Output Stream of Consciousness

My Mom at last sold her home where we kids grew up from junior high to high school and a little beyond. It was a little bit of a sentimental occasion, but it's a very nice family from Ireland that's bought the place.

I got to take the old lawnmower for one last test drive. Boy, was that an exercise in frustration :)

My wish list for a less-frustrating lawn-mowing experience:

• Electric mowers can be aggravating if there's anything for the cord to catch on, which is often
• Zippers on mower bags get worse over time, often quickly - use a non-zippered yet still easy to empty bag if possible
• If you have a deck, make sure that it goes down to lawn level, or that there is concrete, patio stones, etc. at lawn level
• If you have a garage, maintain a brick/stone/concrete border around it, flush with the lawn
• If you have plant beds, maintain a border around the beds, flush with the lawn
• Don't grow a poplar tree over the lawn; they drop loads of branches and often grow their roots near the surface (at least out here)
• Don't have grass going right up to stairs in the pathway - it can't be easily mowed and you risk blade damage if you try
• Many ants make lawns suck - kill them
• Don't cut your grass too short or you'll have to water them like crazy just to keep them alive
• You may wish to re-cut your plant beds as the plants in them grow
• You can always grow something other than a lawn

On the more fun side, mowing over errant chives sure gives an interesting, strong oniony smell to the air :)

One other thing I've noticed, just to keep up the rant, is that garbage bag manufacturing technology seems to have taken a turn for the worse. I had the experience of Rubbermaid's god-awful gray garbage bags which stretched, turned white and broke really easily, to a number of orange garbage bags which spilled their modest contents.

Ah well, frustrating as it all was, it was definitely a poignant reminder to, once we get a decent-sized abode, to plan a little for the blade-chopping chore :)