Lawn Care Blues

One thing I've really disliked over the years is lawn care.

The biggest reason is that, even though we are descended from a tropical people and from slaves...

I don't like working hard outdoors in the heat.

And these are days where us black folk have "come up", i.e., ain't being forced to work in the fields.

Or in the yard.

But my yard man cut out on me. I gave him 6 bucks to sweep and gather leaves from around my front steps.

He is the type to duck and dodge a person over something like that.

6 dollars.

And he began acting funny when I bought another car.

Sir, Lucy the Lexus is 13 years old. She is not new. Dude acting like I went out and bought a 2013 Benz.

And even if I did go out and buy a 2013 Benz (which I can afford to do), it's my perogative. Period.

You know me. The LAST thing I'm worried about is people's approval.

And I wanted a second car. If anybody got a problem with that, they can go jump in a lake.

A very... very... deep lake.

I'm talking deep lake with no bottom.

And it is also compounded by the fact that I rarely answer the door. You don't call, or you don't catch me roaming around outside my house... well, you won't be seeing an Oldgirl. Sorry.

I've seen him out cutting grown men's yards. Humph. That's interesting.

So with that said, I've had to commence to cutting my own grass and keeping up my own yard.

It has been a delight!  And my yard isn't that big. A couple hours of work every 2 or 3 weeks and I'm good. I have been even thinking about planting some flowers. (thinking about it)

My bushes were getting a little rough.  So I had to work on those...

I like to get up EARLY on a Saturday morning. So early that folks are still asleep. And they wake up hollering...

"What the world? Who is that out there making up all that noise all early in the morning!?!?!?!"

It is me... Your Friendly Neighborhood Oldgirl LadyLee!

Now go back to sleep!!

LOL

Here is a pic of the front of the house.

Me and Cowgirl Cre were talking about this.  She doesn't like high bushes around the porch. One of her relatives was mugged going into the house.

"I rarely use the front door," I said. "A sucka waiting to jump me gonna have to wait a while to catch this Oldgirl."

I go in through the back of the house, as my garage is in the rear of the house.

But my bushes were still a bit ragged. I would like to get them as low as my neighbors, but I would need a chainsaw for that, and I don't know how to use a chainsaw NOR do I trust myself with one. Nope.

So I settle for a nice shaping.

That was the best I could do. They are not even on both sides. I wasn't trying to do all that. Mess around and mess up my shrubs for real, lol.

You can see better here what I did....

Before:

After:



I spent some time cleaning the banister and rails. So it is all nice and white now.

You can tell I am up early. The sun is rising in the east. I like how the sun rays beam so lovingly upon the shrubs.

My coworker Lieutennant By asked if I used the hedge clippers there to clip my bushes.

"Heck no, man!" I hollered. "Is you crazy? I used electric hedge clippers."

(He's the same one who suggested I paint the fence in the backyard. I wanted to smack him for suggesting that).

Shoot. The first time I tried to clip hedges, I used the ones there on the banister... and I almost fell out and over into the bushes fooling with those thangs. I IMMEDIATELY drove at high speed to Home Depot and bought some electric ones for $30. Saves a ton of time and energy.  A ton!

So afterwards, I cut the grass and brought out the trimmer and trimmed the yard and all around the house. I tend to spray and clean the front porch once a month, and I did that.  I was done at around 10 in the morning. You can't beat that. A couple of hours worth of yardwork before it gets to hot outside.

I do all this every three weeks, depending on the grass growth and how much it rains. If it rains alot, I have to do it every two weeks. Not a big deal. I can get through the whole summer on 2 gallons of gas for the lawnmower. I've only used half a gallon in the past two months, so you can't beat that!

The bushes and porch need cleaning once a month. All of that takes around half an hour.

I'm good as long as I have some good headphones and there are good songs on the Pandora stations!

When I finished, I went inside and took a nap.

I'd worked VERY hard that day.

Later that day, more like at 5 pm... I made my biweekly trip to the farmers market for fruit and veggies.  That was a good time.

All in all, it was a busy busy Saturday.

And a good one at that!

For me, the lesson in it all is one I learned within the past year....

How much time do I spend complaining about something I have to do, versus the amount of time I spend giving thanks for the strength and ability to do those same things?

We can look at the weight of each, in either direction, and determine the way things will go.

Ponder and chew on that for a minute.

(Yes, you can tell I am surrounded by complainers).

I gathered and understood that idea through some personal reading I've done. Maybe I'll come across a good sermon on it in the future (there have been so close ones already). It made me examine my life. I am literally going through a lot of my personal situations and just regular things I have to do or deal with on a routine basis, and pay close honest attention to if I'm complaining about it, and work on making a goal of finding a couple of positive things I can say about the situations. And I admit, it is hard. And I could tell what needed improvement, and what was going well... and getting better.

I can no longer complain about yard work.  Nope. I actually look forward to it. Especially if I'm feeling well.

Hmm... so this post shouldn't be titled "Lawn Care Blues"...

Should it?