“Jul, it’s me. I’m at the corner in front of your place. I slid off the road. I think I can get it out with the four-wheel drive. Can you come down and direct me?” So said my youngest sister when the phone rang on Saturday afternoon.

Me to Matt as we walked down the road: “There’s no way we’re getting that out.”

Me to the farmer who rents our fields: “Will, it’s Julia from down at the corner. My sister went into the ditch in front of our place. Can you come pull her out?”

His response is garbled, as I can hear he’s already on the move: “The corner? Ditch? Tow? I’ll be right there.”

Numerous drivers, including a patrolling cop: “Is everyone okay?”

The guy at the wheel of a passing snowplow: “I can pull you out.”

Me to the farmer: “Will, it’s Julia. There’s a snowplow here. He’s going to pull her out. Thanks.”

Guy who stopped to help: “What happened? Did you take the turn too fast?”

Matt (offended): “It wasn’t me! It’s my sister-in-law.”

The snowplow driver to my sister: “Put it in neutral and don’t touch anything.”

The motorist who had pulled over to help just happened to know the snowplow driver, so he hooked up the chains to connect my sister’s truck to the back of the plow. Another motorist put on his four-ways and turned his van sideways to block the road.

With a creak and a shimmy the snowplow pulled the truck up the bank and back onto the road. The chains were unhooked, everyone got into their cars and continued on their way through the snow.

It was a nice example of how helpful people can be.

Notice the past tense on the title of this post? We are ready for winter here at the farm.

… Well, I’m not ready for cold and dark, but the house and the property are.

I had a small project list for November.

1. Make sure all of the gutters and downspouts are winter-ready.
2. Remove the mower deck from the tractor (and maybe attach the snowblower).
3. Add some protection around our new trees.
4. Turn off the outside water taps.
5. Take off the window screens.
6. Transition the mudroom to winter mode and get the winter clothing out of storage.
7. Set up the bird feeder on the driveway turnaround.

I am thrilled, proud, excited, relieved (choose your adjective) to share with you today that every single one of these tasks is done.

Here is some photographic evidence to prove it.

Patchwork brown and white downspout that regularly fell apart replaced with white downspout that’s securely screwed together.

Weeping tile rabbit/weed eater barriers around all of our littlest trees. (How to: Cut section of weeping tile approximately 12 inches long. Slit it vertically (a sharp utility knife works well, but it takes patience). Wrap the weeping tile around the bottom of your tree).

Bird feeder in the ground, full of food and accepting customers.

The thing I’m most excited about is seeing the birds at the feeder. Last year, it took them until Christmas to find it. This year it took them a day. As usual, the chickadees are the bravest, but a pair of cardinals has joined them as of last weekend.

Are you all ready for winter? What have you accomplished? Or what’s still outstanding on your to-do list?