A New Record?
How high can the grass get without clogging up the lawnmower, you ask. I may be finding out soon.
REASONS I HAVE NOT MOWED
1. Went to NYC and returned.
2. Had company
3. Rain
4. Slothful personality
5. Don't want neighbors to feel too optimistic about my behavior
6. Seemed rash
7. Can't remember the other reasons, but they are powerful and not to be argued with.
In other news, I have a yummy big bag of Bing cherries to enjoy. They are only good when they are crisp and perfectly ripe, not over-ripe, and these are. If it weren't for the pits that have to be so crudely spit out, they might rival apples. I don't like spitting. Also, I'm curious why and when cherries became the epitome of happiness, as in "life is a bowl of...." I mean to me, life should be a bowl of Dove Bars more than cherries. Or at least a bowl of mashed potatoes. Life is a scorpion bowl, baby!
Years ago I went to a dinner party where the hostess labored over cherries jubilee, which is flambee of course, but she forgot to use cherries that had been pitted. I keep meaning to use a scene where everyone is surreptitiously trying to spit pits into their napkins in a book. Maybe the nun can do it.
Here I am with my agent Kristin Nelson (center)and author Kim Reid at the recent Backspace conference in NYC. I always surprise myself in photographs. Here I am looking heavenwards for some reason that must have made sense at the time.
One final question: Do lawnmowers have to have oil changes? Please say no, dear reader.
A bientot
love,
becky
posted by Becky Willis Motew @ 3:26 PM
9 Comments
9 Comments:
Yes, you need to change the oil!
As a matter of fact - in October,
or whenever you put away the mower
you should drain oil for the winter and put new oil back in in the spring.
Bah -- anonymous kill-joy! It depends on how long you want the mower to last, of course. Indisputable argument number 8: the mower won't start!
You're hair must have made a great recovery -- it's a far cry from the ruination you set us up for. Looks good!
(Oh horrors, I typed "you're" instead of your. The shame!)
Thanks, you guys.
I only mow three or four times a year--does that matter? I've owned the thing for probably ten years.
b
Light use probably isn't enough to make the oil last, I'd guess. It can age and get contaminated whether or not the engine runs -- might even be worse if it is used very infrequently. With cars, there's usually a mileage and a time period recommended for changes, e.g. 5000 miles or six months, for the same sort of reasons.
I don't have a lot of specific knowledge about small engines, but I'm currently wrangling with this exact question for a small outboard motor we bought last year. It was barely used also. The owner's manual has a very long list of things to do to it annually, regardless of usage, and then extra stuff to do upon heavy use. Oil change and spark plug change are among the annual items. Sitting unused in the garage over the winter can't have done the oil any good, I just don't have a good feeling for how bad it might be. In our case, I think we're going to get someone to do a servicing of it, expecting it to run $60 or so, because we depend on the engine to get us out of trouble when the wind quits (because the tide doesn't...)
I poked around a little for mower advice, and found a couple links:
http://landscaping.about.com/od/toppicks/a/mower_tuneup.htm
http://www.bladeslawncare.com/mowers/lawnmoweroilchange.html
http://www.hcoa.com.au/mowerservice.htm
Looks like annually is a good idea, and getting the correct oil is important. Do the filter(s) too. Or in all seriousness, if the thing is still running and you don't mind buying a new one from time to time, you could blow off the maintenance. If your yard isn't too big, you could get an electric replacement (cord or cordless) and never think about oil again.
Well now I never knew that about mowers. We 'get a man in' to do our lawns. (ABM likes to golf rather than mow lawns.)
Glad the NY trip went well. You do look rather angelic in the photo!
(I like reason number 5 best.)
Wow, sm, thanks for the dope.
CB, if I can shame one of my kids into doing it, I do. But they are not around lately.
b
I hope that grass is cut by now!
If you start the mower and black smoke comes out - You better get that oil changed. I am never wrong!
Oh, anonymous, I am sure you are right!!!
But I didn't.
Stay tuned.
b
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