My neighbors can't understand why I'm working so hard around the house. Well, to me, the buyers bought the house with an expectation that when they take possession, like in six days, it'll pretty much look like they saw it when they agreed to purchase it on May 13th. May 13th, that was 58 days ago. Since then I have mowed the grass 13 times. That's once every 4.5 days. That's a lot of mowing. That's a lot of trimming. and that's a lot of picking up twigs and branches.
And why so much? Well this late spring and early summer have been nothing short of Bipolar weather. Either it's 110 degrees out or it's raining 6 inches in two hours. And when it rains hard, then the sun comes out, the grass, hedges, and weeds grow like mad. Add in the humidity and dew point and it feels like Jurassic Park out here. And one thing I've learned in eight years, don't let the grass get in front of, or behind you, miss a mow and it quickly becomes overgrown. And one thing you don't want to do is keep raising the blade height on the lawnmower to accommodate missed mows.
We have just about and acre and most of it is covered in some kind of green. While I had a tractor I could never get the mower deck on it and leveled right so it always came out screwed up. So I have relied on my trusty Toro 30 inch Yardmaster. And to it I owe a great deal of gratitude.
We purchased it around 2015 and it's been in the shop for everything just short of a motor replacement. Soon I will turn over the pull start to the new buyers. I have a feeling they have no idea what keeping up with this lawn, and property, entails. Thatching and aerating it in the fall, reseeding in the fall and spring, rounds of preventer and fertilizer, all to keep it in check. During the hot summer months we've been having it's hard to keep it from getting burnt and going into hibernation.
When we bought the house it was some time that the lawn and landscaping had seen some regular attention. The grass was overgrown and full of weeds, the shrubs were out of control, and there were several large trees, some dead and still up, and some dead and down on the ground, around the property.
I think we were out $6,800 to get the above California redwood taken down and the stump ground away before we even moved in. I have worked that land hard over the years but am now ready to pass it all on and enjoy paying the HOA fees that cover landscaping. I'm also looking forward to having a garage, a two-car garage at that. That'll be a far cry from the Tobacco Road set-up, that's what Theresa called it, that I kept for years.
My neighbor's must have really loved me because looking at the above picture I don't know how they didn't call the town on me, and the two boats aren't even in the picture. But now that space is cleaned up and ready for the next owners.
Back in the day there used to be a cool garage covering that concrete pad. I wish, and I'm sure my neighbor's did as well, I had that structure to keep things high and dry and organized. Below is a picture I received from the previous owners from years back.
Maybe the new buyers will get one of those Amish built garages put in its place to store all of the tools and equipment it takes to run this house and property. Maybe finally that old lawn mower can spend bad weather days and seasons in a garage and not under a tarp. Or maybe they'll just punt and contract with a landscaper to handle it all. That would be a good move, kinda like paying an HOA fee, so they aren't slaves to at least the grounds around the house. When it was built back in the 1920's there were house staff that lived in the house. And after eight log years here I understand why.
