Lizzy, I am in almost the exact same boat as you, mower-wise. I am about the same height and weight but have never had trouble keeping my mower running - I guess it must be set to a different tolerance. But right now I can't even get it started. I've known for awhile that the starter is going out on it as I usually have to try multiple times to get it started. The last few times I mowed I couldn't get it started and DH came and was somehow able to start it. Then one time he was on it, got it started, and then we had quite a job transferring to me. He had to stay in the seat and weight it down until I was enough in the seat that he could slide out from under me before it died. Anyway, we tried yesterday to get it started and neither of us could get it going at all. He thinks it is the starter solenoid so I guess we need to get someone out here to service it. Grrr. In the meantime, the grass hasn't been mowed in two weeks and is getting really thick and high. I pulled out my smaller push mower to do the chicken yard this weekend and it was SO much work to get through the long grass with that but at least I can look at one area of the yard and it looks good. But in the middle of that, it died too. Only because it was out of gas but of course I had emptied the jerry can into the non-running big mower so had to run to town to refill it just so I could finish mowing with the small mower. A trip to town meant I had to run other errands too, since I can't justify the trip only to refill a jerry can so it was hours later before I got back to the mowing. You know how that goes.
So Danz - it may not have been a fun day mowing but thank goodness at least you could! Sorry about your hen but glad you found the missing duck eggs.
Kuan - I do not understand pools. Seriously. I've never liked to swim, really. As a kid my mother used to take us to the local pool in summer and I enjoyed that but by the time I was teen I would rather be hot than get in water and I still feel the same way today. The last thing I ever want to have to do is maintain a pool. When we were house-shopping last year we found the absolute perfect house. It was beautiful, in a great location and had everything on our want list and then some. Five bedrooms, each with a walk-in closet and separate bathroom, a walk-in pantry, huge, fully finished, walk-out basement, beautifully appointed in every way. The one downside to it was it had an in-ground pool. Honestly, for weeks after we looked at it we just kept putting off making an offer because of that darned pool. We even talked to contractors about having it filled in, but that was going to be so expensive it wasn't doable. The pool was surrounded on all sides by concrete and around that was a rod iron fence so by the time we pulled out the fence, the concrete and filled in the pool, it was going to cost more than it would have originally cost to put in the pool - and really add to what we were paying for the house itself. So we wound up not making an offer on the house. I know of a lot of other people who feel the same way so do be careful about putting one in, that it is in your permanent home - because despite what real estate agents tell you, an in-ground pool often lowers the value of a house, rather than raising it.
Trish, glad you had a good afternoon with your granddaughter. They really do grow up so fast, don't they? How is she doing with the health issues?
This morning I went out on our front porch with my coffee, not paying much attention, and was startled by movement a little ways away from me. It was two wild turkey hens! They stopped running after only a short distance and for the next 30 minutes, moseyed around my front yard while I watched, pecking here and there, and stopping to preen for awhile. I think they heard Ned gobbling and he drew them in. It was so fun to watch them.
On the subject of house-cleaning, I realized when my kids were little that they are only small once and I would rather have memories of all the fun times we had together, than have them remember me cleaning while they stayed out of the way. So, despite what Danz thinks about me being a "neat freak" - I laughed so hard about that afterward - it is probably the one and only time someone will accuse me of THAT - I would most times be embarrassed if someone stopped in unexpectedly. I do like my kitchen counters to be cleaned off and wiped down but I frequently let the rest of the house go, only doing a really thorough job of picking up when I know company is coming over. Most of the time I'd rather be outdoors anyway.
I have several more broody hens. Forget everything I ever said about welcoming broodies - now its just getting old. Although my latest broody is a first in a way, as she is my first "proven" broody. She is my sultan, who brooded and successfully hatched a couple of chicks around this time last year. Actually, its almost a year to the date since the last time she went broody. So I gave her a couple of eggs from the Reese birds and I'll let her go ahead and raise those up for me, since I figure she's likely to do a good job if she's already been down that road before. I did discover when I gave her the Reese eggs, that she has been stealing duck eggs. I figured she stole them from the broody duck, since she started sitting with her, so I decided to leave them under her and if the ducklings hatch, give them to the duck to raise. But this morning the broody duck was off her nest so I decided to check on it and she is only missing one egg. The sultan is sitting on quite a few eggs so only one of them was stolen from the broody duck, and the others must have been stolen from the only duck who is laying. I guess tonight after dark I will try to candle and figure out which one is the one she is allowed to sit on and which are under a week old.
