Wild and Woolly Wednesday

I am so glad I did not cave to the temptation of mowing the lawn yesterday.  It could have used it as the warm weather of the past two days meant significant grass growth and a new layer of ugliness among the seas of spent dandelions rising above the grass. 

It's not a pretty combination, and with my obsessive-compulsive desire to have a neatly manicured lawn 24-7, I had to fight the constant urge to jump on the lawnmower and whack that grass down anyway. 

My main reason for not mowing the lawn yesterday is because we have visitors coming from Seattle this weekend.  Rather than mow twice in four days, I decided to grin and bear the ragged look and wait until Thursday in hopes that it will still look nice when they come.   

This morning as I hear furious, blizzard-like wind gusts whirling every which way but loose outside and doors slamming inside because of open windows, I'm pretty sure that my ragged-edge lawn is filled with leaves and limbs aplenty. 

So, it was a good call to let that grass grow. 

Besides, I still have to remove my zero-turn mower from the spot where it has remained stuck in the muck for several days.  I think we're going to have to pull it out, so waiting for the ground around the muck to be dry and solid is a must. 

So, that will probably happen today, thanks to this morning's brisk and drying winds, and maybe the lawnmower will stay unstuck for the rest of the summer. 

Yesterday's decision to let the lawn grow opened the time and perfect opportunity to take my first horseback ride of the year. 

With two newly shod horses, I had a choice, and Lefty got the nod.  After all, rather than eating in the pasture all day, like Lily, he spends most of his day standing around in the barnyard.  

Unfortunately, Lefty is just like his owner:  he simply looks at food and instantly adds pounds. So, his eating time has always been kept to a minimum.

Lefty wins the "sweetheart award" for horses. I always tell people that he's a horse that would move into the house with us if we'd let him. He truly loves people and would happily hang out in the living room at the drop of a hat.

To say that Lefty loves his attention would be an understatement, so he was pretty happy with the grooming, saddling and plodding up and down the road. With a gentle morning breeze blowing, it was a delightful riding experience, and Lefty didn't even try to pull too many shenanigans for his first trip out on the road. 

I wish I had more time to ride because there's no better feeling in the world, even with the accompanying aches and pains, than going for a good pleasure ride.  Yesterday's maiden run aboard Lefty was just that. 

My day also included a trip to Co-Op Country Store with three sets of clipper blades. My animal clippers do not cut.  After trying all three sets of blades, using Lefty as a guinea pig, and having no luck cutting off even one nose hair, I gave up and concluded, with a bit of skepticism, the blades must need sharpening.

My friend Angela, at the store agreed with me that they did not look like they needed sharpening.  She suggested doing some adjusting.  So, I took them back home and tried one set with no luck.  

But wait!  There's You-Tube.  I have found a variety of videos addressing the clipper-blade challenges, so I'm hoping one has the magic answer. 

While at Co-Op yesterday, I spotted my friend and classmate Judy Chronic Dabroski selling raffle tickets for the upcoming Fourth of July Celebration. Judy and her husband Tom are heavily involved in the Lions Club, contributing their time to the annual parade and to the Toys for Tots campaign.  

A ticket purchase followed by a visit with Judy made the whole trip to town worth it. Always so nice to see members of our "aging" class still contributing to the community in significant ways. 

With bugs and mosquitoes still hungry for blood, I spent part of my evening in the car, stopping at the old "downtown Selle" where lilac bushes at the former grange turned church are in full bloom. 

The evening sun was accentuating a couple of the longtime farms in "downtown Selle," and a biker was probably traveling fast enough down Selle Road to escape the bugs. 

No lawn cut yesterday but still a very productive day, and the wind continues to blow on this Wednesday.  It was almost bitter cold when I went outside to do my early morning chores.  

As long as the sun keeps shining and the rain stays away, I won't gripe about cool temps or wild winds.  

Happy Wednesday.