I got a new lawn mower yesterday. My old one has outlived all expectations (not sure exactly, but it's at least 15 years old). So I decided to get a new one. I wanted something environmentally friendly (I tried a reel mower last year and liked it, but on 2/3 of an acre it's a lot of work), so I looked into electric mowers.
I ended up with the Black & Decker 19" Lawn Hog mulching electric mower. And let me tell you, it's worth every penny.
As a mower it's pretty nice. Pluses are the green aspects of electric mowing, it's relatively quiet, very easy to start (just hold the start lever, no pulling on cords required), very easy to adjust the height (you can do it one handed on the fly), and very light (which makes it very maneuverable, especially to my old, heavy gas self-propelled mower with the broken drive gears).
As far as cutting ability goes, it does a decent job. It can mulch, bag, or expel the grass (I use the mulching). It's been nearly a week and a half since I last mowed so the grass was nearly 9 inches in spots. The mower did get bogged down a bit (very slow going on the highest setting got through them) but the gas mower would have had a hard time on them, too. The one thing I did notice is that in the taller grass the mower sometimes left a 1 inch wide strip unmowed in the center of the cutting path. I'm guessing this is from the mulcher throwing around so much grass that it just sort of missed a spot. No problem, a quick spin on the return pass cleaned up the rough spots nicely.
There are only a few minuses. Besides the minor cutting issues mentioned above, I found the extension cord restrictive and cumbersome - but that was expected. I'll get a path down and then it shouldn't be too bad. It would be nice if there was a cord manager that could easily swap the cord from side to side. I found I was always holding the cord with the hand that was closest to the outlet. If there was some sort of slide mechanism that could just move the cord from side to side that would be great. Then I would just have to slide the cord over and step over it. On a related note, the power lever that you have to hold down to make the mower run is only on the right hand side. It would be nice if the lever ran the length of the handle so it could be held with either hand. The way it is now I find that I'm often reaching across the handle with my left hand to hold the lever down while I swing the cord out of the way with my right. It's a bit awkward, but not a killer. Also, it would be nice if the cutting path was larger than 19". That's a bit narrower than I'm used to so it's taking me a bit longer to cut my lawn.
But all in all I like the mower and am happy with it so far... I think the pluses and minuses pretty much cancel each other out. The environmental aspect of it is a big plus in my book, but I can see how some people might prefer to mow untethered.
But... The biggest plus in my book, and the thing that makes this mower worth every penny I spent, is how much quieter and easier to operate it is than a gas mower. I know I mentioned this above, but the reason this is so great is that I can take Michael mowing with me! He sat in the back pack carrier while I mowed. And he loved it! The mower is about as loud as a vacuum cleaner. The gas mower was just too loud for his little ears. But the electric mower was just right. Perfect, in fact. After about 30 minutes of mowing the buzz of the mower was joined by the squeaks of a little Michael snoring. He slept for nearly an hour on my back while I mowed, only waking up slightly when I had to move the cord to a new outlet.
OK. So it's been a while since I posted anything. Things have been busy though. And Michael's been really busy, too. In the last few days he's started pushing himself into a sitting position from laying down. He's also started pulling himself up into a standing position when he's in his crib or near something stable (like my legs). Today he kept pulling himself up in his crib and didn't want to get down (except for the gettin' down he was doing to the music of his aquarium toy's music). He's still not really crawling yet, but he is getting around a lot by scooting and rolling. It's only a matter of time, but we're wondering if he'll start walking first since he seems to hate being on his belly but loves standing.
In the last month or so we've gone from Julie and I trying to catch Mike's attention and keep him entertained to Mike trying to catch our attention and entertain us! It's really cute... He'll make a little coughing sound and then wait for us to repeat it. If we don't he'll do it louder. Once we start "Aach-ing" back to him he gets a huge smile and bops up and down. We can go back and forth with Aachs, Aaaaarrrghs, AaaaOoooAhhhs, and AahAahAahAahs for quite a while. Sometimes he sounds like a little machine gun. The other day he let out a little snort. Julie laughed and that set off a whole series of snorts, snarks, and giggles.
And starting yesterday he's been saying, very clearly and deliberately, "muh". Today Julie realized that he only says it when he wants milk. If he's not hungry he doesn't say it. If he's saying "muh" he's ready to eat. If he's not saying "muh" he won't eat. So this seems like the first time he's deliberately making a sound that appears to mean something. First word? I'm not sure that it quite qualifies yet, but Julie's convinced. It's definitely exciting though!
I've posted up a few new pictures and videos in his album. If you need the password, just email me:
