Thursday 11 November 2010

Well Blow Me!


The working week has been, and is forecast to continue to be, very windy and wet.........and leafy.....still!
As a bit of respite we had booked tickets for ourselves and Celia a while ago to a stage version of Cranford, the successful television series starring among other famous actors and actresses, Dame Judi Dench. The version we saw at The Poole Lighthouse Theatre was an incredible four hours long, and very entertaining indeed. The intermission had me supplying myself and the two ladies with the very traditional mint ice cream tub.

But of course, with the smooth comes the rough. Lots of wet leaves everywhere, and as well as a couple of hand held Stihl leaf blowers, I have a very powerful Echo knapsack blower, well...had! Yesterday, midway through some serious clearing, I pulled the ripcord and 'doing!', the recoil spring broke, rendering the machine useless until a replacement is sent through, something that I discovered would take at least two weeks, and probably four....not a happy bunny! What to do in the meantime whilst I wait for the part that will set me back a tenner?.......buy a new one that wasn't supposed to happen until next year.


Usually nearly £600, I struck up the usual deal and nabbed this little beauty for £545.

Let me introduce you to the Stihl BR 600. She is sexy, seductive, comfortable and powerful....boy is she powerful. In fact, this monster is currently the most powerful blower on the world market, and is capable of shifting house bricks....as was I when testing it out for the first time!


The engine is fully damped, so no vibration going through your skeleton, and shoulder and waist straps hold it all in place for ease of use. Yes, this is a toy, but a toy for men. Some contracting gardeners have apparently complained that it makes their arms ache, with the force of holding the air hose straight, somewhat like a fireman and his hose. These are obviously wooses with arms like bits of string, but I must admit the biceps and veins were bulging somewhat!


We are going to have lots of fun together, and when the spring arrives for her lesser brother blower, then he shall take up residence in the storage shed as a spare when my new ladyfriend needs servicing.


Oh yes, sorry but I nearly forgot, but todays work went out of the window because of bad weather and so a trip to Eco to dump all of the rubbish so far this week, then picked up the beautiful blowing beast, cleared a bit of the back garden, removed a broken limb from one of our Acacias in the back garden that got damaged in the wind, and repaired a couple of parts on the mower, so not a total wash out. Tomorrow promises to be fine in the morning before the foul weather moves in again for the afternoon, and so a nightmare of a place to clear up first thing, probably followed by a cuddle with the cat. Will let you know what actually happened, when it's happened.  Ta Ta!

12 comments:

  1. Hi Gary - tha's a monster machine and will blow like the winds we had yesterday! Save you a lot of hard work in the bargain, depsite it's price tag!

    Have a good weekend

    Laura

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  2. Dear Gary, Your new machine looks as if itis capable of consuming a whole garden never mind a few leaves....and what, I ask, is it doing on the dining table?!!

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  3. That's a VERY good question Edith! Gary - what IS it doing on the kitchen table my love?

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  4. Hi Laura,
    Thanks, it is proving to be a life saver, even if a bit of a monster!

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  5. Dear Edith,
    It certainly made short work of two really bad places yesterday. The dining table...hmmm....I think I am in trouble about that. In my defence, it was brand new and spotlessly clean!

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  6. Hi Babe,
    It wasn't really on the table, I used Photoshop to make it look like that.

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  7. That's a proper blower.

    Don't bother about the table. I once caught hell off Mrs IG for stripping down a Kawasaki ZXR engine on the kitchen table. As I told her, "It's bloody cold outside".

    I think she understood ... eventually.

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  8. Mr IG,
    A soulmate! This is what I keep trying to explain, and I think I am being understood more as the frying pan is hitting my head a little softer these days.

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  9. We do get excited with that which lightens the work load. Hello Gary. It has been a pleasure to peruse your site this morning: the gardens, your lovely grandchildren and family, and we do love "The Watchers". Much to be enjoyed here. Thank you.

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  10. I'm imagining your evening will be spent cuddling the new leafblower rather than the cat....

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  11. Hi Di,
    Thanks for the nice comments and for dropping by. ''The Watchers' is a favourite tiny B&B of ours in Polperro, and we have spent many hours at this window reading, drawing and talking.

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  12. Hi Tim,
    I'm afraid that you are right, the cat didn't get a look in!

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