted wieners, something we hadn't done in a very long time.  It was fun and tasty too.

While we ate the Thunderbirds took flight and put on their show.  We were also visited by a Cooper's hawk that had flown into a tree behind our house.  So beautiful.  He talked to us for a while before he flew off.  Then it was time to get back to work.

The girls and I grabbed a broom and a borrowed ladder from our neighbor and headed out to the driveway.  They got up on top and swept off the roof to make sure there weren't any leaves or twigs on top and to get off any dirt or dust.  Then they helped me unfold the big heavy duty tarp I had bought a couple weeks ago and we got Laverne all wrapped up in her winter blanket.  I have to tell you it makes me really sad to see her all wrapped up like that because I really want to be out on the road, but soon we'll be unwrapping her and doing just that.

It is really important to me to protect my Laverne, however, and I don't want to risk damage due to ice buildup or standing water, plus I think it will be much easier to get the snow off the tarp instead of trying clear it around the vents and stuff.  Plus it is less likely that we'll inflict any damage to the roof this way.  I don't love the look, but I do love the protection.

Once the tarp was all secure, and yes I do have a quick way to get in and out of her this winter when I need to, we picked up and put away our tools and called it a day.  I was ready for a long hot shower and some quality time in my recliner.  The girls made quesadillas for our Sunday supper and it was perfect!

It was a lot of work, but it felt really good to get it all done.  Now, on to the next things on the get ready for winter list.  Fortunately, none of them are on as large scale as the ones we just completed.