Prepping for cold

DH is starting to button up the house in preparation for cold weather. The 2 window air conditioners have been removed and the windows shut. The vents around the outside bottom of the house have been covered over with small boards he nails on (painted to match the house even!), in hopes that it helps keep the cold air from the crawl space under the house and up into our floors. We started doing this last year and I think it did help keep our electricity bills down a little bit.

If weather permits (sounds like Sunday might be my dry day) I'll be finishing clearing up some "dead" plants from our landscaping. I have a huge fuchsia bush that dies off this time every year and leaves a big brown mess of branches that I have to cut down to the ground and dispose of. I also need to cut my 2 rose bushes down. The one that was totally black and dead, until DD poured a bunch of Miracle Grow on it, grew green and very tall the rest of the summer, taller than me! But no roses ever bloomed on it this year. I'm hoping next year.... This year we planted a raspberry plant and a blueberry plant (no berries) in one of our whiskey barrel planters. Does anyone know if there is something I should be doing to the plants for winter? Do I cut them down? 

We've been having to turn the heat on in the mornings and evenings now, though I see DH isn't turning it quite as high as he usually does and he's been putting on a sweatshirt instead of cranking up the heat. Not sure why the change after all these years, but I'll take it.

Now when I bake something in the oven, I leave the door open for a bit, after I turn the oven off, to let the heat fill the room. Might as well not waste it!

Speaking of baking, I have been making us a dessert to snack on, about once a week. I've made a couple of cakes, peanut butter cookies one week, and brownies last week.  This weekend I think a pan of Tollhouse bars sounds like a good dessert to make. The trick will be to get them made before DH realizes there is cookie dough to eat!