Neighbor's kid using old fashioned lawn mower....

[Miss Mary]

Yesterday my daughter and I looked out the front window and what do we see but a neighbor's 14 year old son (Brent), using an old fashioned lawn mower. He did the entire front lawn! Our lots are approximately 1/3 of an acre. I can only assume he did the back too, since he's a hard worker. Brent sure got lots of attention. Several friends stopped over to see what contraption he was using. And each one took their turn at it. One boy only did about 20 feet. Again, my daughter and I were laughing our heads off. I came upstairs to email his mother, whom I'm somewhat close to. I said how amazed we were that she could get her son to do that! Her reply - well chalk it up his cheapstake mother who thought it might save on gas....

I'll keep you posted if this continues. I have to say the mower looked new, not rusted and an antique. This family is the camping type, they love the outdoors. So I wasn't too surprised they bought one.

Anyone else notice a new practice or habit form, due to rising gas prices? I wish another neighbor of mine, grrrr, would stop cutting his grass every 4 days (yes we've had lots of rain, but gas is high right now.....). And he lives smack next door to me.

For those that are not familiar with reel or cylander type mowers, here's a link:
http://www.colehardware.com/hotline/99/05/mower.htm

What I find funny too is this boy and another friend distributed flyers to every house on our street. "Brent and Matt's" Lawnmowing Service, we work cheap......now I know why they're cheap! Seriously, I'm not even sure they intended to use this mower but it sure gave us a chuckle at our house.

Mary

[wx247]

That is a creative way to save on gas for sure!!! Nothing wrong with a little hard work (though sometimes it seems out of the ordinary these days). It builds character.

[GalvestonDuck]

LOL! My first thought as I began reading your post was "gas prices!"

I saw an editorial cartoon that showed two neighbors talking as they watch four sheep on the lawn. One neighbor says to the other, "Well, they're cheaper than buying gas for the mower."

[Skywatch_NC]

Mary,

With the way gas $$$ prices are today...

We should ALL go back to using reel mowers!

Eric

[HurricaneGirl]

Anything to help combat the high cost of gas is commendable! Hats off to the little Lawn Mower boy!

[Stephanie]

Save on gas and a great workout! I remember those and my father still has one that he uses at his little cabin in Colorado.

[Pburgh]

You know when I first met Dennis (Snowman) and Michelle they emailed a picture of their home. Well in the picture was a reel type lawnmower. I asked him if I could buy it and he said NO WAY!!!!!!!!

I can remember our first gas mower. We had a one acre yard so my Dad was like a kid with a new toy!!!!

[furluvcats]

We actually bought one of those mowers to have our son use in Shreveport. It didn't cut well at all, so it went back to the store...we bought a gas mower at that point. We have a gardner out here and don't have to mow period now. Still got the gas mower though. Those old push mowers are a little pricy for what you're getting...but its great to save on gas!!!!

[azskyman]

Hey Mary, I use a push mower once a week!

Then again, my yard is 14' x 14'. All the rest is grass.

My riding mower was a little overkill.

All I know is that if you keep track of that kid into adulthood, he will do one of two things when he has a house of his own.

EITHER, he will have a riding mower to do all that work OR he will only mow twice each summer.

I have scientific evidence to support those two outcomes based on growing up in an era when push mowers were the ONLY good mowers.

[Brent]

Hey Mary, I use a push mower once a week!

Then again, my yard is 14' x 14'. All the rest is grass.

My riding mower was a little overkill.

All I know is that if you keep track of that kid into adulthood, he will do one of two things when he has a house of his own.

EITHER, he will have a riding mower to do all that work OR he will only mow twice each summer.

I have scientific evidence to support those two outcomes based on growing up in an era when push mowers were the ONLY good mowers.

Put me down as a riding mower... I'm too lazy to push.

[Miss Mary]

Hey Mary, I use a push mower once a week!

Then again, my yard is 14' x 14'. All the rest is grass.

My riding mower was a little overkill.

All I know is that if you keep track of that kid into adulthood, he will do one of two things when he has a house of his own.

EITHER, he will have a riding mower to do all that work OR he will only mow twice each summer.

I have scientific evidence to support those two outcomes based on growing up in an era when push mowers were the ONLY good mowers.

Hey Steve - I think you meant your yard is 14' by 14', the rest isn't grass? Otherwise you'd better fire up that riding lawnmower!!! LOL Just a simple typo I'm sure.

We're still talking about the neighborhood boy! Hubby says it won't work out since our yards are too big. He'd have to cut every 3 or 4 days to keep up. A cylinder mower only works on small lawns or if you're not cutting much off. And lately it's raining almost every other day, if not more! I'm having to cut every 5 days it seems like. But more power to this kid I say! I guess Jim should know about these mowers....his 3 Great Aunts had one. Picture the Baldwin sisters from the TV show, the Waltons, since all 3 never married! They had this 3 story old house in an older suburb of Cincinnati. Their driveway consisted of two strips of concrete and grass in between - remember these types of driveways? Their garage doors opened out. Their plumbing and electrical was updated around 1950. Antiques everywhere! Beautiful old stained woodwork, fireplaces, etc. They're gone now but Jim and his siblings would stay with their aunts a lot over the summer when they were kids. And when it was time to cut the grass, they had to use that mower! He hated that job. We were given a few of their antiques - I'll treasure them always. And pass them along to my girls someday. Wonder who ever got the mower?

Mary

[azskyman]

Yup Mary...I meant...all the rest is ROCK!

I would like a power rake for that though!

My best friend as a kid had to mow by hand for years. He also had to trim along the sidewalk with hand trimmers. Corner lot...lots of sidewalk. It took him hours!

As an adult, over the years his yard has been cited as a public hazard and he has been fined for having grass up to his knees.

Funny thing about it? His wife works for a place that sells lawn mowers.

[Miss Mary]

Steve - that kid, now grown man, probably got burned out on lawn care? That is a funny story!!!

Hey I use lawn scissors/shears around my flower beds. We had a trimmer, but the battery finally died. Couldn't be recharged. Then I don't know, it just seemed easier to do it by hand! Cheaper too. Same scissors are going strong, 15 years now. Where's that old trimmer? LOL

Grass - rock, what's the difference........LOL Just kidding. I knew you had to mean something else - house, patio, pool, driveway. Some lawns in the Tampa/Clearwater area near my father-in-law's condo in Indian Rocks Beach, have all gravel now. The owners have the entire yard landscaped, even down to colored tiny gravel instead of grass. After the severe draught and fires, 1998 I want to say, my father-in-law said he saw a lot of homeowners getting rid of their lawns. They were mostly brown at that point anyway!

Mary

[Skywatch_NC]

Hey Mary, I use a push mower once a week!

Then again, my yard is 14' x 14'. All the rest is grass.

My riding mower was a little overkill.

All I know is that if you keep track of that kid into adulthood, he will do one of two things when he has a house of his own.

EITHER, he will have a riding mower to do all that work OR he will only mow twice each summer.

I have scientific evidence to support those two outcomes based on growing up in an era when push mowers were the ONLY good mowers.

Hey Steve - I think you meant your yard is 14' by 14', the rest isn't grass? Otherwise you'd better fire up that riding lawnmower!!! LOL Just a simple typo I'm sure.

We're still talking about the neighborhood boy! Hubby says it won't work out since our yards are too big. He'd have to cut every 3 or 4 days to keep up. A cylinder mower only works on small lawns or if you're not cutting much off. And lately it's raining almost every other day, if not more! I'm having to cut every 5 days it seems like. But more power to this kid I say! I guess Jim should know about these mowers....his 3 Great Aunts had one. Picture the Baldwin sisters from the TV show, the Waltons, since all 3 never married! They had this 3 story old house in an older suburb of Cincinnati. Their driveway consisted of two strips of concrete and grass in between - remember these types of driveways? Their garage doors opened out. Their plumbing and electrical was updated around 1950. Antiques everywhere! Beautiful old stained woodwork, fireplaces, etc. They're gone now but Jim and his siblings would stay with their aunts a lot over the summer when they were kids. And when it was time to cut the grass, they had to use that mower! He hated that job. We were given a few of their antiques - I'll treasure them always. And pass them along to my girls someday. Wonder who ever got the mower?

Mary

Hey Mary,

You mentioned the Baldwin sisters...yes, I really liked Miss Emily and Miss Mamie, too. It was amusing about all that "secret recipe" during The Waltons series! Remember that episode where Elizabeth and her friend George had a lemonade stand on the front porch of Godsey's General Store and Grandpa spiked one of the pitchers with the recipe? LOL

Eric

[Miss Mary]

Eric - yes I do! Good ole Grandpa and the 'Papa's recipe'! The sisters seemed to think nothing of it, since of course their father was the distinquised Judge, don't you know. I tape the show everyday again. It airs on TV Land and finally, the show are in order, as originally aired.

How about the time Elizabeth was trying her very best to make sponge cake just like Grandma used to make? And she just couldn't get it right, something was missing, even after 4 tries. Elizabeth mutters how annoying it is when cooks leave out one important ingredient, since they don't want their work duplicated......but her Grandma wouldn't do that! Ah, but then Grandma pulls her aside and shows her the secret ingredient. That was the time I about fell out of my chair - Grandma adding the recipe to a cake? Oh my, that was big stuff!!! LOL

Mary

[GalvestonDuck]

Ah, The Waltons!

That and Little House were arguably two of the best family dramas ever on television.

Has there been a really good family drama series on TV in the past 20 years? I don't mean family-friendly like Touched By An Angel or Highway To Heaven. I mean family-centered. Life Goes On, Eight Is Enough, and 7th Heaven seem to be the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. I just don't think any of those were as well-written as LHOTP or The Waltons.

[Pburgh]

I love 7th Heaven!!!