Mowers Mojo...
And so, which shade of wet green would you like today? Yes, it's raining again here in Ohio. After being sunny (dare we hope) and nearly 80's over the weekend, we have returned to our wet chilly weather. This soppy drenching is having a terrible effect on the gardens. I am getting tired of dragging my potted herbs in and out of the studio. One thing it is good for is helping to age terracotta pottery. As the mold and mosses flourish the pots take on that green gray patina of age. Somehow that is interpreted as character when it come to pottery. With anything else it reads as grunge. Oh well, it is what it is!
As for keeping up with just mowing chores, that's a wash, literally. Every year I seem to have a beginning catastrophe with my tractor mower. One year the cardigan sweater I was wearing slipped from my shoulders onto the ground and immediately ended up wrapped around the mower blades before I could stop the mower in time. The day had started out chilly, thus the sweater, but warmed up quickly. Not wanting to stop mowing for fear of not finishing the task, I took off my cardigan and tied it around my neck to keep track of it. You know the rest of the story. It took two weeks for me to eventually get the whole sweater cut out of the blade assembly. A neighbor even had to help by actually removing the blades to get the rest of the sweater removed. Another year my neighbor had newly put in a concrete driveway which is next to my property. He had diligently cleaned up all the scrapes and chunks of finishing concrete bits, but he did manage to miss one chunk. I found it with my tractor and promptly destroyed the blade assembly. Once I ordered the proper parts from Sears it took the entire summer for them to send them to me. I had to hire a neighbor kid to mow for me that year. This year the mower is working fine. But I have had my catastrophe for the spring in spite of that. A few days ago as I began to mow I managed to mow over a brick! I couldn't believe it. Not again, I thought! Actually, the brick was a small commemorative planter from bicentennial days. A city inspector had done a routine check of my septic system and in so doing, he had moved the planter to access my system. With all the rain my grass had gotten so tall in that particular spot that the planter had gotten lost and out of sight. I hadn't known that the planter had been moved, and the next thing I knew I was grinding up the hollow brick. Bottom line, the mower is still working (thank heaven!), but I'm sure the blades are not in the best shape. But having them sharpened is a much easier fix than other kinds of damage that could have been done. So as you can see, mowing is a major accomplishment at Johnson House. Oh, and don't even get me started about weed whackers! The bad mojo for those little gems is an ongoing battle as well. I have more broken, useless weed whackers than I care to count! So, please, just let me garden. This lawn care thing is a major P.I.A.! If I didn't live in such a suburban looking place I'd be glad to let it all go meadow. I doubt my city would tolerate that, so for now, I will try to mow...if it ever stops raining. Gives new meaning to "It isn't easy being green."
As for keeping up with just mowing chores, that's a wash, literally. Every year I seem to have a beginning catastrophe with my tractor mower. One year the cardigan sweater I was wearing slipped from my shoulders onto the ground and immediately ended up wrapped around the mower blades before I could stop the mower in time. The day had started out chilly, thus the sweater, but warmed up quickly. Not wanting to stop mowing for fear of not finishing the task, I took off my cardigan and tied it around my neck to keep track of it. You know the rest of the story. It took two weeks for me to eventually get the whole sweater cut out of the blade assembly. A neighbor even had to help by actually removing the blades to get the rest of the sweater removed. Another year my neighbor had newly put in a concrete driveway which is next to my property. He had diligently cleaned up all the scrapes and chunks of finishing concrete bits, but he did manage to miss one chunk. I found it with my tractor and promptly destroyed the blade assembly. Once I ordered the proper parts from Sears it took the entire summer for them to send them to me. I had to hire a neighbor kid to mow for me that year. This year the mower is working fine. But I have had my catastrophe for the spring in spite of that. A few days ago as I began to mow I managed to mow over a brick! I couldn't believe it. Not again, I thought! Actually, the brick was a small commemorative planter from bicentennial days. A city inspector had done a routine check of my septic system and in so doing, he had moved the planter to access my system. With all the rain my grass had gotten so tall in that particular spot that the planter had gotten lost and out of sight. I hadn't known that the planter had been moved, and the next thing I knew I was grinding up the hollow brick. Bottom line, the mower is still working (thank heaven!), but I'm sure the blades are not in the best shape. But having them sharpened is a much easier fix than other kinds of damage that could have been done. So as you can see, mowing is a major accomplishment at Johnson House. Oh, and don't even get me started about weed whackers! The bad mojo for those little gems is an ongoing battle as well. I have more broken, useless weed whackers than I care to count! So, please, just let me garden. This lawn care thing is a major P.I.A.! If I didn't live in such a suburban looking place I'd be glad to let it all go meadow. I doubt my city would tolerate that, so for now, I will try to mow...if it ever stops raining. Gives new meaning to "It isn't easy being green."
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