an electric mower

Most people live in apartments in Turkey.  Summer homes are usually set ups duplexes - in communities.  Stand alone houses aren't very common unless the family is very rich or very poor - but they surely aren't common.

While gardens are popular, manicured lands are not.  In the wealthier communities you will find it - but most place have very small bits of land, ours included.  However, ours feels rich as it is filled with fruit and nut trees.

Because of this lack of yards and manicured lawns - its always a novelty to see a perfect lawn.  Only recently have companies begun selling sod and we have a few neighbors that re-sod their yards yearly.

Our yard is hard packed dirt.  On occasion we've successfully planted and grown grass ... but mostly we have not.  Mostly weeds grow and we cut the yard with an electric mower - something I didn't know existed until moving here.  The lawn mower is small and operates by an electric cord that you drag around the yard with you.

I spent a day trimming the hedges, another day raking the yard, a third collecting and throwing the brush - and today day I began cutting.  I managed to break the lawn mower.  At first it wasn't working well.  The cords connection was sketchy and if I didn't hold the cord just right, and squeeze the lever - it wouldn't run.  I got half way done when the machine made a click click click sound.  I thought it was the motor trying to turn over - it reminded me of Tolga's dead battery the other day.  I kept holding the lever, it kept clicking, and then it started smoking.

Oops.  That's not good.

One more week.  I have one more week until work starts.  Ugh.  

One more week to finish my monumentous projects.

But I broke the lawn mower.  And I’m going to bed early, exhausted from the days' events, I started another book, and well, I’ll admit it, I may not get all of my projects done.