Friday evening in the fatman chair....

Just kicked back in the fatman chair and realized it's been a bit since I updated this bit of internet-ium.

Did some mowing this week. I really like the riding lawnmower thing. It's been a long time...like ever, that we've had a yard big enough to need a riding mower. The last time was when we lived in Panama and persona labor was so cheap you could get your lawn mowed on a weekly basis for something like a buck two ninety seven.

I'm thinking that as soon as I get the yard in a normalish shape, this whole mowing thing won't be so bad...I'm thinking it's a two...maybe three beer yard. There is even a cup holder on the mower...obviously they were thinking along the same lines as me..

Right now though the mowing a one gigantic pain in the knee. In the knee because I keep hitting my knee on the steering wheel of the mower as I get off of it. I'm having to get off of it a lot right now.

As most of you will remember...we bought this house as a foreclosure. It had been abandoned by it's previous owner sometime in March '07, left unoccupied for the entire summer, and nothing was done with the yard during that time. When we first saw it...there was waist high grass growing...by the time we had closed on it, the yard had been brush hogged. This left the grass about 4 inches high but lots of cut grass on top of it.

The big problem right now is that as I mow, the grass catcher sucks up all the grass, the newly cut and the older stuff. It will fill up both the grass catcher bags in about 50 yards of mowing...basically, one pass down the front or side yards. Then I have to pull the mower up to the yard cart behind the 4 wheeler, pull the bags out, and dump them in the cart. Then I put it all back together and off to mow another strip.

After about 4 load from the grass catcher, it's time to go dump the cart, so it's off to the woods. I'm scattering the lawn clipping throughout the woods. Of course the whole getting to ride the mower AND the wheeler all day is kind of fun... the emptying the bags while the wind is blowing..not so much.

We went to the home show this evening. Lots of interesting companies out there. Bought a flagpole. It's a twenty food telescoping pole. Need to get some quik-crete and dig a hole.

Going to take a walk through the woods on Sunday if anyone wants to go with... we're looking at the start of the Ozark Highlands Trail at Lake Ft. Smith...was going to walk in Devils Den but there is a huge bike thing there this weekend. Zip me a note if you are wanting to go and we'll coordinate times..not too early, probably leave the trail head about 10...walk til noon, lunch, walk back.

take care...t