I win. Grass loses.

I rolled out the ill-natured John Deere tractor this morning. I had hoped to rent a roller and roll the lumps out of the yard. I had already made up my mind that I would not put any more money into the old wench if she opted to give me any trouble this season. As I somewhat anticipated, she just wouldn't start. I got a sputter or two, and then nothing. So then I proceeded to curse and spit at her, and I pushed her onto the trailer and headed to Richard's Small Engine. I got $250 on the trade-in, plus a discount on the price, and came home with something beautiful.

Meet Big Orange. Whooo hooo!!


Before today I couldn't even spell Husqvarna, and I'll admit that all mowers do about the same thing. A Craftsman or Toro or Snapper would have been fine.

But you can't get any of them in ORANGE, so it really was a no-brainer.

Dirty dirty laundry

I've never seen Harrison in a laundry basket before. Every day brings something new.

Eating plastic while waiting for rescue.

And yes, that is a camouflage outfit with a deer emblem on the front. All of Harrison's camouflage comes from the Stolbergs. Thank Aaron for this one.

Everett family gathering

I'm good and bad when it comes to the camera. Good because I usually get a few solid pictures of whatever the event is. Bad because I focus on taking pictures of Harrison and his at-that-moment caretaker. So when we all get together to see Uncle Carl from Philadelphia, who I haven't seen in a decade or more, and his new wife Marcia, whom the entire clan is eager to meet, I somehow manage to take zero pictures of them. Here is what I came home with...

Harrison was sick so he looks a little glazed over in all the pictures.

Emmy's head was neat and grabbable.

Similarities? I can't put my finger on exactly what these two have in common...but there is some small shared Lloyd characteristic in their faces. I welcome your opinions.

Emmy just wanted to sit Harrison in her lap. She was very loving toward her cousin.

Gran and Gramps, Jr. had a chance to get to know each other a little better.

And Jane was happy to get to hold Harrison for a while.

Camo. YES!!

The great white mini-hunter has finally been photographed in camouflage. A gift from our friend Amy Stolberg, the great thing about this bib is that it has manly camo on one side and some dainty pattern that amuses Danza on the other. We couldn't ask for more. Thanks, Amy!

And have I mentioned what a good eater Harry is? Tilt the head, open wide, chomp down on the spoon, swish around the mouth briefly, swallow, repeat. Like clockwork every time.

Smash it

This is how Harrison treats all of his toys now.



He probably thinks we're going to buy him new toys once he breaks his old boring ones. I think we'll save our money and just let him play with sticks and scraps of old carpet.

Yard cleanup

This weekend was dedicated to house and yard. I tackled some much needed land management tasks. I fired up the chainsaw and removed all the dead limbs from our trees. By the time I was done, one of our crabapple trees out front only had one remaining limb growing horizontally out of the trunk. It was one of the saddest looking trees I've seen...I wish I took a picture. So after consulting with Danza, I cut the whole damn thing down. The yard looks much better now. The picture is of the load I took to Yellowwood to dump. I've got a growing "burn pile" out there. This summer I might host the 1st annual Big Burn Festival at Yellowwood and light up the burn pile and drink beer and cook burgers with family and friends.

The family took a trip to Lowes yesterday and we ordered window boxes for the front of the house, and exterior shutters for the naked master bedroom window. Plus we finally decided to have blinds installed in the dining room and family room, and white shutters over the master tub and side window. Those should be done in a few weeks.

Lastly, and most importantly, I shopped for lawn tractors. This is great fun for a guy like me. Horsepower, automatic transmissions, over-head valves, 20 inch tires, and attachments like dump carts and snow plows! I haven't pulled the trigger on a purchase, but I'm getting close. I'm going to give the hand-me-down 15+ year ol' Johnny Deere a chance or two this season, but without brakes, with the electrical system shot (no safety shut-off and it has to be started in gear), I've really had about enough of it. I refuse to put any more money into it.