Skip to main content

Another New Toy

 Some times you plan for a big purchase; sometimes one is forced upon you.

After nearly 23 years of keeping the riding lawn mower chugging along and beating down the grass and weeds, Mike was forced into the realization that too much time was being used up on keeping the motor running.  Yesterday, the mower would not start.  He had put in new spark plugs the week before.  He decided he needed a new electric igniter.   That was an $80 part that he had to travel 40 miles round trip to obtain.  He put it in, started the mower without a problem, and mowed half the lawn before it died once again.  Defective part?  Something else going on?  Oh, bother!

"Come with me to get a new lawn mower."  So now we have a new John Deere riding mower.

qxi1172.jpg (275×275) google image of a tree ornament, not our actual new machine
Labels:

Comments

  1. Linda MyersMay 22, 2012 at 7:39 PM

    Clearly a sign that it was time. Who gets to mow the lawn first?

    ReplyDelete
  2. TaborMay 22, 2012 at 7:46 PM

    I will do windows but I do not mow lawns...so if something breaks here and hubby cannot fix it we hire someone for a while!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Muffy's MarksMay 22, 2012 at 8:01 PM

    We have an old rider just like the one you described, I fear its days are numbered. The thing doesn't have brakes, sometimes when the Mister is using it, and it stops, I go running, as usually the Mister has rolled off the thing, and is either just getting up off the ground, or sometimes the lawnmower wins and rolls over on hubby. My daughter bought him a tee shirt, that is written upsidown, and says, 'if you can read this, get the lawnmower off me' lots of family jokes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jenn JilksMay 22, 2012 at 8:51 PM

    What fun! I LOVE new toys!!!!

    Greetings from Cottage Country!

    ReplyDelete
  5. LindaMay 22, 2012 at 9:08 PM

    Personally, I'd rather have your new laptop.

    ReplyDelete
  6. MargaretMay 22, 2012 at 10:18 PM

    I hope he enjoys it; I hope you enjoy him enjoying it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sally WesselyMay 22, 2012 at 11:12 PM

    Wow. That is great. I think it was time for such a purchase.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Linda ReederMay 23, 2012 at 1:49 AM

    I'd say you got your money's worth out of the first one!
    And I hear "nothing runs like a Deere".

    ReplyDelete
  9. Arkansas PattiMay 23, 2012 at 7:59 AM

    I so understand. I left my 28 year old lawnmower in Florida when I moved. Eventually the time just comes. Enjoy your new Deere and lack of aggrivation.

    ReplyDelete
  10. TomMay 23, 2012 at 10:48 AM

    Oh boy, we're going to be facing the same problem sometime soon -- our riding mower is so old it's starting to look like the first car I bought for $900 back in the early 70s.

    But I'm thinking, instead of buying a new mower, we'll sell the house and move to a condo.

    ReplyDelete
  11. MuffieMay 23, 2012 at 12:09 PM

    Oh, Lucky You!! My SIL has a bright red riding mower for just a little plot of grass. We have terraces, and riders don't work there. Good luck with your toy!
    Peace,
    Muff

    ReplyDelete
  12. BarbMay 23, 2012 at 8:16 PM

    Our John Deere rider started life back East as a mower in the 80's - now it's a snow plow in CO. You won't regret it. It's my husband's favorite toy (and a hit with the Grankids, too).

    ReplyDelete
  13. Grandma KcMay 25, 2012 at 10:23 AM

    New toys are always fun! But I have to agree with Linda -- I'd rather have your new laptop!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I appreciate readers' comments so much. You don't even always have to agree with me.

Popular posts from this blog

It's TIme

 It's been a while since I have posted anything and even my reading your posts is falling by the wayside. I am in Florida now. I have a yard where little attention was spent on landscaping for the past years so I am slowly and (somewhat) methodically addressing that. I also volunteer to work at the pollinator garden and the edible garden I helped install at the UU grounds and I took over the volunteer job of cleaning out the overgrown community garden by my neighborhood mailboxes. The neighbor who was doing that got sick and could no longer attend to it. It's a bigger job than I'd thought at first -- not only overgrown with weeds, but the plants that are wanted there are in life and death competition for each others' spaces. And two walks a day, morning and evening, so Levi can keep up with addiction to canine social media and a daily rousing came of stick or ball midday take up another chunk of my time. I have a weekly meditation group that I co-facilitate, and my own ...
10 comments
Read more

Life Goes On

There is nothing like a visit from the grand children to remind one that life goes on.  I spent Friday night at my daughter's and then brought the kids back home with me.  I did not get to see so much of them this past summer and it was a birthday gift to my daughter (who just turned 40!) to have a couple of days to herself. She probably spent them in her son's room playing Lego StarWars.  Dane tried to teach me how to play this video game--a hopeless task if ever there was one.  "Concentrate, Grandma!  You have to concentrate!"  I do have a hard time with sustained concentration lately, but in this case I had no clue what it was that needed concentration.  He finally took the controls away from me (thank-you!). It's amazing how long he can amuse himself at my house being out side on a scooter or helping me in the yard, especially if it involves a hose.  Inside, they both sit and draw or craft for hours.  Just before bed, Dane did say, "N...
41 comments
Read more

Eggplant

Mike and I considered ourselves soul mates, but we definitely were not culinary mates.  Mike liked what he liked and disliked what he disliked and he never changed his mind about things like that.  He did not eat mayonnaise.  He did not eat tomato sauce.  He did not eat cooked vegetables except for corn, peas and green beans.  He did not eat onions cooked or otherwise.  He did not eat casseroles ever since they were a combination of things he didn't eat anyway. I did not like mushrooms as a kid and eggplant just made me gag, but my tastes changed,  Foods I found disgusting as a child are now among my favorites--mushrooms, eggplant, avocados, asparagus, eggs, spinach, brussel sprouts, herbs and spices. I will admit that I never developed a taste for liver (nor do I want to). I made this Moussakka a while ago and ate it every day for a week.  I froze half of it but ended up thawing it out right away. It consists of sliced eggplant layered...
31 comments
Read more