All the photos above were taken within five minutes of each other this morning. That vast dark cloud in the last has now wiped away the sun which cast a stunning light on the budding birch tree and wiped away any ideas of using the mower in the top photo.
We're experiencing another of the many weather changes that occur during the "longing season" of North Idaho springs. Everyone longs for those nice days promised the week before which haven't exactly delivered.
Oops, I need to correct myself. When rain is promised in the spring, it usually delivers, and we're getting a good supply right now.
Grass will get greener and higher before the new "zero turn" mower gets another chance to survive its new owner.
Actually, Tony, my repairman, survived yesterday shortly after he showed me the basics of how to sit on the mower, push the "smart switch" and push the arms to get the thing going.
Sounded simple enough when Tony said, "Push forward to go forward, pull back to go backward or slow down, pull the left arm to go left and the right arm to go right."
That all made sense.
Tony also advised pulling the arms toward me and pushing them off to the side should I sense any trouble brewing.
So, I climbed on, tapped the smart button and pushed off across the yard.
Within seconds, I had wiped out three large decorative bricks around the kennel garden. Fortunately, Tony was on the other side of the bricks, a safe distance away to begin giggling like a baby.
He was nice enough to come over and put the bricks back in their place.
"Glad Bill isn't here to watch," I said.
"You can take it slow while you're practicing," Tony reminded me, "and do let those arms go if you anticipate trouble."
Well, I didn't wipe out any more bricks, and Tony, who's limping cuz he fell off a roof and broke his leg New Year's Day, managed to stay far enough away to avoid any further injury to his healing body.
Plus, the mower with its $3,000 pricetag is still in one piece.
Slowly, I got the idea, and before Tony left, I was getting the hang of the new mower and smiling.
Tony was also smiling. He had his check and was safely inside his van as he pulled away with our lame Troy-Bilt rototiller and the broken red lawnmower, which were basically taking up space, to be used by the new Husqvarna.
Later, after dinner, I decided to do some more practicing on the lawn west of the barn. All was going well until I reached a somewhat deceiving section of lawn near the manure pile.
It did NOT look that wet, but when the new mower's wheels dug in and started spinning wet muck all over the place, I almost cried.
Fortunately, again, Bill was inside the house and could not see my dilemma out behind the barn. Well, Tony had also installed a new battery in the 4-wheeler, which hadn't been working lately.
I figured that now was the time for the 4-wheeler to have its first job since taking a dead battery vacation. I gathered up some chains, hooked them to the front of the new mower, put the 4-wheeler in 4-wheel, pulled and prayed.
God was good to me. The 4-wheeler pulled the new mower out of the mud, and nothing broke. The best part was that Bill still hadn't come out of the house.
He won't know about that dilemma until he reads the blog today.
A rainy day with the new mower is probably a good thing. That means it should stay all in one piece for at least two more days-----well, maybe five----cuz all this rain means mowers might get stuck in the mud again.
Anyway, that expenditure is taken care of, and Tony guarantees that lawn mowing will go much faster with the zero-turn machine----as long as I don't run into any bricks or buildings, that is!
On another note, the annual spring ITCH has returned. I woke up scratching my neck about 10 p.m. last night and got up several times in the night to dab the area with a cold wash cloth. That seems to calm it down long enough for me to fall asleep until the itch gets going again.
I'm now figuring my new-found allergy has a lot to do with lawn mowing and spring dirt work.
It ain't fun, but with this being the third year that the itch has started right around Earth Day, I'm starting to see a connection. Plus, I've learned how to keep it somewhat in check with benadryl and Allegra until it dies down long about June.
Fun and games at the Lovestead; they never end.
Happy Tuesday.
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