Get Reel!

A reel mower is real experience to behold.

My reel mower in its parking spot.

For years I have been using a reel mower to mow my lawn, and I love it! I find cutting grass with these silly machines to be far more fun, more rewarding, and a little Zen. So much so, that I thought I'd share a bit about them.

Using a reel mower is kind of a lifestyle choice. If you feel you can kick the habit for a perfect lawn, you can also be free from that gas-guzzling, smoke-spewing, money-pit of a machine which you are unknowingly a slave to. 

Take back your turf! 

Achieve lawn-care fossil-fuel independence! 

Experience Zen in maintaining dominion over your lawn. 

Viva la Reel-volution!! 

The perfect lawn and The American Dream

The manicured lawn is a staple of American pride, and the riding lawnmower has practically developed into a status symbol. I feel like this lawn care obsession has a distinct American quality to it. Further Reading.

Anecdotal Evidence: Back in middle school, some visitors from Denmark came to our small town. I’ll never forget when one the brothers asked in his quaint Danish accent if we owned “one of those little cars that evens out the grass”.  It took a moment to realize that he was referring to riding lawnmower! When we said of course, their faces lit up and to everyone’s delight we took turns taking this extremely novel machine for a spin.


 Reel mowers: Not all are created equal.

I have encountered quite a few of these lawn-mowers in my time (I would assume more than the average person), and therefore feel I can maybe yield some useful advice.

Growing up in the country we had several antique, extremely heavy, clunky reel mowers stashed in out-buildings. On occasion I would lug one of these mowers out and take it for a spin across the grass. It’s a silly machine and a novel experience and thus my affinity for reel mowers began at a young age.

When I got my first job, I bought a brand-new Scotts version at Home Depot. It was overpriced, felt cheaply built, and didn't work too well. I have also used various others purchased at thrift stores. They show up at thrift stores fairly often as if they are going out of style. We will see about that!

I bought my current one at the Ballard Goodwill for $2.99! All I did to fix it up was put some bicycle handlebar grip tape on it. It’s made by the American Lawn Mower Company. It is marketed as the “Deluxe - Full Feature” model, but goes for only about $100 on Amazon, which is a great deal compared to the price, performance, and shoddiness of all other modern reel mowers I have seen. 

If you ever run into this brand (especially at a thrift store), snatch it up, because it is the best reel mower I have seen. It’s easy to push, cuts well, and is quality built (in America!). It is a fantastic machine and I love it.

The best reel mower I have encountered.  American quality.
Second-hand consumerism: $2.99 at the Ballard Goodwill!

Reel mowers are not for everyone or every situation.

They are not ideal for:

• Large lawns. This is where they get ya.

• Tall grass. You need to keep on top of your mowing.

• Lawns with junk that might get caught in the blades (twigs, dog toys!). They are more sensitive to jamming than gas-powered mowers. However, you a can run right over the hose, no problem! …which I appreciate.

• Maintaining that pristine manicured lawn look, but I personally prefer the aesthetic that they leave behind.

But here is what is great about them: 

• Quiet, calm, and overall non-abrasive, which I find makes mowing far more enjoyable.

• Less abusive to the user. They don’t rattle your bones, vibrate your eyeballs, deafen your ears, or choke your lungs.

• LOW maintenance! As in … there is virtually no maintenance. 

• Requires no external energy source, except you… and consequently is good exercise! A good machine with sharp blades doesn't require much more work than pushing a shopping cart.

• Non-limb-threatening! So Sagan can hang out in the grass while I mow. In fact, as a game I chase him around with the mower, and we both get exercise!

• You don’t have to worry with gas, which is convenient: no gas can or funnel, no trips to get gas, so it’s available to use on a whim, with absolutely no forethought!  Just get mowin. There are also no harsh liquids, fumes, or spills to worry about!

• They are the apocalypse-proof lawn care solution! Regardless of the cause of the coming apocalypse, be it peak-oil, a natural disaster, or zombies, you’ll be sittin’ pretty. While everyone else is out panicking and pillaging, trying to figure out how to maintain their precious lawns, you can rest assured that your reputation among the neighbors will remain untarnished.

• Did I mention that they operate for FREE!

This what the lawn looks like about ~2 days after mowing with a reel mower.
Not perfect, but aesthetically pleasing nonetheless.

Quick Fact: 

The EPA estimates a lawnmower operating for 1 hour emits an equivalent amount of pollution to driving a car for approximately 45 miles!

Lawn mowers, although small, contribute a noticeable piece (about 5%) of the worlds exhaust plume. This is due to a historical lack of regulation (although better in recent years) and therefore lack of lawnmower exhaust treatment. 

Baby steps towards fossil fuel independence people, baby steps. Don’t let your beautiful lawn become a burden on the world. BONUS: Since they reduce our dependence on foreign oil, they also contribute to homeland security!

So at the risk of being labeled “un-American,” I humbly suggest we consider if the maintenance of our yards is as enjoyable as the joy the yard itself returns. If the burden of upkeep is more than the reward, then shouldn't we seek out more satisfying alternatives? Possibly reducing the mowable portion and/or incorporating the concepts of xeriscaping and/or permaculture into the landscape. Or take a reel mower for a spin!

Cutting your lawn can be fun again if you get reel! Your ears and lungs will thank you. You will be happier & healthier. But most importantly, you’ll have more money to invest in solar panels for your house! 

John and Yoko support it!   (Or at least they do in a world with Photoshop.)  

Composting makes me Happy. Seattle makes me Proud!

My food scraps and yard waste sold back to me! 

This year we are adding some compost to our garden to help the plants live to their full potential. The compost we chose is from Cedar Grove, one of the massive-scale compost facilities that handle Seattle’s municipal food and yard waste recycling, which I think is very cool. 

I can’t yet attest to how good this compost is, but from the tar-black color, mild earthy smell, and dense crumbly texture, I have a feeling that things are going to flourish.

Look at the stark contrast between the compost to the normal soil!

I have great respect and admiration for the biological cycles that govern the world, such as nutrient and growth- decay cycles. I love incorporating those cycles into my life to harness their potential. I love the possibility that my very-own banana peels and coffee filters are making their way back to my garden. I relish that the weeds of yesterday are the soil amendments of today. 

Composting: a nutrient cycle.   (picture compliments of the Cedar Grove website)

I truly appreciate the ease of Seattle’s composting program. If the city didn't take my scraps away and turn them into soil-gold, I would have my own compost pile in the yard. It’s funny that I pay the city to haul away my organic material, and then buy it right back, but I’m proud to have the opportunity to do just that. It's just too easy.

I was recently lucky enough to tour a facility similar to Cedar Grove, down near Portland. I was courting this composting company: [I wanted to work for them and they wanted to hire me. But work was too slow to hire a new employee. Things are still in limbo with that]. Composting is something that greatly interests me and I would love to work in the compost industry. Anyway, I ended up getting to visit this facility, which I really enjoyed as a biological systems engineer nerd.

A large-scale composting facility I visited, similar to Cedar Grove, Seattle's food and yard waste facility.

Seattle and Recycling

  

In the tradition of the west-coast green mentality, Seattle has been a national leader in recycling and composting programs for decades. 

Seattleites collectively diverted 53.7% of our waste from landfills into recycling and compost in 2010!   That statistic makes me very proud of the city.
Seattle’s full 2010 Recycling Report.

It's nice that we can recycle quite a few things.

A brief timeline of Seattle’s progressive waste reduction history:

• Curb-side recycling program began in 1988.

• Yard waste collection program began in 2000.

• Food scraps were accepted in 2005.

• Plastic bags were banned in 2012. They are no longer a choice at grocery stores.

Anyway, in summary I love living in a city with a progressive, all-encompassing, simple, and successful recycling and composting program. Thanks Seattle!  I hope to report back on the results of the compost. 

30th Annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Last weekend we and our friends Arielle and Matt went up to Skagit Valley for the 30th Annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Its about an hour north of Seattle. There are fields upon fields of daffodils and tulips of all colors and varieties. A beautiful sight to see. Its a bit what I picture the Netherlands being like.

There are several agritourism farms that I suppose exist solely to capitalize on the bustling tourism during this one month of the year.

We also perused through a street/craft fair that goes along with the festival and got a funnel cake.

Here are the pictures of the tulips.

It was a little windy.

Matt and Arielle

Tulips unfortunately don't smell that good, but they sure are pretty. Especially these!

Vancouver, BC and Snowshoeing

A few weekends ago we made our second trip to Vancouver, BC to visit our friend Carolyn. This trip reaffirmed what we learned on the first trip: that Vancouver is a beautiful, cool, fun city. We met up with some acquaintances (now new friends) Caitlin and Martin and hung out for the day. That evening we got all you eat sushi and then went out for a night on the town.

Caitlin and Martin

The next morning we went to Cypress Mountain resort to do some snowshoeing with a whole crew of people. It turns out it was one of the resorts used in the 2010 Winter Olympics for freestyle skiing and snowboarding.

We have been out snowshoeing a few times now and got the necessary gear (poles, snowshoes, warm/dry clothes). It is a really fun activity. It’s just like hiking except you are walking on snow. I guess that doesn’t make it sound that fun, but it’s more novel than hiking because you feel like somehow you are defying physics by not sinking into the snow.  It was a beautiful day full of beautiful scenery!

View from the top!

Raven

Avalanche Danger - "Considerable"

Awesome view of Vancouver from the road up to the resort (only 20 minutes from the city).

After a long day of hiking up and down mountains, we went and got some awesome poutine. This is becoming a tradition for when we visit Vancouver, and I’m fine with that, because it is fantastic. 

Gotta get that squeaky cheese!

and of course we got another Canadian delicacy... Tim Hortons.

The awesome view from Carolyn's primely-located penthouse apartment .

Our Child: Sagan

I thought I would do a post about Sagan, as several interesting things have happened in regards to him recently. 

First, oddly enough, Sagan’s picture has become the Facebook profile picture of a Vet’s office in Richmond, Midlothian Animal Clinic!  The picture was taken by my good friend Luci while her and Ricky were out here visiting. You may remember reading about our journey into the wilderness of theOlympic National Park. Luci does photography work for this Vet and submitted this picture of Sagan to them and now he is FAMOUS.... and he doesn’t even know!  Sagan never checks Facebook….

Sagan is the Posterchild for a Richmond, VA area Vet!

Second, we had a biopsy done on a re-occurring lesion that shows up on the roof of his mouth (towards the back of his throat). We had spoken to some Vets about it previously, and the consensus was that it was Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex, which they believe is caused by an allergic reaction, presumably to food. It is common in cats, but not too much with dogs. Apparently it can be common in Huskies, which is weird b/c the Craigslist post (where we got him from) mentioned he was part Husky, however we wrote that off, as he grew up to have no Husky-like traits. He has been on a special restricted diet for 1.5 years, since we first noticed it.

The lesion came back again, this time about the size of nickel, so we had a biopsy done. The results came back confirming the allergy hypothesis, showing it is Eosinophilic and Neutrophilic Stomatitis, aka… he probably has an allergy. It's NOT cancer…yeah!  So basically we may end up doing nothing, and see if it goes away naturally, or maybe switch his food again in an attempt to find a protein/grain that doesn’t affect him.

Third, a Vet technician mentioned that Sagan looks like a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. I had never heard of it, but I think she may be RIGHT! Upon reading up on it, I think that Sagan is part NSDTR and part Golden Retriever. 

Sagan is gold in color, whereas they are usually are more “red”, and he is slightly bigger/heavier, but other than that, he looks just like them, including the EXACT same white markings, fits the description, and has very similar mannerisms (based on the videos I have seen about them). 

A Google search for “NSDTR” will return some pictures that look very similar to Sagan. It is so cool have some idea what he is!

Here is a drawing I found of a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever that looks EXACTLY like sagan!

Sometimes life takes a shit on you. This is one of those times.

What happened. 

While we were traveling visiting family, a pipe burst in the house we rent.  Our landlord found it relatively early which saved us from further loss. Long story short: the pipes run in the attic (instead of the insulated walls). The temperature dipped down below freezing (a rare occurrence in Seattle). We did have the heat set at a reasonable temperature, but my suspicion is that the pipes were not adequately insulated (if at all).

We were not the only people caught with our pipes exposed in the cold. Many other Seattlites experienced a similar unexpected fate.

So... it was basically like having a hose running in the attic. Luckily the water found several quick paths to pour out of the ceiling, which mostly kept the water from pouring down on the furniture, electronics, etc.  Most of our things were spared. Everything on the floor got wet, and the built-in shelf in the middle of house had water running down it, so we lost a bunch of nice books, and our record collection got wet. 

We haven’t had a chance to take an inventory of the damaged/destroyed items as they have all been haphazardly stacked in the shed and my landlords garage, so that emergency renovations could begin. The entire process of moving all of our stuff out of the house took only several hours, so you can imagine how unorganized it all is. It literally is just a huge pile of stuff. Some in boxes (not labeled), some in piles. No rhyme or reason to the process. Just a bunch of stuff…in a pile.

The aftermath.

Comparing pictures from the post about moving into the Bungalow, to post-flood demolition, you can see the extent of the damage.

Any of those who have stopped by the blog recently, may have seen the reupholstered rocking chair. It was mostly spared, but it has a water spot on it.

Our devoted readers may remember the kitchen shelves we built and shared here. Their purpose has been shelved. (bam! best pun of this post)

A serious inconvenience becomes a minor existential crisis.

You know that feeling when you are moving and you look around and at the crap you have accumulated and say to yourself: “What the $%^*?  Why do I have these things? What is the point of these things?”  You realize it isn't even worth the effort to move the things. You loathe their very existence. You are disgusted by the fact that you have accumulated all of it. Well, take that feeling of disgust and extrapolate it to the N^th degree and you have my feelings for the unorganized heap of my material things; where the perfectly-fine undamaged stuff is intermingled with the completely-destroyed crap in one unifying pile. I loathe it. I loathe it all.   

Many relevant Fight Club quotes come to mind. Thank you Chuck Palahniuk:

"It's just, when you buy furniture, you tell yourself, that's it. That's the last sofa I'm gonna need. Whatever else happens, I've got that sofa problem handled." 

“It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.” 

What now. 

So far our landlord has been very helpful, generous, and supportive. He is putting us up in a temporary place we found on AirBnB, while our old place is renovated. 

We have all learned many valuable life lessons:

1.       Renter’s insurance. It’s a good idea. And it’s very cheap.

2.       Always turn off the water-main when you leave for extended periods of time. (If you don’t know where the water-main is, (like in our situation) find out!

3.       If you have pipes running through the attic take extra precaution. If you don’t know where the pipes run (like in our situation), find out!

4.       Don’t own things.

Reupholstering a Rocking Chair

Tess and I have had our eye on rocking chairs as they show up at our neighborhood Goodwill, but have resisted the impulse since we have no room for furniture in our house. haha. Well we finally gave into the urge for this steal-of-a-deal. We bought it for a whopping $15 with the intention of making a project of it. We then dropped about $25 on supplies at JoAnns Fabrics to fix it up.

We chose a blue canvas fabric because I vetoed all floral patterns (this ain’t your grandma’s rocking chair!), and all “modern” patterns are too busy with dots and lines.

What is funny is that we picked a color that we thought matched our couch, but when we got back it became apparent just how far off it was. 

It’s interesting how bad our perception of the world around us can differ from reality… 

even for something which we sit on every day!

It is structurally in great shape. It has some worn edges from being rocked into things. The upholstery was a hideous mess and the padding consisted of what looked like a rat’s nest of straw.

I removed all the old fabric and padding in an archaeological dig which revealed that someone had previously made a sloppy attempt to cover up the original fabric.

The coil springs aren’t yet sprung and still have some spring in them, but needed to be retied in place.

I found some useful websites on how to tie the springs in place. It’s fairly straightforward. Here are some nice how-to’s on upholstering, upholstering, and tying coil springs.We didn’t really follow any of these exactly. We got the general idea and used common sense to make it work for our chair. It turned out comfortable and looks pretty good, so I think it all worked out.

I put burlap across the springs for several reasons which I thought made sense: to provide a uniform taut surface to distribute the load, keep the foam pad from sinking into the spaces around the springs and to provide some protection to the foam pad so it doesn’t get eaten by the springs.

I staple-gunned the burlap to wooden frame with a layer of paperboard from the recycle bin. This cardboard helps provide some protection to the burlap from the staples (since the springs are pushing up on the burlap). One day future archaeologists will dissemble this chair and find instructions for cooking a cardboard pizza on the back of paperboard strips. J

Tacking the canvass to the frame was very tedious. These decorative tacks look nice, but are annoying to work with. It takes patience and a lot of extra tacks…

So anyway, there you have it. Not perfect, but I’m impressed at how well it turned out. Overall it was a fun project. And now we have a chair that totally rocks!