View from my office (if a bit zoomed)
I love it when we get snow in the ranges. Is not the Southern Alps, but we get better weather in Hawke’s Bay.
6 Likes
November 2019 in Derby (I was there for Midcon): working on the riverside path.
This subway is now closed.
2 Likes
I have been watching Clarkson’s Farm on Prime, and that Autumn flood was nearly biblical.
2 Likes
Up to now, 49 people died the last 2 days in Germany because of the flood. Over 50 are missing. The weather is pretty crazy and won’t be the last time. Climate change is here.
4 Likes
We only just were on vacation in the region. We were woken by the radio news, had to check on our friends there immediately. They only had minor flooding. Another friend in a different area had his garden and basement flooded. But whole villages were destroyed and there are still people missing.
These „once a generation“ floods and other extreme weather is not just that rare any more. And tomorrow there is going to be more rain—here at least. I have no idea how high the Rhine can go before it is too much but 8.5m above normal is a lot. The river harbor‘s been shut down (they have a gate they can close so it doesn‘t immediately flood the surrounding area)
5 Likes
We get a new record heat or flood every (other) year nowadays. As you said.
Now over 100 people died. Still a ton missing. We always got floods but not like that.
5 Likes
This is the lawnmower my wife uses on our lawn: (we have an agreement: we bought a house with a lawn because she wanted it, she mows)
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Earthwise-Quiet-Cut-18-in-Manual-Walk-Behind-Nonelectric-Push-Reel-Mower-California-Compliant-515-18/205518433
We have a 1500ish sq ft house (plus that again in not-really-finished basement) on a 30 x 125 lot, so not lots of lawn to be mowed. Takes about 20 minutes.
2 Likes
After our greyhound passed away we got the backyard landscaped. The trench the dog dug with her claws and her sprints is now a small lawn. We got a similar mower.
The lawn that came with our house was so small that I probably could have cut it by doing a spin with a mower 
I’m so jealous of British lawns. According to the county property records, I have a 0.38 acre lawn (~1540 m2). That does not include the footprint of the house.
I didn’t quite realize how large the property was when we made the offer (due to the time limits imposed during our walkthroughs as a result of COVID-19 precautions). I also didn’t realize how many shrubs and hedges are involved.
2 Likes
I’ve got young kids, so I wanted our big backyard. As much as I hate yard maintenance (I have really bad allergies), I’m glad they have a space they can run around, even if we don’t get them out as much as we would like. The lot is about 10k square feet, and the house takes up only 1.1k of that. Front yard is probably about half the size of the back, though with the driveway and such, there is not much lawn to care for there. Tons in the back though, and with apple trees which are starting to drop, there’s a lot of debris to watch out for when mowing.
4 Likes
I consider myself a renowned indoorsman; I try to avoid going outside (mostly as a function of living in Kansas the vast majority of my life; either it’s too hot, or too cold – in either case, it’s not the temperature but the humidity that makes it miserable. And the week or so every year when it’s a decent temperature outside, the mosquitos are out).
Lawn maintenance (and exterior house maintenance) are just about the last thing I ever want to do. I also don’t like my garage to smell like gasoline. Right now we are lucky enough to be able to pay a company to mow for us. When my kids are a little older and don’t require quite as much attention 24x7, maybe I’ll buy another lawn mower and do it myself…
We do really love having a large yard for our kids to play in. But, for whatever reason, they only want to play in the front yard, not the fenced-in back yard. And they are drawn to the lawn on the side of the house that is on the busier of the 2 streets we face (we’re on the corner of a small, stubby cul-de-sac). So having the kids outside is miserable – not only because it’s usually too hot and humid, but also because you have to constantly move from one position or another to keep your eyes on them.
(EDIT: as I was typing that, my partner was helping our kids get their shoes on to go play in the front yard… 1) she’s an amazing mom and knows that playing outdoors is important for kids (and parents) in a number of ways 2) it’s still early-ish in the day and not even 80F yet…)
4 Likes
Electric mowers are getting better these days, I picked one up earlier this year. It can probably do the whole backyard on one charge (not counting the initial mow, when the grass was many inches high), the blades automatically pick up speed if it detects too much resistance, no gas or oil to worry about, and it folds up to store on its end, which greatly reduces its footprint in the garage. Highly recommended.
Yeah, I would not dream of letting our kids play out in the front. First of all, there’s barely any yard there anyway. But mostly because both kids are runners, and the street is right there and we get some crazy people racing through here.
And what you describe is why the kids don’t get out as much as we would like. We have to keep our eyes on them constantly. My older kid mostly just climbs up into the play structure and stays there, so he’s not too much hassle now, but our younger kid is always running all over and he has a bad habit of putting things in his mouth, and I don’t know what everything around our house is. He also does not seem to care much about where he is going, so too often might get close to the rose bushes or the bits of blackberry vines which are ever-present and eternal here. Two of our three fences are in dire need of repair, as well, so need to make sure he doesn’t find a weak point to jump into a neighbors yard, too. It’s tiring, so, yeah, they just don’t get out too often.
2 Likes
Years ago my partner and I moved in together for the first time into a duplex. The garage was under the living room and, for whatever reason, there was HVAC ducting and a heating/cooling register in the garage, so any odor in the garage would be smelled in the living room (i.e. the bulk of the living space). We were responsible for half of the yard; the first month we borrowed a friends’ spare gas-powered mower, but were really bothered by the smell of gasoline permeating through the house. So we bought a used reel mower; it had just been restored and did a great job. The yard was not that big and with the (freshly sharpened) reel mower, it took about 30 minutes. Before the end of the season, the reel needed sharpening and I called around trying to find someone to sharpen it for me – apparently nobody wants to do that… and I still don’t understand why. Without the benefit of the tools I have now, we sold the reel mower in a garage sale and planned to buy a new mower during the winter (looking to get one during a sale in the off-season). We ended up buying a corded electric mower, which we still have. It’s a very good mower. We kept it and used it the rest of the time we lived in the duplex and for the first 2 or 3 years of our next house. That house had quite a bit more yard and it was all hill; nearly the entire yard was at least a 15° slope, some of it closer to 30°. And the electric mower was quite small (19" cut I think?). The spring following the birth of our oldest, we looked into a service and started using the same 1-man-show mower that a few of our neighbors were using. And we’ve been paying someone ever since.
I still have the electric mower. And the 200 feet of extension cords (that is technically not allowed). The mower works great and I can sharpen the blade myself with an angle grinder. But the handle and wheels have all but completely fallen apart. Being a bit handy myself, I might reconstruct it (as a remote-controlled mower?) But if we ever decide to terminate our mowing service and do it ourselves, I think the size of our lawn warrants a much larger mower; possibly ride-on, but maybe just a professional-grade walk-behind with a large cut width.
I avoided cordless mowers because I hate being stuck with dead batteries and no way to replace them cheaply. I think Ryobi as a brand has impressed me by their willingness to stick with the same batteries and support their older products; I don’t currently own any Ryobi equipment but the next time I’m looking to buy cordless, they will be the first I check out.
2 Likes
I have a HART brand mower, which ironically is just a rebranded Ryobi. Though from my understanding, they reworked the batteries so that they aren’t interchangeable between the brands.
2 Likes
We have a huge yard - a small park about 50 m from us. Someone else does all the maintenance!
7 Likes
Probably the last photos from my old iPhone:
8 Likes
Man, you’re making my allergies act up!
5 Likes