It's Getting Chilly Outside

Though we are having miraculously good weather, I love it when it rains at night and sun shines in the day, the Mercury is dropping.

There are a lot of things to do around the Homestead to get ready for that inevitable day when it begins to rain and will not stop until that precious week of clear weather in February, and then resumes raining until.... July?

Anyway, I have a miserable cold right now, but I don't want to do the weatherproofing in the rain so I am scrambling to get everything done.

• Outdoor water faucets covered.
• Important hoses insulated and heating wires plugged in
  
• Roofs caulked, screwed down, swept and covered accordingly.
• Garden mulched and made ready to plant in early spring.

I killed two birds with one stone on these two. We have several old outbuildings that have accumulated several inches of duff and moss. It's not good for the tin and needs to be swept off, which is a lot of work.


The result though is this fabulous addition to the garden. It makes the soil super light and fluffy



and looks like some kind of topiary kingdom when I line the raised beds with it.

• Bees fed their Fall syrup so they can fill any empty combs for when they need it this winter.

• Bee hive insulated.

I put a cotton sheet on top of the bars and piled on a couple flakes of grass hay as insulation under the roof to keep it warm inside for the bees but still let the hive "breath". Moisture can be a real problem for the bees in the winter.

I had to repair the roof for the hive. I usually don't put on my full bee suit anymore but I was warned that using power tools near the bees was asking for it. It turned out they couldn't have cared less.

• Hoses and outdoor furniture put in the barn.

• Mowing everywhere before it's too wet.

• Mulching a new part of garden so the grass will be gone by spring.

• Mulching where I want to plant a patch of asparagus (I have not informed Buck of these last two projects yet, it will require a new fence and he is still working on the Hay House. I don't want to completely overwhelm him).

Hooray for Buck! Doing an awesome job.