Yesterday morning I packed up some gear and headed out to visit Terra. The shower was on offer and it was too tempting to resist. The toilet is functioning at the little house in the city, but there is no bathroom sink or tub at the moment; and no hot water. The hot water tank is expensive to run, and what would I use hot water for anyway. I can heat up water in the kettle for dishes and washing in the sink, a great energy saver. It felt so wonderful to have a hot shower!
We had a lovely visit and a chat. Terra likes to tell me all about her doings, and she is doing quite a lot!
When we visit the little house in the city, renovation time is at a premium. Attila does not get much of a run at projects. Most visits entail a half day of Attila’s time just to cut the grass, on the double lot where our little house sits.
I have decided that I will attempt to mow the lawn at the little house in the city, in order to free up Attila’s time, so that he can remove the toilet on his next visit. Lawn mowing is repetitive work, and that is where the danger lies. No question that I can actually do it. The challenge is not to hurt myself doing it.
Last night after 9:00 p.m., when the day was cooling to night, I decided to see if I could get the mower running. To my absolute delight I got it going on the first pull!
There are two sections of lawn that have grown long and are in serious need of cutting. I began with the lawn directly in front of the house. There is a little hill, and the mower needs to be pushed up that hill. Within forty minutes the desired section was mowed. The section needing mowing in the back of the house would have to wait for another day.
This morning my back hurts. It was fine last night, but this morning it is stiff and sore. Never mind, I will take an anti-inflammatory, and carry on.
That back piece of lawn was tackled just after 9:00 a.m.. I would rather do it during the cool of the morning. After doing some slow stretching exercises, the job was done slowly, carefully, and with many breaks.
There is one section of the lawn that I did not manage to get done. Another day perhaps, perhaps tonight after 9:00 p.m. when the world cools down a bit. I am definitely getting the knack of this lawn mowing business.
Our next lawn mower will be self propelled, and have a bag attachment for the clippings. The current lawn mower is a bare bones model, and a bugger to push.
The rest of the afternoon was spent trimming around the building and fences. This required many rest stops, and one long break to recharge the battery.
I will rest for the rest of the day, the trimmer doesn’t have the only battery that requires recharging!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
25°C
Condition: Cloudy
Pressure: 101.3 kPa
Tendency: falling
Visibility: 24 km
Temperature: 24.6°C
Dewpoint: 18.4°C
Humidity: 68%
Wind: SE 14 km/h
Humidex: 31
Quote
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
1884 – 1962
Ah, but yes, that wonderful feeling when the job is done. For a big job, I always break it into sections or stages or something similar, so I can stop at a break point, clean up and look around with satisfaction, saying, “There! That much is done.” It always motivates me to get going after the break (or the next day or whenever) again.
Eleanor Roosevelt (see above) was right about that. I didn’t realize she lived until 1962.
Re: lawn mowing. I think all the new mowers are self-propelled now. We used to use the bag to get rid of the clippings, but when we did that, our lawn would dry out and turn brown. We now leave the clippings on the grass. Most mowers now have blades that keep the clippings very fine, and if you leave the clippings on the surface, they almost protect the grass from drying out in the hot summer sun. Our lawn has turned into a green plush lawn area since we’ve been leaving the cuttings right on the grass – just disconnect the bagger. I really think that was what did it.
I have friends who do what Bex suggests. The only thing is, you have to cut the grass often … the clippings need to be short, apparently, so they don’t lie on top of the lawn but fall down in amongst the standing grass … but my friends have a gorgeous lawn. It might not work for you since you aren’t at the little house often enough to cut as often as may be necessary. Bex may be able to comment more on this … maybe I haven’t got it right.
Sarah, that is exactly how I like to work, with the continuous feeling of accomplishment and new beginnings!
Not all lawn mowers are self propelled, the one I have at the little house in the city was purchased just three years ago, and it is definitely not self-propelled. For instance, MTD lawn mowers that are not self-propelled are around $149 in Canada, and the cheapest self-propelled MTD is around $249-$299.
That is a great suggestion Bex, leaving the cuttings, and Kate is right that it won’t work for us as things stand; we cannot choose when to cut the lawn, we just have to do it when we are here. The bag is something I’d like because, when we have to cut the lawn and it is wet, the clumps take longer to collect than it takes to mow the lawn. Picking up clumps of wet grass is backbreaking work, and in the rain it is wet and miserable work, so I want the bag for those times, when the grass clumps. The clumps can’t be left, they kill patches of grass.
It is my fervent hope that we can live in our little house in the city and try this frequent cutting technique for ourselves!
The “grass” at the country house is natural ground cover, not much grass involved, and we only cut that two or three times a year.