With the grass beginning to grow, it was time to invest in a mower for the new yard. I was debating what type of mower I wanted to go with, but I was pretty sure I wanted to avoid a gas mower if possible.
My lawn is fairly small, and childhood memories of exhaust fumes and gas cans made it easy to embrace alternative mower designs.
Being a design geek, I’m always attracted to the new quirky approaches to otherwise boring products. Think Dyson vacuums or Bobble water bottles. The issue is that sometimes design is used to sugarcoat otherwise mediocre products.
When I found the Fiskars StaySharp Mower
, I appreciated the clean minimalistic design, but feared it might fall into the design gimmick category. However, after reading a great deal of positive reviews, I decided to take a chance on the momentum. I purchased it from Lowes with their 10% off coupon for new homeowners which brought the normal price of $199 down to $179. $179 is pretty expensive for a reel mower, but still cheaper than a rechargeable battery powered mower.
Assembly was a snap. The mower came nicely packaged and almost completely assembled. Required assembly included the handle assembly which consisted of 4 pieces and four bolts.
The inaugural mowing went fairly well. I was surprised at how easily I was able to push through the grass and it’s satisfying to watch the clippings fly from the front similar to what you expect from a snowblower.
My only gripe is that some of the taller grass on the edge of the yard and on high spots went uncut. It wasn’t major, and had I noticed it before I put the mower away, another pass would have probably helped.
All in all I’m happy with the purchase. I didn’t smell like fumes, I wasn’t covered in clippings and the lawn looked pretty decent.
Mentioned in this post:
Fiskars 6201 18-Inch StaySharp Max Push Reel Lawn Mower
Bobble BPA Free Water Bottle, 18.5 Ounce, Black
Dyson DC25 Ball All-Floors Upright Vacuum Cleaner
Maple Bacon taffy, found at The Candy Store in Wyandotte MI. Salty/sweet with a surprisingly realistic bacon aftertaste.
I recently purchased my first home (more on that to come), and have been spending my weekends working on the house with my dad. One of the fun things associated with this task has been exploring the lunch options in the neighborhood.
While there are some chain restaurants in downtown Wyandotte (I’ve been consuming way more Jimmy John’s than I’d like to admit), there are also a lot of great little independent places to grab a bite. This week it was Joe’s Hamburgers (pictured above). They serve up old-fashioned sliders as well as hot dogs and some of the best shoestring fries I’ve ever had. If the regular fries aren’t enough for you, they even have poutine!
Found this pic from last year’s big storm. It begs the question, where’s the snow been this year?
Found this gem on Craigslist:
“I really have no desire at all to sell this chair. I told my wife (who does not share my love for this chair) that I would list the chair on Craigslist, so I am listing the chair. Please do not purchase my plycraft chair.”
I printed up this Gordie Howe poster last year. I still need to find a place to hang one of them.
I made this Beavis and Butthead inspired shirt for Halloween this year.
I designed the lettering in illustrator, printed the letters on some dark t-shirt transfer paper, cut them out and then ironed them on.
Quick and easy.
