Ten Projects I Have To Get Done Before Winter

I think we’re officially 3 days into Summer, which means my panic mechanism regarding projects that need to be done before it starts snowing just kicked in to high gear. WINTER IS COMING. (In, like, four months, but still.)

From the minute the temps were high enough that I could walk outside without my Carhartt’s on, my focus has been the animals and the garden. And since those animals basically appeared out of thin air about six months before I intended to get them, the prjects I had planned that didn’t involve keeping donkeys and chickens alive kind of fell off my radar. That’s all well and good, but I do need to make progress on more than hugging farm animals before we head into the next deep freeze, so here’s what’s on my Summer list.

Things I Have To Do So Something Doesn’t Die

    1. Prep the nugs for winter. The “quick” option would be insulating the current coop and building a covered run, but I’ve got plans for a larger coop and greenhouse in the garden that would be ideal to wrap up before November.
    2. Rebuild the donkey barn door, which totally fell off a few weeks ago. (While the lack of barn door won’t kill the donkeys, it might kill me if I have to chase one of them around the pasture with a vaccine needle sticking out of his neck again.)

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Slightly Less Imperative But Still Important Things

    1. Get the permanent fence in for the donkeys.
    2. Run electric out to the donkey barn.
    3. Put in the hay loft.
    4. Get the generator switch installed, and test run the generator.

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Things That Would Be Easier To Do Before It’s Freezing Out

  1. Demo the master bath and haul all the debris out to the dumpster
  2. Get rid of the junk in the barn/garage/workshop
  3. Tile anything that needs to be tiled (kitchen, mudroom, master bath– not all of them you crazyass, pick one or two)
  4. Stain the stairs and dining room floor while you can open the windows and save braincells

Not So Imperative But Would Really Make Me Feel Good About My Progress Things

  1. Finish siding on garage and PAINT (includes new doors, windows, trim, and soffits)
  2. Install fence around propane tank to garage
  3. Install barn-beam pergola on back side of garage
  4. Spray down driveway and spread more gravel
  5. Knock down back field
  6. Plant fruit trees in fall
  7. Get workshop “set up” (clean, storage, insulate, drywall, paint cabs, wood burner or hook up propane furnace)
  8. Finish clearing the rubble pile (all blocks, barn beams, and wood in barn, weeds cleared)

This is technically a picture of a bigass country storm that formed directly over my house as if I was about to be smited by god, but it also shows the side of the garage that desperately needs re-siding, and the third 30 yard dumpster I’ve had in the last year. When I’m done that will be ninety cubic yards of shit I’ve had hauled off this property.

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Bonus Project

For some reason I’m not itching to start the master-suite project, but it would be really, really nice, for the first time in three years, to actually have a working bathtub to soak in. So, you know, if I have a little extra time, maybe I’ll refinish the master bath.

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So basically I need to get my ass in gear, like, yesterday.

Also, in retrospect, that’s way more than ten projects.

17 Responses

  1. I could totally help on gravel spreading but the rest, um, uh, I got nothing. Wait I can paint. Is that close enough to staining??

  2. I am a list person too and LOVE that you have a prioritized list! Just slowly start checking them off!

  3. Looking forward to reading about your project. That bathroom picture is totally inspiring. I now require that sort of ceiling in a bathroom.

  4. Whoa, that’s a mighty big list you’ve got there. Sounds like what I’d like to get done around my place too. So much to do and so little time!

  5. I would suggest getting a keg and asking three brawny but good-natured accommodating friends who take direction well and have a busy but fun weekend. Or two, and maybe three… to get the most imperative things that are weather related off the lists.. and if you end up with multiple things in progress that can be finished during the snowy months with the messy parts done… well, you will not be bored this coming winter. That wine rack could come in handy for the people who man the grill/kitchen while the rest of you do the outdoorsy stuff. Everyone has a talent! Good luck in choosing and prioritizing.

  6. Whoah, that’s quite the list.
    I am personally looking forward to details on tile demo – I’ve been hating my kitchen tile (tan with flesh-colored pink flowers and white leaves in the corners) since moving in seven years ago, and even if I’m paying for college first (second kid now) and kitchen re-do second, I expect to get a lot of vicarious pleasure by seeing your old kitchen/bath tile get destroyed. Please, lots of photos of smashing.

  7. This made me smile. We’ve lived on our little farm for 11 years now and done piles of projects over the years. However, it does seem that about this time of year, I start to panic about the coming of winter (summer just arrived). And when a new project (or finishing an old one) presents itself, our comment to each other is, “Add it to the LIST.”

  8. That master bath suite makes me say “why” so many times. As in, why, when they had such a nice high bathroom ceiling, did the previous owners enclose the top of the shower stall so that it turned into a dark, dank, gross hole that no one would ever want to shower in? Can’t wait for you to destroy the rest of that mess (recognizing, of course, you have more important items on your list right now).

  9. Winter is coming… (I’m reading the first book right now). Do you have any plans on winterizing your house? You implied that the fuel costs where high, I just wonder if there was anything you planed on doing to reduce those costs. There are some easy things like covering windows with plastic, thermal curtains, closing off rooms, and then there are harder things like ripping out all the walls and reinsulating, replacing the furnace, etcetera.

  10. long list, I’d get the workshop in order so you can attack the other projects. Then when the mood strikes, you can fix a door, retile a bathroom, stain a few stairs……..

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