Temp 81 and dewpoint 68. Not a good combination. It's also early and the sun is high. Ugh. It's supposed to rain and rain and rain, though, today and tomorrow, so waiting really wasn't an option. It was already too long. I'd rather do it, when the sun is lower in the sky. I feel like I'm going to die. (And I'm in my cool basement now, too!)

Also, our neighbor to the north, mowed yesterday, so we really had to! LOL!

I was a slacker though. I didn't move the downspouts to mow nicely under those. By the time I got close to the house, I was hot and really didn't care. Also, with the rain coming, I didn't want to worry that I'd forget to put them back, so I just didn't move them at all.

By Vicki on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 12:47 pm:

I have to mow this evening. It is supposed to be 95 with a heat index of over 100 today...... I am going to wait as long as I possible can until I fire the mower up!!! Maybe I will strap some head lights to it and do it about 10pm. LOL

By Colette on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 12:52 pm:

I have been mowing every Thursday as long as it wasn't raining...but since it's been so hot, I am letting the grass grow a bit, and I am going to start doing it every 1 1/2 weeks instead, until it gets cooler out.

By Reds9298 on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 01:15 pm:

We have to mow twice a week in general just to keep up! I know...it's so HOT. I ride though, so it's not too bad. We pushed for a while and yikes...with a half acre it was almost unbearable.

By Colette on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 01:42 pm:

I push the front yards (I do our tenants lawn as well) and then push just my immediate back. The rest is done on the rider - 2.5 acres.

By Vicki on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 01:43 pm:

We have a little over a half acre and I push mow the front yard and ride the back. I am so anal about how the front looks, I have to push it so my lines look nice. LOL It takes about 25 minutes to push mow the front, so about the time I am ready to die, I am done. LOL I have been mowing the front yard every other to every 3rd day to keep it under control. Prior to this week, we have had a very rainy summer and if I let it go longer than 3 days, it was too long and either needed to be bagged, or it was all clumpy and yuck looking. Again, not good for a anal yard person. LOL

By Annie2 on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 02:31 pm:

I push front and back. It's usually dewey in the am so I try to wait for early evening but then if it rains, it pushes it off for another day, which makes it hard. I don't bag. I rake up the clumps... just the front, I don't mind clumps in the back because generally only the dogs see them and they don't seem to care

By Tarable on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 02:55 pm:

And this is why I have a lawn guy.. it is WAY too hot to mow myself and DH has a horrible allergy to grass.. but then again I am far from an anal yard person.. I don't even see my yard for the most part because my next door neighbor is a real piece of work, but he mowes his lawn on Saturday mornings starting at about 6 a.m. And I don't really know why he does it on Saturdays since he doesn't work at all. (he is a full medical disability from the air force, yet he can still do all his own lawn work) that is a complete other story..

Today the high is 96 which it is right now.. and the low for tonight is 75.. so there is never a cool part of the day. That is just way too hot to do any yard work.

By Conni on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 03:27 pm:

Well, I have a Dad that is nice enough to have been coming to help me mow since I am swamped with work, summer class, kids, house, etc... I don't think he is coming this week tho? He hasn't called. lol So, I plan to mow this evening. It is very hot here, as well!!

I hope you have cooled down some, Dawn! Enjoy your nice yard this weekend!!

By Dawnk777 on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 04:17 pm:

No rider at our house, but we do have 3 self-propelled walk-behinds. 2 of these mowers were hand-me-downs, but Gary is good with small engines, so the older machines are not a problem. My favorite one is the Toro Personal Pace. It's well-balanced and it's easy to whip it around corners. Although, as I got hot and tired, it seemed heavy all over again.

Our lot is 100-ft wide and 184-ft long. I swear it seems bigger, when it's time to mow! With 2 people out there mowing, it just doesn't take as long. It's really not so big, that we need a riding lawnmower, though. Gary and I need the exercise of walking behind the mowers.

2 of our lawn mowers are mulchers, so we don't usually have clumps. The mulchers cute the grass into teeny little pieces, that end up fertilizing the lawn. Today, the back yard was just too long and lush. DH had to put the side-discharge gizmo on the Toro. I just couldn't get through the thick lush grass, around the sump pump hose. (Can you say WI has had enough rain?)

By Vicki on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 06:31 pm:

My push mower is a 3 in 1. I can side discharge, mulch and bag all with the same mower. Dh brought it home one night and I think I was just about as excited with that mower as about anything in my life. LOL I am anal with a capital A!! LOL But I know that and I mow it myself because I know no one else would do it the way "I" like it done. Sometimes dh will ride the back while I do the front, so that makes it nice. He is on his annual golf trip this weekend, so it is up to me! I really enjoy yard work though... much more than anything inside that is for sure!! Getting all geared up to go out and mow soon, then dd and I are heading to the lake in the morning!

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 12:25 am:

Our Toro can mulch, side discharge, or bag. Our neighbor bags, but it looks so putzy, because you have to keep stopping to empty the bag.

My favorite is mulching, except for today, because we let the grass get too long (just in the backyard.)

The Troybilt might bag, too. I can't remember. The Snapper is OLD and doesn't do anything except mow. It was new, when my family moved into a house, back in 1974! I remember bagging with it, but I don't think we ever got the bag with it.

By Hol on Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 10:58 am:

Wow, you all have had a lot of rain! We are in a drought and our lawn is turning brown and crunchy, so not much mowing going on here, except in the back yard where we have more shade. We are on a well, so we don't water the lawn. If we don't get rain, it just burns. One good thing about lack of rain is that the ticks have not been bad at all this summer, and we did have a wet Spring.

It has been SO hot and sticky here. The dogs lie around like they are in a coma! LOL! We are going to a 50th birthday party tomorrow and the hosts have a pool. I can't wait!

DH waters our outdoor plants and flowers. That's it.

By Janet on Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 11:07 am:

Push mower here..too much yard junk to mow around for a riding mower. I love the ones with the two handles, though..fun to whip around the corners! The wheels on ours broke almost a week 1/2 ago so we are dangerously close to getting a citation from the city, I think! DH got wheels yesterday and is presumably home fixing them. Of course, it's raining today. I hate mowing!!!

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 04:31 pm:

Often by mid-July, we don't have to mow as often and our lawn is brown and crunchy, but not this year. We have too big a lawn, to even consider watering. Wow, would that be expensive. Flowers and other outdoor plants are the only things that get watered.