Okay, I have not had a yard (and therefore the necessity of yardwork) for about 45 years.

Renting in Los Angeles, and living in a cluster home where the HOA takes care of all of the yardwork does that to a person.

So, here I am, in Michigan, with an objectively humungous lawn, and appurtenant trees, shrubs and other growing things. 

I have never been a gardening kind of gal.

When I was a kid, I really didn’t mind mowing – but I hated raking and accumulating the lawn debris and disposing of same. 

Now I am a fat old lady and the prospect of actually tending to our “estate” does not really appeal to me.

What’s a fat old lady to do?

Hire someone of course.

Enter, Billy Goat Lawncare Services (gogoating.com).  It’s a lawncare and snow removal company owned and operated by the husband of my cousin’s oldest daughter.  Please don’t ask me to figure out what that makes him – other than family. 

If I have to pay for something, I’d just as soon the money go to family – right?

And let me tell you, these people (his sister and nephew – and please God (TIDBI) don’t ask me to figure that relationship out either) do an amazing job.  They worked seven hours in 97 degree heat (and Michigan humidity) doing a spring clean up of the yard and it looks great.

A neighbor (we’ve now met 2 neighbors – Janet, a nurse who lives across from the side of our house and Kenji, who set his house on fire a while ago, but that’s a story for another day) told us that the yard has not looked this good in years.  Which surprised me because of all the feeders and small statuary, etc. around the yard (including a stone circle that says “Cindy’s Garden” on it), I figured the previous owner was all about the gardening and yard.  Guess not.

So if you are in the Bay City/Saginaw area you might want to go to gogoating.com and check them out.  I am so very pleased.

However, they just do lawncare, so I’m going to have to find someone to put in my forsythia bushes, lily of the valley, and wild violets – and someone to cut down the bear (yes, we still have a bear) and some tree branches that are encroaching on the house. 

Still, I don’t think I’m going to miss mowing at all.  Some things are better left to our past, don’t you think? 

Oh, I did buy corn on the cob for the squirrels and Bill has put that out, so we have cat TV, and I need to bring in the birdseed holder and wash and fill that – so the cats have more than one channel to watch.