This story is common for all who live in an inner-city suburb for years and years before moving out to a house with space, a yard, and yes … lawn.
Becoming a grass custodian is an aspect of suburban living that comes a few steps after the following:
- Book a removalist to transport all of your possessions 900km north
- Resign from your job
- Pack your life into boxes
- Make the empty house spotless and drive until 1am before waking at 5am to complete the drive and meet the truck at the new house in Byron Bay
In our case, we’d been living at our new place for a week before realising we seriously needed a lawnmower.
Having dropped $2000 for the removalist, paying double rent for a week on two places, resigning from a previous job before having another gig lined up … basically, we didn’t have spare cash for a mower in that instant.
As so, the grass grew
Here in Byron Bay, grass grows quickly and within a matter of days our house was looking like the least well kept on the entire street.
We became “that house”. It’s not great to be that house. Really feels like you’re letting the team down. It feels the same as being way overdue for a haircut.
Anyhow, the grass was long but we had to drive back to Sydney for a week. Upon our return, in a mystery that’s still never been solved, our front and back yards had been mown. We’ll never know what happened.
Plot twist, the grass grows again
Again! Still tight on funds as we got established, we took care of a badly needed second mow by borrowing the neighbour’s mower. He’s a total legend to help us out, but we really didn’t want to have to borrow it again. That couldn’t be the arrangement.
I know what you’re thinking, and we asked – the neighbour wasn’t the clandestine mower while we were in Sydney. That mystery is unsolved.
And so, the guy without a mower becomes the master
It was time to buy our first official brand new lawnmower of our entire lives. We lived in the Blue Mountains through 2013 and had a 40-year-old hand-me-down Victa to combat that yard.
Not looking to spend excessively, we went with the Victa Classic Cut 18″ Cut & Catch, retailing $399 from Bunnings. Fuel and oil purchased. We also picked up a super-wide beast of a rake.
Note: After first use you need to drain the oil. YouTube is full of tutorial videos if you’re uncertain how to do it.
Maintaining that lawn is a satisfying thing. I’m just about to go and mow it again today.
