Gosh. Sunshine. Blue skies. Birds singing, memories of Stravinski’s angular music (The Rites of Spring) and the tempting thought that soon I just might be able to remove a couple of layers of clothing so I don’t continue to resemble a fat scarecrow and can actually perambulate to my local shops without shivering. Spring at last. I have daffodils on the table, plucked from the garden and displayed in a lovely empty prosecco bottle (where is that vase?) left over from Saturday night’s festivities. I say festivities; it was actually me, the prosecco, a bumper bag of Maltesers and the whole 2015 series of Poldark. Ah. Aiden Turner. Pecs with integrity. Yes. I know. The parties seem to have dried up a little recently. It’s all this austerity. My Saturday nights need a bit of a refresh. And talking of refresh, how are you finding the new-look site? We’ve had some good feedback so far, but we’re still interested in what you have to say.
Anyway. Where was I? Oh yes. Spring. March. Cheltenham Races. The impending spectre of Easter… or the ‘Flexibly Dated National Chocolate Festival’ as I like to call it. Plus, let’s face it, it’s also the time when people are beginning to look at their lawns again and say “Hmmm. Perhaps it’s time to sort out my mower”.
Dick’s helpful and neat blog yesterday highlighted those lovely, classic and smart Hayter mowers with rear rollers that produce those classic stripes and I have been wondering
Land of Stripes and Glory – makes you proud!
about putting some stripes on my own bijou lawn. Obviously Dick knows all about this, as does Drew, who will give you great tips like, “You can use a roller, but make sure you roll in a straight line”. Now, this is very important, but is absolutely not to be attempted after a couple of glasses of the said prosecco. I tried that last summer and ended up with what I can only describe as an expressionist lawn. Anyway, you should never roll or mow a lawn under the influence of alcohol and I won’t be doing that again. There is also some helpful advice here, at the RHS website.
But the long and short is, you can, of course, use a roller or a mower with a roller. The actual striping effect is caused by the blades being pushed in different directions so the light catches them in a different way. You don’t have to push a mower around your lawn either. Simplicity is a company that makes very good quality lawn tractors that produce super stripes and they also offer some good tips on their site.
But enough of lawns. In other Spring news, today is the 15th of March, known in the old Roman calendar as ‘The Ides of March’, of which Julius Caesaer was told to beware by a soothsayer in the street (you don’t get many of those these days, just out of work actors with clipboards). Sadly, old Julius didn’t listen, resulting in a lot of nasty stains and holes in his best toga.
And I stupidly ignored some good advice. DOH!
I don’t think we have much to beware of today, although history has shown it to be a pretty unlucky day all round. I’ll definitely not try striping my lawn until the weekend. Something could go wrong. Hey, what’s that? The party season must have started again. Someone just sent me an email invitation. Tonight? Fabulous! Local? Excellent! A Toga Party? Er… I don’t think so. Not today. Now, where are my Maltesers? See ya. Holly.
