09/08/13

I had a very productive weekend, probably the most productive one I've had in quite some time. I did run into some problems on Sunday, and wasn't feeling well due to allergies, but overall it was good.

On Friday Andrea called the local quarry and ordered a load of gravel. They should be delivered tomorrow morning, which is much quicker than I expected. After work I hooked to the mower and mowed around the garden. This included clearing the area I want to prep for drying logs as I cut trees this fall, as well as the area around the one tree I cut earlier in the week.

Nearly all day Saturday was spent mowing. I mowed across the road, adjusting the mower to its lowest setting, which I had never done before over there, so I would have more clippings to collect. I then mowed the yard. While mowing the yard I discovered a yellow jackets nest, but unfortunately was not stung. After that was done I decided to drag the mower over to the old house and mow around it. I don't mow there often because it requires moving the mower to the front of the RTV so I can better maneuver it, which takes longer. My parents have decided to build a cabin out there, though, which means we'll be tearing down the old house finally. They are coming down next weekend, and I know they'll want to go out there and look around, so I wanted to get it mowed ahead of time. I barely finished before dark, although this was partly because I ran the RTV out gas and had to ask Andrea to bring me some.

I wasn't feeling well when I got up on Sunday, so it took a while for me to get motivated to get out. I needed to wait for the grass to dry anyway, so it didn't really put me behind. I used the lawn sweeper to collect the grass clippings from the yard. There weren't as many as the previous time I had mowed, but the grass was nearly as tall, so that is to be expected. After finishing the yard I drug the lawn sweeper across the road to the area I had cut short for clippings. I gathered quite a few, but in the process damaged the sweeper. I had to literally drag it back home, because the wheels would not turn. Once I got it home I spent thirty minutes untangling weeds and vines from around the axle, then parked it.

By this point I was hot, tired, not feeling well, and frustrated, so I went in. I spent most of the afternoon being unproductive, until finally going back out once the sun started going down. I collected the clippings from the yard and hauled to the garden where I applied them to the previously mulched area which was starting to have a few weeds sprout. Andrea rode over with me during one of the trips and picked a few tomatoes. While she was picking tomatoes I fixed the long-handled tool carrier on the RTV, which had come loose a few days before when Andrea pulled under the shed with a rake in the carrier. Fortunately the zip tie I used to mount it are the weak point, so they broke, leaving nothing else damaged. I had picked up a new pack of zip ties when in London on Wednesday, and it only took a few moments to re-secure everything. Afterwards I moved some things that were stacked at the end of the trailer, in preparation for receiving the gravel tomorrow.