Tag Archives: mowing

Morning of Wows 10-11-2024

This is similar to what is on the end of the long folding arm of the machine the man is driving that is clearing the power lines in the right-of-way to the east of our house. They simply showed up and started making noise when my husband was trying to take a morning nap in his recliner. Amber’s barking and the noise finally got him up.

He took Amber and the truck to go find out what was happening. It turned out that there was a man driving a humongous piece of equipment with a cab that moved to all angles, with a long folding ‘arm’ on the front with a spinning blade to saw off anything that could encroach on the power lines. They sawed off a bunch of stuff, particularly off a humongous trying-to-die tree on the edge of what we laughingly call the ‘civilized’ part of our land.

They stopped when they saw me standing out there watching them. I complimented the man operating the spinning blade. Another man will be trying to mow the right of way, though it’s really rocky and will be a nightmare to mow. They said they tried to do it every 7 years, but they’ve only been here once before, and we’ve lived here over 35 years now.

They said a bucket truck will be here within 48 hours with a huge chipper thingie on it to grind up what they cut down and haul it off. I asked if they could take a few minutes and go all the way across the back of the yard for us with the spinning blade. Sadly, they couldn’t. :0/

We paid a guy to clear quite a bit of the back as a fire brake several years ago. He did a great job, but the stuff started growing up immediately, trying to go back to the way it was and we can’t afford to keep doing it.

Just cutting out the top of the tree on the one side made a huge difference in the amount of sun coming in on the back porch.

My husband drove out to the shop when he came back so he could fill up a low tire on the truck. He decided to mow one spot in the yard that needed it, and now has the mower still running in the shop to use up the rest of the gas in it so he can store it for the winter.

Things are quiet around here right now, but now my husband is awake and fussing at his phone… :0)

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Rainy Friday 7-21-2023

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It’s dark and stormy-looking right now. Some of the forecasts say the rain will stop before we’re supposed to leave to join our friends at Lunch Bunch. We’ll probably go anyway, but we won’t go grocery shopping if it’s pouring. It’s nice not to wake up to fry-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk temperatures this morning. It’s only 80 right now.

My husband got the belt back on the mower and finished the yard yesterday, so HIS part is finished. I was going to weed whack today. Maybe I’ll still be able to do that later today.

I spent yesterday afternoon trying to find out why our American Express card charge wouldn’t go through for the meds I was trying to buy for my husband. The phone tree thingy said the card was fine, but the chat lady said the card had been canceled due to inactivity. We reapplied, were accepted and should get new cards in the next week or so. Then the NEXT time we order the meds, we can use the new card.

No time spent in my art room yesterday, but maybe things will smile on me this afternoon, no new crises will have erupted, and I can spend awhile playing. There’s always a CHANCE! :0)

Meanwhile, I wish you a happy Friday and a wonderful weekend.

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Thursday 7-20-2023

WallingfordSign.com

Just a quick note before I leave for errands.

I’m going to get our mail and go for a haircut.

My husband went straight out to our shop this morning to get the main belt back on the mower so he can finish the yard. He says he only has about 5 minutes left before finishing. It’s going to be lethally hot again today, so I’m glad when he finishes, this is it for him outside today. We can hope the forecasters are correct that we’re supposed to get a bit of a break tonight or tomorrow.

I hope your day is a happy one. I’ll write more when I return.

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Wednesday 7-12-2023

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After the rain stopped yesterday, I had two good sessions in the yard. I re-weeded the trio of planters

that run between our front yard and the driveway that had already sprouted up with the rain and the sun we’ve been having.

The second seession also included weeding the brick planter that faces the front yard to the side of our garage where the elephant ear plants are trying to come up.

After the two sessions and before bed, I took a long shower. That helped, but I’m still feeling much older than usual this morning.

This morning I’ll tackle the two brick planters on either side of the garage pad. Both are terribly overgrown, as you can see in these pics –

I’m not sure how far I’ll get, since we’re under an “Excessive Heat Warning” today, but I’ll take it a bit at a time and rest and drink a lot of water between sessions.

If the grass dries up sufficiently, I think my husband is planning to mow. Then the yard will start looking like someone cares. :0)

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Too, too Hot!

Lewis Mailbox Decoration

My computer says it’s 97 degrees F. out there now, with a heat index of 108. They’re now forecasting a heat index of 118 this afternoon. Oh, GOOD.

I’m trying to get my husband to wait as long as possible to mow. I’m purposely NOT reminding him about a hat and sunglasses because he’ll react by NOT wearing them, so the best I can hope for is that he does it because it’s a smart thing to do…

Our plumber called last night to tell us he’s trying to get here sometime next week to help us with the 2nd line we need in the well house in order to set up automatic watering of our front yard planter boxes. (With 12 inches of rain the past week, we aren’t in huge need yet; but since the rain has stopped and none is forecast for the coming week, we WILL be more interested as the week goes on.) Our weather tends to give us more than we need and then cuts off, with no more rain for weeks at a time, cooking our plants. When we get the 2nd line and timer installed, we’ll be doing as much as we can for our greenery, other than perhaps running the system longer or twice a day when needed.

My husband is actually hoping for NO rain for the foreseeable future so that our lawn will turn ‘brown and crunchy’ – his favorite condition of grass that doesn’t need to be mowed every 5 seconds the way it does now.

I’m planning to get out late this afternoon with a two-gallon spray container of KILLZALL, the weed killer, trying to get the rampant weeds under better control. I’ll need to mix and spray several containers of this, but will handle it one container at a time.

Stay cool and safe!

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Thoughts on a Monday 7-26-2021

kurdistan

Isn’t this bird wonderful? I want to try to cheer him up.

We are having a quiet day so far today, and I am grateful.

Summer is definitely here now with an afternoon actual temperature of 96 and a heat index at 100+. Little or no rain in the forecast until further notice. UGH

CorvSport.com

The wonderful news is that my husband got the repaired part back in the Corvette yesterday and the vehicle is now sitting in our garage! WOO HOOOOO! After paying the service department at the Chevrolet place in Ft. Smith $85.00 to look at it and tell us the part we needed had been discontinued, we spent $10 for a tool. We didn’t need to buy the replacement part we found on the net – though it was good to know we could have. My husband got the part out, pried the top off the ‘module,’ soldered 4 wires, put it back in the car to test it, and IT WORKED. He took it back out, sealed the top back on, put it back in again (able to get 5 of the 6 screws in) and all the warning lights disappeared.

We were going to take it out for a test run, but he’s going to call the shots on that. He is really sore – particularly the rib muscles on his left side – from lying on the car, stretched as far as he could to reach and fight with recalcitrant parts for HOURS over a three-day period. He has bruises bungs, gouges and scrapes over the backs of both hands and one arm. I’m trying to get him to rest as much as possible over the next several days.

Popular Mechanics

Since he’s like the Energizer Bunny, even when he’s hurting, he got out right before dark and used the riding mower to mow the back yard. Then it was too dark for him to see. He’ll probably finish the yard today, but I’m HOPING he’ll wait until right before dark again. I’ll get out and do the weed whacking today.

The “refurbishing-of-the-critters” project is ongoing. I’ve cleaned and repainted 12 yard critters so far, and am currently repainting a pair of critters we call “Mama Snail and Her Baby” in the shop. I should finish those in the next day or two and will post a picture. The next larger critter is a “peacock” I’ll start after that.

I’m considering shaving Amber, our 95-pound yellow lab. Yesterday I vacuumed the tiled area on our first floor (utility room, dining area, kitchen, pantry, and two half-baths) and easily got an entire dog’s worth of hair in the vacuum canister. I’m due to vacuum the carpeted areas today (foyer, office, and living room) and will probably get another complete dog’s worth. Her hair, as you can see, is short. It amazes me that she can shed that much and still be covered with the normal complement of hair!

It is SO hot here now, that it doesn’t matter that we have an irrigation system on our raised bed, square foot garden. The only thing doing well out there right now is our onions. This has been a really weird growing season. We still have our planters of tomatoes. They aren’t pretty this year, but they are really delicious. I’m going to start trying to pull the onions, spreading them out to dry on a trailer we have with a grilled bed on it, perfect for lots of drainage. I’ll then clean out the garden bit by bit, trying to work in the morning or just before dark to avoid a heat stroke. :0) Right now it looks like no one cares about it. I’ll take pics when it’s more under control.

Happy day to you!

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Good Morning

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My husband is out mowing now – even though it’s too wet – because the rain has been such that there is NEVER a good time to do the job. It will have to be enough. Since the heat index today will be in the area of 110 degrees F., I’m glad he is out there getting the job over with now. (The weather people says it will get REALLY hot this coming week!) Right now, though, it is still cool enough to have the doors open and the ceiling fans on.

My zucchini and yellow crookneck squash plants are still looking healthy, but no actual veggies growing yet. The celery I planted is still alive and I have two more celery bottoms in water in the house. The onions continue to look good. I’ll go out later to see if we have more ripe tomatoes.

I worked on painting a new design of wooden earrings yesterday in my art room. I’ll post pics later.

I am hoping for a quiet day today.

I hope that YOUR Sunday is a nice one, too.

 

 

 

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