That time of year

I don't usually follow my own good advice. I woke up tired. I ate breakfast tired.
I did chores

tired.

Then I took the weekend's trash out and separated the recycle stuff for Wednesday's journey to the town 'dump'.

Then I looked at my messy flower beds. I put the black plastic [these are old round hay bale covers] over the areas that I am going to plant with seeds to block out spring weeds. 

I usually wait until the end of May to put seeds in the ground.

I dug out last fall's weeds, turned soil, weeded by hand, moved rocks, and did a major clean up. The dogs enjoyed laying in the grass and supervising.

I cleaned out the Hosta bed on the NE side of the house to prepare it for some fresh mulch and found 3 little bleeding hearts coming up.

Last year I'd put down cardboard in this area and mulched on top of it. It did a fair job of keeping the weeds down and so far still looks good.

I'll probably need to redo the whole thing next year.

I generally use those rocks as a border alongside this part of the garden. By midsummer, the hostas are so large one cannot see the rocks.

I might find another job for those rocks this year.

In my 'shade' garden, the tulips, daffodils, Virginia Bluebells, ferns, hostas, and snowdrops are all coming up like crazy. That garden is a true mess with grasses and other 'weeds' growing up. I guess I might get at it later this year or leave it.

I didn't clean it up last year as I was busy with caring for Rich in his final time with me. I let the gardens go last year.

However, the flowers still are coming up despite the mess and I am enjoying them.
 

I noticed that the yard was shaggy and overgrown. My little dogs had grass up to their shoulders. I guess I was going to have to break out the mowers.

I used my all natural mower to assist in difficult places.

I used my little mower to do a large part of the yard. I need to change the oil and the filter in it. Obviously, it needs cleaning too. But I love this mower, it really rocks. 

10 years ago Rich bought this Country Clipper Zero turn mower for doing our yard. It was his 'baby'. It uses a joy stick to steer which I have learned to use over the past 8 years. 

Since this is a complicated machine, I have the guy we purchased it from come each year to pick it up and tune it all up. He is not always swift in getting it done, but he is easy to deal with.

Over the past 30 years we've purchased all of our mowers and chain saws from him. 

Last year I didn't so it is Bad On Me.

It is running just fine but I am not sure about the oil, the hydraulic stuff, the blades, and the belt so I need an expert to exam it.

Machinery is NOT my forte. I don't understand engine things. 

If they stop running, I need help!

The yard below👇
The yellow tape is to remind the Scrap Dudes
not to pull into the yard where
the leach field is.

By 4PM, the dogs and I were all done in. I sat in the grass in front of the porch. 

I did some daydreaming. I dreamt of huge wildflower beds in that area on the left side of the photo above. After that area is leveled, I'll be spreading grass seed. But what if I made a nice area for wild flowers and butterfly flowers? I could watch and observe it from my own porch in the summer months.

Once upon a time, I had a huge flower garden that started at the wagon wheel and went 50 feet towards the house with a walking path down the middle of it. I'd had a job that allowed me more time on the weekends, and late afternoons to tend my huge garden. It was a sight to see.

Two shoulder surgeries and an elbow surgery within 3 years put an end to that garden. Rich removed it and made it into grass. 

This is a shot from 2005 before the garden got mowed down. 

It is nice to dream about things isn't it? At least I can imagine a huge beautiful garden. It may not happen, but I can close my eyes and see it.

It is that time of year, time for big dreams if you like gardening.

I need to get out my seeds I gathered last year and start plotting. It will all change as soon as I start planning.

I like pretending....😉and dreaming.

Little Happy Dances

Above is a snap of me sitting with Charlie on the porch. There is the little weed whacker that my hubby bought me for my birthday a few years ago.

At that time I wasn't as strong as I am now in my shoulders and arms so it was a chore to use it for any length of time and I was always sore afterwards.

[Yep, I'm giving CrossFit a bit of a nod here. Not only has it helped but my first happy dance of the day was in CrossFit class. I had a PR of 82 lbs in the Back Squat. I know that may mean nothing to most folks but to me it was huge! My first back squats were with a pvc pipe and I actually graduated to a weighted bar. It wasn't until this past few months that I actually added real weights. 
Anyway when I finished my little PR, I did a joyful happy dance and rang the bell.]

Well, I decided it was time to get after those pesky straggles of long grass that Sven couldn't keep under control. So I fired up the Weed Eater and went after the grasses.
Whoops! The little trimmer string wouldn't advance.

Uh oh. I know last year I just asked the boss to help me. So I poked my head in the house and asked Rich, "Do you recall how to do the string 'thingy' on the weed whacker?"
He looked at me and shrugged, "Nope. Sorry."
There was a time that he'd take charge and I'd be the go-fer. I'd get the tools and he'd take care of what needed being done.

Hmm.
I recalled seeing the manual to this Toro Trimmer in the *Manual Drawer*. It is a dresser drawer in the basement that has every manual that ever passed through this property. I rummaged through until I found the Toro Trimmer Manual. I made about 10 trips to the spot where Rich keeps tools [this area will get organized eventually!] and came back with two wrench things that I could work with. The instructions were nearly as clear as mud.
So I looked at the pictures and followed them, but was stumped when I couldn't get the bump nob off.

So I used my Smarty Phone to look up similar issues. How odd. A Yahoo Question and Answer discussion came up with the solution. The manual said to turn the bump knob counter clockwise [Lefty Loosey], the discussion said that was wrong. Clockwise.

And they were right!

I followed the suggestions to clean the spring the knobby thing, and all the other parts. While I was at it I cleaned up the shield and dabbed a bit of oil on the other suggested parts.
Then I proceeded to follow the written instructions on how to re-string the trimmer and put it back together.
I started it and went at the weeds. Imagine a sort little happy dance while whacking down long grass, thistles, and burdock. Giddy again.

Success! I set it down after I was finished and went to put the manual away. On the very next page it had some instructions on how to clean an air filter. Oh, I don't ever recall having that cleaned.

Looks like I have some more work to do.

I never imagined I'd be happy over being able to just string a little trimmer.