End of Summer To-Do List

Most people I know are talking about how summer is over already, and while I can’t deny the change in the air and the pull to switch gears, we are sincerely hoping the weather holds out for us for another few weeks. This feeling is new for me as I’m not typically a summer person, and usually can’t wait to pull out my cozy knits and huddle in for the year, but moving here seems to be changing everything.

When I think of summer, I think long, lazy, carefree days. On the contrary, our summer this year has been highly structured and efficient, but I still feel like we’ve had our share of that carefree vibe in the in-between moments, in filling our bellies with fresh blackberries and apples straight from the tree, and long visits with the chickens and baby goats after dinner. I think it’s part of what has kept us going, especially amid this pandemic and not being able to see people like we usually would or go places we normally would go.

It’s starting to feel like crunch time now, though, as the days are getting shorter and the sun is hanging lower in the sky. And somehow we’re finding the wherewithal to push ourselves further with the promise that we’ll give ourselves a break once mother nature tells us it’s time to pack up our tools and go inside. So, like we do every weekend, Matt and I sat down last Sunday evening and plotted out the broad strokes for September and October, and it looks a little something like this:

SEPTEMBER

  • Finish painting the house ✓

  • Cedar trim for windows ✓

  • Shelter for the water softener system (paint house color) ✓

  • Spray + paint the barn roof before it rains ✓

  • Organize milk parlor (get the alfalfa out, build shelves, install mini fridge) ✓

  • Set up the brooder for incoming October chicks ✓

  • Clear out remaining brush along the property line ✓

  • French drain to the creek for drainage ✓

  • Put up perimeter fence for the pasture ✓

  • Seed the pasture ✓

  • Get a generator for well pump in case the power goes out ✓

  • Remove remaining old fencing along driveway ✓

  • Sort out scrap piles: metal, good wood, burn, dump ✓

OCTOBER

  • Build chickshaw #2 for the pasture flock ✓

  • Build a portable shelter for rotating the goats ✓

  • Cedar window boxes for the house

  • Finish the privacy fence ✓

  • Put up insulated walls for the well pump house ✓

  • Find a buck for the does ✓

  • Carport lean-to ✓

  • Fix or replace big barn door ✓

  • Set up compost enclosure ✓

  • Privacy fence near goat barn and hay barn along the road + gate ✓

  • Enclosure for the well itself ✓

  • Set up a lean-to (or something) outside the goat barn for the generator

Honestly, I don’t know how people get things done without a system for remembering. We are completely reliant on to-do lists around here, and so much of our ability to get things done seems as if it’s simply a matter of writing things down and placing those written words somewhere we’ll actually see them.

I don’t know if we’ll manage to get all our September items done before it starts raining, but we’re going to try. And hey, if we don’t make it in time, we’ve worked in the rain before.

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Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peanut Butter