Tag Archives: lawnmower

A Bad Day for the Lawnmower

It was the first mowing of the lawn and, in case you are unaware, I hate mowing the lawn.

After John did the requisite lawnmower maintenance,  (gas, oil, reattaching loose parts, and mouse nest removal) I went to work on the lawn.

I cruised around contemplating if I could not mow the lawn anymore because we might be moving this summer. Failing to come up with a legitimate reason to justify that line of thought I continued unhappily driving in circles.

Until I hit a fence post. (Which, in my defense, was lying flat on the ground under the grass – at least until I mowed over it.)

Then I stopped.

And swore.

And wondered why my list of things I’ve run over includes, wheelbarrows, tractor chains, logs,  dog toys, golf balls, giant holes (that’s really more of a fall into) and now fence posts, (but not dead cats so that’s something).

Then I wondered if in any other household someone with as terrible a record as mine would still be the preferred lawnmower – darn colorblind husband.fence post meets lawnmower blade

So, I removed the offending fence post, got back on and went back to work contemplating ways to avoid mowing.

Suddenly a six inch long, wiggly, black, object flew up in the air and landed on my lap.

After the initial shock, realization settled in.

I stopped.

And swore.

And wondered why I have never replaced my lawn with AstroTurf.

And bemoaned the fact that my least favorite chore now needs to happen on a weekly basis.

And mentally grumbled about a trip to the hardware store.

But then I realized that with one sleeping kid, one about to get on the bus to come home from school, two days of rain in the forecast and a shredded belt,  I had no time to make it to the hardware store. No time to mow any more lawn before the rains came and therefore no point in even attempting the lawn mower fix this afternoon.

It was a bad day for the lawnmower… a bad day for a lawnmower…but, I got to quit mowing for the afternoon.

And, no matter the condition of the lawnmower or how poorly the rest of the day went, I always consider not mowing the lawn to be a positive state of being.

Written in response to Prompts for the Promptless Episode 12 – Silver Linings hosted by Rarasaur.

I liked this prompt ,it is why I blog, to find the silver linings – well, that and to not become a ferret .

What Happens in May

What happens in May is that the lawnmower breaks.

Last May I wrote about the difficulties in fixing a lawn mower with help.  (You can read all about it here: New Respect)

This year the lawnmower had difficulties beyond my paltry mechanical skills so I laughed and took pictures while the girls helped John.

That was fun until he looked at me with this smile on his face and said something to the effect of…

….”If you don’t put your camera down and get YOUR girls out of here I’m going to feed them to the pigs, throw the lawn mower in the neighbors pond and run away to Acapulco.”

So the girls and I left him to his work and did the only other thing to do when the lawnmower is broken, we made dandelion crowns. Because when your grass has grown tall enough that you can lose a Great Dane in the yard (Really, it was that tall!) the dandelions have nice long stems for braiding!The lawn mower was back in service today and we finished mowing the lawn for the first time this afternoon!

Chatter Box

This was this mornings sunrise:

At the time I took that picture Ivy had already been talking for an hour.

Then we drove to Cabela’s in Indiana, and she talked the whole way…

We met Uncle Jim who gave Storm’s progress so far a thumbs up and John and I new instructions on her care, and Ivy kept talking…

We headed into Cabela’s where it’s impossible to lose her becuase even when she is a bit of a brat and hides, she can’t resist talking, so her hiding place only lasts for about 30 seconds…

We got back in the car for the three hour drive home, and she kept talking…

Clara took her third nap of the day, and Ivy kept talking…

Once we got home we repacked and headed out to enjoy the rest of the day, running for John and I and swing sets and slides for the girls, Ivy kept talking, but this time to other kids… I love other kids!

We drove back home, and Ivy kept talking…

I tried to run away from the chatter by mowing the lawn, (desperate times, call for desperate measures!) Ivy followed me.

Just as I was starting up the lawn mower she and her half eaten apple (thank you Uncle Jim and Callie) climbed up in my lap. So I stuffed my ear muffs on her head and off we went mowing the lawn, and Ivy kept talking. Fortunately for my sanity it was a brief attempt at talking, between the ear protection and the noise of the lawn mower she gave up and just sat on my lap munching away on her apple. Pretty soon I felt her start to slide off my lap, and I realized that when she stopped talking for the first time all day, she had finally let herself fall asleep. There Ivy was, sound asleep in my lap, ear muffs on, apple core clutched tight in one fist that was curled up under her chin like it was her favorite stuffed animal.

Confessions Of A Lawn Hater

It has been two weeks since I mowed the lawn.

Today while mowing the lawn I found a dead cat.

If that bothers you please stop reading I doubt this story is going to get any better.

Fortunately years of mowing at high speeds with minimal before mowing lawn pick-up have honed my swerving skills and I was able to stop next to the cat. It took me a good thirty seconds of staring to identify the flattish, orangeish, hairyish, splotch in my yard. Without the ear and tail I might have been stumped. So I probably don’t need to say this wasn’t a freshly dead cat.  The good news is that if you find a dead cat it gives you plenty to ponder while you finish mowing your lawn.

There are questions with probable answers:

-Where did it come from? I’m guessing the neighbors barn cat or a feral cat, there are lots of both around.

-Why is it in MY yard? Well cats do come through the yard occasionally although the dogs really dislike that and so it’s not real common.

-If John had been mowing would he have run it over? Probably, he is color blind and runs everything over with the lawnmower, a classic case of if I do it really badly I won’t have to do it anymore.

Questions that I can only guess at the answers:

-Did something kill that cat?

-Does that explain why I also lost three ducks while we were on vacation?

-Do things that eat ducks not eat cats?

-What is wrong with my dogs, that they haven’t noticed it?

-Thank goodness my dogs haven’t noticed it!

-Can I convince John that dead cat removal is a mans job?

And questions that might indicate I spent too much time in the sun:

-Would running over a dead cat be better than running over a pile of chain?

-Would I have to extract dead cat from the mower deck if I did that?

-Would that require taking off the deck?

-Does my Dad’s knowledge of lawnmower fixes include dead cat damage?

-Would anyone help me if that was my problem or would they just laugh?

And the biggest question of all:

-Why am I mowing a patch of lawn that we use so infrequently that it can have a very decomposed cat in it without anyone noticing?

New Respect Part II

If you remember a post awhile back called New Respect you’ll remember I was having a bit of trouble with my lawnmower. The reason I was re-attaching the cutting deck that day was that it had broken and my Dad had fixed it for us. When I got the lawnmower back up and running Dad cautioned me that because of the way he had fixed it I should be extra careful not to run over stumps or rocks.

So I didn’t. I ran over tractor tire chains… Turns out that’s just as bad as stumps and rocks.

Tonight we again unloaded a freshly fixed up lawnmower deck back from my Dad, (thanks Dad!) and needed to put it on the lawnmower.

Tonight the girls were already sleeping.

Tonight John was home.

Tonight it was back in the barn in 10 minutes.


He probably would have done it in five minutes had I not been helping!

New Respect

When I was little I often remember trying to “help” my dad. While I have many memorys of watching dad work in his work shop I also have quite a few of being told he didn’t really want my “help” any more. If memory serves those were usually the times he was fixing cars, lawnmowers and the like. At the time I didn’t understand what could possibly be unhelpful about my presence.

Today I understand.

Today I put the cutting deck back on the lawn mower. This is something that I’m sure would have taken any of my male relatives 5 minuets tops. It took me about three hours.

Three hours in which-

-I made a makeshift ramp to get the lawnmower out of the barn
-I put kid number two down for a nap
-I tried for way too long to “slide” the stupid thing back under like it says you can do
-I called John to find out that that doesn’t really work and that they had to lift the mower off the deck when they took it off
-I made a ramp
-I drove the mower up on the ramp to get the deck under it
-I pulled it back off the ramp and smashed my fingers
-Then enter help of Ivy
-I got handfuls of grass
-I got rocks
-I got a phone
-I got sticks set on my back courtesy of Storm
-I got a pto engager shift thingy smashed into my knee so hard I couldn’t feel part of my leg (that wasn’t due to the kid or dog, that was just me being a klutz)
-I got a diet coke (I needed a diet coke)
-I called my dad to find out what to do with a random part I couldn’t figure out
-I went up to the barn for wire to fix the part
-I was given more grass
-I was given flowers
-I was given a screwdriver (but I asked for that one)
-I got it on!
-I turned it on!
-the belt fell off
-I started putting the belt back on
-Kid two woke up
-I changed a diaper
-I made lunch
-I cleaned up lunch
-I nursed a kid
-I changed another diaper
-I went back with two kids and two dogs in tow
-I got the belt on
-I turned it on
-It worked!Then we all sat down and made dandelion crowns in the grass, because we only had 20 minutes before nap time.

So today I have a new respect for my Dad’s grumpiness when I wanted to help. And all those male relatives of mine who could get the job done in five minuets, I’d like to see them do it in five minuets with “help”!