I've been mowing the lawn quite a lot recently. For those of you who know me well, this is unusual behaviour.
There are three things in life I refuse to do unless forced to - mowing the lawn, reversing the car, and Morris dancing...
All are extremely unpleasant and uncomfortable.
After having whiplash a number of times, reversing can be problematic, even though yes, I do use my wing mirrors.
As for Morris dancing, all that dancing and prancing about plays havoc with your knees, and nobody warns you about ending up with black eyes...if you don't wear an extremely good bra.
That leaves mowing the lawn...
In the olden days, we had an old hand mower which I tried using a couple of times, but it was too back-breaking.
"It's man's work " I told my husband and left him to it.
Then about fifteen years ago, 'The Beast' arrived.
A petrol mower, a stinky, noisy huge thing which I tried to use once or twice. Not intuitive to use, I almost put my back out each time I pulled the chord to start the damn thing, and it was just as temperamental as I was by the time the lawn was cut.
So I've not used a lawnmower since. Until recently as my husband has had two hip replacements and another op. Someone had to do the lawn and that was me, and I wasn't going to do that using the beast.
At the Garden Press event in London earlier this year, I was paying attention to what I've always considered the boys' toys ranges.
On the Stihl stand, I was asked what I was looking for. My answer was something not too big, not too heavy, cordless, something which could be used by someone who was technologically challenged, and not too expensive.
I looked at all of their range and fancied the Stihl RMA 235.
"Would you like to review it?"
"Yes, but only if I can be brutally honest... I don't get on with lawnmowers" I replied. Despite saying that, the lawnmower arrived.
All I had to do, was get it out of the box, tighten the handles, slot in the grass collection box and insert the lithium battery, and push the mower towards the lawn. Immediately I realised just how lightweight this mower is, weighing in at only 14 kilos.
I pressed the button on the right-hand side and pressed the handles together, and we were away, cutting a swathe through the thick grass, which was in desperate need of a trim.
So what do I honestly think about this model of mower?
Well, it's a doddle to use, idiot-proof in fact and very safe. It's light and quiet, there's a gentle hum as you walk up and down the lawn, only slightly increasing in volume as you hit a rougher, tougher patch of grass.
It's easy to guide and manoeuvre around the garden with minimum effort... no backache using this machine, oh no.
Although the grass box takes up to 30 litres of grass clippings, it's simple and light to detach and empty the grass clippings on the compost heap.
Should I have gone with a larger model to review though?
Stihl recommends the RGM 235 for gardens sized the size of a tennis court. Mines slightly bigger, but I 'm still very pleased with its performance and have actually enjoyed (I can't believe I'm saying this) using it.
In short, if you have a smaller garden, need a lightweight efficient mower which is so easy to use and easy on your back, this one fits the bill to a T. I've said in the past that lawn mowing is men's work, but this is an ideal mower for women to use.
Thanks to this small mower at last, I've mastered the art of lawn mowing.
In fact...
It's given me the confidence to be ready to play with some other power tools.
I'm not ready for a chainsaw just yet, perish the thought...but I now feel ready to try the delights of strimming.
There are three things in life I refuse to do unless forced to - mowing the lawn, reversing the car, and Morris dancing...
All are extremely unpleasant and uncomfortable.
After having whiplash a number of times, reversing can be problematic, even though yes, I do use my wing mirrors.
As for Morris dancing, all that dancing and prancing about plays havoc with your knees, and nobody warns you about ending up with black eyes...if you don't wear an extremely good bra.
That leaves mowing the lawn...
In the olden days, we had an old hand mower which I tried using a couple of times, but it was too back-breaking.
"It's man's work " I told my husband and left him to it.
Then about fifteen years ago, 'The Beast' arrived.
A petrol mower, a stinky, noisy huge thing which I tried to use once or twice. Not intuitive to use, I almost put my back out each time I pulled the chord to start the damn thing, and it was just as temperamental as I was by the time the lawn was cut.
So I've not used a lawnmower since. Until recently as my husband has had two hip replacements and another op. Someone had to do the lawn and that was me, and I wasn't going to do that using the beast.
At the Garden Press event in London earlier this year, I was paying attention to what I've always considered the boys' toys ranges.
On the Stihl stand, I was asked what I was looking for. My answer was something not too big, not too heavy, cordless, something which could be used by someone who was technologically challenged, and not too expensive.
I looked at all of their range and fancied the Stihl RMA 235.
"Would you like to review it?"
"Yes, but only if I can be brutally honest... I don't get on with lawnmowers" I replied. Despite saying that, the lawnmower arrived.
I pressed the button on the right-hand side and pressed the handles together, and we were away, cutting a swathe through the thick grass, which was in desperate need of a trim.
So what do I honestly think about this model of mower?
Well, it's a doddle to use, idiot-proof in fact and very safe. It's light and quiet, there's a gentle hum as you walk up and down the lawn, only slightly increasing in volume as you hit a rougher, tougher patch of grass.
It's easy to guide and manoeuvre around the garden with minimum effort... no backache using this machine, oh no.
Although the grass box takes up to 30 litres of grass clippings, it's simple and light to detach and empty the grass clippings on the compost heap.
Should I have gone with a larger model to review though?
Stihl recommends the RGM 235 for gardens sized the size of a tennis court. Mines slightly bigger, but I 'm still very pleased with its performance and have actually enjoyed (I can't believe I'm saying this) using it.
In short, if you have a smaller garden, need a lightweight efficient mower which is so easy to use and easy on your back, this one fits the bill to a T. I've said in the past that lawn mowing is men's work, but this is an ideal mower for women to use.
Thanks to this small mower at last, I've mastered the art of lawn mowing.
In fact...
It's given me the confidence to be ready to play with some other power tools.
I'm not ready for a chainsaw just yet, perish the thought...but I now feel ready to try the delights of strimming.
