Weather And Holiday Concerns

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I may have bitten off more than I can chew. This last trip to the nursery for the riparian seedlings tempted me to get a full pickup load of plants since the last batch had went into the ground so quickly.

My enthusiasm is beginning to wane as the threat of unseasonably cold weather is looming. Reports are suggesting that it is supposed to be the coldest Thanksgiving in the last ten years and snow is a possibility even in the Portland area. I am writing this story a couple of days before Turkey Day and it is well before daylight so I don’t take up valuable daytime hours working outside.

The cold weather means that planting will be impossible during frozen ground with biting-cold east winds blowing that dry out the tender roots of the seedlings, so I need to get them into the ground before it hits.  The weather threat is also creating a higher demand for firewood bundles so we are juggling priorities. We tend to wrap on demand to make sure we have no hidden critters like bugs and vermin are always looking for a chance to move in and yet we want to make sure we have enough for full loads on our trips into town. Them bundles don’t wrap themselves, as I say when I’m headed out to the wrapping barn.

Now I’m torn between getting the seedlings into the ground quickly and making sure I have enough bundles available. These days are busy ones as I try to keep up on the two tasks while fitting in the daily farm chores, meals for the family and all the assorted duties.

Most of the assorted duties fall off the list easily, including but not limited to;

• laundry, ehh, it can wait until we are only wearing layers upon layers of summer clothes instead of long-johns or heavy sweaters.
• dinner, just pull a container of soup out of the freezer that I made at the end of summer when the garden was in its glory. If you are still hungry make a peanut butter sandwich.
• dishes, (this one is simple) do your own darn dishes or use the same one, I don’t care!
• sweep out the middle section of the barn where the tractor and Gator track in mud, I’ll wait til it is frozen solid so I can’t sweep it at all. Once it thaws I’ll be sorry but I can’t worry about that now.
• finish cleaning up the garden for winter, too late in the season to even worry about it.

Oh my, I am beginning to sound a bit cynical aren’t I? Don’t fret, is just a tactic I use to get myself into gear to assure the very necessary jobs are done in a timely manner to beat the weather, the holiday and what is left of my energy.

Hope you liked this post, I’m heading out to get-‘er-done, and by the way, Happy Thanksgiving to y’all!

(As a PostScript, I did get the planting done but just barely before the wild east wind and sub-freezing temperatures hit with the help of a couple of friends and all the family. Now we are concentrating on bundling where we are not yet in a climate controlled atmosphere but at least we are under cover and much more comfortable!)