Today’s Run:  50 min lifting at the “Y”

Mowed today.

We have talked about this before.  I love the solitude that mowing brings.  How straight can I make the lines in the yard?  What is the best way to go around the chickens without blowing grass all over them?  What is the best and most efficient way to go around the guy wires?  How close can I get to the bees without getting stung?  Really, mowing is a mental exercise.  You are lost in your thoughts but they are important thoughts!

Today, I was in a hurry to get the mowing done.  We have a storm system moving in tomorrow and I really needed to cut the grass before the rain came.  Who knows how long I would have to wait for the yard to firm up enough for me to be able to mow again?  So, I mowed today.  It was cloudy but I mowed anyway.

The chickens are beginning to enjoy the mower.  Strange birds, those chickens.  I am getting a new pattern to the West side of the yard, too, since we put in the arbor and patio at the end of last Summer.  Everything about mowing is different this year.

We put in concrete pads for the bees this Spring with enough room for me to drive the mower in between the hives.  That is nice.  Hopefully, I will be able to keep the bee area neater this Summer.

So, I start at the East side of the yard and give the bees a lot of room.  mow around the Crepe Myrtles and the do my best around the chickens.  Do the South side of the house moving West.  Jump all the way to the West side of our property and move East…finishing up at the North yard in front of the house.  That takes about 1 1/2 hours.  Then I go inside and change.

I put on two pair of jeans, two long sleeve shirts, rubber boots, bee jacket, hat, veil and leather gloves and head back out to mow around the bees.

The bees were NOT in a good mood today.  I think it was because it was cloudy.  They are so temperamental!  It was not long until I was enveloped in a cloud of angry bees~Bees as mad as hornets…except they were bees, not hornets.  With all that paraphernalia on, I still managed to get stung!  I only had on ONE pair of gloves and someone drilled right through that leather and got me!  Boo.

But the grass is a uniform length and I have great satisfaction in a job successfully completed.

I will have to wait until dusk to put away the mower.  The bees are still out there attacking the mower…the mower must die!  Better the mower than me!