Both the National Weather Service and Farmers Almanac say we can expect a good ol’ Montana winter. I already have some indication before those pronouncements just by following the trail of Dog hair in my house. Looks like the poor thing has mange and exploded in a ball of shedding fur. It’s been told you can pick up natural signs of change by looking for Ants walking in a line instead of just wandering around and Spiders coming indoors. Mine are weird and do those things all the time- so I’m outta luck there. 

 

You can accept the challenge of putting your abode in readiness mode beforehand, so you don't have to go looking for a Snow shovel when it's 5 degrees out. Where did you put that thing anyway?  

First Thing: Start a List! 

List Item One, Snow shovel. Get a good one, mine has fought the good fight and will not pass the first big squall without making me miserable. Why wait until all the neat ones sell out at the store...again. Get some bags of traction sand and Ice melt stuff, even gloves. That list can grow quickly, but if you “list It” you might remember you bought a number of those things last season but you’ve stashed them and just need to find where.. they…went…

Start a Clean Up.

Yes, I put it off so It’s my own fault, but the neighbors are at it as well! Pulling out things stuffed in sheds over the summer to make room for patio furniture needing to be stored, and garage decluttering so the car or snow thrower can go inside. It’s one step to finding some of those missing items on that list you started! Now you just have to find a place for what you moved from the shed and garage, to make room… 

Set Those Odd Treasures at The Curb

The neighbors will take the good stuff and give it a home, because, well it's good stuff! And because I’ve managed to make some room- I can host some of the nice things they are putting out. (I can’t believe they are going to toss that out!)

Get our free mobile app

As I was carting off some curb treasure, I chatted up my neighbor who was waiting outside while the “Dust Bunny” stink wafted away after turning on her furnace for the first time, and that reminded me that it was a good thing to try the heat before it got really cold. Get a new filter for the beast as well and start the snow thrower too. The store might have one in stock this early if you wanted one. Oh, have the car checked out for the winter too. You can clean the leaves from the rain gutters before it freezes solid, and put away garden hoses. (Now I’m sounding ambitious.) But, they have a place in the shed to get stowed and I’ve found the car's window Ice Scraper!

 My List is getting shorter.

Living in Missoula? What Your Shoe Choices Say by Looking at Them

It's been said that, "The Belt has to match the Shoes." So we want to know, do the shoes have to match the Town?

LOOK: Things from the year you were born that don't exist anymore

The iconic (and at times silly) toys, technologies, and electronics have been usurped since their grand entrance, either by advances in technology or breakthroughs in common sense. See how many things on this list trigger childhood memories—and which ones were here and gone so fast you missed them entirely.

More From KGRZ Missoula