Saturday, May 20, 2006

new-to-me

this is my new-to-me lawnmower, recieved from a very kind couple contacted through Free-cycle. (it was through Freecycle I found the people who took the extra seed potatoes I had).
it was slightly damp this morning which is why all the grass has stuck to the mower, quite a lot of it obligingly landed in the little grass-box. I have to say it is much harder work than pushing the petrol one about so I'm not sure if my neighbors are going to find their free grass cutting service suspended? I just don't want to keep buying petrol to cut the grass(although if the grass has been left for a while then I will probably use the petrol one-which I don't own but have been borrowing for five years! and electric mowers scare me silly, I always imagine I am going to run over the cable.

16 comments:

Wildside Musing said...

WOW! With a collection bin attached even. That would be ever so convient and beat the raking. Good find! Well done, Claire!

We have something similar to Freecycle here in our county region that goes by a different name. I've scanned the listings before a long while back, but haven't used it. Mainly because we have so much "free" junk piled up here already.

However, they had a rabbit & hutch that I was pretty keen on, but not quite ready for! Perhaps I should try again.

Granny said...

I'm afraid of the electric mowers as well. For better or worse, we have no lawn to worry about.

I live vicariously through yours.

Unknown said...

I have just spent a wonderful half hour or so exploring your delightful blog - and garden. It is wonderful Claire.

I used to have a mower just like that - and it kept me extremely fit in my younger years!

I know what you mean about electric mowers - especially in damp weather.

I have managed to mow the cable - luckily we had a safety cut out so nothing happened.

But I stopped using it after that.

Last year I used an electric hedge trimmer and sliced through that cable too. So no more electricity for me.

Dana a/k/a Sunshine said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. I'll have to read more of yours when I get some more time. I LOVE the picture above. is that your garden/flowers? BEAUTIFUL, ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. I am officially jealous! Thanks for visiting and please come back :)

lilymarlene said...

Why not look on every incidence of mowing with the push mower as a workout.....and think of all the money you are saving on petrol and gym membership!!!
Having said that...there is no way could use one...so....respect!!!!

Lowa said...

My ten-year-old son would LOVE THIS! He has been begging for one. I showed him this photo and got the reaction I anticipated..."COOL!!!" Teehee I will have to look into this more agressively, I just didn't think it was possible to get this kind anymore.

Electric ones are odd, I find. Very odd idea. My brother and his wife have one, but their yard is about as big as a postage stamp, honestly. I think he does about 4 lines back and forth and is done in three or four minutes! Still...electricity and lawn mowing do not mix!!!

clairesgarden said...

Wildside, it's a good find, and works well too, only about half the grass landed in the bin, its a bit 'enthusistic' with the clippings, but I dont think the grass minds. rabbits? friends for the chickens?
Granny, there may be less lawn as time goes by, I have plans for all that space! I think I'll keep some though because the birds like it.
AL, best we keep away from cables then, a lot of people are agreeing they don't like them.
Sunshine, you are welcome, and yes that is my garden, thankyou very much, I love flowers.
Lilymarlene, I'm going to spend the money on plants instead. . .
Lowa, I've just let two of the kids from downstairs have a bash with it, they managed to do some cutting but not anything like a straight line, it was a laugh though.

Madcap said...

Our yard is such a gravelly, patchy mess that I'm not sure a push-mower will work, though I certainly am pining for one. I HATE gas mowers and the noise, noise, noise!

patsy said...

I mowed our yard with one of thoese when I was a girl. real had work.

MojoMan said...

I recently bought a push mower but it is taking a little getting-used-to. In my corner of the world, many homeowners hire services to care for their yards. The noise from all the gas mowers, trimmers and blowers is deafening! Maybe now that our gasoline prices are starting to catch up with the rest of the world, things will change...but I doubt it.

Norene Griffin said...

my neighbor uses one of these and it does seem to be hard work. i really appreciate the quiet while he's doing his yardwork.

clairesgarden said...

Madcapmum, I don't think it would cope with stones at all, Path to Freedom have just aquired two kid goats, they cut the grass really well too!
Patsy, it wasn't too bad because I had cut the grass last week with a petrol mower and it wasn't overly long. a few people stoppped to comment on how they hadn't seen one for years, maybe I can start a new craze?
Mojoman, thanks for visiting, amd just off to your blog for a good read. I think our petrol is about £4.50 a gallon, is that about $8ish, too much!!
Norene, it was an effort but I didn't find it too hard, more fun than anything else, but I like cutting grass, maybe I'm a bit strange? I'm sure the neighbors would prefer me not to have the petrol one on!

Jim said...

A bunch of really nice photos Claire, and I love your new mower!
We took our lawn out little by little as the native plant garden was expanded and I don't miss the grass, with all the water it consumed, but I must admit that I do miss mowing it with the hand mower. It was a ritual I practiced since childhood, and a very relaxing one at that.

clairesgarden said...

Jim, thankyou, I like cutting grass, it makes the garden look instantly 'tidy', but I have plans for some fruit bushes and that will take up some of the grasss in that piture, and another flower border down the other side, so its going to be less as time goes by, and the stone path and. . . . ideas!

grannyfiddler said...

i got a mower much like your 'new' one several years ago at Canadian Tire. love it. can't stand the noise and smell of the power driven ones. thankfully i have a neighbor who has taught me how to keep the blades sharp and aligned. lots of grass was a good idea when the kids needed room to romp, but now i'm gradually shaving bits and beds away, as i'd much rather weed and mulch than mow. i'll keep the bit of lawn under the trees, where the hammocks are.

the primroses and bergenia are about finished here, and the hostas are finally poking their sharp noses through the soil.

clairesgarden said...

its a good mower, I will need to wither learn how to sharpen it or find somebody to do it, I love hosta's, i have some that have been in pots for a while, I'm going to 'shave' some off my lawn and make a new sahdy bed for them.