I'm impressed with my Shark

What is it they say about age and getting excited about household appliances? Well, whatever it is I’ve a feeling it could be true…

Since we moved here - to a house with mainly carpets - it’s been clear that our well used and much loved little vacuum was struggling. It’s still great on the Karndean flooring but with the majority of our new house carpeted, it really was hard work to vacuum, so much so that instead of blitzing the job as we would previously, it made more sense to tackle a room at a time.

In the end though I had to agree with MOH - we needed a new vacuum.

Though a quick search of prices left my eyes wide open, as did all the options and permeations available. So nothing happened for quite a while as it was just too tricky. However we were in Nottingham a month or so ago and actually looked at vacuum cleaners, in person. Unsurprisingly this helped narrow the field a lot, but we still left without one thinking that we could probably pick one up a bit cheaper online, or at least have it delivered and avoid carrying it home.

But that didn’t work out so well, or not immediately anyway - as our ‘chosen one’ was out of stock everywhere I looked, even on the maker’s website. I signed up for the ‘tell me when it’s back in stock emails’ but nothing ever arrived, so I took this to mean that the model was being retired and hopefully replaced.

It wasn’t all bad news though as we’d identified we wanted a Shark. We’ve had good vacuums in the past - a Dyson (which has been retired to the garage) and a Hoover, which had been promoted to our first choice. Both have served us well, but it was time for something new. And the Shark cleaners were new to us.

Our must haves were:

1. Be able to remove the battery and charge this independently of the vacuum cleaner.

2. Be able to deal with a lot of carpet, but also hard flooring.

3. Two batteries.

4. Store compactly.

5. Noise - nothing too high pitched and screechy.

6. Not cost the earth.

For me number 1 and number 5 were really important. One because I like our current arrangement of storing the cleaner in our plant room, and being able to charge the batteries separately. This ruled out a Dyson as I didn’t want the vacuum on show in our utility room, where we have a spare power socket (or to have the faff of getting a socket put in where we store the cleaner). And five because, our Dyson hurts my ears; the Hoover is better noise-wise but the Shark we tested in the shop was at a much lower pitch, so that worked in its favour too.

I’d expect all vacuums to manage my second and fourth requirements, but it’s worth making sure isn’t it - some claim to, and are, better than others. Having two batteries means that if the battery does run out on you, you can still carry on - maybe not a blessing every time, but useful if you want to finish off cleaning a room.

And number six, well - we can’t have everything can we?

It was definitely worth signing up to the ‘tell me when it’s back in stock emails’ as while I’d already clocked that Black Friday (which seems to last at least a week now) was approaching and was hoping that I might be lucky with that final option on our wish list. And it turned out to be a good choice, as one of the emails that arrived promised ‘early access to Black Friday deals’.

I was right when I’d assumed the model we looked at no longer existed, but I found one - the Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro Cordless Vacuum [Double Battery] IZ420UKT - that had similar details to the photo of the tag from the shop. And so, around 7.30pm I ordered that, which was also £150 cheaper than we’d seen in person.

What I wasn’t expecting was for it to be delivered by 11am the next day. But it was. That was impressive.

I set about unboxing it, putting it together and trying it out. I was still impressed.

Over the next day or so we vacuumed the whole house. We were still impressed.

Although I’m both impressed and slightly depressed about how much dirt it’s picked up - oops! And it’s worth noting that it’s heavier than either of our previous vacuums.

So back to my list of must haves - we’ve achieved all of these, which is great news. I know it’s only a fortnight or so since it arrived but I have no regrets, and I’ve a few learnings too:

1. The delivery experience from Shark (we bought directly from their website) was exceptional.

2. This doesn’t come with a manual, which was ok - and there’s enough information printed on the box, but if you like all the details it’s worth checking what’s included. I’ve ended up cutting out and keeping part of the box - and storing with the accessories, so I remember what they’re all for.

   So far for me it’s been a bout straight up vacuuming, I haven’t branched out into the accessories yet - but it comes with a multi-surface tool, anti-allergen brush, 12” crevice tool and a motorised pet tool with a handy storage bag.

3. The ‘flexology bends’ means it gets under the furniture much more easily than I anticipated, and retains its full power while doing so.

4. It senses and automatically adjusts when there’s more dirt to pick up from where you’re cleaning, and shows this on the floorhead, the noise intensity also changes - but even better, it reverts when the dirt has gone.

   We had the ideal opportunity to test this when MOH wanted to see how it opened and hadn’t quite made it to the bin in time! It was like one of those 1970s ads, but for real!

5. One thing I wasn’t prepared for, and I’m still not sure about is the suction pads on the bottom of the battery charger. They have good suction, and I guess it means it will stay where you put it - but mine is currently on a paper bag while I work out exactly where it will live.

   I’ve a feeling it may get an upgrade to something fancier than a paper bag at some point, as I’m not sure I want it stuck in place if I’m honest.

We chose the Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro Cordless Vacuum [Double Battery] IZ420UKT

So all in all, it’s been a great experience - and one that has made keeping our house clean slightly easier, and quicker too. And we remain impressed.

FYI: This isn’t an ad, but I shared some pictures on Instagram Stories and had so many questions that I’m sharing everything on my blog, as a quick and easy way to provide answers.

And yes, we are now a three vacuum household - which is something I’m still coming to terms with…

Making myself some chunky fabric weights

Once I’d cut out the pieces for my outside cushions I was left with a strip of fabric that I knew I wouldn’t use in future cushions, and I wondered if it might work for some chunky pattern weights which I’d had my eye on making since that bag making course I went on in May. I have some smaller pattern weights which I use, but I used some of these on the course, and they were really good at holding the fabric in place on the table, which if you only have a small space to work in is a life saver.

Clearly I could just have easily added the leftover fabric to my stash, but I thought I’d strike while the iron was hot and so I looked out the pattern that the tutor had shared on the course, and worked out with some small adjustments I could make it work. And they’re really easy to make, trust me.

All you need is a rectangle of material, mine was a bit smaller than the suggested 11cm x 21cm, a piece of ribbon for the finger loop, plus something relatively heavy to fill them with. I used rice for these, but would consider adding some dried lavender along with the rice to any future ones I make - as rice alone doesn’t have the greatest smell. I wouldn’t use too much lavender, or lavender on its own as I’d be concerned that the oils might seep through the fabric and onto the fabric I was cutting out.

You simply fold the fabric in half to form a square, insert your ribbon at the fold and then sew along the top and side open edge, leaving the bottom edge unsewn. Then open the bag so the seam is now in the centre, and sew but remember to leave a gap so you can add the filling.

Turn it through, push the corners out and fill with rice (it’s definitely worth putting it into a tray to catch the spilled rice - trust me) and then sew the gap closed.

Simples. And really useful too.

There’s plenty of free patterns for these kind of fabric weights online - if you want more detailed instructions try googling ‘triangular fabric weight patterns’ or ‘pyramid fabric weight patterns’ and you’ll be able to choose from written or video examples.

And of course using the outdoor fabric means that mine will be handy for outside sewing, or cutting out - though not that I’m actually planning any of that!

My garden in October

Last month was all about the sunflowers and tomatoes finally delivering, and that theme has continued this month and while this update is still sunflower heavy it does contain a little more too. But sunflowers first…

At the start of the month at least the sunflowers were upright, at times this was solely because they’d been propped back up again using plant pots at their base to help them buffer the wind as much as they could. However, it wasn’t to last and in the end the sunflowers have spent most of the month casually draped across the closest bush, still flowering, still gorgeous, just lolling!

It was great to see the smaller sunflowers persevere though - and we’ve been enjoying their flowers throughout the month. As the month progressed they adjusted to their surroundings, and once again started to head towards the light. Given that the plants have found themselves a more sheltered position I’ve left them there, which I think has extended the time I get to enjoy them - so it’s a win from me, even if these must be the most unconventional sunflowers ever!

I must remember to collect some seeds for next year though, as they are a variety I’d grow again. I’m not sure exactly which they are as the seeds were passed to me from a neighbour of dad’s in Norfolk.

We’ve had plenty of wildlife in our garden this month too, some of which we’d expect and some not so much. For a couple of mornings we enjoyed watching this blackbird gather berries from our pyracantha - and it seemed they enjoyed it too, so I’m glad we were able to provide a good perch point.

It wasn’t long before we received some unexpected visitors, who spent most of the morning in our garden waddling about and making the most of the fallen crab apples. Google suggests they’re red legged partridges and most likely had escaped from a local shoot as they didn’t seem that savvy at all. Hopefully they found somewhere more suitable, as we’ve not seen them since - which I think is a good thing, as lovely as they were I wasn’t overly keen on adopting them. Perhaps they found a pear tree that was more to their liking than our tiny crab apple tree, who knows.

One of my challenges for this garden is not quite having the hiding spots yet for plants over the winter, many of our terracotta pots I’ll move under bushes or closer to the brick wall at the front of the house to give them as much shelter as I can, and that seemed to work fine last year. But it’s the more tender plants that I’m struggling with in the colder weather; I’ve brought the chilli plant in and that’s by the window in the utility room. It’s not ideal but I think it’ll fare better than outside.

My other challenge was the succulents, which are new to us in this garden. I didn’t want to bring them in as the pots aren’t indoor pots, but I knew they’d need some protection but would also need some light. Then it came to me they could quite easily be re-homed in our garage gym, I thought initially I’d just place them by the half-glazed doors.

With frost forecast (but thankfully not materialising) it was time to put my plan into action, but then I realised the ‘drip trays’ I’d bought for under our bikes could really earn their keep. Even better having the pots here don’t get in the way of accessing the bikes, and when they’re watered there’s no risk of having any pot leakage across the floor! Definitely an unintended bonus of having something a bit dull and functional.

I had two newer and much smaller succulents from our recent Open Studios visit and these are also in the garage in their old biscuit tin drip tray. I hadn’t thought to add plants to our garage gym, but these are really great additions even if they’re here just for the winter.

Outside the garage the small pot of wallflowers I bought earlier in the year looks a lot more healthy than they did during the warmer summer months, so I’m excited to watch them do their thing when the time comes. These are ‘Chelsea Jackets’ so should be a mix of pastel colours, let’s hope they know what they’re supposed to do!

Although the weather has been unseasonably warm the amount of sunlight is obviously much reduced, so it was time to pick the remaining green tomatoes. Some ripened, but most were resolutely staying green which I don’t mind. I also had quite a few from dad that were green and all of them have been put to good use and gone towards a green tomato chilli ketchup, which is one of my favourite ways to use green tomatoes - more on that soon.

And talking of unseasonably warm temperatures, right at the end of the month I noticed through the utility room window that our everlasting sweet peas which we brought from the old house have already started growing. There’s lush green growth about 8 inches high, which I really wouldn’t expect to see normally. That said, the pot is in a sheltered spot and not the best place for growing sweet peas as they’ve not really done anything much more than this since we’ve been here. In some ways I’m pleased to see they’re still going, but surprised to see them now - and all I hope is that when I’m ready to put them into their long term home they remember to grow and flower in a more usual timeframe. Fingers crossed, though they may have a fair while to wait!