A wuss in Wonderland

One of the many things I lack is the confidence to give new things a try. I'm so good at procrastinating and making excuses when faced with the challenge of doing anything for the first time. My Stihl brushcutter was kindly run in by a workmate in New Plymouth to check that it worked okay before it was packed. It has lain pristine and unused since my arrival but with the grass up to my waist, and with the slasher not really doing the job effectively, I finally plucked up courage last Sunday to give the brushcutter a go.

Before I started - grass, grass and more grass!

Obstacle no. 1 was that I couldn't find the manual. I thought I kept everything together but I haven't! Just as well Stihl have the manuals on their website; a quick download and printout of the relevant pages tells me what each button does - a good start.

Obstacle no. 2 was trying to understand the manual! Although the manual was for the right model, the pictures for the harness and carrying ring didn't match my brushcutter at all. I'll just have to wing it.

I made up the petrol/oil mix, filled the tank, gave the bulb a few squeezes and pulled the starter rope. Then I pulled it again and again - and then read the instructions - I wonder if I have Easy2Start or not?? Whoops, forgot the choke. A few more pulls; back to the instructions again: "After no more than five pulls (whoops again), move the choke lever (8) to the horizontal position". Copy that. A few more pulls - maybe I've now flooded the combustion chamber. More reading - aah, pull the starter rope briskly maybe 10-20 times. Bingo! The engine coughed into life; thank you Universe!

I managed to cut a fair amount of grass for 1 litre of petrol but I'll have to work on my technique. I can't get the unit balanced comfortably and although I thought I was cutting close to the ground, the final result isn't that neat and tidy. Practice will make perfect - and I'm more than pleased that I managed to do what I did on my own. Now, about that chainsaw...!!!

Here's a few before and after pics:

The sheet was hitting the grass before it was cut

Not bad eh!

A tidy, and very dry, driveway

Still a lot of grass to go but at least I can walk around the house now

Not content with cutting the grass, I also revamped the greenhouse and tidied up the garden. The beetroot is growing well since its nibbling by Mr Possum - so far he hasn't climbed my makeshift fences.

The beetroot survived but no bean seeds (on lhs) have sprouted yet



I bought a Vegetable Planter twinpack from The Warehouse http://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/red/catalog/product/Vegetable-Planter-Twin-Pack?SKU=1416414
and popped that at the back of my greenhouse. I planted the ONLY seed that sprouted (a perpetual spinach plant) along with some mesclun, corn salad and silverbeet seeds. The greenhouse has a few tears in the plastic where the cloth ties wrap around the metal frame - and also along the heat-sealed join. I've run some all-weather tape along which seems to be holding so far but it doesn't bode well for the rougher winter weather. I guess you have to try these things out to learn what works best.

One of The Warehouse Vegetable Planters - takes 3 bags of potting mix. The
silverbeet is growing well - had my first feed of it at the weekend