Mowers and things

I've finally recovered from the painful knee and am slowly catching up with things, but I've had a bit of a cold and cough all week.

I've got the lawns under control and they've both had a couple of cuts now. The back one was just too long for the wheeled mower and I had to attack it with the hover mower first, then rake up the cuttings. You could have fed a horse for a week on the huge pile of 'hay' I produced.

 I treated myself to a new mower last week, a self propelled petrol job. Pushing the old one around wasn't doing my back any good at all, and it was not a good mower. It was one of those Flymo ones that blows the cuttings upwards into a top mounted collecting box and if you didn't empty it soon enough it got bunged up and you'd have to clear out the 'chute'. We inherited it from the previous owners when we bought the place, but I've never liked it. I ordered the new one Online on the Tuesday morning and it was delivered next day at lunchtime -  not bad!  It came fully assembled apart from attaching the handle and cables. It even came with a bottle of oil for the engine. I had to get petrol and couldn't find my can so had to buy a new one, and you've guessed it, then I found my old one. I'm really glad I bought it. I did the back lawn this morning in about a quarter the time it used to take with the electric one AND I don't have to wrestle with unruly cables, AND I didn't end up with a backache.

We've got to get everything 'spick and span' over the next couple of weeks as the 'Boss' has a two of her American 'E-Mates' coming to visit. They are going to stay with someone in Manchester for a week first then they are coming to see us. We aren't able to put them up so I think they are planning to stay at the Blue Boar for a few nights.