Going Green

I'd love to be able to claim being green, but for me it is going to be a process, as I believe in getting every ounce of use out of something before replacing it - these days with a cleaner, greener model.

My husband has been in charge of the yard maintenance, doing the heavy lifting of mowing and trimming. However, the equipment he uses, the lawnmower in particular, is nearly impossible for me to use. It doesn't start for anyone but him. I attempted to use it last week and couldn't start it. While I was trying to figure it out, I took a good look at the thing, purchased when we still lived in Wakulla and realized that it was definitely on its last legs. The wheels were falling off, the muffler was rusted and full of holes, the pull rope frayed.

Soon my husband will have knee replacement surgery. And he won't be doing any yard work for quite a while. Which means that I will be doing it. I decided that since I would be doing it, I would purchase a lawnmower that would work for me.

My new toy - after I put it together. It was pretty inexpensive, though I had to buy a power cord to go with it. It's absolutely thrilling to just push a button and have the thing start. No more yanking!

It's been a while since we mowed, between the storms and the heat and Darling Man's gimpy leg. I started off, but when Darling Man got home, he had to give it a try too. It took a little practice to get the hang of mowing without running over the cord and the grass was so tall that it seemed like we had to stop after every couple of rows to empty the grass bag - but I absolutely love it.

Due to the heat, DM and I wound up taking turns pushing it. Then the lightning started. When it got to be about half a mile away, we finally gave up and quit for the day. The mower just got into the garage when the rain began, leaving our lawn with a mohawk.

DM cleaned up that last little strip of grass today - and we're quite pleased with how it all turned out!

Going green, little by little.