Fall

It has cooled off a lot, and it's looking like fall.  The main trees in my yard are Water Oaks and Yellow Poplars.  I knew the poplars turned yellow and they're one of the first trees to drop leaves.  They turn, and fall right away.  They're adding bright color to the ground in the backyard.  My last experience with oaks were the huge ones I had in Michigan.  They had big leaves that were a real chore to deal with in the fall.  I think I like Water Oaks.  Their leaves are small which means they'll decompose faster, and won't lay a thick carpet of suffocating leaf litter.  I don't plan to deal with them at all.  Since there's no lawn in back, they will contribute to the garden where they fall.

I was also pleased to see that the Water Oaks are colorful in the fall.  Most oaks turn shades of brown.  These are turning yellow first, then darken to an attractive shade of pinkish gold.  Very pretty while all the shades are on the tree at once.

Got all the big (as in EXPENSIVE) projects done outside.  At least for now.  There's a few other things I'd like to do, but they're not a priority, and can wait to see when the budget allows.  I'll be concentrating on the gardens from now on.  Well, except for the inside projects.  Still lots of those, but most are just a matter of getting it done, and not any more expense.

I spent some imaginary money at Home Depot the other day.  I just cruised in to see what they had for fall planting.  Yep, I want that.  And that.  And some of those.  I managed to walk out without buying anything, but I'll be back soon.

In Wildthings News:

I finally put out bird feeders over a month ago, but no one noticed.  The Carolina Wrens dropped in, but I think they were only interested in what they could find lurking in the deck flower garden in the same area.

This female cardinal was the first to notice this week.

Her mate was right behind her.

I'm sure I'll see more action now that birds are coming.  There was a House Finch the other day.  As migratory birds begin passing through or coming back, it should get quite busy.

I saw Pileated Woodpeckers for the first time when I moved to Tennessee 10 years ago.  The forest around me was full of them.  I was surprised and pleased to see them in my backyard here.  This neighborhood is surrounded by extensive forest land, and there's a lot of natural habitat all through the 'hood.  Apparently enough to attract the Pileateds.  I've been trying for 10 years to capture one on film, but they never came close enough.  

I finally got these this week!  Not the greatest shots due to full zoom through window screen, but I got him.  That was exciting.  The red spot in the chin stripe marks this one as male.

I'm enjoying the cooler weather.  The AC has been turned off for about a month, and I like that.  I'd rather have windows open, and the electric bill is happier.  I hope it will be a while before I need heat, but I might have to start running it at night.  Once it goes below 55, it's a bit too cool in the house for me.

The Wildthings list has been updated.

tnt

Natureschild

Light Play

One of the many things I like about this house is the natural light.  Every room has a large window, and most have 2.  I began to notice the interesting silhouettes on the walls.  On the east side of the house is the thick stand of trees.  The rising sun shines through them and casts animated shadows on the floor or wall.  The setting sun also gets through the trees on that side enough to add living art.

I've always loved suncatchers, and in my old house, I had several windows on the south side.  I took advantage with crystal rainbow makers in those windows.  One of my crafts is beadery of a sort.  I refurbish windchimes and suncatchers with glass beads and crystals.  I had quite a collection.  Alas, I don't have a good south window in this house.  The only one in the main areas is the living room, but it's under the porch roof and doesn't catch any light that way.  So I have to accept that my suncatchers will only be effective in a limited way.  I'll probably refurbish my rainbow makers again to get more crystals in one piece for the few windows that can do them justice.

This is the nook off the kitchen.  I thought for a long time about what to do with it.  It's not very big...about 9' x 6'.  I tried the table in here, but it took up more room than I wanted to give up, and I hardly ever use the table anyways.  I finally decided that this would be my crafting corner.  Then I realized I spent a lot of time looking at it.  My "throne" is at the end of the island where I drink coffee or wine depending on time of day, and just gaze out the doors at the trees where I'll see wildlife, and the deck garden.  I decided to make the room part of the view.

As you can see, there's a lot of light play here.  The doors face east and the window is north, so the light isn't intense or all day, but it's bright enough for most houseplants.  To maximize the light, I installed the mirror tile "window" on the right behind the plant rack.  Not only does it gather more light for the room, it reflects the view outside the door.  The houseplants turn the room into an extension of the outside.  So now I'm calling this "The Garden Room".  Next project will be to paint it.  It's going to be blue as will the kitchen.

One thing that became a special sight was the gazing balls.  I have 2 glass mosaic balls that I found at the discount store (Big Lots).  They were originally intended for the garden, but then I discovered the glass mosaic pattern reflects the sun when it's in just the right position, and shoots sparkles all over the room.  You can see a hint of that in the photo.  So those balls are permanent fixtures in front of windows.

If you have windows that give you interesting light, consider using that light in a creative way.

tnt
Natureschild

How to identify birds and other critters.

I identified a new bird today.  Not only new here, but new ever.  That's always exciting for a bird watcher.  I noticed a small gray bird flitting around in the edge of the woods.  My first thought was a warbler of some kind, but couldn't find anything like it in my book.  So I pulled out another book.  This one is older, and some of the birds have new names or ranges now based on more recent scientific info, but the illustrations are really good and comprehensive.  It wasn't under warblers in this book either, but I began to thumb through the sections to see if anything else came close.  There...Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  I cross-referenced in the newer book, and it can't be anything else.

The reason I never considered Gnatcatcher is that I've always thought of them (flycatchers) as bigger birds.  This one was very small...warbler small.  Here's where having a system to identify birds helps.  You have to notice specific things about it.  Not just size, color, and markings, but also behaviors.  Tail movement, feeding method, etc.  These can be very helpful.  And you have to remember what you saw because the bird is probably long gone by the time you get to your books or the internet.  As I'm going to my books, I repeat in my head over and over what I noted to keep the image fresh in my mind.

This is what I marked about this little bird.  Blue gray above, light below, no breast or body streaking.  Prominent white stripes on each side of dark tail, as well as a white stripe on outer flight feathers.  It flicked and wagged its tail which was held upright like a wren.  It also hovered briefly.

One book stated that no other gnatcatcher has the white edged tail.  The other said it wagged its tail like a mockingbird.  When I saw that, I thought to myself, yes, that's what I saw but being it was a small bird I immediately thought of the way wrens hold their tails.  It didn't really mention hovering, but most flycatchers do to some extent.

When you get to your resource, you also have to pay attention to range.  Highly unlikely to see a west coast bird in the southeast.  You might be seeing a breeding or migration range.  There's many birds I only see at certain times of the year.  Here in the southeast, you'll often see spring or fall visitors, and they don't stay for long because they're on their way somewhere else.

We got a lot of rain the last 2 days, and it's still dreary.  My gauge got 2".  The sun is trying to come out but I don't know if it will make it today.  At least it's cooled off.  A lot!  I was actually chilly this morning and needed long sleeves.  Nice to shut off the AC and open windows.  I really appreciate having central air, but I'd much rather have windows open, and do so whenever it's comfortable enough.  For me, I'm comfortable at 80 degrees and that's what the AC is set at.

tnt
Natureschild

Active morning in the garden

Ok, there's not really a garden here yet, but I've always liked how the British refer to a yard as a garden.  Even if it's just a lawn with some trees and shrubs, or a tiny patio space, they call it a garden.  So I will, too.  It will all be garden eventually.

There is a garden sorta.  I talked about the nursery bed in the last post.  The surviving daylilies and other perennials are recovering from their ordeal.  As I thought, they just needed more sun, water and actual ground.  That space is large enough to hold a lot of things until I'm ready to design the gardens.

I picked up 3 "Northwind" Switchgrasses the other day.  This was one of my favorite grasses, and I didn't bring any with me.  Probably would have gone the same way many of the other transplants did...dying of my procrastination.  Since I don't see them very often, I snapped them up.  I'll split them in two or three and set in the nursery bed to grow a bit bigger.  By then, I'll know where I want to use them.

I also set up a window box planter that wasn't doing anything as a seed bed.  I had a couple packs of Purple Coneflowers to start.  I know I'll want a lot of Coneflower for the butterfly garden so seed was the best way to go.  When they're big enough, I'll set in the nursery bed.  Or if they haven't outgrown the window box, I might just keep them there.  I'm starting to plan the butterfly garden so they might be ready when I am.  The other reason I like starting these with seed is that they'll be hardier.  Nowadays, the coneflowers in garden centers are all the fancy new cultivars...doubles, new colors, etc.  I haven't had a lot of luck with any of them, but I can count on the species to be vigorous, and it's just as beautiful.

It's my plan to acquire more perennial seeds to fill in the gardens.  Oh, I'll buy plants,  I can't resist, but as with the coneflowers, I've found seeds to give the best results for many things.  Just have to be patient as they usually won't bloom the first year.  If the window box works well, I might pick up a few more for that purpose.  I can usually find them at Big Lots at discount prices.

The 4 pines were cut down last week.  The crew did a great job.  Those trees were mature and tall.  They threw rope over the top with a slingshot (slick!) so they could control where they came down.  They dropped them right next to the deck which was a bit concerning, but they knew what they were doing, and the trees came down exactly where they wanted them.  Then they cut them up, took away the logs, and fed the rest into a big chipper shredder.  I got a big pile of wood chips.  Pine chips will be wonderful mulch!

Pine wood chips and a birdbath pedestal.

I asked for a level top on this stump, and it's about as perfect as a chainsaw can get it.  I've never been able to get a free standing bird bath this level!  That's a 16" saucer.  I haven't caught a bird using it yet.  When I got this dish, I also bought the smaller one you can see in the title image.  I've seen the wrens bathing in whatever was catching rain water on the deck so I set that one on the pot.

Next project is the fence.  Got that lined up yesterday, and it should be installed in about 2 weeks.  Can't wait to get Whipper off the tie-out.

Oh yeah.  Why it was active this morning.  Spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker on one of the backyard trees.  While I was watching it, a pair of wrens fell out of a tree in a serious battle.  Wrens are very territorial.  They startled the woodpecker into going on the ground where they were scuffling to see what the fuss was about.  Then I saw a Pileated Woodpecker on another tree and whatever it was after really had its attention.  It poked around that tree for a quite a while.  Unfortunately not close enough or clear of branches to try to capture with the camera.  I've yet to get a Pileated on film.

And there's the baby bunny grazing in the lawn.  Saw it first last evening, but it was out there again this morning.  Couldn't be much more than 3 weeks old, it was that tiny.  Don't think I've noticed new litters this late in the season.  That's why it's important that people don't disturb a cottontail nest unless they are absolutely sure it's abandoned.  Baby cottontails are good to go shortly after their eyes open.

tnt

Naturechild

I can dig it.

I'm finally getting around to putting my poor TN daylilies in the ground.  I'm ashamed to say I lost some of them in the move, as well as all but one of the other perennials.  Ashamed because it's mostly my fault.  You see, I dug and potted them back in the fall, and they sat in the pots through the unusually cold winter.  Not really a problem for daylilies but the others couldn't take it.  I didn't take a lot of care when I potted them.  Hey, I moved daylilies from MI to TN in plastic grocery bags!  Pots were a luxury.  So anyways, when I got them here, they went on the ground along the backside of the house.  Where they've been ever since.  That area is fully shaded so they were getting no sun to speak of.  I lost all the ones in the smaller pots, some of which were rather special.  I was going to lose them all if I didn't get them in the ground.

One of the reasons I hadn't planted them is that I didn't know where I wanted them yet.  It finally occurred to me that I needed a nursery bed, and the best place for it was on the east side of the house near the water tap.  I took herbicide to the turf and waited for it to die.  It took 2 sprayings to get it all.  Then summer kicked in, and that corner starts getting sunny about 10 am.  It was scorching there.  I could only work there early in the morning, and sometimes I'm not good about getting motivated that early.

Finally got motivated yesterday.  The other reason I was dreading the job was what I expected to find when I began digging.  In TN, my land was made up of sandy soil and stone.  Lots of stone.  I couldn't go an inch without hitting a stone.  I don't have the power to dig a hole with a normal shovel because a stone would stop the shovel cold every time.  I discovered my favorite digging tool was my BFS (Big F-ing Screwdriver).  It's a heavy duty 18" flathead screwdriver that I acquired from work a long time ago.  It served as a sort of pry bar, but in TN it became my most valuable garden tool.  I started a hole (on my knees) by loosening the soil and stones with the BFS, and then a hand shovel to pull the dirt out.  And that's how every hole was dug thereafter.

The first hole I dug here was for the mailbox.  Sure enough, it was lousy with stones.  I hoped it was just that it was next to the road, and the sewer line is there.  Makes sense there would be a lot of gravel in that area.  Imagine my surprise and pleasure when I began to dig in the nursery bed.  Nary a stone!  Really?  That would be awesome!  I realized I didn't see much stone where the land was cleared in back either.

Yes!  I can dig it!  By the way, that comes from an old song (60's?).  Can't remember the band, but I can clearly hear the song in my head.

I can dig it, you can dig it, we can dig it.
Can you dig it, can you dig it, baby?

Not only was there no stone, the soil is really very nice.  I expected the usual southern red clay, but that isn't prominent.  It's there, but well balanced with topsoil and sand.  That's almost the perfect blend for garden soil.  Clay, topsoil and sand.  The only thing missing is humus, and this could be present in back where there had been years of leaf litter.  This is could be the best property I've ever had for gardening.

In other news.  Fire ants.  Yes, I am so blessed.  Didn't have any experience with these little nasties in TN.  There were quite a few large mounds on the property when I moved in.  So far, I haven't been attacked.  Well, once.  I was standing near a mound observing it, and one got me on the ankle.  Yep, it hurts pretty good.  I can imagine how horrible stepping on a mound would be.  And these things swarm out of the nest in a second.  Any vibration, even a light tap on the ground near the mound brings them out.  Must watch my step at all times.  If the mound is destroyed , like from mowing or weed-whacking, they simply move a few feet away and start a new one.

I looked into controls, and found several options since this is a common southern problem.  Decided to try Orthene, made by Ortho.  It's a fine white dust that's sprinkled over the surface of the mound.  I didn't know how it worked so I went online to research.  Found many reviews on Amazon, and almost all of them were glowing.  Apparently the way it works is that the ants track the poison dust into the nest.  This stuff smells seriously toxic so I wondered how well it would work.  Surely ants would avoid something like that?  But I could see it was being transported away.  The dust gradually disappeared from the surface of the mound.  If the mound was already dead or abandoned, the dust didn't go away.  I think I can add my own glowing review to this stuff.  I'm seeing fewer and smaller mounds now.  I'll probably always have to watch my step, but at least I know I can minimize the danger.

The south is cooking now.  High 80s and 90s.  I've kicked on the AC in the house, and only work outside in the early morning before it heats up.  I have plenty to do inside.  Like painting.  I want to get painting the main rooms.  Got colors picked, just a matter of getting the paint and getting on it.

tnt
Natureschild

Operation Backyard

The backyard was cleaned out yesterday.  The ideas are starting to come.  First 2 photos are the before shots.

This mess was made up of Privet, Mimosa, Pink-Flowering Raspberry, Honeysuckle, and many things I didn't identify.  English Ivy, Virginia Creeper, and Poison Ivy (ugh!) on tree trunks.  The trees are Yellow Poplar, Water Oak, and Virginia Pine.  There's also a couple white Dogwoods back in that corner.

After.  You can just see the trunks of the Dogwoods behind the biggest tree at the top left.  I'll be tacking onto the existing fence on the sides.  

The open area in front of the trees gets pretty good sun all day.  The Salad Garden will go to the left near that side fence line.  The wide space in the middle will be a butterfly garden, and there should be room for a nice strawberry patch.

This is also the only good view from inside the house.  The windows in the other main parts of the house are partially obscured by deck railing.  I can see the whole thing from the kitchen window, so I'll plan the garden to be seen from the window as well as the deck.  A lot of ideas coming to me as I stand there gazing out the window.

I like Mimosa, so I had him save this one.  

Beautiful soil!  Years of neglect and leaf litter made some excellent topsoil.  The back property line is north and it's very shady back here.  I'll be creating a woodland garden in pretty much the whole shaded area.

I won't be able to do much for a little while.  I have to wait for it to dry out so I can see what's left alive that needs removal.  I'll be using a lot of brush killer until I get all that under control.  In the meantime, I'll be hitting the nurseries to see what's available.

Discovered this vine after the tall brush that hid it was removed.  Sure looks like Wisteria.  The darker one is English Ivy.  They're on a pine that I want to cut down.  The Virginia pines (the bare trunk and the ones behind it in the previous photo) in the space are dead or dying, and this one is too wimpy looking and too close to the house for my comfort.  If that is Wisteria, I'll have to figure a way to preserve it.

One of the residents looking to see what the land clearing turned up.  And again...look at that soil!  I also saw some chipmunks.  Didn't see them before because the brush hid them.

One thing I worried about a little, but couldn't help, was if there were any ground bird nests.  I'd have to look it up, but I think Towhees and Brown Thrashers nest on the ground.  At least it was late enough that they had already raised a brood before the habitat was gone.

Stay tuned as I get gardening.

tnt

Natureschild

May

Not much to report.  Got a guy coming this week to clear out the backyard.  Before and after photos when that's done.  As soon as that's under control, I'll be ordering fence.  Whipper will appreciate that.  Then I can begin to think about gardening back there.  Ok, I've been thinking about it all along, but until it's cleared out and fenced, I can't really visualize what I have to work with.

At the top of the left-hand menu, you'll find a couple new pages.  One for Garden Tips, the other for nature identifications.  I'll be updating those pages as needed.

Weather has been wonderful.  Been getting some daily gentle thunder-dunders, but not a lot of storm or rain from them.

tnt
Natureschild

My dog is so smart

Whipper has adjusted to being a full time house dog very well.  He pretty much housebroke himself.  His crate is his "cave", and he often goes in there in the evening when he knows I'll be shutting him in it for the night.

He does something I don't think I've heard of another dog doing.  I've certainly never seen it.  He cleans his own teeth.  Apparently, food gets caught in his back teeth, and that long narry jaw is kind of hard to work it out of.  When he was an outside dog, he scraped his teeth on whatever he could find in the yard.  Statuary, deck rail, whatever was the right height, and he seemed to prefer a rather sharp edge.

So now he's in the house after he eats, and I watched him trying to find something to scrape on.  When he went to the corner of a table, I said no.  I could see him thinking as he looked around the house.  Every time he went to a piece of furniture, I said no.

He had tried the gate to his crate but it wasn't stationary.  After telling him no to furniture again, I got up and went to his crate and pointed to the corner of it.  I pointed several times, told him to try this, and sat back down.  Darned if he didn't try it!!!  I really didn't expect him to understand what I was saying, but he did!  But I guess the crate corner (it's all wire) wasn't quite what he needed.

I had some cardboard from unpacking, and fashioned a thing on the corner of his crate that was more like what he liked to use.  When I saw him looking for a place to scrape today, I showed him the cardboard.  And he immediately used it!  I'll probably make it more permanent with a piece of wood later, but at least he gets the idea.  I'm wondering if he'd like something more like a toothbrush.  I have small cleaning brushes in my tools that might work.

Brush my dog's teeth?  Pffft.  He'll do it himself, thank you.

tnt
Natureschild

Top O' The Morn

Spring has not sprung.  The unusually cold winter (for here) hasn't broken yet.  Not what I expected.  I have seen 70s so not a total bust, but mostly 30s or less mornings to 40s/50s for daytime.  At least it's mostly been sunny days.  I'm still working in the house so I don't mind the coolth that much.  Still have piles of stuff, but it's slowly getting squared away.

The weather forecasts on TV are interesting.  I've never seen a local forecast split into 2 distinct areas before.  It's "Upstate" (where I am) and "Mountains".  Mountains is NC, and obviously a bit cooler as a rule.

The existing shrubs around the foundation are azaleas and Chinese Fringe Flower.  I thought I recognized the Fringe Flower because I had tried one in TN.  The tag threw me off, the botanical name was different than I remembered.  It didn't do very well for whatever reason so I never saw what it would do.  Looked it up to see what these will do, and decided they were not a good choice for a foundation plant.  They'll get 10'-15' tall which might be too big for my taste or practicality.  They're pretty good sized so not sure if I want to move them.  They'd look best untouched as they have a natural spray shape, but it's either prune them or move them.  I'll probably prune.  In the meantime, they're getting ready to bloom so they'll be my first flowers here.

I've identified quite a few birds even though I don't yet have feeders up.  Some I didn't expect to see here.  Shouldn't have any problem attracting the usuals to the feeders.

Robin
Blue Jay
Cardinal
Mockingbird
Carolina Wren
Tufted Titmouse
Bluebird
Mourning Dove
Eastern Towhee
Brown Thrasher

I was surprised to see Bluebirds.  I didn't know they'd like this sort of "suburbia".  I was very pleased to see the Carolina Wren.  I loved this perky little bird in TN.  There's also a small woodpecker that I haven't got a good enough look to ID, but I think it's either a Downy or Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

2 Days Until Spring.  At least the forecast agrees as we are supposed to get 70s later this week.  I'm ready.

tnt
Natureschild

I am here!

I consider the official move-in date to be Feb. 25.  That's the day I handed over the keys to my old place, and the last day I needed drive back to TN.  Just had a few things left to pack into the car for the final drive home.  HOME.  I'm still adjusting to that.  It's just now starting to feel like home, even though everything is in piles all over the house.  Some needful things it's taken a while to find in the chaos.  I tried to pack essentials last so it'd be fresh in my memory where they went, but some things still went invisible.

Whipper has had a bit of a rough time adjusting to the move, but he's getting there.  When the delayed closing on this place and the really crappy snowy weather in both TN and SC set my time frames back, I was still running back and forth after the furniture came down on the moving van.  Whip takes up quite a bit of space in the car which meant less room for stuff.  Couldn't leave him in the house for 6-8 hours a day while I ran back and forth.  Couldn't leave him tied out either.  My good friend Alan saved the day by taking Whip in until I was done moving.  He raises show dogs, and often takes in houseguests of the 4-legged kind, and I knew Whipper would be a good houseguest.

The first night here, Whipper wasn't comfortable.  Long drive, strange place, paths between piles of stuff, tie-out instead of fence, and then a thunderstorm.  He stressed in a very messy way.  The good thing is that even though he's been an outside dog all his life, he tried to tell me he had to go, but I wasn't quick enough for a bout of diarrhea.  He also went off-feed which didn't help.  He drank a bit of water and that was it.

Alan had medication for the diarrhea, and got him eating.  He learned about potty times with Alan's schedule.  His stay ended up being a week instead of the 4 days I thought it would be, but Alan was the best about that.  I know his time there was much better for him than what he would have endured while I was still moving.  So now we are here, and he went off feed again the first day, but was eating normally by the 3rd day.  I tried to get him on a potty schedule but we aren't getting it.  Now I put him on the tether twice a day for a while.  Eventually, I'll just see if he tells me he has to go out.  Housebreaking has been no problem so far.  His fastidious nature, and apparently being able to hold it for a long time took care of that.  Can't wait to get the fence up.  I think part of the problem is the tie-out.  He's not used to it.  I have been crating him at night so he doesn't get the notion to wake me up in the middle of the night.  My own sleep habits are too iffy for that.  Happily, even though he's never been crated, he took right to it.  He goes in on his own whenever he wants, and actually spends quite a bit of time in it.  It's about the same size as the dog house he had in TN, so I guess it feels like his house.  I only latch it at night or when I leave the house.  Works for me.

The weather has been cool here (still warmer than TN!), which is good so I can do what I need in the house.  Gonna have to deal with the yard very soon.  I'll get some before pictures before I do anything else.  I'm going to hire someone to clean out the underbrush.  The back and one side are overgrown with privet and brambles (just can't get away from those damn brambles!).  They gotta go, there's currently very little usable backyard space.  This is also necessary before I can fence.  The brush has eaten up the property lines and then some where the fence will go.

I haven't got bird feeders up yet, but so far I've seen Blue Jays, Titmice, Robins, a woodpecker I haven't ID'd yet, and gray squirrels.  Lots of squirrels.  Guess I'll be chasing them off the feeders.  Haven't had to do that since MI.  The trees are oaks and pines.  Not sure what kind yet.  That's the kind of habitat squirrels and the birds I've seen like.  Many of the trees have ivy (it's evergreen) growing up their trunks.  I don't mind ivy, it looks cool.  I will want to control it to some extent.  Also some heavy vines on trees that are either Virginia creeper or poison ivy.  Please oh please be creeper.  Won't be able to tell until they leaf out.

There are some new landscape shrubs (still have tags) around the front of the house.  Haven't investigated what they all are.  Azaleas for sure, but I'll have to bend down and look at the others' tags.  Don't know if I'll leave that landscaping as it is, but I like azaleas, and they don't like to be moved, so I'll probably work with them.  A boring shrub would have to go.

Stay tuned as I transform the yard into the lawnless garden I envision.  I hope to hire a neighbor kid or somebody to cut the grass until that happens.  Don't even own a lawnmower and don't intend to.

tnt
Natureschild