Editor's Letter
Looking Indoors, Inward
The falling leaves, chilly breeze bring a season of introspection.

Growing up, I only asked for two things of my parents each time they built a new house: a walk-in closet and a window seat. I always had plenty of space for my clothes, but for some reason, I never got a window seat. I finally had to take action myself and have it built into my own home. (Funny, now I don’t have the spacious closet….) A new addition to our evolving farmhouse, I haven’t had much of a chance to use it, as we’ve been feverishly working outdoors to finish our landscaping projects before we invited friends and family over who we hadn’t ever invited over before because we felt our house wasn’t ready enough to be revealed.

As I’ve found with many of the homeowners I’ve spoken to, having a reason to finish up any remaining tasks around one’s home can easily be achieved by scheduling something big, like a photo shoot, or in my case, an open house. Knowing hundreds or thousands of people will be looking at your home is an amazing impetus to get your act in gear. My husband and I cleaned up like we never had before. We didn’t quite make it to every last project on our list, but we can write those things off to ‘work in progress.’

When we had completed as much as we could, I sat at that window seat and admired the surroundings. After two years of hard work, the place had finally come together. I breathed a happy sigh at our accomplishment: The seasons were changing and we were prepared. Not done, mind you, but taking a rest. The reality of our next phase won’t come without more planning, and for that, we have winter to welcome.

To most people, winter is a season to dread. I might have agreed with them before I exhausted myself with warm-season projects. But I’m looking forward to the quieter moments, with blankets and a cat on my lap, red wine and hot meals, bubble baths and slippers, my garden journal and my imagination. I can curl up in my new special space with a blank palette to stare out at and redraw in my head. No, winter is not a season to dread. It offers forced respite for the weary-worked gardener, time for reading and researching, and its own wondrous version of inspirational beauty.



Andrea Darr, Editor
adarr@kc-hg.com



Maintenance Checklist
Just like me, everyone needs to finish up a few routine tasks before winter. Don’t forget to:
-Clean your gutters
-Service your kitchen appliances
-Schedule an energy efficiency rating on your HVAC
-Create an emergency kit for your car, including a first-aid kit, road flares, flashlight, batteries, blanket, fire extinguisher and a “send help” sign
-Test all GFCI outlets

Source: angieslist.com