Congratulations on your newly aquired Lawn-Boy! Im glad to see someone who appreciates a fine machine. About 24 years ago I aquired my first Lawn-Boy, a brand new F series with aluminum deck. Man I treasured that mower, cleaning it like brand new every mowing and it treated me with one of the best looking lawns in the neighborhood for several years. I suddenly had to change jobs and move out of country for a couple years and ended up giving the mower to a young brother in law. I really hated to see it go but you have to do what you have to do for the familys future. I returned to visit family about 5 months later and when I asked brother in law how he liked the mower, well he kind of gave a dirty look and shook his head and proceeded to tell me how much of a POS that mower was and how the engine was locked up and he just threw it away! The ninny forgot to mix fuel with oil and destroyed it, only to blame the mower! Im very glad to see a mature person take posession of your mower and hope you have a lot of fun with it!

Jerseygirl, the garlic can be ordered online, but I've been buying from an organic grower in north Jersey. I like knowing it's been grown here in NJ, rather than California or the Pacific Northwest, and therefore well-suited to our conditions. I also like supporting local farms/businesses. He'll ship, but this year I drove up to the Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival in Augusta to buy the garlic. 1.5-hour plus drive for me, from Monmouth to Sussex County, but worth it - there were lots of garlic varieties there, NJ wines, NJ honey. Next year will try not to leave it 'til the last minute so I have more time to browse the festival. You're one zone colder than I am, but I've never winter-protected my hydrangeas and this past winter was the first time in 30+ years I had any damage. 6 shrubs - 5 different varieties - were killed to the ground but have come back nicely and I expect bloom in the coming season. Lady in Red, Limelight, and the climbing hydrangea all came through unscathed and bloomed better than ever this year. If you have the time and resources, winter protection is probably prudent. I just sometimes worry about setting up a perfect scenario for little rodents to come munch on my plants. We have a lot of oak trees in the neighborhood. I used to use whole leaves, but found they matted down in what I felt was too heavy a layer, so started shredding. Burned out a weed whacker, mower yielded inconsistent results. Best investment ever was a shredder, which reduces the leaves to one tenth their original volume in a fairly consistent texture and makes a nice, light and not too unattractive winter mulch for my beds. Now, all leaves, from lawns and beds are used on site. Once in place, they don't seem to blow around much at all or get washed away by rain/snow melt. I always make sure to fill a large, covered garbage bin with shredded leaves to add to my compost bin for "browns" in the summer, when they can be a bit hard to find. The leaves are never ending, as some oak trees hang on to their leaves, parsimoniously doling them out throughout the winter months until the daffodils appear. Ahhh....daffodils. But first the hardy snowdrops and hellebores!

That is great news! I bet you feel like a 50-lb ball rolled off your shoulders.

It's a great feelling....hold on tight though....won't be long til you're topping off your foundation....I got out to the lot this morning to see us all stocked sand block brick and mortar for our crawl space.....foreman says they'll be done next Wednesday!