More on the joys of homeownership

Rather than wasting my time this weekend on, say, housework or homework, I decided to work on my yard. After breakfast, I went to the gas station to get gas for the lawn mower. At that point, it was a little foggy, but you could see the sun breaking through. I got home with the gas can and filled up the mower and tried to start it. No go. I think last time I mowed was in August, so the mower was a little stiff. I wandered around the yard picking up branches from the last windstorm. Tried again. Still no go. Picked up more branches, weeded a little, tried the mower again. Still no go. Three more times, I picked up branches and weeded, then tried the mower, but it wouldn't start. Then it started to rain. I put the mower away.

A smart person would have given up right there.

I have a little island in the middle of my front yard. It has trees, rhodies, Oregon grapes, salal, heather, and a number of other autochthonous flora. When I bought the house, the spaces between the shrubs was beauty-barked. I hate beauty bark, but I totally see the practicality of it. I can't get much else to grow in there. Believe me, I've tried. The bark had deteriorated into moldy mulch, and weeds were growing freely out of it. While I was weeding the island, I basically removed the entire top layer of decaying bark. I knew that the weeds would just come back, so I broke down and bought more bark. I spent a fair portion of the day, in the pouring rain, spreading new bark. I finally gave up on yardwork at about 1:00.

Sunday, I went out to the garage to try the mower again. It started right up. Whew! I was hoping not to have a repeat of last year's brush-cutter-rental episode. I got the front yard mowed without any drama, but the back yard was quite a chore. I set the wheels at the highest setting and still bogged down the mower in the deepest spots. Then, just to show the neighborhood what a masochist I am, I lowered the wheels to the half-way point and I mowed the entire back yard again to get it down to a reasonable depth. Even after mowing it once, the second time was still a bit too much for my mower, and it stalled a few times in the heavier, wetter areas. It took me half an hour to do the entire front yard and 3 and 1/2 hours to do the back yard. I have only a quarter acre! Going forward, it shouldn't be as bad if I can keep up with it. I just need to make a point of mowing it regardless of whether it has rained. After all, I would never mow it at all if I wait for it to dry out. They don't call this place the Pacific North Wet for nothing.

The unfortunate bit is that now I have to buy more bark to cover all of the areas that I haven't done already. I have a feeling I know how I'll be spending next weekend.