Recovering from no wifi, and a week of no* blog posts!

It feels a bit odd to be back home and not to have written a blog post until now. I expected to be chomping at the bit to get blogging again, and in a way I am, but it's more of knowing where to start after a busy week in Dorset. But first, how did I cope without wifi? 

Honestly, in the end it wasn't so bad. But initially - and I'm not afraid to admit it - there was panic. Partly because in my head I had plans to catch up with myself, read lots more blogs and spend some time maybe even writing those blog posts I keep promising myself that I will. With no blog posts written for the week, I know it was optimistic, but hey, I'm an optimist. 

So discovering there was no wifi was a bit of a blow!

I knew it meant my plans to become uber-organised were unlikely to materialise and that didn't sound that great. Plus it's unlike me to go a week without posting and I hadn't prepared myself mentally for that. If I know I'm away I usually schedule at least some posts in advance, but not this time, there'd just been too much going beforehand.

I mean, who'd book a cottage without wifi?

Yes, indeed. Well, erm, me... 

Somehow I'd overlooked the lack of wifi. Clearly I'd been seduced by the loveliness of the cottage.

Ahem.

But at least I had no one else to blame, which was probably a good thing.  So do you want to see the cottage, or actually the converted barn?

The stone exterior looked smart and the use of wood inside gave a nice homely feel. When we arrived the heating was on full blast, and was quickly turned down to more liveable levels. Rooms were allocated, things were unpacked, space was made in the large kitchen for the provisions we'd brought, and a bar area was quickly set up in the dining space.

Well, it would have been rude not to.

The boys were soon making themselves very comfortable on the sofa in time for the last six nations game, and I'm not sure if they were impressed more by the lazy boy than the rugby. Actually I know they were, I'm not sure who I'm kidding!  MOH thinks he's having an inbuilt area in our next sofa for his beer glass and snacks, because it's such a great idea, isn't it?  Erm, no dear.

It was good to see the barn's transformation in photos, and no doubt it was quite an undertaking. 

Wood featured heavily in the bedroom furniture too, with similar pieces in each of the three bedrooms. 

The dining room was a double height galleried space, with roof lights flooding light into the space below. Our bedroom had a velux window which was a great way to check the weather for the day ahead, without having to move a muscle. 

And over the road, we could see breakfast too!  I think those chickens must have been working overtime for their new neighbours - you can't beat a good egg for breakfast, can you?

Hatching a plan

By the end of the weekend I'd hatched a plan to explain my unexpected absence and you know what, it wasn't so bad! I didn't get the reading I'd hoped to done, or the blog posts written either and well, it wasn't the end of the world. It's not how I've been used to spending my evenings either, and I did make use of the time to edit many, many photos that somehow had escaped me, and now I've plenty more posts to actually get on and write. 

Nor was I totally cut off from the online world, I chose to post regularly on Facebook and Instagram, and saw my engagement on those channels increase, and I did make full use of my mobile data and any free wifi service I discovered when out and about. It was a great week away, and not only do I still have that reading and blog posts to do, I've a stack more photos to edit from our Dorset adventures too. 

And next time I book a cottage, I'll be sure to know in advance if there's wifi or not. And to plan accordingly!

* Well, when I say no blog posts, I mean hardly any!

iMow, smart gardening of the future?

Now the weather's warming up no doubt you're starting to think about cutting your grass, or like us you might even have cut your grass already.  When I say us, that's the Royal us as in our household grass cutting is MOH's domain, and it's a serious job. Or it seems to be anyway.

It reminded me though of the demonstration on the press trip to Stihl and Viking in January, where we saw their robotic mower, iMow. Bright green in colour, we also learnt it's also bright by nature.

But first, why would you iMow?

Viking told us it was time saving, the lawn is always cut, it's good for the grass as it's cut from all sides, it's ergonomical, environmentally friendly, there's no grass to dispose of and could even be a status symbol.  It's a pretty nifty mover too.

If I'm honest I'm not convinced. I can see the advantages of it, but think the practicalities of retro-fitting the system into older-style houses could be tricky, but not impossible to do. I think that for some people, cutting the grass is a pastime, and not necessarily a chore. I suspect for many though it's a chore, but then the price point might dissuade some. And for those that are keen on their lawns, like their gadgets and have disposable income then they're likely to want stripes in their lawn, which the iMow can't deliver.

Take our garden for example, we don't have power outside, but that's fixable. We'd need somewhere to house it near the power source - that's slightly harder to resolve and we'd need to make some changes, but not impossible. It needs perimeter wires installed, so it knows where to stop mowing which is part of the installation so no problem there.

The big sticking point for my garden is that it wouldn't cut to the edge of our circles, as for safety reasons the blade doesn't reach to the edge of the plastic housing. So for it to work in our garden, we'd need to add hard edging to the edges of our circles, perhaps edging them with brick, so the mower could go to the edge of those and cut to the edge of the grass. So for us, it doesn't work, especially as we're part-way through adding edging already.  Clearly if we were just starting the edging project, and we were set on an iMow we'd plan accordingly.

I think it's more practical and actually more useful in new build houses or developments with communal gardens that need regular maintenance. The robotic mower could be trained and set to work, and it'll generate its own mowing schedule. I also think there's more developments to come in this area, and that's likely to bring the price down, and therefore make it much more attractive to people who consider mowing the grass a chore.

It is very clever though.  And, if you've delegated grass cutting to the iMow, then you'll need to find something else to do, perhaps these might help...

Some people even name theirs

You can set hours for when it can work, so it's not working while you want to enjoy your garden. It has an inbuilt rain sensor, so when it rains it heads back to its shelter - and that's to protect the grass, rather than the machine. It remembers how much it's done, so if it's sent back to its shelter either because of the weather, or because it's used its hours up that day, it goes back to where it left off when it's able to work again. And the battery charging is clever too, if it's behind in its workload the battery charges more quickly; if it's ahead of itself it charges at a more leisurely pace. 

And so it's easy to see why people treat them as pets, and give them names.

So, could you iMow?

*This is a collaborative post with Stihl and Viking whose factory I visited as part of the UK press trip, but as always all views and opinions are my own.  

PS: If traditional lawnmowers are more your thing, then my post about the Stihl lawnmowers might be for you, especially if you're considering buying a new one.

Talking texture and sharing some tips for adding more to your home

texture

noun

1. the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance.
   synonyms: feel, touch, appearance, finish, surface, grain, quality, character, consistency, weave, nap
   "the quality and texture of the fabric"

It's something we take for granted in our homes and often it's something we add naturally when we decorate and furnish our rooms, guided by the products on sale no doubt. You might think you don't add texture, or don't have different textured items in the room you're in now.

Take a look around you, and look for the texture

Even if you're in the bathroom, a room you wouldn't naturally think would have much texture, I bet you've got fluffy towels - or wished you had - and a bath mat whose texture contrasts nicely with the smoothness of your tiles. Maybe you've got a loofah, or an exfoliator too... But enough about bathrooms, there's plenty more texture elsewhere in the house.

I'm sharing some snippets from our living room, to show how you can introduce texture easily if you think you could do with some more. 

With wooden floors, leather sofas, high ceilings and a wood and steel spiral staircase in the corner of our living room, we've had to work hard to reduce the echo and 'bounce' of sound, and we quickly realised that soft furnishings help. Cushions are a great way to add texture, and if you have cushions with removable covers then you can swap the covers to match the season.

The most obvious texture we've introduced in our living room is the bamboo wallpaper on the main wall. MOH found it years ago and showed it to me not expecting me to like it, but I did. And when we redecorated it was top of our list, and we haven't regretted it. It's also really easy to hang as it's about a metre wide and the note that comes with it says there's no need to match the pattern either - a novice wallpaper-ers dream!

A WALL LIGHT SHINING THE LIGHT ON OUR SPIRAL STAIRCASE

But it's not just textiles that add interest. Our round CD rack does that too, in a way that a more traditionally shaped rack might not. When I explained to our decorator that we wanted these two wallpapers together and to hang the CD rack back where it was, he told me it wouldn't work. But it does, maybe not in the traditional way, but that's not a reason not to do something is it?

I've mentioned cushions already, and throws, especially fringed throws are another quick way to add texture. And on those cold evenings they're great for some extra warmth too. Julian Charles are currently promoting their #NotCompleteWithout campaign and if you're looking to add more texture to your house then it's worth taking a look at www.juliancharles.co.uk as they've some great homeware items.

Nature too has some great textures, think of the smooth driftwood and the fun you can have searching for that. I've opted for something slightly more easy to find and that's giant pine cones, and equally as much fun to find on a long country walk. I display mine in terracotta pots from my dad, much to MOH's dislike. But for me the pots were too nice to leave in the greenhouse, and way too nice and characterful to just have earth in, I've three in a line, and no idea why I've only photographed two.

Lampshades can also add texture. The one above is a paper shade, you'd never think so would you, its pattern suggests texture and I love how it is against the radiator.  I said we'd worked hard to introduce texture, and along the way we've made what I can now call clever choices, at the time we just liked the chenille patterned material for our curtains.  

These add texture to the small Georgian-style windows but don't overpower the room, which I think is always a challenge with curtains. My ideal curtains are full, flowing and floor length curtains but they wouldn't suit our windows so they're on my list for another house!

Books add texture too. Whether they're more decorative like these above which we picked up in a local bookshop many years ago or your reading pile. If you look carefully in the photo below through the lamp base in the top right, you can spot my reading pile, which seems to have got a little out of control.  The encyclopedias which look old and interesting, are old and interesting but sadly we've no idea just how old. We liked their battered look and that they're Nelson's Encyclopedia, especially as we're up the road from Greenwich with its rich maritime history.

And with a beautiful wooden floor, at times it seems a crime to cover it with a rug but for us it's an essential. Without the rug the room feels bare, and we feel lost. It's amazing how a rug can help ground us, and zone the room - it's taken a while to get the right sized rug, but we're there now and we wouldn't be without it.

So, as I said at the top of this post it's easier to add texture than we think. Did you notice more texture than you first thought when you really looked?

* This is a collaborative post with Julian Charles, but all views and opinions are my own.