Fall To-Do List around the home

[Float On]

I was standing at the kitchen sink this morning, drinking my first cup of coffee and watching the spiders that had built a very messy web between the window glass and screen and thought, "well darn, it's fall, guess I need to wash windows". What would you add to this fall to-do list.

Exterior:
wash windows
put away screens (late fall/more winterish)
check caulk around windows
put foam core covers over crawl space vents
scrub porches (really need stained but that can wait till spring)
move houseplants back inside
pick up fallen sticks and add to fireplace stack (have some fall evening outdoor fires)
turn compost
mow once more and service lawnmower
turn and cover the raised beds (add compost)
clean and put away garden tools
rake leaves (mulch and add to compost) (***edited,Thanks Miss C)
clean out gutters x2

Studio:
sweep and dust
replace burnt out bulbs
check roof (may be time to replace shingles)
figure out window covers for barn roof screened windows (now that it's not a hot shop...it's not hot)
purge and organize my work space
clean, organize, photograph tools/materials to sell

Interior:
clean windows
wash filters
put away portable ac (upstairs)
check attic storage area screens (empty and clean, see if needs additional insulation or repairs)
wipe down walls
wipe down crown molding and baseboards
paint hall bath/replace hardware and baseboards/molding (bonus - new door)
get hall/living room carpets cleaned (move once more the idea of replacing carpets w/wood to next year)
clean upstairs carpets (move once more the idea of replacing carpets w/wood to next year)
replace hallway light with fixture with more light
repaint hallway
clean out under stairs storage (winter items)
clean out hallway closet
wash all light fixtures and check electrical
get a electrical audit by electric company
check with landline/internet phone service to reduce fees
move fridge and stove and clean
purge/clean out and paint interior of lower kitchen cabinets (too dark)


What kind of things are on your fall to-do list?

[Miss Cellane]

You don't have to rake leaves?

I rent an apartment, so for me the list runs like this:

Cleaning:

wash windows
wash bedding--quilt, mattress pad, blankets
vacuum dust out of baseboard radiators

Household:

start switching out summer clothes with winter clothes
find all the mittens and hats and scarves and put in basket by front door
find boots and put by front door


Prepping for winter:

weatherstrip porch door
hang insulated curtain over porch door
put up plastic over front bedroom windows
pile up porch furniture and cover with tarps in sheltered corner of porch
drag window A/C down to basement storage area
remind landlord that porch storm door still needs a storm window for the bottom half

And start crocheting Christmas presents. Have four to make this year.

[Float On]

You don't have to rake leaves?




How could I forget! Thank you. Also reminded me that DH will need to clean out the gutters twice in the fall - we've got hardwoods and cedars and between the two it creates a mess.

[razz]

I am exhausted just reading your list. I just moved to a new house so have none of these until next year but had to clean out the old place so got to bed exhausted yesterday. Today it is all over!!!!!

[JaneV2.0]

Haha--I read that as "fail to do list around the home." I had a long list, then "Never mind." :cool:

[Greg44]

One BIG one - finish painting our house. Brush and rolling - no spraying for us. Tonight DW and I finished side two! Well of course except for the trim. :-(
We are going from light to dark - DW picked the color - a nice taupe with cream trim. I have to psych myself out for this job.

I hate painting, but we are going slow and taking our time to do it right. I am not taping. I thought everyone taped until I saw a co-worker paint her office - no tape. She said
tape is for messy painters! She showed me how to push the paint to the edge and to carry a wet cloth if you screw up.

[jp1]

Geez. Reading that list makes me glad we rent an apartment...

And since we live in San Francisco my winter prep list reads like this:

Find umbrella

[Gardenarian]

Haha--I read that as "fail to do list around the home." I had a long list, then "Never mind." :cool:

So did I! Freudian slip? :) So much fail to do.

[Float On]

Haha--I read that as "fail to do list around the home." I had a long list, then "Never mind." :cool:

This is probably what I should of written! :laff: I doubt I'll get much of it done. But thought it was worth writing out anyway. My parents will probably do all of that and more - such energy in their mid-70's. I hope to inherit my dad's farm books. He's been making "to-do" lists since the late 60's. There is rarely an item that doesn't get crossed off his yearly, seasonally, monthly, weekly, or daily list.

[Simplicity]

OMG I'm so worn out from reading your list, I'm going to need to take this weekend off! :laff:

[jp1]

My mother was a housewife for all but the first 2 years of my parents' marriage. I don't know that she ever made lists but she took seriously the job of maintaining a perfect house. Just like the service schedule for a car she had all her tasks that had to be done daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, annually and never wavered from her schedule. Dad would help with heavy tasks like mowing the yard or hanging/putting away the storm windows each fall/spring. I have to admit, our house was always perfect, inside and out. I had no idea how much effort this took until I became an adult. Even living in an apartment, as I have done my entire adult life, I've never kept everything anywhere nearly as perfect as she did. Maybe if I quit my job...

One of the things she did was keep really pretty flower beds all along two sides of our backyard. Years after Dad retired and she and Dad had moved to a condo I was visiting and we passed a couple of residents tending flowers in front of the building. I asked "why don't you help? You always enjoyed gardening at our house." Her response was "No. I didn't. I just did it because they looked pretty and you all seemed to really like them." It was kind of touching to me that she would go to the trouble of doing something she didn't enjoy just because her family appreciated it and I told her so. Hopefully my comment at that moment made her feel like it had been worth the effort.

[Blackdog Lin]

I agree with everyone, float on: what an exhausting but great list! Wishing for you that you accomplish all you want to.

Mine is smaller.
- wash windows. (All done and feels great! I tried a new recipe/method this year, found on Pinterest, and I'll be darned if it didn't work! The easiest and best job of exterior window washing ever.)
- intensive vacuuming of interior of house. Get behind furniture and beds. Get cobwebs out of corners.
- do last trim of crepe myrtles and ivy bed.
- put garden to bed: pull tomato cages and supports, and the cucumber trellis, pull all plants and clean up, and call the tractor guy to come in and plow.
- chain-saw work. There are several volunteer trees, getting too big, that need cut down and hauled to the brush pile.
- burn brush pile. The funnest fall job of all.
- clean gutters. But not till November.
- clean out chicken coop and put down fresh bedding.
- we don't rake leaves.
- eta: jeesh, I forgot my biggest fall job of all: emptying all the flowerpots (we do pots of annuals every year) and putting the pots away in the barn.

[Lainey]

Okay, Blackdog Lin, now you have to tell us what the Pinterest method is for washing windows!

[Blackdog Lin]

Lainey - this truly worked, and I mixed it up from ingredients that I have around the house anyway. While I wouldn't call it a PERFECT job of window-washing, it was absolutely the most effective and easy window-washing method I've every done. I will never again wash my exterior windows any other way - it worked that well. I am sad that it can only be done on the exterior. My adaptation of what Pinterest said:

Dissolve 1/2 c. dishwasher detergent (I use powder) in 2 gallons hot water. My bucket only holds 2 gallons, so I probably used 1 3/4 gallons of water 'cause I couldn't fill it all the way to the top.
Stir in
1/4 c. ammonia
1/4 c. isopropyl alcohol
1/4 c. Jet Dry

Spray window well with power-spray attachment on your hose. Using a rag(s) wipe the window down well and in both directions with cleaning mixture. (I really slathered it on after trying to wipe all the dirt off.) Immediately spray again with hose. Let air dry.

My windows for the most part just dried to a sunshiny sheen. It was awesome.

Note: we did the whole house (2 sliding-glass doors and 9 windows) in two go's - if I were going to do it all in one go I would have a bucket of rinse water to use so as not to dirty the cleaning solution. It got pretty dirty after each of our sessions.

[larknm]

I heard on real estate program yesterday that a person should allow 60 hours or two weeks to prepare a house for sale. I'm thinking that might be a good max for those who have lots of chores to change the season--by prioritizing.