How are You Preparing for "Winter"?

Winter in the mid west US is different than "winter" in other places. Tell us how you are preparing for winter--do you need to? Where are you from?

I'm from central Ohio and preparing for winter is necessary for me if I don't want to go bankrupt! I live in an all electric home with a heat pump. Heat pumps are not efficient below 32 degrees...so most of the winter! And electric heat is COLD! We have a cast iron buck stove insert in our fireplace. We burn wood (yes, I am aware it's environmentally not the best thing, but it's that or fossil fuels--at least trees are replaceable), to the tune of about 4 cords per year. We get it delivered and dumped...so that means stacking and stacking and stacking. Great exercise, but if the grands didn't help we wouldn't get it done--my husband is chair-bound. This past 2-3 weeks we stained our deck. Had to find 2 days together that it didn't rain. We shut down our pool. As soon as we get the first light frost I will trim back the peonies. I think I will leave the other perennials till spring. I have canned more than 320 pints of tomatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, peaches, jam, carrots, chicken, and applesauce. We have a bag of salt for the porch. We have gas cans full at the mo, hubby thinks he will have to mow 1-2 more times. That will leave enough gas to run the generator for 8-10 hours---we only plug it in to the sump pump and freezers. We wait about 8 hours when the power goes out, longer if the water is low in the sump pump, and then start the generator. We run it for 2 hours, then shut off for 2 hours, run again for 2 hours, etc. The "rule" is don't open the freezers, and we don't! (enough food we can eat from the pantry for days!) Good idea: inventory your freezers before ice/snow weather in case of an insurance claim. Make a list and take pictures. Checked both vehicles for ice scrapers and made sure the windshield washer is for below freezing temps. Put extra water, blanket, and gloves in trunk of car as well as some granola bars and instant protein shakes. Also placed a 5 gallon bucket with lid in the trunk filled with a mix of 50% salt and 50% sand.

I am in Minnesota.
Yesterday, one of my sons came and took the pump out of the lake (for watering my plants), put away the water hoses, and put away some of the chairs on the deck. We will mow one more time after most of the leaves have fallen.
Like Tess, I will make sure I have winter items in the car like a blanket, water, and snacks. '
I keep my cell phone charged. One of my sons set up an old Princess phone so I have a phone if I lose electricity.
The man who plowed my driveway has retired so my son will find someone to do it. It is cheaper to hire someone than have one of my sons to drive about an hour to do it. I have a parking area and not a driveway as such
My son yesteday made sure I had propane as it is for my stove and fireplace.
I also make sure I have groceries because I am in a rural area.

Thankfully, my present home needs little tucking in. I’ve added insulation to roof rafters and foundation perimeter already.

Last year I found the mother lode of garden mulches. The city allows homeowners to rake their leaves to the curb for the city to vacuum up. A neighbor a few blocks away actually mulched his leaves before moving them. I went over several times and bagged them up to carry them home.
I went over on Saturday to try to formalize an exchange this year, but no one was at home. I do have two large maples, but they don’t produce nearly the amount of leaves I want to place in my beds.

I have deck and patio plants that will need to come inside soon, either on windowsills or a corner of the basement.

I was going to drain and clean the pond, but most of the tadpoles appear to need more than a season to mature.

My pantry is deep and I have a gas range, which gives me some flexibility.
I have a heat pump, and found it surprisingly comfortable even through the coldest season. But I do miss a local source of radiant heat now.

My sidewalk up from the street has an unfortunate slope built in. With ice on it, it is treacherous. But I have a supply of bath towels that I lay down and then peel up to keep that area clear.

Michigan here. Storm doors are on, exterior painting touch-ups done, had the mechanic do a check of tires and rubber hoses that are vulnerable to cold.

I don't need a flashlight for the car anymore because the one on my phone is better. I do need a flu shot.

Garden is much smaller than it used to be, hardy perennial herbs. I will bring some in to dry in the next few days.

Once the frost kills the potted plants on the porch, I'll pull up the dead stuff and put the pots in the garage until spring.

Whoa! 2wonderY, I like the sound of that bath towel trick! The problem here is that we might get too much ice and snow to be able to pull up the towel easily.

Oh, P.S., I need to get my winter reading and knitting projects organized!! That's the fun part.

Winter season here in the Boston area is reputed to be awful, but I've lived here for almost 40 years and only a couple have been as severe as those I remember as normal from growing up in northern Illinois. Our winters here are long, however. I remember the very first time I came to Boston, for a job interview. I saw someone in the airport wearing a sweatshirt that said "Welcome to the six seasons of Boston: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter, Winter!" It was true.

Since I live in a condo a few miles north of the city, I have very little to do to prepare for the season. Over this last weekend I swapped my screens for storm windows, brought my tropical ficus bonsai in from the back balcony and turned the thermostat for the heat pump to 65° to keep it happy. Oh, and laid a second blanket at the bottom of my bed.

And that's about the extent of my prep for now. Later, once the temp drops down into the upper 20s, I will bring my cold hardy bonsai to winter storage, bring in the furniture from the balcony, and have the car winterized. Really, nothing in comparison to the preparation the winters that the upper midwest require.

Oh! Illinois winter!! I spent one year there working for the FGIS (Federal Grain Inspection Service). We certified the USDA grade of corn and other grains and beans as they were shipped and sold.
We took our samples from on top of rail hopper cars and river barges. There was nothing shielding us from the bitter arctic winds that swept across the plains.

I jumped at a temporary assignment to New Orleans that spring and then found other employment.

I'm in Iowa, and I love winter. But I never had to be out working in it.

Our house is pretty much ready. I need to get the flannel sheets out. It wouldn't hurt to clean out the garage before the first snowfall. After we mow for the last time, we'll put the snowblower on the garden tractor. We do need to cut more wood for the fireplace. We have several fallen trees in our grove, and we felled a huge ash tree that died, so there's plenty of wood.

Since I've retired, I don't need as many new clothes, but I do need to look for a nice dress coat. I'm tired of wearing my parka everywhere!

>7 2wonderY: Yeah, really! I remember when I was small going Christmas shopping with my mother in downtown Chicago's Loop. We made our way down the street, ducking into each and every building, not to shop but to get out of the bitter cold wind. It's a straight shot for that wind, all the way from the Rocky Mountains, and it howls!

Whereas it does get very cold here in central Texas, true winter weather doesn't arrive here in earnest until February usually. But we are living in unusual times, weatherly speaking.
I had intended to get new siding put on the house I've owned for 33 years, and replace all (27) of the double-pane windows that I had originally replaced just before we moved in. Mind you, I paid off the mortgage four years ago, so all I needed was an equity loan that I'd be able to pay off in five years. I applied for it in March; still haven't got it. In all the refinances and behind-the-scenes swapping of which financial institution owned the debt, one of them neglected to file the requisite Release of Lien. All my bank would tell me was "Fix it." They never gave me any help in determining which of the loans (only one mortgage at a time) was the culprit. But I found it by process of elimination, and now have that RoL filed. That was a month ago; haven't heard anything from the bank since they received the PDF of that RoL. So, I'm expecting the indoor temperatures near the windows to drop to 45° again this year.
Meanwhile, I have a half-cord of firewood stacked in my garage for when it's needed. There was a time when, just for the hell of it, I'd keep a fire going in the fireplace for three or four days if the temperatures warranted it, but that meant constant tending. Being 70 now, and widowed, I'll just make that fire is out before I head upstairs to bed.
Beyond that, I make sure I have four or five 40-lb bags of salt pellets (for the water softener) available to toss into the back of my car if the roads get icy.

>10 WholeHouseLibrary: I see you live in the Round Rock/ Georgetown area. We lived on Sam Bass Road in Round Rock before moving back to Minnesota. I was raised in West Texas, Monahans, and my husband was a Minnesotan. It can get icy in the Austin area.

>10 WholeHouseLibrary: >11 mnleona: Seems like Texas has been hammered with ice, which, imo, is way worse than the 6-8 inches of snow we get every week or two in Michigan from late December to March. Snow messes up travel, but doesn't cause widespread power outages. Stay safe down there!

>11 mnleona: How long ago? I'm in Round Rock West, not too far from where CR 172 (Quick Hill Road) tees into McNeil Road.

>12 nohrt4me2: You're right. I lived in the Adirondacks in the mid 1970s; even with four feet of snow overnight, it was never a reason the close the schools. Driving on snow-packed roads was never a problem, unless you were ThiMs (my ex).
It was her practice to speed up going into a curve, which she did a week before Thanksgiving, 1975. It was unusual in that the previous night's deposit was the first snowfall of the year (which was normally the last week of September.) Aside: It caused a lot of concern because the following year, the Winter Olympics was being to be held in Lake Placid. End-aside. Anyhow, there was small bridge just before the curve and that caused the ice (tire-packed snow) to be slicker than the rest, and she fish-tailed half-way through the curve, striking a tree dead-center on the front of the car. She laughed.
In contrast, they just shut down all the highways in central Texas and tell people to stay home when there is a threat of snow, sleet, or freezing rain. Of course, there are Texans here, so one should expect that there'll be several multi-vehicle pileups.
I happen to live in an all-electric neighborhood. When I was involved with the Boy Scouts, I had lots of camping equipment. I gave it all away when I was told by my doctor to get my affairs in order and I might have two months left. That was about ten years ago. I haven't replaced any of that camping equipment since. If it comes to that, I'll get a fire going in the fireplace and sacrifice my Farberware frying pan to the survival gods.

>13 WholeHouseLibrary: Har! I have heard a lot of idiotic advice about how to drive on icy or snowy roads from People Who Don't Live Here. Driver ed always included winter driving info such as how to pump your brakes, rock your car, and never travel without a bag of sand, an ice spud and rock salt, and a windshield scraper.

In the Upper Peninsula, lots of guys installed winches on their vehicles. Guessing those are common sights in Minnesota.

We kept our one-tank propane camp stove and coffee percolator for emergencies.

Glad the doctors were wrong!

I have a winch on my Land Rover, not for snow and ice, which we don't get on Kenyan roads, but for mud and sand on our unpaved roads, and for when I have to drive off-road. For the same reason I carry a shovel (actually a folding military entrenching tool), a couple of towing cables and other useful kit. A high lift jack (also called a Tanganyika jack by old hands) is useful not only for changing wheels but also for getting the car out of ditches and other situations where it is stuck. Since old cars can break down in very isolated places, I also carry tools, a small survival kit, some water and snacks, and a bush knife or machete. All cars have to carry a first aid kit, by law. When driving off-road or in very isolated areas I also carry a second spare wheel, and often a jerrycan of diesel.

>13 WholeHouseLibrary: We moved back to Minnesota in 1995. We moved to the Austin area in 1985 because I wanted to go back to Texas and my husband liked the Austin area. Lots of changes since we first were there.
I remember when Pflugerville had the yellow blinking light.

>15 John5918: John-you are well prepared.

We are supoosed to have wintry mix around 8 AM so we will see.

I agree, it is much safer to drive on snow than ice. Being retired, I can stay home.

Wow! Everyone is so industrious. I was from Michigan but now I live in San Diego so what's winter? If the temperature here gets below 65 you can hear the whining all the way to the Atlantic.

>17 WordMaven: Lol. I'm a native San Diegan and what you say is so true! However, I'm living in Arizona now and there really is no winter to speak of other than it's not hot. When I was growing up, as a teenager, we moaned about June Gloom. There wasn't May Gray then. I was always barefoot no matter the weather. Now I freeze when I go over (my family is still there).

Just joined this group (I've been around for ages but just found you!). I live in an apartment in NE Wisconsin so prepping for winter isn't too involved. Other than making sure my car is ready for winter, I've stocked up on wild bird seed mix, sunflower seeds and suet so my feeders stay full. I live on the edge of a rather wild urban park so in addition to the cardinals, woodpeckers, juncos and finches, I have a ground squirrel that climbs up to my second floor balcony to feast and a variety of regular squirrels who visit, as well as a couple of racoons, opossums and rabbits who eat what the wind and birds drop.

I've also been restocking my pantry with everything I need for a variety of soups. I make soups, stews or chili 3-4 nights a week in the winter. I'm making potato leek soup today even though we are getting an unseasonably warm weekend.

My one complaint is the library is being remodeled so instead of it only being a few blocks away, its temporary location is now almost 2 miles farther so I won't be hanging out there on snow days now.

I'm officially kendallone, not Kimmer22. Not sure how I signed into kimmer22...

My husband and I recently moved from rural Georgia up here to Michigan. I grew up here, so I'm not intimidated by the winters. My mother is 95 and has lived alone in a condominium that she bought when I graduated from high school - about 40 years ago! She was finally ready to transition to assisted living, and needed help getting her place cleaned out. We only recently bought a house, fairly close to where she's living now.

We haven't done much prepping for the winter other than doing the projects we knew needed doing when we bought the place - 70 year old bungalow in need of a new garage roof, gutters and other not-fun stuff. We do need to get the screens off the windows but I don't think there are storm windows to put in. We've been here about 5 weeks and are still prowling around the basement!
.
We do have a beautiful fireplace, that's been converted to gas logs. It's a small house so it should be sufficient for heating the main floor. I don't know if we'll revert back to wood burning, it's not in the cards this season at any rate. I'm happy to have a gas water heater and stovetop, too - my all-electric house back in Georgia left us high and dry when the power went out.

I'll be interested in getting back into the kitchen cooking up big-pot dinners like soups and stews. We're both retired, so can stock up and hunker down when the weather gets bad. My mom now has all her meals in the dining room at the assisted living place, and a little kitchenette in her apartment, so she'll be taken care of, too. All she cared about was being able to bring her little dog along, and she's settled in nicely.

I'm really tickled to be up here - Georgia summers were lasting longer and longer, it seemed!

>21 terriks: Welcome back to Michigan!

Summers come later and last longer into fall. The number of 90+ days in the southern Lower has about tripled. Snow for Xmas used to be a given, but now it arrives later and drags on thru early April. We still do get the usual 10 days of spring.

If you are in the western Upper, you've already had two feet of snow.

Don't forget salt for your porch and sidewalks!

>22 nohrt4me2: Thank you! :) I'm tickled to be back here.

I'm not intimidated by the weather of any season here, since I grew up here. This past summer definitely had a few 90+ days, with humidity - always icky. But short lived, compared to some of the summers we endured in Georgia. They could be downright oppressive!

I have just found this group and have been amazed and admiring of these extensive winter preparations. I live in the south of England, the warmest part of the UK. October has been very mild with no need to put heating on and the worst I can recall of winter weather was local flooding some years ago. The river Medway runs close to my home and it flooded the area.
Fellow citizens living in the North of England, Scotland or Wales do encounter harsher winter conditions, particularly in hilly and mountain areas of course.
However the Canadian and USA experiences I have been reading about are in a different category altogether and we Brits are often laughed at for over-reacting to 'extreme' weather conditions. Reading these posts I can understand why.
One of the many great things about LT is hearing of the different life experiences of fellow members which definitely broaden the mind of this 60+ member. My thanks to all.

Just had our HVAC checked. Nothing to do inside the house.

Last two days have been about cutting back crape myrtles and other shrubs, cleaning up perennials (peonies and hostas mostly), raking and bagging leaves, and pulling weeds. Most of the outside work could wait until spring, but I wanted to get it done.

We got a nice soaking rain last night, the first of many I hope...

>24 Maura49: Welcome to the group, Maura49! Your part of the world does sound like it has nicely moderate temperatures. I hope you have a pleasant winter, and keep posting here!

Great bumper crop of apples this year--not mine! However, I purchased "deer" (windfall) apples that were all perfectly fine, 20 lbs of red delicious for $7 and 20 lbs. of Granny Smith for $10. Canned 40 half pints of applesauce (a half pint is just right for 2 people) and 8 quarts of apple pie filling. What a sticky mess! The worst is the cleaning up. I had 1 quart not seal, so I made an apple cobbler--my husband said he sabotaged it and then winked!

Grandsons stacked all the wood so we are ready to go! That being said, we set our thermostat at 60 and it has only come on two mornings about 6AM and ran for maybe 5 minutes each time. I think 60 is too cold, but hubby is a sweat hog. Also, saves on the electric bill!
>24 Maura49:
>26 terriks: Yeah, what they said!

I got groceries and baking goods yesterday. I have been watching a squirrel for the past week finding whatever in the grass (I do not have any oak trees) and today I watched him/her trying to find something in 3" of snow and getting covered with snow. I have had about 6" or 7" so far and it is still snowing. I did put the snow shovel in my back porch this morning. I am in Minnesota.