Today I was ordered to administer not only the forum but the first cut of the lawn. I now have a damaged hand from hours of fruitless pulling of the cord and coaxing of the ignition plug. My neighbours (who are not anglo-saxon) now have a firm grasp of the language but no mowers of their own.
My motor mower repair man has, at this time of year, a serious backlog in turning stuff around. So, humble posters, I prostrate myself before you that one saint amongst you could loan me a mower powered or unpowered for a couple of hours this week to give my repair man time to return mine back to life. Can collect and return.
Stand down all emergency services - Admin has fixed the mower! The air filter was saturated with oil. Dunno how but a dose of the Co-op's finest washing up liquid followed by the application of the hair dryer means the spring ritual of overdosing Sydenham with CO2 and deafening the neighbours can now be resumed.
Tim - understand where you are coming from but my grand kids don't. They just need a race track for their stable of push cars. Goats would be an unwelcome obstacle and casualty.
Thanks to all who offered their steeds.
Admin
PS the urgency was due to an amazing and never seen before bloom of tiny sycamores across the lawn. One every few inches. We have none near so there must have been a freak wind just at seeding time last year.
I'm inundated with sycamore seedlings this year too, as I think is Lee (mentioned on Tim's gardening thread).
I've still got my blades set high on my mower, so only lopping the tops of the seedlings in the grass at the moment. There are still plenty to pull out of the beds, paths, pots, gravel...
We've just found one growing inside the car door sill! I'm in Lawrie Park which is quite a way from you and Lee so it can't be just one errant tree. There also isn't a sycamore tree in proximity. Must be immigrants overflying our border controls!
It's still on on going battle the grass has grown incredibly quick too but it's still full of these little b******s. I weeded the whole garden a week ago and some grew in two days about an inch! It's weird. We have been here 7 years and never seen anything like it. They even grew in a sandpit under a cover in the dark!
May the races begin