Sunday 15 April 2012

The banishment of petrol and diverse matters...

Our petrol driven lawnmower finally gave up the ghost recently. My efforts to bring it back failed and so a new machine was ordered. It was hand powered- no electricity or petrol. The weather finally allowed it to be assembled and used yesterday,Saturday. We were all delighted at how well it cut the grass and without too much effort, I think I was recalling my attempts to use a rusty one as a teenager. We will not be returning to powered mowers here in the Duchy!

This brings me on to an almost Proustian memory of lying in bed as a small child trying to get off to sleep early evening.It was summer and the sound of hand mowing by my father came in through the window. The sound of summer indeed  ever since.

The above photos were taken on our brief trip up the fife Coast on Friday- chips @ Anstruther, coffee and a Gallery visit @ Crail- where incidently I picked up a very interesting wee pamphlet on the archaeology of the isle of May. The photo is of the Mercat Cross in the middle of Crail which is topped off with a splendid unicorn.

Hope to do a little painting today although the sunne is already up in a blue sky here at before 7 in the morning of Sunday.May garden instead after Church -seed sowing in trays I hope. 
Yesterday morning dug deep in the shed and found ( in need of TLC) my two 15mm armies for the Spanish American war. I have brought them into the house to sort through- still look great and they have whetted my appetite for some gaming.

4 comments:

  1. I can remember the noise of a push mower while I tried in vain to fall asleep in the summer-that and the sound of the blooming pidgeons as well!

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  2. I did my share of pushmowing when I was a kid. It can be more work, but I much prefer the noise of one of them to all these power mowers (and blowers and such) cutting through the early morning or late afternoon.

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  3. Push mowers are far better for health and the environment. The spills from petrol mowers across the US in one year is worse than the Exxon Valdez disaster.

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  4. Hard to imagine a nastier engine than the two stroke gas mower. I switched to a rechargeable electric mower two years back and don't regret it.

    That is a splendid unicorn.

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