Nature, Weather

Winter Attitude

79 Comments

When people ask me which season is my favorite, I don’t have to think – winter. I love all the seasons and I love the change from one season to the next, but winter is my hands-down favorite. Brisk temperatures, snow, fires in the fireplace, hot chocolate, ugly sweaters – the works.

Even though I adore it, I’m not ready for winter yet. My cold weather clothes are still in the attic, I haven’t adjusted the automatic thermostat in the house and this morning I realized I’m not quite ready to give up my Birkenstock sandals for the next six months yet. I just don’t have my winter attitude yet.

Hopefully I’ll get my winter attitude soon; my feet were really cold today, especially coming home from work today in the cold, cold rain.

What do you need to do to get ready for winter?

79 thoughts on “Winter Attitude”

  1. There is still a lot of outdoor cleanup to do, but I did get the screens/storms change done last weekend.

    I also need a pair of mittens. I can get by with all the singles in the cabinet, so not like I am in danger of frostbite, but I am a knitter for Pete’s sake, and would like to get a couple of nice pairs made.

    The shoemaker’s children…

    (for those concerned, the s&h is all set, not to worry. He loses them too fast to make knitting for him worthwhile(see my cupboard full of singles), so I just buy those).

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

        2. I doubt he would manage that well.

          There does seem to be a direct correlation between how much we spend on winter handcoverings and the probability of loss. I just dug out a complete pair of tattered cheap nylon winter gloves. I have never managed to hang onto a nice wool or leather pair for an entire season that I can remember (if you don’t count the Norwegian ones I knit while a college student, but I need to re-knit the thumb and a finger on those).

          I got a pair of winter running gloves for the s&h that are mostly that neon red color (so much running stuff is in colors not found in nature) and I have high hopes that that will help them not get left behind.

          Like

  2. I need a new snow shovel. The old one is worn down to a nubbin. I have a snowblower, an artifact of our previous residence in suburbia, and when I start it up I usually clear the whole block just to make it worthwhile but the last two years we haven’t had a snow worthy of starting it up.
    Likewise, I have a heavy-duty parka and felt-lined boots that I haven’t needed for at least two winters. It just hasn’t been cold enough for long enough to make them necessary.
    Preparing for winter isn’t what it used to be.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  4. We have had some pretty cold weather, and I have been in my sweaters ready.

    Husband has a snow shovel for every occasion. He still needs to till the garden. We are to have “accumulating snow” this weekend. I wonder if it will be too late to till?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. you can till until you can’t till
      you can’t untill until you can till but if you can’t till there’s no need to untill until maybe next spring but you can wait until then to untill

      Liked by 7 people

      Reply

  5. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    1. Get used to driving in snowy/icy conditions. The first time is a shock each year.

    2. Dry clean my winter coats which are still waiting this ritual from last year. After a winter of wear they get funky.

    3. Find my turtle neck tops which are now buried and scattered beneath the summer wardrobe and who wants to take the time to find them when it is still warm…oh, never mind I will do it later… don’t buy new ones I know they are there somewhere.

    4. Locate my ice cleats and put a pair in the entry and a pair in the car so when I need them I have them with me.

    And finally, rewrite the blog post I lost in the recent computer hacking incident and start to contribute again. It is really not right to stick VS and Reind with this all the time. And by-the-way I bought professional cyber insurance yesterday in case this happens again. What a hassle. Oh yeah, I still have to wipe the external hard drive that got infected–but really that is digital spring cleaning. Can I put it off til April. Probably not.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  6. I need winter.

    I too love to knit mittens and have a cedar chest here in Tucson storing down parkas and mittens with lost partners. I gifted my mucklucks and a some heavy sweaters I’d knit. Don’t know why I moved with the jackets other than they were in one of my 6 chests/trunks and I simply disremembered.

    High 80s & 90s with night lows in the 60s…it feels like summer. Im knitting ‘hand warmers’-fingerless mittens of sock yard=warm but not ‘thick” for cold outside weather. I will still make mittens and use as gifts…knit in the round with old traditional Scandinavian designs=fun.

    I am here for health reasons and know the move was a right decision…but I’m missing northern Minnesota weather.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

      1. Yes…a couple of mt ranges around us. The Catelinas to our north with Mt. Lemon about 9,000ft…and skiing in ‘winter’. So I suppose that is where I would need to go for a feel of winter.

        However…many have told us what a beautiful drive but also mentioned the steep drop-offs = that will keep us away!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  8. i have a 10,000 sq ft closet in my warehouse and a current house with closets for mere mortals
    i brought home a winter coat and a couple long sleeve shirts and took the hawaiian shirts away

    i need brown shoes
    my boots are ok if they are lace up but my beloved cowboy boots have to go i’m afraid

    i love breaking out hats coats boots gloves and heavy sports coats cords and sweater vests from ireland

    i hope to get my cross country ski act together this year
    love that form of excersize

    fat tire bike a possibility too

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  9. Summer and winter are simple for me. Nothing changes much except the clothes I wear. I’m like an animal that has a summer and winter “outfit.” In summer I’m barefoot, in shorts and wear polo shirts. In winter I wear a fleecy sweatsuit and shearling slippers. This week I filled a big bag with shorts and polo shirts to put them away for half a year. I decided to keep the bare feet around just in case I need them. You never know.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

        1. Thanks, BiR. We still haven’t opened all the boxes from the move back to the Midwest. I didn’t want to drive nails to hang pictures here until it looked like we’d be here at least a year. Now I can get them up.

          Liked by 2 people

        2. What she said. While I’m glad that you will be able to stay put for a while, there’s a part of me that wishes you would be moving to St. Paul.

          Here’s hoping that sil’s job suits him well.

          Like

  10. Took the sleeveless stuff to the basement, brought up the long-sleeved stuff and sweaters. Got out wool blankets and favorite afghans….

    Put the brush and scraper back in the car. Husband is putting away gardens here and at Friend’s house, which is being sold… Added air to tires, since the tire light always comes on in late fall when it gets cold the first time.

    Turned on the heat.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. You are winning this year, Steve. I’ve had mine on already.

        Mind you, I set the thermostat at 55 most of the time (I have it programmed to go up to 60 in the morning, the idea being it makes getting out of the pile of blankets and kitties easier).

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        2. I have an unfair advantage this year. This apartment complex is filled with people WAY older than I, so the building itself is kept toasty warm. Even with the heat off my apartment gets hot if I keep windows and doors shut. For example, this place is 70 in spite of the heat being off. But then, you were apparently cheating by using cats as body warmers!

          Liked by 1 person

        3. Yes Barb, 60 is where we top out for the winter (I might talk myself into 65 if it is particularly frosty and I am taking a shower, but that’s more a January/February thing).

          And Steve, I did figure you are in an apartment, not someplace with four exposed walls, so I am handicapping myslef a couple of weeks 😉 ).

          Much as I love being in a freestanding house and would enjoy having even more space around it than I do, I will admit that increased population density has many advantages in terms of energy efficiency.

          Like

    2. And now that you’ve done all that, BiR, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a heat wave later this month and you’ll wonder why you packed away all the summer stuff.

      Like

      Reply

  11. Remember that garden clean-up I was going to do in late September or sometime in October? Yeah, well, that didn’t happen. I did spend about 20 minutes on it one day, but that was it. Unless it warms up next week, it will wait until next spring. There is one weed in one of the flower beds that is taller than any of the flowers and it kinda bugs me but so far it hasn’t bugged me enough to pull it.

    I’m okay, more or less, for warm clothes. Last year I bought a fantastic pair of boots (the Lost 40 boots from Vasque, I love them) that should last me the rest of my life since it wasn’t cold enough to wear them much last year. I needed something really warm since I walk slowly and stand still a lot when I’m out shooting. Might need something warmer for my hands, but I at least have a handwarmer that I can use until I find the perfect pair of mittens. I may need to check if I have enough wool socks, but other than that I’m ready. Physically, but not mentally.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

        1. There are legitimate reasons for not succumbing to some gardeners compulsion to neaten up everything before winter sets in; shelter and feed for birds and other critters are high on that list.

          Like

    1. I forgot to bring in my jade plants early enough one year. The leaves and small branches were frozen when I finally did bring it in. I decided not to discard the plant and it did come back even better than before…fuller with more branches and leaves. But I wouldn’t do that again to the 50 year-old plant.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    2. I have two rosemary plants that need to come indoors, but no place to put them. Any local baboon want to take care of one or two rosemary plants for me?

      Like

      Reply

  13. Does anybody have specific examples of winter cold that made a big impression? I used to accept winter like a good Minnesotan until the day it got so far below zero that I couldn’t touch the morning newspaper until it had been on a radiator for almost an hour. That’s cold. I also remember almost weeping in pain and frustration when it got so cold I couldn’t unlock my frozen car doors.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      1. We didn’t lock our car either, but once we attended a Guthrie play. I worried enough about that neighborhood that I locked up. After the play it was way below zero, with a nasty wind, and my car doors would not unlock. I put the key in the lock and tried to heat it up with the flame of a cigarette lighter. I couldn’t get the lighter to work when wearing gloves, and trying to use the lighter with bare hands was just brutal!

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        2. Don’t remember what year it was, but one winter the heater on the car died. This was in December, before any of the kids had their drivers license, so I was taking the kids places to do christmas shopping plus oldest daughter had an active social life so needed to be schlepped here and there (probably some of it was to work on school projects, too). It was pretty cold out, probably not weeks of 20-below weather, but pretty cold. The kids would huddle together under a blanket to keep warm, but as the driver, I just got colder and colder. One time when I went to pick up daughter, I remember waiting for her to come out and crying from the pain – my hands and feet were so cold!

          Like

        3. My first car was my Grandma’s ’67 Plymouth Valiant. The doors didn’t lock and the heat didn’t work. It built character.
          So I made sure son’s first car didn’t have heat either. ’92 Ford Taurus Wagon. He still laughs about keeping an ice scraper on the seat for INSIDE the windows.

          And now he’s a Minneapolis police officer. Got more character than me.
          He’ll be starting with 2 months at precinct 1, Downtown Mpls. Mind your P’s and Q’s everyone.

          Liked by 1 person

    2. I remember a very cold weekend, probably about 35 years ago. It was definitely before YA was born. I had to drive a friend from the Greyhound bus station downtown. I got there about 10 minutes before the bus came in and it was so cold that I didn’t turn the car off . I just sat in the parking lot between two other cars with the engine running and watched the needle go from warm to less warm to cold to more cold until my friend showed up. Brrrrr!

      Like

      Reply

  14. Big impression of winter cold was February 1995…
    We were living in my brothers summer cabin from Dec.94 until we took position of our cabin home late April 95.
    The biggest longest icicles I’ve ever seen formed from the roof. I found a new appreciation for my ancestors who settled in the Mahtowa area. Keeping warm and making meals were the priorities.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Icicles form when buildings are not insulated. Heat escapes through the roof, melting the snow, and the water then freezes to form icicles. A properly insulated and vented home won’t get them. I grew up in a part of town that was built before anyone used insulation. Our home was a drafty old Victorian without a bit of insulation. The icicles that formed at the tips of that roof were so massive that they could have killed someone if they fell.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. My brothers cabin was summer-built in the late 40s on blocks &I no insulation. We did put styrofoam ‘boards’ at angle against the lower outer siding with snow pack…and in the ceiling through the beams. ‘Plastic’ on all windows. That certainly helped but living in a summer cabin was kind of like leaving a window or door open…ie…lot of cold air to seep through cracks, tin walls and windows.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  15. I was mostly ready for winter this fall in spite of the warm weather. I plugged in the animal waterers early, got my screen porch set with plastic on the screens, moved wood for wood stove from garage to screen porch, car had oil change and check-up, house windows washed, bird suet set out, furnace serviced, plants in from screen porch….then couldn’t find my mittens or winter hats. Finally found them after the snow arrived. Now need the ground to freeze so my neighbor can plow with the tractor and I can get the car out of the garage and up my slippery slope to the road.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  18. Eight years ago we decided to splurge on a decent stove. Our previous stove was essentially a space heater if you used the oven, but it was reliable and had worked for fifteen years. So we decided to upgrade.

    I wanted gas burners and an electric oven, and ended up with a Frigidaire. If memory serves, we paid in the neighborhood of $1,500.00 for it. Yesterday, as I was baking a casserole in the oven, and wanted to increase the oven temperature for the final few minutes, the computer that controls the timer, oven temperature and whatnot, quit. The gas burners work just fine, but the oven is now useless, as is the timer and several other functions. Yesterday I had a repairman from the store where we bought come look at it. It will cost $529.95 to get the part replaced. Unfortunately, it is out of stock, and will not be available for five to six weeks. He also warned me that in an eight year old stove, the next thing to give out will likely be the touchpad by which you program the works. I didn’t even bother asking what that would cost. I paid the $89.95 “trip” charge and sent him on his way.

    So now I’m looking for a new stove. I wonder if I can find one that doesn’t have all that electronic crap built into it? Sure glad my minimum annual distribution from my IRA will be made this month. Hopefully there will be enough left over to buy myself a winter jacket; I’m embarrassed to be seen in public in the old one. I also need a pair of warm slippers.

    Like

    Reply

      1. I guess the two preset buttons for pizza and chicken nuggets should have alerted me to the fact that this stove had features I would never use. Neither of those buttons have ever been used on this stove. Wonder if that increases the resale value of it? Like a used car where the turn signal has rarely if ever been used.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

    3. Eight years is not a very long lifespan for a stove. Maybe you should look for one that is not named after a refrigerator. I imagine that if you are set on a gas/electric combination, that will limit your choices.

      We’ve had our Bosch gas range for about ten years. It has all the essentials, like timers and a self cleaning setting. I think it’s even got a convection setting for the oven, though I’ve never used it. It doesn’t have any gimmicky features. I expect it will last at least another ten years, in part because it’s straightforward enough that any repair it may require won’t be $529.00.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Better knock on wood, Bill. I had fully expected that this stove would have lasted the rest of my life. Of course, as I’m getting older, that’s a shorter and shorter period of time. One thing for damn sure, I’m not investing in a stove that adds to the resale value of our house. 🙂

        Like

        Reply

      1. Thanks, Bill. The day I pay $5,599.00 for a stove is the day Publishers Clearing House has just delivered a million dollar check to my house. It won’t likely happen in my lifetime.

        Like

        Reply

        3. Perhaps I should enlist Steve to do some research for me. I start looking, and in no time I’m so confused that I can’t think straight.

          Liked by 1 person

  20. OT -Have you seen the brochure for the new Guthrie season? I love this picture advertising a play coming up next Spring! Fortunately it looks good; I think I’d go just based on this. (Boy, I hope this is how to embed a photo.)

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.