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Post by kds on Oct 29, 2023 0:36:00 GMT
Snow flurries... Its 8:30p on Sautrday, Oct 28. I'm outside in shorts and flip flops. Its down to 72.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 29, 2023 12:26:27 GMT
It's fall of 2023, but yesterday I saw that Target has already gone full-blown Christmas. Everything, from home decor to foods to clothing to gifts and gift wrapping: Christmas.
There are two major holidays yet before Christmas!
I know I say it every holiday, every year. But I'm saying it again. It's just ridiculous.
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Post by kds on Oct 29, 2023 13:23:12 GMT
It's fall of 2023, but yesterday I saw that Target has already gone full-blown Christmas. Everything, from home decor to foods to clothing to gifts and gift wrapping: Christmas. There are two major holidays yet before Christmas! I know I say it every holiday, every year. But I'm saying it again. It's just ridiculous. We went to Target yesterday and saw the same thing. I was actually a little surprised considering Target showed some restraint this year when it comes to Halloween / Fall stuff. It seems more and more, people are starting their Christmas celebrating on Nov 1, immediately after Halloween. I'm not sure if this is an effect of the earlier retail roll out, or if retail was ahead of the curve.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 29, 2023 13:36:55 GMT
October 28th? That's late!
I'm gearing up for my annual tradition on Tuesday night. If you've followed my Christmas music posts, you know that I'm not happy with the changes on Music Choice - Sounds Of The Season. Nevertheless, every year on October 31 at 12:00 Midnight, they switch over from Halloween/autumn music to Christmas music. So, I'll try to stay up and tune in to celebrate that. Last year the first Christmas song played, right out of the chute was "Little Saint Nick". I know...Sheriff, you need to get a life.
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Post by kds on Oct 30, 2023 1:35:29 GMT
In recent years, our Xmas stuff has started earlier. The Christmas Bazaar at my son's school takes place two weeks before Thanksgiving. Then, we usually drive to Ocean City the weekend before Thanksgiving for the opening of their light display. But, I still don't decorate until after Thanksgiving. I might listen to Xmas music sparingly, but won't typically watch any of the specials or movies.
I've come to think of those two weeks prior to Thanksgiving as the Christmas "Preseason."
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 30, 2023 12:23:19 GMT
I mentioned flurries Saturday, and it was just flurries, no accumulation at all. But now they are forecasting that we might see 1-2" of snow overnight tonight. I'm afraid it is indeed that season in Minnesota: between the dark and the chill, morning walks are getting less pleasant. Once we have snow and ice ... oh, I don't want to think about it.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 31, 2023 11:15:56 GMT
And there it is: two inches of snow on the ground this morning. I've done my first shoveling of the year before my first raking of the year!
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Post by kds on Nov 1, 2023 18:27:28 GMT
Daylight Saving Time is ending very early Sunday morning, so the clocks are going back an hour.
Personally, I think the biannual changing of the clocks is, at worst, a minor inconvenience.
But, I confess I've been annoyed the last few years of the Federal Government waffling on making daylight or standard time permanent. Either do it or don't.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 5, 2023 14:25:38 GMT
As if the Gophers late-game catastrophe weren't enough, yesterday I finally raked the lawn--the front lawn, anyway. You'll recall we already had snow, so while it had melted and we'd had dry and (slightly) warmer temps for a few days, it turned out there were still plenty of wet leaves, particularly under the top blanket of them. The entire yard was more than covered.
Despite them being somewhat wet, I felt I had to get going since it's not clear how long the relatively decent weather will last: we can easily get either rain or snow, or temps could plummet, or all of the above. So I did about 20 bags' worth. I still need to do the driveway and back yard, too, which will be more still. Keep in mind, this is a small, city yard, not a larger suburban or rural property.
Really, raking and bagging wet leaves in 30-something degree weather is not a great time...
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Post by kds on Nov 7, 2023 19:37:13 GMT
For the first time in 20 years, I'm buying a Christmas tree.
Way back in 2003, I bought a little 4' tree. I had it until 2010. My mother gifted me a 7.5' prelit tree. But, last year, half the lights were out. And some of the branches were sagging. So, I think its time.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 8, 2023 16:08:10 GMT
As if the Gophers late-game catastrophe weren't enough, yesterday I finally raked the lawn--the front lawn, anyway. You'll recall we already had snow, so while it had melted and we'd had dry and (slightly) warmer temps for a few days, it turned out there were still plenty of wet leaves, particularly under the top blanket of them. The entire yard was more than covered. Despite them being somewhat wet, I felt I had to get going since it's not clear how long the relatively decent weather will last: we can easily get either rain or snow, or temps could plummet, or all of the above. So I did about 20 bags' worth. I still need to do the driveway and back yard, too, which will be more still. Keep in mind, this is a small, city yard, not a larger suburban or rural property. Really, raking and bagging wet leaves in 30-something degree weather is not a great time... You know one thing worse than raking wet leaves in chilly weather? Having your work almost entirely undone within a few days' worth of wind blowing your neighbor's leaves back onto your yard. It doesn't quite look like I never raked ... but it's getting there. Within the next week or two, I'll presumably have to do it all over again.
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Post by kds on Nov 9, 2023 19:05:34 GMT
Welp. I was all set to give the lawn one last mow tomorrow. But, its supposed to rain. Our weekends are pretty jam packed for pretty much the rest of the year so, I don't know when I'll get to it.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 10, 2023 13:29:51 GMT
Leaf blowers: maybe the most annoying sound on this earth. I'm an old-fashioned guy who still uses a rake (though my back sometimes hates me for it), but I get the appeal of leaf blowers.
However, this morning while I was on my walk, somebody was using one at 5:45 a.m. That's unconscionable! A friend just asked me the other day what time I thought was the appropriate window to use them. I said I'd probably stick to 8 a.m. on the early side. But 5:45? Wow. That is a lack of consideration for neighbors.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 10, 2023 14:07:19 GMT
Each year there are some leaves that fall into the garden around the house and get trapped in between shrubs and plants. I used to go around and pull them out - or even wait for a strong wind to blow them out - but due to age and a bad back, I'll now blow them out onto the grass, then rake them up. That's about the only time I'll blow leaves.
For the grass right now, I have a plan. We're supposed to get a little rain today, but there's not a lot in the forecast. I'm actually hoping for some rain, giving the grass one last chance to grow a little, then I'll give it one last mowing just before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the cutoff. I don't care what the neighbors think!
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Nov 10, 2023 16:08:55 GMT
I usually try not to do anything loud before 8:30, and no mowing before 9, especially since our houses are fairly close to each other. I pretty much only rake to get leaves away from the fence and the leaf blower to get the leaves off of the porch and out of the landscaping. Everything else gets chopped up with the mower. It's the time of year where I need to do it roughly once per week. My house and neighbors house are filled with large, mature trees (think 100ft high by 50ft wide). I'm planning to mow tomorrow and will probably have two more after that. Once the day before Thanksgiving and one more in early December. The oak trees will still be dropping some leaves after that, but not worth going out in freezing temps again.
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