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This weeks theme is Creative
We went to an outdoor art show here in Toronto about two weeks ago and we found a metalworks artist that, I swear, I wanted to buy all of his pieces!
I love this propane tank pig. Isn’t it cute? The only problem was that it wasn’t cheap. Otherwise I might very well have ended up coming home with one or more interesting pieces for our garden.
I love this piggies curly tail, don’t you?
Summer is here and the weekends are for having fun, going to the cottage, beach, sporting events, visiting friends or just plain relaxing. If cutting the lawn is a chore that you’d rather not do why don’t you get a Robomower?
I was asked to do a short write up about Bamabots.com – Robomower and Lawnbott #1 Dealer – and to tell you the truth, once I started reading about these amazing machines I was hooked. I love the idea of Robotic lawn mowers.
We have such a small lawn that it really wouldn’t be practical to get a Robomower. I mean our backyard is 17 feet wide by approximately 30 feet long, but the perimeters have raised garden beds that are 3 and 4 feet wide, and then there’s a 20′ x 20′ patio area, so you can imagine how little lawn is left.
Now if I were back at my parents house with their good sized yard that probably took at least 45 minutes to an hour to cut both the front and back lawns a Robomower starts to sound like a good idea.
The Bamabots site has a top ten list of reasons why owning a Robomower or Lawnbott is a good idea. As an ER nurse I truly appreciate #8 on the list “They are safe. In 2005 there were 72,000 emergency room visits involving lawn mowers. ZERO involving robotic lawn mowers.“. Now that’s got me thinking. My elderly neighbor always pulls out her electric lawn mower while keeping an eye on our windows. I swear she does this on purpose. She then proceeds to begin cutting her lawn while in bare feet. Of course this brings me running outside. I’m certain she does this on purpose. If anyone in my neighborhood needs a robotic lawn mower – she does!
Other nifty tidbits on the top ten list that caught my eye was the fact that all of the Robomower and Lawnbott parts are replaceable, plus they really never wear out since there’s no motor to break down it’s said that they could last for decades. All you really need to do is change the blades once a year and replace the batteries when they no longer hold enough of a charge to cut your lawn.
Many of my recent posts have been about going green and doing our part to lower our carbon footprint. Well you could consider the robomowers “green” as they don’t use gas or oil so they do not contribute to pollution. I didn’t know this but 5% of pollution is caused by lawn mowers!
The best reason to get a Lawnbott or Robomower is because it will free up your time. Since the robotic lawn mowers can mow autonomously without human help all season long you could literally go away for the weekend or go about your business and your lawn will get cut on it’s own. These mowers actually go out on their own, mow your yard and then head back home to their charger. They’ll do this repeatedly throughout the season without any help from you.
Bamabots.com sells many different models of Robomowers and Lawnbotts. Each have different mowing capacities. The RL850 model that I’m showing to the left are great for lots that are up to 3/4 of an acre, where as the Robomower RL1000 is perfect for yards that are up to an acre in size.
Speaking of the RL1000 there’s a Robomower review that discusses all the features of this model in full detail.
If I were thinking of buying a Lawnbott or Robomower I think I’d take a serious look at the RL1000 since it is one of the models that has the autonomous feature where it can be programed in advance and cut your yard and returning to it’s charger on it’s own.
It just so happens that both of these mowers are on sale right now.
Just like any other type of lawn mower these are not inexpensive but when you consider what you’ll save on fuel and or electricity, plus gain in free time I think the price becomes comparable to a good regular lawn mower.
Have you ever seen a robotic lawn mower in action? I haven’t, but I’d like to as I’m sure it would be kind of cool to see.
Oh if you visit the site you must check out The Garden Groom – a hedge trimmer that self cleans, and the Electronic Venus Flytrap that burps when it catches a fly. Both items are near the bottom of the main page.
A few months ago I was contacted by a company called SnapTint. I believe that I’d done at least one write up for them in the past so I was familiar with the company and their home and car window tinting products.
The person who contacted me asked if they could send me one of their Do it yourself home window tinting kits. They wanted me to try their product on one of my windows and then if I wanted perhaps I could write about it to tell my readers of my experience.
I agreed to try their window film since my kitchen faces south and the sun coming in through the window in the morning is almost blinding! I figured a very light window tint couldn’t hurt and more than likely would reduce the glare and make the kitchen a much more pleasant place to spend time in on bright mornings.
A week to two weeks after I’d given the company the exact measurements of my window a long cardboard tube arrived. Actually we were out when it was delivered so one of our neighbors accepted it. The only problem was – they then went off on holidays forgetting to give us our package before they left! So my new window film has actually been here for about three weeks, but I only got it a week ago.
My husband and I decide to apply the window film to our kitchen windows on Sunday. We’d chosen one of the solar control film. There’s four types and the one that we were advised to use was the Suntek Symphony Neutral. We picked the lightest tint available which is the 50%.
I should mention here that along with the solar control films we could have picked one of their decorative or privacy films. I didn’t want that though as the kitchen window is how I view my garden while indoors. I suppose we could have also opted to take one of the car tint films but we didn’t really need that either since our car windows already have a built in tint.
I think putting the film on windows is best done by two people. I think it would be difficult if only one person were to attempt it. Not that it was hard – quite the opposite. Two people just made it that much easier.
We cleaned the windows well first.
Then, as directed we filled a spray bottle with a mixture of mild soap (baby shampoo, just a tad) and distilled water. We then liberally sprayed this mixture onto the first window pane that we’d decided to apply the film to. The slightly soapy mixture fixes the adhesive on the back of the window film and also makes it easier to move the window film around on the window as you put it in place.
We then peeled the backing off the first window film and applied it to the window. A quick spritz of the water mixture allowed us to use a squeegee on the window film to help push the air bubbles that were trapped under the film towards the window edges.
The window tint kit had come with some tools. I can’t remember what they are all called but the tools helped us smooth out the window film until it looked pretty much perfect on the window. We then used the box cutter that had come with the kit to trim the excess film from the window edges.
Here’s a photo of the first film after it had been applied, but before we trimmed it:
The film actually appeared to be quite a bit darker than I thought it would be.
You can see the difference between the window filmed pane and the untouched window panes in that photo. The directions said that the film would appear a little milky at first when applied but as it cured – it takes up to three weeks to cure – it would clear. I do think that now that the film has been on the windows for a few days that it has cleared a bit (it was never milky or opaque) and it looks great.
I should note here that the directions said that if any small air bubbles appeared, ones that were less than 1/8th of an inch that they would disappear as the film cured. I think we managed to get the majority of bubbles out, but there were a few. Now that the window is finished you cannot see any bubbles.
When we’d finished putting the window film on all three window panes I took this photo:
I believe it was about 6 pm at the time. It should have been much brighter out but the day was overcast so this photo doesn’t really show the window and it’s new tint in the best light. You can see that it is slightly tinted, but that we can still see outside quite well.
The curtains are back up and when you look at the window you’d never know we just put a film on it. i mean yes there’s a tint, but the film attached itself to the window so completely and my husband trimmed the excess film off so well you’d think the window came with the tint built in.
Some of the benefits that I’m looking forward to with our new window film is the fact that the film can reduce glare and heat by up to 93%. Our kitchen is on the south side of the house and is often the warmest room on the main floor in the summer. If it’s a few degrees cooler as a result of the window film I’ll be happy.
The solar film also blocks out up to 99% of harmful UV rays which means that any items, furnishings or even the curtains should be protected from the UV rays and as a result shouldn’t fade.
If you have a room that’s too bright or car windows that could use some tint to reduce glare visit SnapTint. My experience with their window film has been good so far. If I notice any changes in the film at any time – good or bad I’ll be sure to update this post.
At this point I’m happy to give SnapTint and it’s window films two thumbs up.