Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Cutting grass .............




I enjoy yard work. I like getting outside in the the fresh air and sun. I enjoy working hard and seeing the results of my labors. But quite frankly, I am tired of cutting grass! When I retired from banking a few years back, I told my husband that I would take over the yard work so our weekends would be free to enjoy. So for the last five years, I have been the main operator of the riding mower.




In March, I have to get the mower out and start cutting. It takes me about 3 1/2 hours to get the yard cut - that's without stopping for a break or drink of water. Since March I have cut the grass at least every 7 days and as often as every 4 days - depending on the rain we've had. I've cut in the blazing sun and when the humidity has been near 100%. Since there are areas of the yard that are mostly dirt, I can stir up a lot of dust with the mower. When I finish cutting, I am covered with dirt, dust, grass, and sweat. I almost hate to walk through the house to the shower.




Every year around this time, I get really tired of cutting grass. It gets to be more of a chore every week. For the last couple of months I've had to cut one day and go back over the yard the next day to bag the clippings. We've had more rain than usual this summer and the grass has gotten thick. If I leave the clippings, it makes it difficult to get the mower through both the clippings and new grass the next week. I cut yesterday, so today I go back over the yard and bag the clippings. And to think I won't stop cutting grass until December. And then there will be all the leaves to get up in the fall. Think I'll go take a nap!

5 comments:

Lilla said...

Wow, that's a lot of grass to mow! The thing I really like about our Ranch property is that the landscaping is wild grasses and flowers and there is no mowing needed. Everything stays at a manageable height and if it gets too tall, a simple whack with the weed eater is all that's needed!

Do you have a compost pile started? Those grass clippings you mentioned would be wonderful for composting.

basicliving@backtobasicliving.com said...

Wow - I got tired just looking at the pictures of all that grass! All that work does pay off though - your lawn is gorgeous!

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

Lilla,
I dump the grass clippings into a pile on the edge of the hay field behind the house. We also dump leaves back there. They seem to take a long time to turn into compost. I did use grass clippings as mulch on my garden this year.

Gilly said...

All that grass! No wonder it takes you ages to mow it!

Had you thought of a couple of sheep?

My husband thinks our lawns are bad enough - he gets very tired doing it. But then we have an electric mower, you don't sit on it, but you don't have to push so hard!

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

Now if only we could figure a way to get that grass to my horses!

Recently our riding lawn mower broke. One of my friends up north couldn't understand why I couldn't temporarily use the push mower, why I had to rush it to the shop ASAP and get it fixed no matter what it cost!

Your lawn sure looks pretty though. Pretty as a picture.

www.GreenerPastures--ACityGirlGoesCountry.blogspot.com