"... saw the Lewises and C.W. (White Horse) for 1/2 hour; mowed three lawns... Grr! The fourth lawn will have to wait." ibid, #63, p. 74.
On Sun, 31 May 2020 16:45:56 -0400, Bill O'Meally wrote:
"... saw the Lewises and C.W. (White Horse) for 1/2 hour; mowed three
lawns... Grr! The fourth lawn will have to wait." ibid, #63, p. 74.
The ordinariness of it all makes me smile. It's too easy to put men like
this on a pedestal above common drudgery. Do you suppose "C.W." is
Charles Williams?
On 2020-06-01 06:40:30 +0000, Faux Dameron said:
On Sun, 31 May 2020 16:45:56 -0400, Bill O'Meally wrote:
"... saw the Lewises and C.W. (White Horse) for 1/2 hour; mowed three
lawns... Grr! The fourth lawn will have to wait." ibid, #63, p. 74.
The ordinariness of it all makes me smile. It's too easy to put men like
this on a pedestal above common drudgery. Do you suppose "C.W." is
Charles Williams?
Yes, I was snickering as I kept coming across these lawnmowing
references, possibly laughing out loud at the "Grr!". :-) Hence my
humerous (in my mind) subject line. CW is definitely Charles Williams.
of garden'. But what's with the *four* lawns? Was this one of his many
On 5/31/2020 4:45 PM, Bill O'Meally wrote:
of garden'. But what's with the *four* lawns? Was this one of his many
My first guess is front, side, rear, side.
On 2020-06-04 00:30:22 +0000, Glenn Holliday said:
On 5/31/2020 4:45 PM, Bill O'Meally wrote:
of garden'. But what's with the *four* lawns? Was this one of his many
My first guess is front, side, rear, side.
Hmm. That make a lot of sense, and you are probably correct. But it
seems odd to describe his own patches of grass as simply numerical
'lawns' rather than 'the front lawn', 'the back lawn', 'the Lawn of
Parth Galen', etc. ;-)
Wouldn't he have been more likely to say something like, "I mowed the
front and both sides. Grr! the back will have to wait"?
That wouldn't have been nearly as dramatic! JRRT did like to play the
martyr on occasion, or maybe it's nearer the truth to say that he
sometimes exaggerated real misfortunes so that they seemed worse than
they were. IDHTBIFOM, but for example I think he talked about his
mother having been "persecuted" by the rest of the family, after his
father's death, because she stayed Roman Catholic.
This is not of the same order, of course, but I could see him
claiming four lawns for "poetical exaggeration".
On Thu, 4 Jun 2020 19:53:49 -0400, Bill O'Meally wrote:
And you can bet he used a (non-motorized) push mower! Can you imagine
his dismay in his suburban existence at the noise of lawn equipment and
their 'infernal combustion engines'? :-)
i had to buy a new lawn mower recently, and not a battery-powered one
from Home Depot. It's just as powerful as a gasoline-powered one, but
among its many advantages is that it's a LOT less noisy.
As for Mabel Tolkien, he went as far to view his mother as a being
martyr to the Catholic faith.
That always seemed kind of over the top to me.
And you can bet he used a (non-motorized) push mower! Can you imagine
his dismay in his suburban existence at the noise of lawn equipment and
their 'infernal combustion engines'? :-)
As for Mabel Tolkien, he went as far to view his mother as a being
martyr to the Catholic faith.
i had to buy a new lawn mower recently, and not a battery-powered one
from Home Depot. It's just as powerful as a gasoline-powered one,
but among its many advantages is that it's a LOT less noisy.
On 2020-06-04 23:37:18 +0000, Stan Brown said:
That wouldn't have been nearly as dramatic! JRRT did like to play the
martyr on occasion, or maybe it's nearer the truth to say that he
sometimes exaggerated real misfortunes so that they seemed worse than
they were. IDHTBIFOM, but for example I think he talked about his
mother having been "persecuted" by the rest of the family, after his
father's death, because she stayed Roman Catholic.
This is not of the same order, of course, but I could see him
claiming four lawns for "poetical exaggeration".
And you can bet he used a (non-motorized) push mower! Can you imagine
his dismay in his suburban existence at the noise of lawn equipment and
their 'infernal combustion engines'? :-)
On Fri, 5 Jun 2020 06:45:46 -0700, Stan Brown wrote:
i had to buy a new lawn mower recently, and not a battery-powered one
from Home Depot. It's just as powerful as a gasoline-powered one,
but among its many advantages is that it's a LOT less noisy.
Sorry for the typo, which created confusion. I should have written
" ... GOT a battery-powered one ...". This one, in fact:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-20-in-40-Volt-Brushless-Lithium- >Ion-Cordless-Battery-Walk-Behind-Push-Lawn-Mower-6-0-Ah-Battery- >Charger-Included-RY401110-Y/311084745
Yes, it's necessary to push the mower, but it's so light that that's
really not a burden. And the handle is adjustable so a backache is
less likely.
I haven't noticed any problem with high center of gravity or
difficulty in turning. I wouldn't have bought a corded mower on a
bet, but the rechargeable battery is great. And it's interchangeable
with the battery on my weed whacker, so if I run out of juice in the
middle of a work session I can just swap batteries and keep going.
On 2020-06-05 13:45:46 +0000, Stan Brown said:
On Thu, 4 Jun 2020 19:53:49 -0400, Bill O'Meally wrote:
And you can bet he used a (non-motorized) push mower! Can you imagine
his dismay in his suburban existence at the noise of lawn equipment and
their 'infernal combustion engines'? :-)
i had to buy a new lawn mower recently, and not a battery-powered one
from Home Depot. It's just as powerful as a gasoline-powered one, but
among its many advantages is that it's a LOT less noisy.
'Not' a battery powered one? You mean a *manual* push mower? I got one once and did not find it to work very well, and it took lots of effort
even when I was 20 years younger! Tolkien was just a couple years
younger than me now when he wrote those letters. Could have just been a poor quality model.
I had a manual push mower once. I worked well for a short while,
then pieces began to fall off.
Actually, I have an old scythe, which I mowed grass with a few
times
to find out what it was like. I would need to practice with it
more than I did to become skilled with it. I wonder if
Tolkien handled one of those when he was in the country?
On 6/5/2020 10:10 AM, Bill O'Meally wrote:
On 2020-06-05 13:45:46 +0000, Stan Brown said:
On Thu, 4 Jun 2020 19:53:49 -0400, Bill O'Meally wrote:
And you can bet he used a (non-motorized) push mower! Can you imagine >>>> his dismay in his suburban existence at the noise of lawn equipment and >>>> their 'infernal combustion engines'? :-)
i had to buy a new lawn mower recently, and not a battery-powered one
from Home Depot. It's just as powerful as a gasoline-powered one, but
among its many advantages is that it's a LOT less noisy.
'Not' a battery powered one? You mean a *manual* push mower? I got one
once and did not find it to work very well, and it took lots of effort
even when I was 20 years younger! Tolkien was just a couple years
younger than me now when he wrote those letters. Could have just been a
poor quality model.
I had a manual push mower once. I worked well for a short while,
then pieces began to fall off. I was unable to find a good quality >replacement.
This was before Internet - I could probably find
many choices today. But at that time I switched to electric -
corded, as battery mowers were in their infancy then. It has
run well for more than 20 years, and I learned to manage the
cord well enough to like using the thing. When it eventually
breaks down I will likely switch to a battery mower.
Actually, I have an old scythe, which I mowed grass with a few times--
to find out what it was like. I would need to practice with it
more than I did to become skilled with it. I wonder if
Tolkien handled one of those when he was in the country?
Or you could always just get a few goats. :-)
Sadly, he lived before the advent -- or, at least, the wide
availability -- of electric mowers.
At that point we left and went to the little guy up the road and
bought an electric one. Long cord, but fewer moving parts, so lasts
longer. And the little guy repairs it and services it, and only tells
us to get a new one when it's really unfixable.
On Sun, 14 Jun 2020 07:38:46 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:
At that point we left and went to the little guy up the road and
bought an electric one. Long cord, but fewer moving parts, so lasts
longer. And the little guy repairs it and services it, and only tells
us to get a new one when it's really unfixable.
A trustworthy mechanic is worth his or her weight in gold.
I wouldn't even consider a cutting-type appliance with a cord. Being
Mr. Clumsy, I would sooner or later -- probably sooner -- cut right
through the cord. But battery-operated ones are just right for me:
enough juice from a charge to get the job done, fewer moving parts,
very little maintenance, and no fluids!
If it were physically possible, I'd have a battery-operated
generator. (For those who don't know, in southern California the
power company shuts off power in times of high wind, because
otherwise their **uninsulated** transmission lines touch each other,
spark, and cause wildfires. The shutoffs can last for days, so either
you accept that you'll lose a fridgeful of food once or twice a year,
or you buy a generator for backup power.)
If it were physically possible, I'd have a battery-operated
generator. (For those who don't know, in southern California the
power company shuts off power in times of high wind, because
otherwise their **uninsulated** transmission lines touch each other,
spark, and cause wildfires. The shutoffs can last for days, so either
you accept that you'll lose a fridgeful of food once or twice a year,
or you buy a generator for backup power.)
On 2020-06-14 13:15:08 +0000, Stan Brown said:
If it were physically possible, I'd have a battery-operated
generator. (For those who don't know, in southern California the
power company shuts off power in times of high wind, because
otherwise their **uninsulated** transmission lines touch each other,
spark, and cause wildfires. The shutoffs can last for days, so either
you accept that you'll lose a fridgeful of food once or twice a year,
or you buy a generator for backup power.)
When did you move to SoCal Stan?
Far cry from Upstate NY! I recall
getting Finger Lake winery advice from you for my honeymoon back in
2003!
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