Lawn Boy

I got home today, jumped out of the car, and grabbed the weed-whacker. While still dressed in my work clothes (which are indistinguishable from street clothes, although they tend to skew a bit warmer) I attacked the plantain spikes that have taken over the yard as a consequence of being virtually untouchable by my reel mower, which just pushes over very tall stuff without cutting it - one of the major disadvantages to using a reel mower. Then I went after the weeds that have grown along the line where the curb meets the street, and did that until I had used up the weed-whacker's charge.

I came in, grabbed some supper, went online for a few minutes, and finally got myself outside to mow. By then it was pretty late - say, 7:30. Still, I was able to get half the lawn done, even with frequent stops to empty the grass catcher - I'm using the clippings to mulch my blueberries - and to grab some early blueberries to eat. (Helpful hint for people with blueberries: mulch all Spring, Summer, and Fall to retain water and suppress weeds around the roots, and cover your blueberry bushes with heavy insulation in the Winter. This won't just protect them, it will also cause them to grow tremendously during the next Spring and Summer. The scrawny bush that I covered with an insulating cone in the Winter of 2006-2007 because I was tired of the mailman stepping on it as he walked through the snow is now the biggest bush of the group. 12-18 inches of leaves, covered with burlap, is probably the bare minimum you want to use.)

I managed to accidentally kill a few fireflies towards the end of the night. I felt really bad about that.

I'll try to finish the lawn tomorrow, though I also have to take my mom grocery shopping. Wednesday is garbage night, but it may also be our only dry night, so I want to spray some anti-fungal stuff on my grapes before they develop Black Rot.

So, anyway, I'm tired now.

Illustrations for other people's posts:

This one is for Mark's latest post on Wilkes-Barre Online:

...and is, unfortunately, unembeddable. Come on, Sony BMG, get with the program! WEA and its associated labels have realized that allowing people to post cheesy low-res videos of copyrighted songs is an excellent way to maintain interest in artists whose fame and sales have faded away - and to generate positive associations that will result in future sales. Drop the old-world thinking and embrace the future!

The video is Lit, "My Own Worst Enemy". For no other reason than the bowling.

The other video is for a post that hasn't been posted yet. The folks from the Ontario Science Centre teach us all aboot slime molds.


(Actually, neither of the people in this video have the stereotypical "Canadian" accent.)

There's more out there, but I'll save it until the post has been posted.