Back in Time - Yard Work

Rosa
aka "Rosie"
approximately 1982
This is one of my favorite photos of my Mom. It was taken for a photography class assignment - portrait with prop.

The riding lawnmower was not simply a prop because mom used it every week to mow her large yard. The mower in this photo was a Massey Ferguson - fire engine red and easy to maneuver around the caragana bushes that were part of the windbreak along the road. Several years later she purchased a John Deere mower with two large bags on the back for collecting clippings. The John Deere also made it easy to clear the cottonwood trees' leaves in the fall.

Rich ~ 1986
Nancy ~ 1986
notice the blanket of leaves yet to be raked near the trees
In the years before the John Deere mower, leaves were raked by hand and then transported to the fields in the pickup or in the manure spreader. Many leaves were also burned in the ditch near the house. I was glad when the leaves could simply be picked up with the mower.

Note the bushel basket in the last two photos. I haven't seen one of those in years. Have you?

Comments

  1. It always amazes me how many leaves are on a tree. It's not something I think about much until they end up on the ground. :)

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  2. Those big ol' trees sure put down a LOT of leaves! I didn't know that people transported their leaves (I assume as mulch) to their fields. I was aware of burning them in ditches. Picking them up with the mower sure saved a lot of raking!!

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  3. I'm sure you Mom appreciated the upgrade to a John Deere. They run FOREVER!

    We used to rake leaves to the curb and then set them afire. To me that smoke is the smell of fall.

    Here, we aren't allowed to burn. Too big a risk of wildfires, I suppose. But, I only have one tree that requires raking. And that's rare -- it's more scooping up of acorns on the driveway so we don't kill ourselves slipping on them.

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  4. Lovely photos!! And no... I don't think I've even seen a bushel basket at the orchards in ages. Boo.

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  5. I know how much that riding mower must have meant to your mother!! We used a push mower for all of my growing-up years. When the neighbors went to power mowers my dad held on to his push mower and insisted it was "good for me" to push it around the yard on a Saturday morning. And, he was probably right!!

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  6. Nancy there is so much family history on your land. I love it. Your mom on the mower is priceless!

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  7. Such wonderful memory photos!! Love Rosie!!!

    Blessings

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  8. I saw a bushel basket in an antique store on Sunday! Brought back some good memories..corn and peas from the garden oh and beans:)

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  9. I have a couple bushel baskets... bought them in British Columbia at a fruit market!!...

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  10. Love that first photo of your mom. I think it is great to have photos that show real people doing real tasks. I have a photo of my mom in a floppy garden hat, and it is one of my favorites. She can often be found in her garden wearing that hat.

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