I don’t care what those oil pigs charge us for gasoline (oink, oink) I will not go back to a motorless lawn mower, especially now that I’m forever hooked on my new Lawnboy. Yes, Lawnboy. No, not that kind of lawnboy. My Lawnboy! Here he is, standing in the bright, hot California sunshine:

Here’s how he came to be part of the gardening family. You might recall that Bunny Guiness’s book inspired me. I went into Home Depot knowing I really needed a new lawn mower. Frankly they all look about the same to me. Either you are standing up or sitting down. Fortunately I have a small enough lawn and I wanted a standup version. And I liked the green one, particularly as it was originally quite pricey, but for some reason had been returned, and substantially marked down. It looked fine to me. I took the chance and brought it home. Uh-oh. Not working. Went back and talked to a young man who actually had the following converation with me:

Young man: I’m off this weekend. I could come over to your house and see what’s wrong with it.

Moi: You would do that? That’s awfully nice of you!

Young man, dead serious: Yes, m’am. That’s all right. I like helping the elderly.

(GASP!)

Now I ask you…

Photo of Kathryn taken one week ago at Nickel Creek Nursery

See? What was he thinking? Maybe they all die really young in his family. I don’t know. But anyway, after I gave him a teeny piece of my mind, laughing the whole time, I gave him my address, and God bless his heart, he did show up and he not only fixed the Lawnboy, he noticed I was not given a bag, and ordered the bag for me from the company and it came along by UPS. How’s about that for a deal?

Still one problem. One morning I could once again not get it to start. Took it next door to Dave, my neighbor, whom you might recall, and Dave pulled the cord and pulled up a second handle I had not noticed before. And that’s how Dave and I learned about Self Propelled Lawnmowers! Because at that moment the lawnmower seemed to have a mind of its own and dug up a big line of grass in Dave’s perfect lawn and took off with poor Dave across the lawn, oh, dear. I yelled, “Let go of that handle, Dave!” And he did, thank heavens!

So now I have a self propelled lawnmower and, boy, does that make a difference! I obviously didn’t even know there was such a thing!

What else didn’t I know? I noticed Bunny used a very wide rake, so I bought this big blue one:

That makes a huge difference in impact with a single stroke. What a gift.

Then I ordered a hula hoe, which Dave had introduced me to last year, but I never saw any in any stores, ever. Got it from Seeds of Change. Oh, it makes weeding so much easier, I can barely believe it. That blade is very sharp. The hula hoe will make my gardening much more efficient. Hallelujah!

(I have a Dutch hoe on back order, as Bunny said it was the best.)

Then I got this tree pruner that has its cords inside, so I don’t find it intimidating. I can finally prune the old lilac trees that must be sixty years old, but way too tall to deadhead. Yippee.

And, oh, my goodness! Have you ever seen an edging iron like this? It’s amazing! You press that sharp blade down along the grassy edge, and place your boot on that little ledge and push down. Whack! I can now edge the front lawn so much more effectively. I love it!

And to round things out, Ruby and Conner got a new purple pool today! My lovely garden is totally transformed with new tools and playthings! Ruby, who loves to “swim” ran circles in that pool for a good fifteen minutes she was so delighted! Every photo I took of her was just a doggie blur. Fortunately, good boy Conner just stands in it when he gets hot.

What could be better?

Love and gardening blessings,
Kathryn xox

Posted on June 20th, 2008 by Kathryn
Filed under: People at Work