A practical gift guide for gardeners

Gardening is another hobby that can be a great inspiration for presents. But, and speaking from experience, while it's always nice to have a pretty garden trowel set there is a limit to how many you can have, and often something more practical might also be appreciated.  For this week's gift guide I've put together a mix of items that I use, and which I have my eye on.

While the secateurs I told you about in the summer are brilliant, when there's more heavy duty work to be done I turn to my ratchet secateurs which we bought one year at Grand Designs - they were so good that when we went to another home show later in the year, we bought another pair. Now when we're working in the garden we know there's two pairs available and after having my pair nicked by MOH once too often, mine can usually be found in my back pocket when not in use.

It was earlier this year that I shared my admiration for the Stihl trimmer, and I'd recommend the Stihl range generally. You'll remember I went to visit their factory in Kufstein in January, and not only was it fantastic, the research that goes into these products blew me away. Coupled with the fact that the people were so lovely too, for me, if there's a choice I'd always opt for the Stihl or Viking products, because I've seen how they're assembled and looked their top management in the eye (in a non-confrontational way!).

While I was in Portugal this October they launched a new range of powerful and lightweight tools, and if I'm honest I've got my eyes on the leaf blower from this range - looking at the details it weighs 2kg, including the integrated battery.  Their site says it's quiet and I can well believe this, remember I've been into their Competence Centre, which is Europe's largest anechoic chamber, and totally mind blowing (pun not intended). 

At the time I told you how the echo from all sound, including sound you don't hear, is removed - but anyway, the testing that goes into noise levels means I believe it when they say it's quiet.  Our current leaf blower (and sucker) is far from quiet, in fact it sounds more like a motorbike and therefore isn't used very much at all.  And we wouldn't buy a leaf sucker bit again, as it gets even noisier (which we never thought possible) if it sucks up a stone - worth remembering if you're in the market for a leaf blower.

A practical gardener's gift guide by lifeat139a on Polyvore

The henchman ladder is also on my wish list. I'm a bit wobbly up ladders, but I'm also impatient so often can't wait for MOH to finish doing whatever he's doing to come and hold the ladder - which I instantly regret of course, every single time!  This one has a wider base, which will make it more stable and it also has adjustable feet, because no garden ever is ever flat is it?  

My current ladder has a lean guard - that's my non-technical name, but hopefully descriptive enough for you to know what I mean, and having somewhere to rest tools, gloves and string is always a good move too.

The gloves and cloche, well I go through gardening gloves like anything - I'm not quite sure what I do to them - but I do like to have pink gloves, I leave the more usual green ones for MOH. Cloches are also on my wishlist, and this Victorian style cloche would be a great addition to any garden wouldn't it? 

And I wouldn't even mind seeing it, much nicer than anything I've Heath-Robinson-ed together!

A gift guide for cyclists

You know how it is, you've presents to buy and you've no idea where to start. You know they quite like cycling, but that doesn't really help you either because as with any hobby or sport a certain amount of knowledge is needed. 

It's never just as simple as just buying something for the bike is it?

In this gift guide I've put together some suggestions, some fun, some serious of what the cyclist in your life might appreciate this festive season. One of these is the first Christmas present I bought, but which one?  I'll not share yet, just in case this is the one post that MOH reads here before the big day, and if you're reading - he, he, he - be worried, be very worried!!

So whether it's a very festive Christmas-jumper style cycling top, or cycle related clothing who knows?  The Cycology clothing makes a regular appearance in my Facebook feed and I think they've a good range and one that nods to a cycling habit, but also very wearable. 

The Crank Brothers cycling multi-tool is the one I have, it's not the lightest, but then again nor is my bike. But after a few chain incidents I wouldn't be without it, and I don't cycle anywhere without it.  I work on the theory that even if I don't know how to use it all - and I do know how to put my chain back on now - then if I was having a bike incident then at least having the tool is a start. Cyclists generally are a friendly bunch and I'm sure one would stop and help, so having an idea and a multi-tool is a very good start. Plus this one's super stylish too.

Gifts for cyclists by lifeat139a featuring a men's clothing

You'll not be surprised to see a basket on my gift guide, my basket is an essential piece of kit for my bike. MOH is likely to be very afraid now as I keep threatening to buy him one for his bike, as when we're out together he often gives me stuff to put in my basket. It's the cycling equivalent of "can you just put my keys in your handbag!" - please tell me you get asked that too?!

There's a navigation device which is billed as a smart compass which can be strapped onto handlebar, looks more like a bell than anything else I've seen and avoids the need to stop and check your phone for the route, and better still avoids having your phone strapped to the handlebars.  If that's not your thing, then having a stylish bell that really is a bell might work. All bikes are sold with a bell now, but often they're cheap and nasty and quickly rust, so a good looking, small and loud bell could be the thing for your cyclist.

If they're a more serious cyclist, then they've probably eschewed mudguards because either they don't fit, or spoil the look of the bike, or worse still add extra weight and affect the aerodynamics.  You can tell I speak from experience can't you?  But on wet days, your cyclist will come home with a trail of mud up their clothes and that's where the Ass Saver comes in. It quite literally does what it says, is lightweight and even the most discerning cyclist will consider this, so I'm told.

My final entry on this list is waterproof socks. Apparently you can never have too many, and once you've tried them you wouldn't be without them. I've not tried them but the idea of cold, wet feet while out cycling doesn't appeal, but then again wearing cycling shoes with mesh or holes in the bottom (for cleats) isn't my thing either.

Hopefully there'll have been some ideas that you can use to provide the perfect gift for your cyclist. And if you're a cyclist, what else would you add?

Some early Father's Day inspiration

Today I'm sharing some early inspiration for Father's Day which is on Sunday 18 June, and will no doubt be here sooner than we realised. It's unusual for me to be early for most things, but it's fair to say I get there in my own good time, so while I like to be organised often that's thinking through the actions I'll do almost last minute. So that makes this post quite a feat.

So when Debenham's got in touch and asked me to share some Father's Day treats and inspiration, I was keen to see if I could find some gifts my dad, who is notoriously hard to buy for because, as hey says, "if he wants something, he'll buy it" - something that now I totally get, but that's only been in the past few years or so.

You'll know that dad's a keen gardener, I've shared many photos from his garden here on the blog, but he's also a big tea and cake fan, something that appears to be hereditary.  In fact one of the things I remember from his speech at our wedding was telling the day guests that there'd be another hundred and fifty cakes in the evening, and he wasn't wrong, but they were only cupcakes, and of course we had to try at least one of each variety.

NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS ONE OF MUM'S HOME MADE CAKES...

This Awesome Dad mug made me smile, because all so often our dad's are awesome - mine is. In years gone by that's been late night drunken pick-ups from the station (me, not him), stopping in to feed my four cats when I was on those nights out, helping me tame my first garden as well as redecorate the whole house.  Then there was helping us move to this house, helping to decorate here when we moved in and much more since, including how every time we leave Norfolk with a fuller boot than when we arrived, often there's home grown veg, seedlings and plants and introducing me to this treasure trove of a place.

Usually gifts for dad end up being more practical and often clothe-related, whether that's something Palace orientated or in their red and blue colours. When I spotted these t-shirts, I knew they were just the thing for dad and would also get mum's seal of approval. 

FOR WELL-DRESSED HOLIDAY DAD

As I said before it's rare for dad to say there's something he wants, but he did just that recently, so when I found these small tumblers by Denby at Debenhams I knew they were going straight into the basket, and along with the other two in the set will be heading up to Sunny Hunny where I hope they'll get plenty of whisky-use. 

A STYLISH WAY TO ENJOY A TOT OF PURELY MEDICINAL WHISKY

And while dad doesn't have a barbecue, cooking over fire is definitely a man thing isn't it?  And Debenhams have a great range of barbecue accessories that can only help with that surely...

SATISFYING THE MAN AND FIRE OUTDOOR COOKING FASCINATION

Happy early Father's Day dad!

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