Oddly, I HATE to vacuum in the house...

Normally, I'm not a big fan of power-driven gardening tools. I don't think there's anything wrong with them per se; it's just that I get a peculiar enjoyment of doing things with my own two hands, even if that turns out to be the hard way. I also like the quiet of using my hand tools. Plus my little garden is just that: little, so the need is really not there. It's true the lawn is large, but I'm afraid of our gas-powered mower, and to Mulch Boy's amusement I bought myself a little rotary mower this year, which I happily push around the yard when Mulch Boy doesn't mow it fast enough to suit The Queen. It makes this great little "whiiiiirrrrrr" noise that I love. AND the doggies are not afraid of the rotary mower, so we can all be together while I mow. Good times!

There are, however, exceptions to every rule, and my exception is my fabulous new electric leaf blower/vaccuum/mulcher. Oh how I love it! It is my new best friend. Mulch Boy even named it: Sookie. (Pronounce that "Suckie.") (Yes, we are addicted to True Blood.)

Thanks to Sookie, this weekend we vacuumed up and mulched all the leaves in the front yard and filled up our both our compost heaps with nice shredded leaves. No more endless raking piles to the street for the county to pick up. Instead, we're recycling it all on our own property. And of course there's more to come, as Fall has really just started here in NoVa.

I don’t want to come off as a shill for the maker by trumpeting their name (what are the ethics for that on a blog?). But if you want to know the brand/make, shoot me an email or comment and I’ll share. It really is a good tool and works great. Or just do what I do and go to Consumer Reports and live your life according to their reviews and recommendations. I’m sort of a slave to Consumer Reports. A dork slave.