It's All Out Of Hand! How Did This Happen?

Well, actually, I KNOW how it happened. It was just too hot to get out there and work in the garden. I don't feel too guilty. I got out there and just about worked myself to death for a lot of hours. Got a lot accomplished too. I think that between the heat, and having too much to handle, it just got the best of me. The problem this year was, we put in completely new beds; which meant that everything had to be done from the very start. Blocks had to be laid, dirt had to be hauled, mulch had to be done; and when you have a fairly decent-sized garden, then all these things are time-consuming and HARD WORK. And my husband keeps saying, " We're not spring chickens anymore!" I swear, I'm going to slug him if I hear that from his lips one more time! My body tells me this everyday, why does he feel that he has to rub it in, I'd just like to know? Anyway, the good thing about all the work that was done this year, is that a lot of it will not have to be repeated. Unless I decide to enlarge my garden, which I am seriously thinking about doing. I have come to the conclusion that farm equipment is a wonderful thing to own. Tractors, plows, wheelbarrows, riding lawnmowers, I get all mushy inside just thinking about all those things. Because, most of the work that was done this year, was done by hand, and if you don't have a whole lot of help getting it done, then any mechanical implement that can help me to get the job done, where the machine does all the work, is a wonderful thing in my opinion! My problem is, we have very-well-used equipment, and I get so frustrated when it won't start, or it quits in the middle of the job. I used a regular push-mower for most of the grass-cutting season, and then started having trouble out of it, couldn't keep it running. The grass would get so high, that it looked like we were trying to grow a crop of hay for our imaginary horses. It kinda made me want to go buy a couple of horses just to keep the stupid grass cut. When the lawn mower tears up, it doesn't get fixed right away, sometimes it takes as long as a month. And we all know that the grass is certainly not going to cooperate by not growing. Well, since I was trying to keep the grass down at my garden cut , (about 1 1/2 acres) , and the grass at home cut, ( almost 1 acre), with a push-mower, I talked hubby into buying a used riding mower off of the want-ads. Now, hubby didn't want to do this, after all, we have a perfectly good broken-down 15 y/o riding lawnmower that's been sitting in the yard with weeds grown all around it, ( because I have nothing to cut the grass with). But, he's going to get that one fixed some day, I'D BETTER NOT GIVE IT AWAY TO GET IT OUT OF MY YARD! And we also have the push-mower that won't stay cranked more than 30 seconds; he's going to get that one fixed too; so why do we need to buy a working riding lawnmower? Well, we bought it, ( the riding mower), and I got three grass-cuttings out of it before IT tore up. I tell you , sometimes I just want to cry. I don't know how I got stuck cutting the grass in the first place; JoAnna contracted the job last year, to make spending money, but this year, she would only cut grass when she wanted something, not once a week when the grass needed cutting. If she was only going to do it for the money when it suited her, that wasn't acceptable, so I took the job away , and started doing it myself. And when we got the riding mower ( the one that lasted three grass-cuttings), then she started wanting me to pay her to cut grass again. Now sometimes I can be pretty obtuse, but this time, I didn't fall for it. The nerve!
So, the grass is waist-high again; all three lawnmowers are broken, and I tell you, I get pretty depressed sometimes. The weed-eater doesn't work, and I have actually gotten out into the yard with a pair of grass-shears, and cut around the edges by hand. I really despair of ever having a decent-looking house and property. I am always so embarrassed when people come over. So, these problems and others, are why my garden and property got out of hand. The only thing that I know to do is to let it all die down in the winter, try to clear it all out, and try not to let it get out of hand next year. That, and pray that God send some working equipment my way! I am also going to check into lasagne gardening between now and next spring; I've been reading a little about that, and it's supposed to ease most of the digging that has to be done.