At my old house I had a beautiful park at my disposal with clear walking paths. If I wanted a change in scenery I could veer onto one of the other smaller paths or venture through the neighborhood. It was probably the one thing I liked most about that house.
This morning was my first walk since moving. And man oh man did my back need that! Isn't it amazing how something so simple as a 20 minute walk can clear up a whole bunch of problems? I woke up way too early with an aching back and decided what the hell, get outside.
I get excited whenever I encounter wildlife and the very first thing I heard when I stepped out the door was the hoot of an owl. I never did see him, but I heard him a couple of times in the distance as I continued to walk (definitely explains the lack of bunny rabbits in my yard). I opted for the easiest path which was down the street for a few houses. Had I gone the opposite direction I would have had some hefty hills to hike up - something I'll work towards but not on my first day out in how many months???
On my wish list for my new house was some place green to walk. Well how much more green can one get than a golf course? I didn't walk but more than the length of three houses on the golf cart path but who cares? My wish was fulfilled and I have some wonderful walking paths at my disposal. I'm not sure if I can get away with it in the middle of the day, not that I'm a mid-day walker anyways, but at 5am? It's just me and the owls (and a rooster in the distance).
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Man Up Dammit
My 16 year old son, big as a grown man, needed me to come into his
bedroom the other night and kill a fucking spider. On the ceiling. The child is taller than me and can touch the ceiling. But nooooo, we had to
lug out something, I think it was his safe, for ME to stand on to kill A
FUCKING SPIDER. That ran three times before it got smooshed. With HIS
longass shoe.
Did I mention it was on the ceiling? A spider? Above MY head? With ME teetering on a tiny box? When the child could just reach up with no effort with his own damn shoe and kill it hisownself???
I may or may not have said the following which I'm sure should be compiled in a book of things one should never say to their own children "you are going to have to give up your man card if you're going to continue go be such a pussy about spiders".
I mean seriously the only reason to keep menfolk around is to carry heavy shit and TO KILL SPIDERS. He's holding his own on carrying heavy shit but he clearly has more growing to do until I can release him out into the wild.
Damn kids.
Did I mention it was on the ceiling? A spider? Above MY head? With ME teetering on a tiny box? When the child could just reach up with no effort with his own damn shoe and kill it hisownself???
I may or may not have said the following which I'm sure should be compiled in a book of things one should never say to their own children "you are going to have to give up your man card if you're going to continue go be such a pussy about spiders".
I mean seriously the only reason to keep menfolk around is to carry heavy shit and TO KILL SPIDERS. He's holding his own on carrying heavy shit but he clearly has more growing to do until I can release him out into the wild.
Damn kids.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Mowing, mowing, mowing, mowing... And more mowing
McHoly Moly this is a bigass yard! It is a half acre which is lovely to look upon and is a pleasant walkabout... however when it needs to be tended? Ugh.
Husband is a farmboy. He scoffed when the teenager and I raised concerns about mowing. Why he and his brothers cleared a full acre with a regular push mower! Mmmhhhmmm. With his bad knees it wasn't going to be him pushing a lawnmower back and forth. And with the teenager alternating weeks between here and his dad's house it is going to be ME doing the mowing. Little, out of shape, Me. Huffing and puffing behind a lawnmower. Across a half acre.
I figured my best line of attack was to break the yard into quadrants and the first one was more weeds than beautiful grass and it was (is) sprouting more rapidly than the rest of the yard. I mowed it within days of moving in and then returned to the inside of the house unpacking boxes. It was enough to keep the neighbors from complaining.
A week later I ventured to the second quadrant, a thick lush lawn. It was so thick that it constantly killed the mower and it was a struggle to complete. Hubby was resigned after watching me complete the first section that one day we would break down and buy a riding mower, but after seeing the smaller section pose a bigger challenge it was clear we were not going to wait until end of the season sales. The next day I pulled the mower out and attacked the next section. I was a bigger, but more barren piece of ground and was much easier than the previous two sections.
That afternoon we went to Lowe's to sign up for a credit card and buy a riding mower. I will have to wait another week before it's delivered. This means I will have to pull out the regular mower at least one more time. There is still one quadrant I haven't touched. Fortunately it is not too scraggly looking, but the weedy section is starting to scream out again.
Even with the riding mower the old regular mower will still be used. This isn't one big flat park, there are twists and turns requiring a smaller mower for attack.
Despite all of my whining and sweating I have actually enjoyed mowing my yard. The key phrase there is MY YARD. It has been a mighty long time since I have owned property. It is a good work out and I feel energized to do more. I can't wait until I can do some serious landscaping which will reduce the amount that needs to be mowed and I will have lots of pretty flowers!
My yard. My big, pain in the ass to mow, yard. I'm happy.
Husband is a farmboy. He scoffed when the teenager and I raised concerns about mowing. Why he and his brothers cleared a full acre with a regular push mower! Mmmhhhmmm. With his bad knees it wasn't going to be him pushing a lawnmower back and forth. And with the teenager alternating weeks between here and his dad's house it is going to be ME doing the mowing. Little, out of shape, Me. Huffing and puffing behind a lawnmower. Across a half acre.
I figured my best line of attack was to break the yard into quadrants and the first one was more weeds than beautiful grass and it was (is) sprouting more rapidly than the rest of the yard. I mowed it within days of moving in and then returned to the inside of the house unpacking boxes. It was enough to keep the neighbors from complaining.
A week later I ventured to the second quadrant, a thick lush lawn. It was so thick that it constantly killed the mower and it was a struggle to complete. Hubby was resigned after watching me complete the first section that one day we would break down and buy a riding mower, but after seeing the smaller section pose a bigger challenge it was clear we were not going to wait until end of the season sales. The next day I pulled the mower out and attacked the next section. I was a bigger, but more barren piece of ground and was much easier than the previous two sections.
That afternoon we went to Lowe's to sign up for a credit card and buy a riding mower. I will have to wait another week before it's delivered. This means I will have to pull out the regular mower at least one more time. There is still one quadrant I haven't touched. Fortunately it is not too scraggly looking, but the weedy section is starting to scream out again.
Even with the riding mower the old regular mower will still be used. This isn't one big flat park, there are twists and turns requiring a smaller mower for attack.
Despite all of my whining and sweating I have actually enjoyed mowing my yard. The key phrase there is MY YARD. It has been a mighty long time since I have owned property. It is a good work out and I feel energized to do more. I can't wait until I can do some serious landscaping which will reduce the amount that needs to be mowed and I will have lots of pretty flowers!
My yard. My big, pain in the ass to mow, yard. I'm happy.
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