Mower Washer Invention and the Man Behind It

I am honored to cyberknow (will I see this word in Webster’s Dictionary in the next few years?) a resourceful gentleman that possesses intelligence, imagination, common sense, talented hands, and an armory of power tools at his disposal.

Ken Bryden o f Vancouver, Canada is always brainstorming how to “build a better mousetrap.” He has created bubblers and filters for his water garden to assist in water clarity, built exquisite furniture from downed trees, and constructed an ingenious device that should be in every lawn jockey’s shed.

Ken has unselfishly sent instructions on how to build his contraption used to clean the freshly mown grass from the underside of the deck of your mower.

Per Ken:

1. “Build the “mower wash” wide enough to accommodate your rotary mower, with wood on either side and end to keep the mower from rolling off. It shows the hose on top of the cross piece but it is safer to have it under that cross piece. This way the sprinkler head can’t hit the blade.
2. Start the mower.
3. Turn on the water and in a minute, all the cut grass is washed from the underside of the deck.

This way the underside of the deck doesn’t get plugged and doesn’t rust out.
DON’T USE IT ON ELECTRIC MOWERS! ZAP!!”

Thank you, Ken, for sharing your invention. A clean lawnmower is an essential factor for a perfect lawn!

(I have very clever mice that have invaded my home over the long, cold winter months…how about a better mousetrap?)

shel

Hydrangea Horror and New Way to Grow Veggies

Last night we had heavy winds and rain that caused a huge oak to come crashing down. Fortunately, it missed the house. Unfortunately, it chose my three-year-old 'Limelight' hydrangea to cushion its fall. The upper branches also knocked down part of the leather leaf viburnum, bent my copper arch fence out of shape, and crushed the daylilies, iris, Lenten rose, daffodils, and hollyhocks that were braving the cold weather.

On the upside, I will have plenty of firewood for the fire pit. There's nothing better than ribeyes cooked over an oak flame.

Tomorrow I will sharpen my clippers and start trimming away the badly damaged plants. Hopefully the roots of the perennials still have enough "umph" in them to send out more leaves, the hydrangea will come back even fuller than before, and the viburnum will fill back in on the damaged side. It will be interesting to see how things develop in the spring.

I didn't get the chance to add soil amendments to the vegetable garden last fall (I haven't even cleaned it off yet!) so I have decided to try a new approach this year. I plan on purchasing the largest bags of potting soil available. I will leave the bag relatively intact; I'll use a screw driver to punch some holes through the bag to allow for drainage, cut X's in the top, and plant my zucchini, cucumbers, and green peppers directly in the bags. Newspapers will be placed in water then layered between the bags to create rows. I'll use cedar mulch (that's what I have on hand) over the top of the bags to help hold in the water.

I also plan on planting three straw bales this year. I've been reading up on how to "age" them (it takes 10 days) so that you plant directly into the middle of the rotting hay. All of the tomato plants, which have extensive root systems, will go into the hay bales rather than the soil bags.

In the fall I can cut the bags and bales open and distribute their contents onto the garden. It will help to enrich the soil for the 2012 garden.

Years ago I learned to use bags of mulch to plant impatiens. I put six impatiens per bag, watered daily, and used Miracle Grow every week. The impatiens flourished in the improvised planters, filling out so completely that you couldn't tell that they were in a bag. Try it for yourself...I think you'll be extremely pleased with the results!

shel

Clutter out of Kindness OR Why My House is Messy

I have an inordinate amount of love and admiration for my 57-year-old sister Shannon. At 50, I still have high hopes that I can grow up to be more like her. She is beautiful, intelligent, successful, highly respected and loved by her patients and peers, and extremely adventurous.

There is one major difference between my beloved sister and myself that I wouldn't trade for all of the tea in China (and I love my tea!)

Shannon is a clean, clutter-free freak, almost to the point of being a minimalist. Everything is in its place at all times. I’ve never seen such a clear kitchen counter. Her home is like a beautiful hotel.

My house, on the other hand, is organized chaos. Oxymoron, I know, but it’s true. After Shannon, Mom, Dad and I returned from our month-long trip to Alabama, I took a closer look at my own house. I became aware, for the first time in our 10+ years of living here, that my house is tumultuous because I’m a giver, NOT because I’m a slob.

Consider the evidence:

 I collect the tabs from pop cans, soups, and so on to donate to the Ronald McDonald House in Springfield. My grandson was a micro-premie, and I utilized their facility before and after he was born. I try to show my appreciation for their services by making monetary donations and picking up tabs wherever I can find them. Thanks to my parents, sorority sisters and garden club friends for helping me.
 Max drinks approximately 14 cans of diet soda per day. (Ridiculous, right? It’s going to kill him but he won’t stop. It’s bad for the grocery budget, too.) We save the cans for recycling. The money that we bring in from recycling will go to Brianna, my beautiful, intelligent great-niece that will be taking a class trip to Spain.
 Box Tops for Education and Campbell’s Soup labels go into an antique pitcher on the counter top. (Mom saves hers to give to me, as well.) Every few months I will trim up the labels, sort them into Zip-Loc bags, and send them to school with Bryan. I don’t understand how anyone can maliciously throw away this money for our schools. Is it laziness?
 There is a considerate woman in our town that has organized a clothes closet for Junior High kids in need. While most of my clothes are “old lady” styles (according to my daughter and nieces) I do have some stuff that the kids will be able to wear. Jeans, sweatshirts, nice T-shirts, and a jean jacket (they never go out of style) are in a bag and ready to be delivered.
 I’ve lost 55 lbs. Recently and have gone down a few sizes. My “old lady” clothes are getting cleaned, packed, and delivered to Encore, a resale shop in town that hires the mentally and physically handicapped. I do this in honor of my brother Randy who was blind and mentally challenged. Why throw something away when someone else can get use from it?
 There are a few things for Freecycle, a not-for-profit group of Internet folks that share their items as well as their needs. Usually I don’t offer items on the site (Freecycle.org, part of the Yahoo groups), but if I see that someone posts that they need a particular item, I contact them.
 DOVE, a domestic violence program for the abused, holds a garage sale during their biannual garden walk. There’s a stack of freshly washed decorative flowerpots, a triple-heart grapevine wreath, and other garden-related tidbits packed in a box. In the next few days I’ll have to drop it off at Wilma’s house.
 Mom receives about 12 subscriptions each month. After she finishes reading the magazines, she passes them on to me. My daughter and I read them; I tear off the address labels, and then drop them off at the nursing home. Birds and Blooms, Time, Newsweek, Star, National Geographic, Better Homes and Gardens, and many more give the elderly and their guests something to enjoy. I hope they recycle them when they are done!
 Times have been tough for my daughter and her family so I have a tendency to purchase extra groceries when they are on sale and share them with her. I delivered some goodies this morning. Gabe was thrilled with the Pop-Tarts.
 As an ex-employee of Community Action, I know that there is need for extra food in many households in our area. They also receive my surplus groceries (Totino’s Pizzas were on sale for 74 cents a while back, so I filled the freezer.) I ask for extra IGA paper grocery bags and save them, as well as plastic bags from the local Mart store, for the girls to pack groceries from the food pantry for those in need. It helps the environment as well as helping the indigent. Unfortunately, it also fills up my sunroom.
 In a few years my grandson Gabe will be attending the local preschool. They collect used ink cartridges and old cell phones to help fund projects. There’s also a book in the bag that I had gotten from a garage sale for the teacher. It gives ideas on bulletin board designs, games, and learning activities that I think Mrs. Miller will enjoy.
 I have a bag of goodies for mom and dad sitting in the closet. When I see them on Sunday I’ll bring it to them. There’s a bag of diabetic candy for their very helpful neighbor Jerry, some paperwork that I need them to sign, and a few other odds and ends. If I get to the bread store I’ll also pick up a few of the thin buns for them.
 I have a bag of stuff for Erin’s house. It holds pink paper cups that she can use for Lari’s birthday party this weekend as well as Jaden’s toothbrush and toothpaste that he left her last weekend.
 In May I will be leading the Garden Club in making gazing globes out of bowling balls. There’s four big balls rolling around in the van and stacks of chipped dishes on the countertop, waiting to go through the dishwasher. I’ll still need to pick up the grout and other supplies to do the balls, print out directions for everyone to follow along, and collect the other two bowling balls that are currently residing in my gardens. I’m also the hostess for the night so bake up a bunch of goodies and make a fruit platter for nibbling. I think I’ll also take a bottle of red wine and some lemonade as the beverages. More clutter, I know.
 Alana is getting married in October and has planned a Halloween-theme wedding. Her old bedroom is filled with totes, boxes and bags of after-season sales of Halloween outfits (for the people that want to get dressed up for the costume reception), hundreds of skulls and other decorations, clear crystal candle and votive holders, and various designs of clear glass candy jars. There will be a Candy Bar where guests can fill their bags with dozens of different types of confections. The kids will love it. (Some day that room will be a guest room/office/craft room.)
 Easter will be held here. I have cut WAY back on the amount of eggs that I fill and hide, but they still take up lots of room.
 With three, almost four, grandsons, I have enough toys to sink a ship. Added to that is the high chair, two black children’s chairs for the dining room table, two child-size rocking chairs, and countless other baby-minded items and furniture. The kids have a blast and old Grandma here doesn’t mind cleaning up after them…for now.
 I currently have dial-up Internet service, but have high hopes of someday finding affordable high speed Internet. At that time I will sell many of my garage sale finds on E-bay. In the meantime they are stacked, along with Alana’s wedding goodies, in her old bedroom.
 The sunroom leaks like a sieve. It’s raining even as I type, so there are five large Rubbermaid containers catching the water that drips in. It’s supposed to rain for most of this next week so walking through the room will be a challenge.
 There are three cats and two Siberian huskies that live in the house. Need I say more?
 My husband is a slob, a real Jack Kluggman type of guy. (Wasn’t he the messy one from The Odd Couple?) Even though I am considered a housewife, I get very, very tired of pick up after him.

I realize the last few items that I have listed are things that don’t really match the rest of the excuses for my clutter. I can give more of the boys’ toys to Encore to help save room, give up on my E-bay wish and donate the collections, find new homes for the expensive and time-consuming animals (okay, I couldn’t really do that), teach my husband how to clean up after himself (tried to for years), and stop spending money on extra groceries and stuff for other people so that I can afford to have the roof leak fixed, therefore eliminating the whole Rubbermaid mess during rainy season… but I just can’t.

Instead, I will continue to deliver as much as I can to everyone that I can, ignore the piles of “stuff” that will all eventually go to a new home, and frantically hide boxes and bags in my bedroom (and close the door tightly) each time guests come over…. especially my wonderful and clutter-free sister Shannon.

Remember, there is need in this world. Please do your share to help. Oh, and if you have any spare time, I could use a hand with deliveries!

shel