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Old 04-29-2007, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Central Fl
2,903 posts, read 12,510,251 times
Reputation: 2900

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Just for fun, I thought I'd post about the different ways us northerners are spending the weekend compared to our friends down in florida.

Up north here, we are having about the first nice day in a long while. It is almost 60 degrees and sunny. I am hoping to get the first mowing of the season done. We start out by praying that the mower that has not been touched in 6 months will start. Because I use stabilized gas, fogging oil, new spark plugs, and take out the battery in the fall and store it downstairs in the basement, cleaned the deck and sharpened blades last fall, odds are I'll be luckier then others....

Then, I'll powerwash the front porch and back decks, so we can bring up the patio furniture up from the basement. If time permits, I'll scrape all the salt and dirt off of the garage floor from the winter and give it a good heavy sweeping. Then it will also be ready for the annual power washing.

Spring is just about here now, so everyone is happy. The snow from two weeks ago is a distant memory. In another month or so we will be able to rototill and plant the garden, usually done by memorial day.....

We will also need to "summerize" the snowblower, so it will start up again next winter. Fogging oil, stabilized gas, (or drain it), a good coat of wax on it, block the tires up, cover the engine, etc, and it should not need to be touched again for a long time. Also a good time to clean, sharpen, and oil the snow shovels, ice picks, etc.

Check the driveway for damage from snow plows, etc. Many will replace their mailboxes that the plows have hit during the winter.

We do not yet have to do anything with the pools.......most people will not take the winter cover off for another 2 months or so. That is a June job.

We can also bring back up in the garage all the sprays and liquids, etc, that need to be stored in the basement during winter, and put them back in the garage. We can get the first coat of wax on the cars in 6 months also, and start checking for new rust that may need to be addressed that was not there last fall.

We may even think about taking the storm windows off and cleaning the screens, getting out the fans, etc......many have not used their gas grills in months, so they need to be cleaned, parts replaced, etc, for our summer cooking season.

Others will dust off the golf clubs, etc.....

When you have a three month summer, you need to prepare for it ASAP, so you can quickly enjoy it before it ends.

A bit different from down there..........

Frank D.
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Old 04-29-2007, 04:19 PM
 
Location: North Dakota
740 posts, read 1,969,445 times
Reputation: 541
Default I gotta ask..

Up north where? I live in Alaska and it sounds like you are describing our spring as well, lol.
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Old 04-29-2007, 04:27 PM
 
Location: Florida
2,209 posts, read 7,638,768 times
Reputation: 638
And "up north" is where?
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Old 04-29-2007, 05:31 PM
 
Location: Central FL
1,683 posts, read 8,197,598 times
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Spring in Florida? We take the first weekend in March to fertilize the grass and Palm Trees and plant any new bedding plants we want for the spring. Clean the flower beds and add new mulch if needed. Trim the trees and shrubs and we're done!

There's no winterizing of equipment or the pool. Of course that means DH doesn't get much of a break from mowing....or at least he only mows once a month instead of weekly!

This weekend was spent swimming and relaxing (reading) poolside. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner outdoors. Friday evening just before dark, I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye, looked up just as a wild boar ran through the woods. He was a BIG guy! Saturday morning we sat on the deck and ate breakfast listening to what sounded like 50 birds calling from one side of the woods to the other. The woods were alive with birds!

We have a cooper's hawk with a nest in a half dead tree about 50 feet behind our back fence. She was active Saturday afternoon and gave us quite a show.

It has been positively beautiful weather this spring. Today we had friends over for a cookout. Now...I have to get ready to go back to work. Can't wait until retirement! LOL
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Old 04-29-2007, 06:40 PM
 
Location: Central Fl
2,903 posts, read 12,510,251 times
Reputation: 2900
I just figured out how to change the header info.
I spend most of the year here in Western New York.......30 miles from Buffalo, 40 miles from Niagara Falls, 30 miles from Rochester.

We are light years away from New York City.......we have tons of cows and farms here in Western NY. My home up here is a mile from the city line, on a few acres of land.

Frank D.
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Old 04-29-2007, 06:44 PM
 
165 posts, read 655,862 times
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Frank, Enjoy your summer up there .We get pretty darn hot down here .Your gonna find that out in time lol .Well enjoy your nite Frank .
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Old 04-29-2007, 06:50 PM
 
Location: Central Fl
2,903 posts, read 12,510,251 times
Reputation: 2900
Yes, I've heard about the beastly summers........I plan on flying down sometime this summer just to experience it first-hand. I know that so far I've only enjoyed the best time of year down there.....I still have much to learn.

I think after all things considered, I'll still percieve Florida as an upgrade over Western NY. Although I've vented some here about our winters, I try not to complain too much about our lot in life up here......if i'm dumb enough to live here, I should not complain about it.

When I am down there full time, I'll either like it or keep looking......thank God we live in such a great country whee we can move anywhere we like without permission, etc.

Frank D.
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Old 04-29-2007, 07:05 PM
 
Location: So. Dak.
13,495 posts, read 37,373,593 times
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Frank, that's a good question and I've enjoyed the responses.

I live in So. Dak. and we've had beautiful weather for over a week already. It was 88 degrees here today. What a change from the sub zero winter temps. I checked the temp in Orlando throughout the day and was surprised to see it was about the same as here. My dew point and humidity were higher then in Orlando and that really shocked me.

I love springtime. The trees are leaving out and the crab apple trees will soon be a beautiful pink. It could be spring or summer year-round and I'd be happy.

DH has the lawn mower running and has mowed twice already. He has put the snow shovels away. We're going to get the flower pots down from the shed this week and fill them with dirt cause next weekend we're going to plant our flowers that are potted and on the deck. Still too early to put the flowers in the ground though. I spent part of my day running to the washer and dryer cause I washed the winter flannel sheets and washed up all the winter blankets and "summered up" the bed. I rearranged the closet and put away the jeans and the winter coats and hung up the tank tops and put the shorts in the top drawers. I moved around the shoes so our sandals and light summer tennies were to the front. It's really not that much work and I love doing it when spring is here. But when it's autumn, I dread putting away all those summer things and putting flannels back on the bed. I'm ready for constant summer.
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Old 04-29-2007, 07:07 PM
 
Location: Lots of sun and palm trees with occasional hurricane :)
8,293 posts, read 16,132,526 times
Reputation: 7018
Frank... I am exhausted from reading your to-do list!

We do stuff all year too but try to get the heavy outdoor things done before the real summer. The only things done in the summer involve water. Water hose, pressure washer, more water hose.

I think we've had some really nice outdoor weather the past 3 or 4 months, for the most part.
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Old 04-29-2007, 07:34 PM
 
Location: Ocala area in Central FL
627 posts, read 2,845,130 times
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Funny, I too take my mower out after not using it for months and hope it starts, the grass does not grow very much when we do not get rain for weeks on end and the sun scorches the little green leaves until they turn brown (I refuse to waste water on the lawn). hahahaha Can not forget to treat the lawn for fire ants either. ouch!

We sweep sand out of our garage and power wash the dirt (some of it is ash from controlled burns they do here), spider webs & egg sacks off of the house.

As well as the regular Zymolizing of the cars, we have to make sure the most delicate surfaces (head lights, rag top, bumpers and dashboards) are treated with a UV protector, I so hate the look of yellowing or cloudy lights and cracked, dull dashes on any of the 6 cars. YUCK!

We do not check the driveway for cracks from winter, but to see how much larger the cracks are on all concrete surfaces and in our walls from poor sand compaction prior to this home's build.

I took all my screens off and washed them and the windows, last Sunday.

We did put up the patio awning, so that we can enjoy being outside with out being burned to a crisp. It was nice to sit out all day long in the shade! (our patio is not covered and the builder stripped every tree from the lot).

so, not much difference in work/chores here, just no fluff... and some extra cheery sunshine.
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