Preparing For Fall and Winter

Now that summer is winding down, it is time to start preparing for Fall and Winter. 

I have spent some time this summer stockpiling food, personal care, and cleaning items for this winter. As you all know we have cold and snowy winters here in the Buffalo region. However with all of the company we have had, I have not canned this year. So I have stockpiled more cans purchased from the grocery store. I also have full freezers which we are eating out of to make room for turkeys this November. I don’t like driving in the winter on days that the roads are not good. This stockpile lets me stay home on those days. 

We have also moved most of our bi-annual doctor appointments to the spring and summer. When we moved here it was the beginning of December. As we started finding doctors and setting up appointments, most of them landed in December and January. We have slowly moved them a month every year so that they are in the good weather now. The only ones we must go to are dental appointments. 

I have a list now of all of the things we must do to get ready for these seasons. These are some of the things that need to be done.

Hubby will be caulking all of house cracks that need it outside and inside while it is still warm out. Caulk and the necessary caulking gun are necessities that are worth the cost. Hubby will replace any weather stripping around doors that need it. Doing this makes the house more air tight and will save us on heating bills.

We will be having our furnace serviced to make sure that it is in good running condition for the seasons ahead. The $86. that it costs us is cheap insurance to make sure we do what we have to prevent a breakdown in the cold weather. It also tells me that the furnace will run efficiently and save us on the heating bills.

I will be picking up a multi-pack of furnace filters next week at Home Depot. Since we change them every month, I am down to one with the A/C on. On the advice of our furnace man, I buy cheap ones that don’t block the flow of the air but removes the dirt and dust.

Our landscaping company is here this morning doing what they do every month to maintain our property for us. They weed, trim bushes, and trees, plant things when we order through them, etc. The last month that they come is end of October and they get everything cut back and ready for winter. Hubby will have leaves to contend with but the riding lawn motor mulches them and picks them up.


The same landscape company does our lawn fertilizing and will put a winter fertilizer down later in the Fall.

In November, Hubby will service our snowblower so that will be ready for the first snow. He will also make sure that we have plenty of gas and oil for it to get us through the winter. He will service the riding lawn mower by draining the fluids and the other things he does to it.

Over the next two weeks I will be washing our winter clothes using the express cycle. They were all washed before they were put away but they need a little wash to freshen them up. Of course I will be hanging them to dry. 

I have marked my calendar to change the batteries in our smoke and carbon dioxide detectors for the beginning of furnace season. I buy 9 volts in bulk from Amazon. 

Once the furnace is on, I will put the snakes against the bottom of doors that go outside and against the doors that go into our basement to keep the warm air in.

Hubby has made an appointment for the company to  come and drain our sprinkler system to keep it from freezing. After they come and do that, Hubby will shut the water off to the outside spigots to keep them from freezing. Then he will drain any hoses that we have used over the summer to wash the car, etc. and store them away.


Our gutters will not have to be cleaned this year since we had Leaf Guard installed this spring and nothing gets through them.

We do these things to not only save on the heating bills but to maintain what we own so that we don’t have to replace it anytime soon. If you take care of these things they will last you a long time.

I realize not everyone lives in a cold area like we do so take the advice you can use and leave the rest behind.