After my husband was hospitalized, I took over some of his chores around the place while he was recuperating.  One of those chores was mowing the lawn.  I’ve mowed before so it wasn’t new to me to do that but I didn’t realize how little I knew when it came to doing it all by myself.  I was used to my husband having the mower out and ready to go when I helped and then I would mow with the smaller riding mower while he mowed with the tractor.  This made the work go faster since there were a few acres to mow.

First of all, you have to understand that the machine shed is normally my husband’s domain.  I know nothing at all about machines but I headed out there early one morning ready to conquer the lawn.  I went inside the shed, through the second door, over into enemy territory where the machinery was sitting and I began to push the sliding door open.  I pushed, and I pushed, and I pushed…nothing happened.  Finally, I stopped and examined the door only to find out that there were these metal thingys that must have been created for James Bond so the door would blast open.  I won’t tell you how long it took for my mechanically challenged mind to figure the door out but my conquering spirit was waning by the time the doors were open.

At last, I had the shed doors wide open so I jumped on the seat to start up the riding mower.   I turned the key, pulled the choke open, and …sputter, sputter….die!  Then again, sputter, sputter…die!   After a few more choruses of sputter, sputter….die, and remembering to turn the choke off, the motor was finally going strong.  I drove out the shed door, put the mower deck down, and off I went!

My plan was to mow the tallest grass first and then the front yard because I reasoned that the place would look nice when people passed by the house.

As I began on the front yard, I remembered reading an article that said,  “Your yard can be a colorful, welcoming entry to your home.”  It gave many examples of how to do this and one of them was how to make that checkerboard pattern on the yard.  It explained that you should mow in one direction the first time you mow and then the other direction the next time you mow.  This sounded reasonable so I decided to give it a try.  After a few attempts at this, I decided I’d better quit before I was accused
of MUI (mowing under the influence).

After I got through with the serpentine effect front yard design, that is sure to welcome anyone that passes by, I decided to go on out and mow close to the highway.  That was fun, especially when that 18-wheeler went by!

As I approached the mailbox, the mower started playing our song again.   Sputter, sputter…die.   Wouldn’t you know it?  The furthest possible spot away from the gasoline can and the mower dies!   I suppose it would have been a good idea to mow the distant part of the yard first and then I would be working my way back to the house when I ran out of gas.  It would probably have been an even better idea to fill the gas tank before I started mowing.

I also discovered that a lawn mower is easier to push when you put it in neutral.  After pushing the mower back to the shed, I filled the tank and finished the lawn.

Well, so much for:  “Your yard can be a colorful, welcoming entry to your home.”
(I’ve been hunting for that magazine so I can burn it!)

The yard looks pretty good now.  Well, there is that section I never quite finished…and that steep bank that I didn’t mow in spite of being told, “It isn’t that bad”…

I think my husband is feeling better now, but I don’t know why he keeps looking out the window at the front yard and shaking his head.