Different Directions

We have put our winterization off as long as possible. This morning we woke up to find the birdbath was frozen over, so it’s definitely time to decommission everything but the house itself.

As we prepare to fly south, our 9 goldfish fly, I mean swim, north…three streets over. Actually they get netted and transported via truck to the Rulison’s house for the winter, where they live in heated comfort. Lucky fish! They used to live in a plastic baby’s bathtub in the cellar when Dave’s parents lived here.

Today, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (along with all my other lawn ornaments) were cleaned and ‘put to bed’ until April….sounds kinky! Perhaps it’s like Toy Story and they all come alive when we leave. They have a nice rehabbed garden shed to party in all winter.

The yard is already going back to nature and the fallen leaves will be dealt with when we return. I did leave the birdbath out though. A few days ago we looked out to see a mother deer and two fawns drinking water from it. I wonder if they thought, “How convenient. I don’t even have to lean down!” The doe was also bumping my bird feeder with her nose, and trying to get the seeds out with her tongue. It was hilarious! We knew that if we moved and tried to get a picture of them, it would scare them off, so it was more fun to just watch. I have left the remainder of the birdseed in a pan on the ground. It will be a tossup as to who gets it first, the birds, chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, or deer.

It is great to walk around and see all the improvements we have made this past summer. There are still plenty more things that we want to do, and especially with a property like this, the list will be never ending. When we return though, I think we will be amazed to see again, all that we have accomplished in such a short amount of time. We sometimes forget every detail, and I’m sure we will say repeatedly, “I can’t believe we did that too!”

The motorcycle shop is now empty also, a once a year rare occurrence. Dave has everything organized and ready to dive right into repairs in the spring. For now though, we are both just ready to dive into the warm waters of Florida and The Bahamas.