rincewind

Don't worry, this isn't a Bowflex commercial.

The best way I've found to lose weight is to mow my yard in the 92 degree weather. Phew. We have just under an acre so it keeps me fit. It looks like I've been for a swim when I'm through

Forget the gym subscriptions, get yourself a push mower for only $120.00 and get out there.

I'll wait till I get to my ideal weight, then I'll buy a ride-on

BrigieDarling

Trouble is... you'd have to turn that pic 45 degrees for half of our yard and push the bloody mower up hill.

It's great for sledding in the snow, but this time of year Todd usually pays someone then gives them beer!

It looks nice and rustic where you live... ever seen any giant bugs?

rincewind

Just the usual. Lizards, frogs, drunk bugs (my wife calls them that, they just fly at the lights and fall over.....weird...kind of like May Bugs in England), ants that hurt like hell when they bite, moths the size of my hand (I have big hands) and other flying things.

We have a couple of regular frogs . We have lights outside our front door in the ground that light up the pathway and there are two frogs that hang out there at night and eat the bugs. They've gotten used to us now and don't scarper when we go outside to smoke.

If I remember tonight, I'll try and get a picture of them.

There is the snake problem too, but I haven't seen any since we've been in this house (just over a year now). That's why I mow once a week, makes them easier to spot.

I can't believe how fast the grass grows here, we get two days of rain and it just shoots up.

Mercedes

to keep cool put a wet shirt on that you had in the fridge or freezer if you are game, will keep you cool for a while. I often if I'd doing outside work take it straight out the washing machine and put it on, the other great thing is you dont need to iron it either. Keeps you cool for a while until it dries out.

TexasPenguin

"Dries out"!!!! No chance! 30 minutes of vigorous mowing in 92 degrees (I too use a push mower on an acre) and the shirt is wetter than it was in the washing machine!

(Sorry, was that too gross?)

You see people around here getting a company in to mow the lawn and then they get in their cars, drive 20 minutes to the gym and then pay hundreds to work out!!! Madness!


Andy.

Lion in Winter

Looks lovely. Now, how about going over it with a roller............

sibsie

I've got two rescue Shetland ponies in dire need of a new home. They'd trim your grass and fertilise it for you!

On the offchance there are any horse lovers here, or anyone knows any, bung me a PM.

rincewind

Screw that

The mower is enough.

lairdside

LoL. I tried that. I had two horses and two ponies in Wales (one Shetland, one minature Shetland). We had sheep to do the "mowing", I was dammed if I was mowing 30 acres!!

Our neighbours had hundreds or some even thousands of acres. They were kind enough to do our hedges for us as we didn't own a tractor

lairdside

Hmm.. did you trim the edges? My mother used to pay me to trim the edges of the lawn as a child, took me hours (It was a large lawn). With SCISSORS.

Looking back, I'm sure it was some kind of sadistic joke. I have to remind her of that one..........

Lion in Winter

You were paid ?!?!?! I can see my union did not adequately represent me as a child.

ironporer

When I told Dad that I should be paid like all my buddies were to mow and trim, Dad said fine- he'd give me $5 to mow, $2 to trim and $3 for my regular household chores. He then added that breakfast was now $2, lunch $3 and dinner $5. He never had to tell me how much the bed was going to be.

dbark

Reminds me of a recent Blondie cartoon. I liked it so much and found it so relevant to our teenagers that I cut it out and stuck it on the fridge.

Dagwood is sitting in armchair, reading the paper. His teenage son comes along holding his hand out, saying "I think I should get paid for mowing the lawn". Dagwood replies "I'll credit your rent payment."

"I don't pay rent!" exclaims the son.
"Exactly" says Dagwood.

Usually these cartoons are viewable on the blondie.com website but I just tried and the pictures won't load

Debbie

lairdside

I had a set of standard chores for which I was not paid (wash the dishes every night & clean the kitchen, vacum the whole house at weekends, brush the dog, mind my brother, change his nappies, feed him etc., hang out the laundry etc, etc, etc) I was never given any pocket money/allowance and so used to ask for extra chores so that I could earn some money.

My Mum used to give me 50p for trimming the front and back lawns - that's about 3/4's of an acre of lawn.

I went away to boarding school at eleven so my mother had to cope without me after that

Lion in Winter

I'm not surprised at those rates. Boarding school would be a nice rest cure. Continuing the tradition, my son does the vacuuming. However, this is because he wants to, not because I make him - he's four, and while he does enjoy sucking things up with the vacuum, he doesn't stick to dust on the floor but prefers to try things like coins, lego and those crucially important phone numbers that are kept in piles of tiny bits of paper on the desk.