The Saga of the Mower

Husband: "Guess what I am getting you for Mother's Day".
Me: "What?"
Him: "Um...a lawn mower".

This was Husband's way of telling me that our latest lawn mower is now our late lawn mower.

We have a very small lawn. I wouldn't call it grass, per se. More like manicured weeds. It doesn't take much to keep our yard lovely, but it does take a mower of some kind. Any kind, really. So long as it works. Which our most recent acquisition does not.

This brings us to my Mother's Day present. I'm not a candy-and-flowers sort of girl (though I do like those things). I actually get excited about stuff that I can buy at Lowes and work with in my garage (see how happy I got refinishing a table?).

As my present, I asked for a reel mower. Specifically, I asked for the Fiskars 18" Reel Lawn Mower that I had seen at Lowes. I like the idea of a push-reel mower. I like that we don't have to worry if it starts, or if we have gas for it, or if the kids are learning new swear words while listening to Husband try to get it running. You push; it goes. Simple. The only more eco-friendly, cost-effective option would be renting a sheep. (Don't think it didn't cross my mind.)

Off to Lowes to get it! The boys were thrilled, but mainly because they were in a cart that looked like a race car. I was thrilled because at $199, this new mower costs less the gas-powered ones, AND we won't have to buy fuel for it.

So I get home, excitedly crack open the instruction booklet, and start assembling my new toy!...er...mower!
Hey - would it surprise you to know that the handle is only kept on by two cotter pins? Yeah. Hold on to that little factoid. It'll be important later.

After a few minutes, it's fully assembled and ready to tackle our weed patch!...er...lawn! Husband and I took turns. I'll admit that it was a lot of work (especially when I tried to cut the particularly long grass on a particularly short setting), but once I got the hang of it, I had fun! It was good exercise, and was way less noisy and unpleasant than the gas mower. Also, I probably shouldn't have tried it while still battling bronchitis, but what are inhalers for, anyway?

Care to guess what problem we met with? Remember the cotter pins? Yeah, well one of them escaped during Husband's turn, detaching one side of the handle from the mower. Awesome. So we had a brand new, totally useless mower. This morning I returned to the hardware store with my remaining cotter pin, and a very nice Lowes employee helped me find it some friends.

A quick fix later, and the handle is once again firmly attached. (I'm still calling Fiskar's about this tomorrow. At the very least, I feel that they should know. Maybe they'll pack extra cotter pins in the box for an emergency?)

All in all, I am happy, the yard is neatly clipped, and we no longer have to buy gasoline at $4+ a gallon to feed the mower.

We just might have to buy a 68-cent pack of cotter pins every now and again.