The date on the calendar says Dec. 21–also known as the first day of winter.
And the photo below says that Matt and I have crossed off the last item on my fall to-do list–replacing the filters in our water system.
Our first year at the farm, we had our water contractor do the annual service for us. We’ve since learned that this is a job we can easily tackle ourselves.
As we were changing the filters, we talked about adding a task to the get-it-done-before-winter to-do list: putting the snowblower on the tractor.
Temperatures are still super mild here, so we could avoid freezing our fingers as we connect the blower. But temperatures are still super mild. Will we even need the snowblower? (Ha-ha. I think that’s a bit optimistic for winter in southern Ontario).
Final determination? We’re going to risk it and stay blower-less for now.
Matt has plans to clear some of the deadfall in the back forest before the end of the year, so being able to put the trailer on the back of the tractor would be very helpful.
It may be winter, the fall to-do list may be done, but work at the farm continues.
How did you do getting ready for winter? Do you have a job that you learned isn’t as difficult as you thought at first? What’s still on your to-do list between now and the end of the year?
Home on 129 Acres 
Hey just wanted to say I love your blog. I live on a farm in southern Australia and find your posts super interesting because you write about experiences that are so different. We just had 4 days of almost 40C temps which means that everything has turned a crispy yellow! Love the pics in the last post and wish we had some of that water!
Hi Angelica. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I still have trouble wrapping my head around the idea that the other side of the world is completely the opposite of us for weather. The idea of 40C at the end of December is so weird. I know you guys are having water troubles. I can’t imagine being on a farm without ponds, streams and good wells. I hope you have a great Christmas if you celebrate.
We have our plow mounted on our four-wheeler already. It doesn’t look like we will need it for a few weeks at least, but we are ready! Our Christmas is looking to be quite warm for us, darn it! I sure like a white Christmas!
As for other winter-prep, I think I am ready. I may think of something last minute that I should have done, but right now I am going to say I am ready!
Good for you. Ready is a good feeling!
We are as ready as we’re ever going to be! Did you put the plow on yet? (Seeing as how I’m super late with this comment)
Ready as we’re going to be is a good way to phrase it. We’re still blowerless. Just crossing our fingers we don’t get a big dump of snow any time soon!