Autumn happens to be our favorite season of the year, for a few reasons. Those few days of Summer’s “hot” weather are now behind us, the blistering cold of Winter isn’t yet here, and being lucky enough to live in Maine means we get to see Mother Nature’s foliage art show explode around us.
Fall also means that Winter is coming, and per our recent Public Service Announcement, it will be here sooner than you think.
We’ve put together a handy list of to-do’s you may want to do before the cold sets in. We’ve included the chores we always forget to do (and rush to do when we hear the first snowfall of the season is coming), and we’ve included a number of items to help you enjoy Fall as well.
Yardwork / Home Maintenance
- Prep your snowblower. Change oil, check the spark plug, refresh gas, etc…
- If you have trees near your house, check and trim branches/limbs that may not last through a heavy snowfall.
- Clean and inspect your furnace/chimney/fireplace.
- Clean your gutters and downspouts.
- Stock up on firewood.
- Inspect your roof and underlying insulation. Ice dams are not fun to deal with!
- Prep your ice fishing shack.
- Put a cover over that nice Weber grill you bought this summer!
- Close off, if possible, the water lines to the outside spouts.
Vehicles
- Now is a great time for a tune-up, especially if you like doing it yourself. In a month or two you won’t want to work on your car wearing winter gloves.
- Vacuum out your vehicles. Then try to remember what color your carpet is before the road salt and winter grime discolor them until Spring.
- Check your antifreeze levels.
- Make an appointment to get your snow tires put on.
- Did you buy your first pickup truck over the summer? If so, now’s the time to pick up a few sandbags to put in the bed when its icy.
The Great Outdoors
- Leaf-peeping season is upon us. Make sure you take some time to get outside and enjoy the beautiful colors!
- Go apple picking.
- See if you can get lost in a corn maze!
- Go for a hay ride at a local farm.
- Do you have a fire pit in the backyard? Now is the prime time to use it!
- Go for a bike ride.
- Attend a fall festival.
- Go to a football game.
- Jump in a leaf pile. (OK, I’ll admit as a kid I did this all the time and had a blast. Now, as an adult, all I think about is ticks. Sorry if I just ruined this for you.)
- There’s still time to get in some canoeing and kayaking before the water gets too cold.
- Fall camping means less bugs, not sweating in your sleeping bag, and enjoying the warmth of the campfire more!
- Go for a scenic car ride.
Indoors
- Fall Cleaning. Similar to “Spring Cleaning”, there’s still time to open up all of your windows for the fresh air and tidy up the place. In a few weeks the windows will be sealed up tight for the Winter months and the urge to clean in the stale air won’t be there.
- Get out your boxes of winter clothes. Find your sweaters, jackets, gloves, etc.
- Shop at LL Bean for a new selection of flannel wear! As long as you’re shopping at “Beans”, place an early order for the Original LL Bean Boot. By Christmas they’ll probably be on backorder again.
- Assemble a good selection of books to read over the Winter. There may still be a few flea markets to stroll through.
Family
- The summer dress code of shorts and flip flops is waning. Time to see if the kiddos need new pants, shoes, winter clothes. It’s amazing how quickly kids grow over the summer months.
- Go on a color hunt! Look for and collect orange, red, yellow, brown, and still green leaves.
- Read spooky Halloween books.
- Stock up on Halloween candy whenever you find candy on sale.
- Try hard not to eat all of the candy you bought a month before Halloween.
Food
- Bake an apple or pumpkin pie.
- Drink hot spiced cider. Score extra points by making this over your backyard fire pit.
- Enjoy the fall beer selections.
- Roast pumpkin seeds.
- Bake pumpkin bread and make pumpkin pancakes.
- Find a “how tall this fall” sign at a local farm and get pictures of all of the kiddos.
- Make popcorn on the cob.
- Eat candy apples.
- Enjoy your favorite restaurant’s outside seating, like Gritty’s deck in Freeport, before it gets too cold.
If you have other ideas and suggestions please leave them in the comments and we’ll add them to the list!
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