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Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903115 by Goofy girl
Jul 1, 2015 1:44am
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I get excited about yard work in March. By July I'm over it. I do all the yard work including the weeding of the gardens that I was begged to build (Honey if you build it for me I promise I will weed and maintain it) - yeah! Right!!

Our yard has too many obstacles for a rider so once a week during grass season I spend a day behind my gas mower making it look pretty. Sadly, that lasts about one day.
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903115 by Goofy girl
Jul 1, 2015 4:04am
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Not me - and that's all that I care about :-)
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903115 by Goofy girl
Jul 1, 2015 7:20am
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When I had a house...and a husband...my husband always did it. I think I did it exactly once, when my husband was out of town. And when I was growing up, my dad always did it.

TG
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903115 by Goofy girl
Jul 1, 2015 7:22am
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I have really bad allergies, so I dont. I do get out to pull weeds once in a while. I'd rather be hiking...
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903115 by Goofy girl
Jul 1, 2015 7:27am
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Growing up, my mother mowed. Now? My son or husband.
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903115 by Goofy girl
Jul 1, 2015 11:49am
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While growing up, I was the one who did the mowing. Once married, my husband did it. Then, when he was old enough, my son did it. Now that my son has moved out, I guess it's my husband, but really, it's kind of no one: our house is condemned, and we are just waiting for the new house to be finished so we can move out and have this one bulldozed, so we are living in a state of deferred maintenance, because why bother?
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903215 by 55 Steps
Jul 1, 2015 11:51am
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our house is condemned

You've been through quite an ordeal with your house! Any idea when you might finally be able to move to the new one?
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903143 by Goofy girl
Jul 1, 2015 12:00pm
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I wish I had the money for a lawn person.

I probably should have been clearer. We don't have a lawn. The entire backyard strip (the house is on the back of the property, so the back is an L shaped 15 foot wide strip) is done in gravel with planting beds fenced off as we have dogs and they destroy lawns.
We also have drought issues here and we never did put in a lawn. The front has a smallish human use garden area (paved with picnic area and planting beds) and the rest of the acreage is our orchard. This has to be rototilled to meet CA fire abatement needs.....MUCH easier to have the nice man with the tractor do it!
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903215 by 55 Steps
Jul 1, 2015 12:04pm
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55 I'm sorry I hope you get to the new house quickly.
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903218 by Public Hand
Jul 1, 2015 12:04pm
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Oh ok
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903218 by Public Hand
Jul 1, 2015 12:42pm
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Four years ago, we intentionally took out all of our lawn and added forty some raised bed/gardening boxes plus gravel paths...I really did not want to waste my time mowing any more :)
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903223 by FORAYCH
Jul 2, 2015 5:56am
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I really did not want to waste my time mowing any more :)

Yeah, but speaking as a perennial gardener, I know that maintaining 40+ raised beds takes a lot of time, too!
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903300 by Rocklun
Jul 2, 2015 8:59am
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I know that maintaining 40+ raised beds takes a lot of time, too!

So true LOL! We love the fruits (flowers/veggies) of the labor though compared to the ubiquitous green shreds provided by the grass.
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903324 by FORAYCH
Jul 2, 2015 9:37am
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We love the fruits (flowers/veggies) of the labor though compared to the ubiquitous green shreds provided by the grass.

I agree! And the native fauna appreciate it more, too, at least in my yard. I don't use any chemicals in my yard, and we have a lot of interesting critters as a result. My gardens hum with the sound of bees when I walk through them. :^)
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903216 by TrailTroll
Jul 2, 2015 12:24pm
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Any idea when you might finally be able to move to the new one?

Building a new house is a Sloooooooow process here. In part, it's because we are not alone - Christchurch is really only now seriously picking up the pace when it comes to rebuilding after the earthquakes (before this, the insurance companies wouldn't let go of the money they owe) - and because of that, the trades people have more work than they need -- so the independant builders pick and choose and work several jobs at once, which slows down individual builds. On top of that, we are those obnoxious Americans who are demanding a level of craftsmanship that exceeds the normal standard here -- all too often, that means we do the work ourselves rather than relying on the "professionals", but we are slow.

When will it be done? I have no expectations - it only leads to stress. The floors are going in right now, the walls are painted, the electrician is in to hook up the actual power switch rather than the temporary power and expects to be done by the end of the month. After that, we still need the major appliances (stove, oven, etc), the plumber to put in the plumbing fixtures, finishing touches like skirting boards (baseboards) and lights. Oh yes, and the repairs: fixing the garage ceiling where someone put there foot through it while in the attic area, fixing the walls which had to be cut into when the thermostats for the underfloor heat were put in the wrong place, fixing the roof that got smashed by the bulldozer. It is, however, coming together. It is looking more like a home and less like a building site.
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903219 by Goofy girl
Jul 2, 2015 12:29pm
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55 I'm sorry I hope you get to the new house quickly.

Thanks, that's really kind of you. But really, no need to be sorry. We are actually among the lucky ones. There are so many people here in Christchurch who are worse off than us; people who got totally screwed by the insurance companies and don't have the money to fix their homes, people whose old condemned houses aren't even liveable like ours is, people who are still fighting insurance companies and haven't even started rebuilding. I can still laugh at the problems, and have made a song up about the house I live in now - "The house of the rising damp" - to the tune of "The house of the rising sun".
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903115 by Goofy girl
Jul 2, 2015 2:27pm
Thread (disabled) Board
It was always my DH's job. I would do it very rarely if he was out of town when the lawn needed it. Then he got in this skydiving accident and ruined his shoulder, had the joint replaced twice and two other surgeries due to complications, and now has no strength in that arm................so the lawn service does it!
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903329 by Rocklun
Jul 2, 2015 2:50pm
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Our yard backs up to woods. It's still private property within the city limits owned by folks down the hill, but there is a creek dividing that area from the parts closer to their houses that they actually use, so it is quite wild near our boundary line. There are many critters living there: deer, birds, raccoons, skunks, rats.

We loved the birds, but had to quit feeding them b/c their food on the ground attracted the raccoons and skunks. Dogs got skunked several times each over the past 15 years. It was aggravating to have to take the dog out at night on a leash - in a fenced yard.

We used to love the deer but they eat every flower in the yard. They love my red and white geraniums, but leave the neighbor's pink ones alone. They also eat the buds off my day lilies, forsaking the neighbor's - and mine are cuts from hers! Go figure! We still love seeing the deer, just don't like them eating the flowers.

Another neighbor attracts the wildlife by feeding them - which is actually against the law but not enforced around here. Since my yard is between the woods and her yard, we still have the animals trooping through every night.
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903366 by Boxer Lover47
Jul 2, 2015 3:17pm
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I don't live in an area quite that wild ....but it's wooded........we have deer, skunks, raccoons, possum and of course squirrels and chipmunks. It's in Westchester County about 30 miles north of NYC. And it's an apartment complex, not a house.

That being said......I bought birdseed that has some kind of pepper in it. Mammals don't like the pepper but birds have some kind of gland that prevents them from tasting the pepper. I wanted to feed the birds when I moved up here but was concerned with attracting unwanted animals. It's worked so far. The pepper is so strong that when I pour it into the feeder I can feel the pepper burning my tongue afterwards.

::::fingers crossed:::: that it keeps working and the other critters don't develop a taste for pepper!
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903368 by MissMoon
Jul 2, 2015 3:29pm
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Wow, I've never heard of that! I'm going to look into it. It would be so wonderful to have the birds back! Can you tell me the name or brand of the birdseed?
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903370 by Boxer Lover47
Jul 2, 2015 4:16pm
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The only one I have tried is the Cajun blend. The guy at the bird store said that all mammals will not like the seeds. I know the squirrels and chipmunks have stayed away from it so far. And the birds seem to really love it.

http://coleswildbird.com/coles-products/hot-products/

http://blog.duncraft.com/2011/04/26/coles-hot-meats-no-squirrels-just-birds/
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903377 by MissMoon
Jul 2, 2015 5:50pm
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I'm going to try this also. The lady at the bird store told me that chipmunks didn't care if there was pepper in the food, they had fur lined cheeks. So I put my feeders up high and it's a pain to fill them.

I live in a very suburban neighborhood, one that's been here for 50+ years. This year my plants have been eaten by deer, I've seen a coyote and a fox and many rabbits, posssums and raccoons. They are adapting to us.
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903368 by MissMoon
Jul 2, 2015 6:14pm
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[...] bought birdseed that has some kind of pepper in it. Mammals don't like the pepper but birds have some kind of gland that prevents them from tasting the pepper.

It's the capsaicin. It's what gives "hot" food the spiciness. It actually opens the pain receptors causing the burning sensation. Only mammals are sensitive to it, but birds spread the seeds.
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903382 by judithandsparky
Jul 2, 2015 6:23pm
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So I put my feeders up high and it's a pain to fill them.

You should put the feeder on a pulley so that you can lower it when you need to fill it. You can also put a roof on it that overhangs the feeder quite a ways then the squirrels will just slide off the roof.

Another easy way to fix it it to tie a knot about 3 feet above the feeder, buy a 5-gallon bucket from a hardware store, punch a hole in the bottom and hang it from the knot before putting it through the pulley. They won't be able to get close enough to jump from the top, and as long as it's far enough from the other branches they won't be able to jump sideways.

You could also just use a two liter bottle (or two) above the feeder to do the same thing. The important thing is to make it so that they can't jump from the bottom, side or top.
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903382 by judithandsparky
Jul 3, 2015 8:50am
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The lady at the bird store told me that chipmunks didn't care if there was pepper in the food, they had fur lined cheeks.

That's interesting. I don't see a lot of chipmunks around anyway so maybe I just haven't seen them. But I know the squirrels never bother it.
Re: Lawn mowing
Board: Yakking It Up
Reply to: #903377 by MissMoon
Jul 3, 2015 1:57pm
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Thanks! I'm going to give this a try.