5 Things to Tighten Up for Another South Dakota Winter

I remember wanting to have my own home so bad I could almost taste it. I truly thought there is no way I have arrived in life until my wife and I buy our own house. Then a friend made a few suggestions of how we could make that happen, we were able to get approved and boom. Homeowners we were.

Then the realities of owning a home settle in. Over the years you learn tricks here and there, and if you're lucky enough to have great neighbors, you know the ones who poke their head over the fence and ask what you're doing and then shake their head and make a good suggestion things go pretty smooth.

Here is the list of 5 things I like to put to bed before the snow flies here in South Dakota.

#1 Lawn and Sprinklers. This year I think we would be safe to blow them out today. Even if we dry up a little bit, things are so wet down deep, I think we could drop back 10 yards and go ahead and blow them out. I also like to lower the deck on my mower and start bringing the height of my lawn down. I'll mow today, wait two days to let the grass heal a bit then take it down a notch.

#2 Leaves. When we first moved in, we had no trees. Now we have 4 that keep me busy till November 3rd.

#3 Check the snow thrower. Now is a good time to fire it up and see if there was something you were going to do with it last year and get that fixed right now.

#4 Check windows. Experts say we lose a lot of heat from our homes around our windows and doors. I just redid some caulking at the house. A couple of doors could use a little help with new seals. I'll do that this coming week.

#5 Make a mental checklist. Last year with all the snow, I was WISHING I would have done a little snow blowing in the back yard. This year I will make it a point to keep the snow clear of the neighbor's fence instead of allowing it to drift up. When it starts melting It has a tendance to damn up in my back yard.

That's it. Make a quick list and start in on it. Thanksgiving will be here before you know it and then you can relax a little bit.