No fall...

We didn't have a spring and it looks like we are not going to have a fall.  Just a few days ago I had to have the air-conditioner running and tonight we have a hard freeze warning.  SIGH.  That means that I spent today rushing around doing Fall tasks in between dealing with near-fainting.

I disconnected both garden hoses.  I have quick connects on them, but I couldn't remember how to use them.  So, I ended up just unscrewing both of them, which took quite a bit of time with my weakened hands.

October is also the month to change out the batteries in all the smoke detectors.  That means standing on ladders and working with my arms raised up over my head.  Both of those are not the safest actions for me, the latter being one of the worst things for me.  However, I was able to finish this task.

With the hard freeze coming, that meant I needed to drain and remove the pumps from the two outside fountains.  The one on the front porch is difficult, but manageable.  My fountain out in my beloved haven, which ran ever so beautifully this year, is near impossible for me to drain.  What I should have done is brought a container out and did some bailing.  Instead, I lifted the top pot out whilst it was full of water, though I did empty everything else out of it.  My back protested and I am worried I might have hurt my SI joint again.

The large, bottom pot I can drain by tipping it over.  However, I stressed my back further by carrying it to the garage.  I believe that, next year, what I need to do is leave the pots upside down outside.  It is just that they were quite an investment and being in the garage is safest.  There is no possibility of freezing water cracking them if they are tucked away in the garage.

Another task, though not a Fall task, was that I needed to bring the Dr Pepper in from the Highlander.  When I went shopping last week, I was reminded how grateful I am to be able to use my ancient garage.  Carrying groceries in from the garage is much easier than carrying groceries in from the street out front.

I was knackered after shopping and carting in the rest of the groceries, so I left both bags of Amos' food (if I spent $40 in dog stuff I got an instant $10 off) and all four boxes of Dr Pepper (on sale for just $11) in the car.  I kept telling myself I would bring in one thing a day.  But whenever I would think about it, I would become so weary that I procrastinated until the next day.  And the next day.  And the next day.  But with the hard freeze coming, I was stuck with carrying in all four boxes in one afternoon lest I lose them and end up with a mess in my vehicle.

The wind chill outside is already down to 37 degrees.  So, all of that outside work was mighty cold.  It sort of cracked me up, though, that the effort I was making had sweat pouring off of my head since that particular medication side effect seems to be sticking around permanently.  Well, it cracked me up, made me embarrassed, and left me a bit despairing.  But I did laugh some as the sweat splashed into the pool of water I had dumped out on the pavers.

The two giant spotted begonia pots are glaring at me, but I am ignoring them.  I need to prune them and start rooting the pieces ... but that can wait until tomorrow.  Or the next tomorrow.  Or the next one after that.

Despite what it may look like, I really am a very lazy person.  Maybe I should change my name to Iamanauseatedprocrastinator.