I headed outside this morning to cut the grass. I use a power push mower and it usually takes me 2 to 2 and a-half-hours to cut all the grass around the Bolt Hole. Today, because much of it was quite tall, it took me 3 and-a-half hours. And it was all done in sweltering humidity and temperatures that reached the low 80s. Mark had cut the largest area in front of the garage and barn last week but even this was ankle deep and wet from the dew at 9 o’clock when I started. (Mark showed up at that time and, after we talked briefly, went off to his cabin across the street. He was back almost immediately to tell me the power was out. Not just at his place either, mine was off as well. So we made the call to National Grid and went through their chain of voice activated questions before getting a real live person to talk to. She took the information and told us we should have power back by 11:30 AM. It was back by 10 AM. Way to go National Grid!)
Anyway, it took me about an hour to cut that large rectangle that Mark had done once already this year. Then it was off to the odd shaped areas behind the cabin and to the east. That grass had not been cut yet this year and was half way to my knees. THAT took 2 and-a-half hours to cut. It will need raking too, but that’s will be tomorrow’s task.
Once finished, I checked the gas cans and found two were empty and the one I was using held about a gallon. That one could wait but the other two needed to be refilled. I also checked a broken throttle cable on the brush hog and pulled that off. I’s take the two empty cans and the cable down the mountain to see if I could get them filled and replaced, in that order.
The local hardware store had no replacement for the cable. I have a universal throttle cable that’s about a foot too long for the brush hog and that’s all they had as well. The two local lawnmower/ATV/snowmobile shops were closed. One either suffered a fire or is simply moving to a new store and isn’t open yet and the other was supposed to be open according to the hours posted but wasn’t. No way was I going to drive 60 miles to the place I knew would have the necessary part. (They service the brand of brush hog I own.) So I’ll have to jerry-rig the end of the cable and hope it works when I put it back on tomorrow.
Oh, and the gas. I stopped at a different gas station than the Stewart’s where the sign said regular gas was $4.12. It was and I got 4.5 gallons in the two cans…just as the attendant was raising the price to $4.18. I passed Stewart’s on the way back to the Bolt Hole. Gas there was now $4.20. Probably be going up again tomorrow at both places.
4 comments:
I thought as you got older, life was supposed to get a bit easier...
I'm in the process of replacing all the subflooring in my living room this weekend. Then opening up the front wall of the living room to assess the water damage and go from there. This is not fun.
Anyway, I was all excited this morning, it seems that three Cedar Waxwings have taken up temporary residence on the grounds to feed on the immature berries in our mullberry trees. I have never had any here before. They're beautiful!
I like the cedars too. Their little black mask seems appropriate for a bird that will steal your cherries, elderberries and blue berries! And their buff brown looks incredibly soft. Although they appear to have been careless near some paint bucket with that little edge of bright yellow on their tail that looks like enamel.
Oh, and about those house repairs...Just like on This Old House, you never know what you're going to find once you get started on a renovation. I hope you don't find much real damage.
well, I have all the subflooring up and the joists seem to be unscathed. I'm going to insulate between them, as long as I have the floor open and will probably throw a few extra nails in them, to boot. It's hovering around ninety here, right now. This is better than any diet I've been on, I can feel the pounds sweating away!
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