Grumbling Tummy

If you're new here then where have you been? You should subscribe to my RSS newsfeed so you don't miss all the cool stuff going on here.
Thanks for visiting!

Mañana has eventually arrived. Tonight saw the start of the jungle clearing operation.

First step was to visit the local filling station and get a gallon of fresh petrol. Many people don’t realise that petrol goes stale and there are big differences in the formulation of the fuel dependent upon the season and weather conditions. I learnt this last year with some old petrol and the very same lawnmower we shall now discuss.

However, before we go into great details on the actual operation I can report the third mechanical failure of the week. I went to start the lawnmower, but the first pull was met by an immovable resistance. Small tugs got some movement but not enough to get it cranking over enough to start. Ah! Half a can of WD40 to the rescue. A few more tugs got it moving freely but it wouldn’t start even although it was fresh fuel. Out came the tools! Removal of the spark plug revealed it to be wet and oily. A quick blast on the rapid heat ring of the cooker soon dried it out. Spark plug suitably refitted, petrol suitably primed, tug-tug, vvroooom, she cranks into life with a puff of blue, oily smoke. The smoke continued for about five minutes before clearing.

Now it was on with cutting the jungle down…

Even the weeds had grown into Triffod like creations.

I couldn’t be sure the first few photos would really show the scale of the task so I took these photos mid-job to get some scale against the lawn-mower. Yes, this is a real lawn-mower, not one of The Nephew’s toys! I can tell you it was tough going for both me and the lawnmower: I was gasping, the lawn-mower was spluttering and stuttering as she almost stalled with the resistance of cutting through the jungle.

It was just about this time that the local police turned up. They were trundling up to return what looked like some of the stolen property that had been pinched during the break in on Sunday evening. The officer commented:

“You need a scythe, not one of those. You’ll break it!”

To which I replied:

“If it breaks, it breaks! C’est la vie!”

He laughed, but I’m not sure if it was my wise-arsed comment or the state of a posh person’s garden.

However, I did eventually get there…

Well that is phase 1 complete. Tomorrow sees a second cut and a general tidy of the edges.