New Toys!

To prepare for our road/bike trip this summer we got a new rack for Eric. It will hold both our bikes and is a simple as it gets (which is what we needed!) Each bike rests on top and a sidebar slides over the front tire to secure the bike. It's amazing how secure the bikes are and you don't have to remove the front tire. It will come in handy this summer when we drive across the country and then to Prince Edward Island to do a little biking. No renting for us!



Our second new toy was an impulse buy on my part, but so far we LOVE it. It all started last week when Eric pulled out our clunker of a lawn mower to cut our greening grass. He decided the dogs would be better off outside on the front porch because when they are inside while he cuts the lawn they bark...and old Codger calls animal control on us. So he let Audrey sit on the porch, but he tied Cache to the porch rail because she is a flight risk. He started the mower and Cache FREAKS out and almost hangs herself in fright. He put her in a safer area and started the mower again. He looked over and there she is, pacing and POOPING all over the porch. Wow. That's my dog.

The next day I was riding my bike home from work and noticed a neighbor cutting their grass with a push reel mower. You know, the ones from way back when that are always used in the cartoons. No gas, no electricity, simply blades spinning as you push. I watched the neighbor cut their lawn and it looked easy and did a great job. No noise, no gas, no clunkiness, no emissions, no dogs pooping on themselves-and you get a good workout. Most of my friends already think I'm pretty crazy about my impact on the environment, so of course I started researching... And it turns out that in the last 10-15 years these mowers have been improved and are selling well. The reviews said the new push reel mowers "cut like butter" and are wonderful. I compared, visited all the garden shops in town, and ended up ordering one from a Fort Collins based company called Sunlawn.

It is simple, can be adjusted (with one click) to cut between .5 inches and 2.5 inches, is EASY to push, light (17 pounds), and cuts beautifully. I don't know why everyone doesn't have one. Here are pictures of the mower and our lawn after cutting it. Note Codger's house in the background. Wonder if he'll call the City on us because our lawn mower is not approved by City Code.







By the way, we are considering selling my Xterra so if you are interested, let me know. It's a GREAT car but our lifestyle is changing. Soon enough we could have a little Parrish :-)

OK, go out and buy a bike to ride around town and a push reel lawn mower. It feels good!

Eric's Birthday

May 5th was a lovely day-Eric finally made it past the quarter century mark. Because Eric is so special, we started his birthday festivities the night before by going to see Spiderman 3 on opening night. The following evening we tried out a new barbecue place in LaSalle called "Barbecue Boys." It was pretty good (but no Gibsons), and we all ate enough meat in one sitting to fill our monthly quota. No more red meat for me for awhile...

After eating too much, we came back to our place and had Cookie cakes from Marys Mountain Cookies (Eric's favorite place). It was a great evening with friends and lots of yummy dessert.

Eric has been riding a Murray bike for a few years now and it needed a bit of work. I decided that since we will be riding our bikes to work and around town, he needed a nice bike. Turns out our neighbor (not the mean old codger) owns the local bike shop. I found a great hybrid bike for around town and surprised Eric with it (my parents and his parents also helped with it!) Here he is :-)



We look forward to riding on the Poudre Trail and on Prince Edward Island. I'll post more pics soon.