Well, my lawn may be dying from lack of water, and it may be full of weeds, but at least it’s mowed.
I took my mower to a new repair shop last week. When I took it in, I asked the guy if they did repairs. He said they only fixed certain brands and asked me what kind mine was. I said I thought it was a Toro. He asked if it was a Toro, or a (some other “T” brand), because they fix one of those, and not another. I had my mower out in the truck, so I ran out to look. It’s a Bolens. To his credit, he didn’t laugh or roll his eyes.
When I described the problem to him, also to his credit, he knew exactly what was wrong with it, unlike the other guy. He said I had dirt in my carburetor. They’d have it fixed in a week, and they’d give me a call, he said.
It took less than a week, and it runs like a dream. Thank you, new lawn mower place.
My neighborhood’s Home and Garden Tour is this coming Saturday. I will be busy this week getting the tour map assembled and putting some finishing touches on my garden. I will also need to maintain lots of communication with the people who’ve agreed to be part of the tour. Yesterday I spoke with two of them.
Tomas was one of them. I admire Thomas because he has no lawn. His entire front yard is garden. His entire back yard is garden. It’s gorgeous. He used to have honeybees. They fascinated me. If I wasn’t such a chicken about being stung, I would try beekeeping myself. Speaking of chickens, Thomas has some of them, too. Yesterday he introduced me to his newest girls, some Bantam Chickens. They’re a smaller variety of chicken. Their eggs are small too. He gave me some since I was there. I don’t know what I’ll make with these small eggs, but they sure are cute.
I spent some time at the Inner Harbor of Baltimore yesterday. I decided I would go to the shoe store that sold the “barefoot shoes”, and the store that sold them was by the harbor. It seemed like walking around a little down there could be fun.
Denis came along for the ride. He had a gift card to Cheescake Factory, so we ate there. I got a chicken-pot-pie kind of thing, but the peas and carrots were burnt. The ice tea had some bizarre mango-passionfruit flavoring. I didn’t drink it. It wasn’t a very successful lunch.
The shoe store was a short walk away. We passed some kind of monument to war heroes from Poland on the way. I would have taken a picture, but it was hot outside. I had to keep moving. The shoes themselves were very interesting. They are sized European-style. Was I a 42, 43, or 44? I tried them all on. I think I’m a 42. Having your toes in separate “finger holes” wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. The feel was kind of like a slipper, kind of like a water shoe. The problem was that the only kind they had in stock was the strappy kind. I was more interesed in the version without velcro straps.
Having tried them on (and taking the picture below), I went home with the truck air conditioner blasting. Ahhh! Cool air!
Yesterday I had a list of things to do. I got them all done except “get a watch battery”. I feel pretty good about it. The thing that took the longest was “get Japanese maple”.
I have a pot next to my porch that had a Japanese maple in it. It was a gift from my co-worker Melody. She had gotten it at an auction for the Maryland State Boychoir, but didn’t have a place for it in her own yard. I’d had it for a few years, and it had become rootbound, so the pot didn’t hold water very well. Unfortunately, it died of thirst this spring. It happened at the height of the busy-ness that comes with the end of the school year. I was sad because it was a beautiful tree and it was a gift from a friend.
Yesterday, I went looking for a replacement. Full-grown Japanese maples are expensive! Many of them are in the $200 range. Sheesh! I would never spend that much! I went to several Lowe’s and Home Depot’s hoping for a sale. I found something at the fifth store I went to. A Japanese maple “Bloodgood” in the clearance area. It’s leaves were burned, but it was smaller than other maples I was seeing. The problem was that it was a “Bloodgood”. I had wanted a lace-leaf form. These were lobed. I also wanted a green or yellow leaves. These were red. So was I going to fork out a ton of money for a tree I didn’t like? I checked the clearance price. It was $2.49. Criminy! How could I not buy it?
So I don’t really like this tree, but at least I have it in case it’s all I can find. Here it is. (It’s the one in the black pot):
UPDATE: Here’s a closeup picture of the leaves, per Beth’s request. The newer leaves are redder, as you can see in the lower right corner. In the fall, they darken further.
I feel like Lloyd. I spent most of yesterday in front of my computer.
I started in the morning by writing the “first contact” letter for my 20th high school reunion. That took a long time. I wanted the letter to be just right, so there was lots of editing. Then I assembled the mailing supplies, stuffed and addressed envelopes, and took them to the post office. I went to the post office because two of the letters went to Japan, and I wasn’t sure how much postage that needed.
Then I took my lawnmower to the shop and stopped at BJ’s (our local membership warehouse store), only to realize I didn’t have the card in my wallet, so it was a short outing.
When I got home again, I got back in front of the computer to mess with iTunes and to try to finish a new mixed CD. I know, I know, CD’s are sooo five years ago, but I use them in my truck. For me right now, it’s more convenient than iPod with a broadcaster. Anway, you can spend an awful lot of time playing on iTunes and doing searches and listening to sample tunes and going to YouTube to hear the whole song and searching for the lyrics to make sure it doesn’t say anything scandalous or stupid. Before I knew it, it was 6:30pm.
Stupid Brad, sitting around all day.
