It's May.
It's mowing time.
It's round and round and round I go for five-six hours here at the Lovestead.
I've actually mowed three times this season.
Yesterday, howevr, marked the first full-fledged "fire-it-up" and "don't stop 'til you're done" day of mowing down the lane, behind the barn, west of the house, south and southeast of the house, east of the house and northeast of the house.
Include the road right-of-way in that mix.
My mowing operations have taken on a couple of changes over the past year or so.
In one case, it's "put the dogs in the garage" while I start the lawnmower.
Otherwise, it's dangerous---not for the dogs but for me.
My dogs go nutso with the starting of any farm and yard equipment, which at our house includes the tractor, the two lawnmowers and the 4-wheeler.
Yesterday, after one break from mowing, I quietly told Bill, who was doing spring cleaning with the vehicles at the shop, that I was gonna start the lawnmower, hopefully without having to put the dogs inside.
"If Liam comes up from the lane, head him off at the pass," I advised.
Then, I turned around to walk from the shop to the mower.
I had taken no more than two steps when Liam, who had apparently been eavesdropping on our quiet conversation from the lane, came racing full speed ahead toward the mower.
By the time I reached it, Liam was hovering, just waiting for me to climb aboard and start that ignition so he could go into attack mode.
Well, forget the aforementioned strategy. Liam and Foster were once more summoned to the garage.
Lawnmower attacks from dogs involve loud, sharp, desperate barking along with racing around and lunging at the machine.
So, they go to the garage while I start up the mower.
That procedure began last summer when Liam accidentally brushed my leg with his teeth while attacking the lawmower.
That errant bite broke the skin UNDER my jeans.
And, speaking of jeans, at the end of mowing, I head to the bathroom with a clean set of clothes to replace every stitch I've been wearing while mowing-----all to avoid THE ITCH.
This process also includes a shower and a thorough shampooing of my hair.
It seems to work, and so far, after three mowings, I have fended off THE ITCH which drove me crazy for two months out of every year for about five years.
Over those years, many things got blamed for THE ITCH, even poor little lawnmower-hungry Foster. Eventually, I figured out that lawn mowing, during allergy season, was my culprit.
So, there's extra work in lawn-mowing season, and, on a day like yesterday, some cold fingers.
Still, when it's all complete, the reward of a beautiful lawn may last two days. And, during early May, maybe even less, thanks to dandelions.
What a nuisance! After trying the weed-and-feed routine one year, which here at the Lovestead exceeds marathon level, I decided I could handle a couple of weeks of dandelions.
So, I'll be mowing and locking up dogs and washing myself and clothes quite often for the next few weeks, but I love my lawn, so it's worth the efforts.
Today, I included a couple of links below. These are blogs providing both photos and different perspectives on this beautiful place called North Idaho.
Hope you enjoy. No lawnmowing stories!
Happy May Day!
No comments:
Post a Comment