There are very few things that can be harvested from the Idaho garden in late winter.  Sure, there are some things that may have been stored in the ground, like carrots or potatoes, but these plants are not still growing and often the ravages of winter weather have taken a toll on them by now.  Brussel’s sprouts will usually make it deliciously through the winter, but in limited supply for a lot of work.  Bunching onions, on the other hand, are prolific.

I went out this morning, as big, fluffy snow flakes were falling, and easily dug out about five bunching onions.  One of the advantages of well aged raised beds is that the soil can be fairly soft, even when the rest of the ground is frozen.  A spading fork was barely needed to loosen the roots.  With very little work, I separated the onions from each other.  I realized that I had never gotten around to dividing them the last two years.  Will put that on the list for this spring….

These onions have a mild sweet flavor,  similar to green onions that can be purchased at the grocery store. I do not remember for sure which variety I planted, but I think it was this one from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.

I pulled the brown leaves off, snapped off the muddy mass of roots, washed them, then handed them over to the Master Omelet Maker.  Using fresh eggs from my chickens, he proceeded to make me a scrumptious smoked salmon-cream cheese omelet:

I regret that technology has not yet advanced to the point that I can add a link to let you have a taste, but you can always grow your own bunching onions and try it yourself.    Actually, if you look at the first picture, you can see that I have some onions to spare right now.  I am willing to make a donation to the first few people who want to come get some!

bunting: 1. thin cloth for making flags, streamers, etc. 2. flags, or strips of cloth in the colors of the flag, used in holiday decorations 3. (of American origin) a baby’s garment of soft, warm cloth made into a hooded blanket that exposes only the face.

(Above is McCalls pattern 2219, which I did see available for just over $3 on ebay and etsy.)

I have about 12 boot sized boxes of patterns that I have collected over the years.  Among those are some out-of-print baby patterns from the days of my little ones.  It has been a delight to go through them with new hopes for the first time in years.  About 15 years, to be more exact, since that is the age of our youngest child.   I am still sewing for my children on a regular basis, but there is something about a baby project.   So a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make a baby bunting for the coming grandchild.

Since making polar fleece ponchos over the last few years, I have had a stash of fairly large remnants due to the circular cut out of the ponchos.  I have made convertible mittens, a baby bib, and mini mittens for babies.  I was still able to find several pieces of one design, and, with minimal patching, work them up into a unisex baby bunting.  I even found an old red zipper in my supplies, so didn’t have to go out to purchase anything for this project.

———————————-(wrong side out view of front bottom)———————————–

The patch work was only used for the front body section and, now that it is done, looks like it was meant to be that way.  The pattern was cut to create a box-like roomy area for the feet, as well as have attached, fold-ever mittens.  The lined hood has clean lines and no exposed seams to make it uncomfortable for tender baby skin.  The pattern and sewing directions for the hood  have folds and shapes that make it  a challenge to picture how it will go together, but if the directions are followed, it all goes smoothly.  These efforts to create a fitted garment should make it stay on well.  I used red ribbon for the ties, but don’t know if that will hold up in the wash very well.  They are easy enough to re-thread with something else if need be.

If you click to enlarge the picture, it should be easier to see the fold-over mitten at the end of the sleeve angled so as to be up to the right of the hood (your left).  Polar fleece makes it possible to skip some of the double hem folding, but it can be a good idea to zigzag the edges in various places so they won’t be too bulky.  I did this at the openings for the mittens.

And here is our cooperative teddy bear, once again modeling for us.  This bunting is for up to an 18 month size baby (whatever that means), so the little bear is swimming in it.   Now, we are just waiting for the baby.

Southwest Idaho may have a relatively short warm growing season, but, with a little planning, the cooler seasons can be used to grow vegetables that don’t actually grow well in the dry, hot summer months.  Now is a good time to begin that planning.  That way good weather days can be used for preparation and the whole process can be more fun and relaxing.

My subscription to Fine Gardening magazine has the added benefit of a 6 month spread calendar that I use for making notes.   Its handy for clear thinking to be able to see several months on the same page.  I’m sure you could achieve the same effect by printing some free calendar pages and taping them together.

January, I go through my seed supplies, order seeds, use my garden charts to plan my planting, and make a tentative schedule for getting things done during the late winter/spring season.  This includes when to begin various seeds.  The packages tend to be overly pessimistic about some plants’ frost tolerance, so I use the experience of watching when my volunteers from last year’s seeds sprout to gauge planting times.  Sometimes the instructions seem optimistic about how long it will take for things like peppers to grow to a size suitable for transplanting, so I begin them a week or two earlier.  It may be because it is just hard for me to keep it warm enough in my greenhouse in early spring for them to feel like growing.  Maybe its because I see the seedlings in the garden nurseries and am always trying to get mine just as big.

February is time to get serious about cleaning and organizing the greenhouse, if I haven’t already.  I’ll check my grow lights, in case I need replacements.  I’ll start buying bags of seed starting soil. (see more about seed starting by clicking here) Mid to late February, I will be planting things like peppers, small flower seeds, and tiny herb seeds that take forever to even sprout.  I’ll see if my spray nozzle in the greenhouse is still functional AND spraying with a fine enough mist for tender seedlings.

In March, things start to get more exciting, as I can actually plant peas, lettuce, California poppies, sweet peas, radishes, and spinach outside.  If the beds have been prepared the previous fall, it might even be possible to plant them in February and they will come up when they are ready.  I always love the burst of lettuce volunteers that signals the garden is really coming to life.

The advent of April means tomato and leek seeds can be planted indoors.  Also, some various flower seeds, like petunias, thunbergia, zinnia, and nasturtium.  (I still need to go through and plan my flowers better.)  Outside plantings can be made of the cole crops, such as broccoli and cabbage.  In fact, early broccoli is often aphid free for me.  However, don’t forget to take precautions against cutworms.  Other things that can usually be planted:  onions, carrots, dill, beets.  Don’t forget a second and third planting of lettuce over the course of the month.  Volunteers that are seen coming up can be transplanted, too.

Potatoes can be planted in early May.  A second planting of carrots might be nice.  I will also start the last of my seeds indoors, things that really only take about 4 weeks to be ready to plant out.  Sometimes I plant things like cucumbers and melons in pots just because I’m impatient, but they often do best just planted directly sometime during the end of May, depending on the weather.

The very end of May and beginning of June are finally the time for all the warm weather crops to be direct planted.  Things like squashes, green beans, and corn won’t sprout until the soil is warm enough anyway, but will simply rot in the ground, so there is no use trying to do that early.  One last planting of lettuce can be made in time to mature before the temperatures go too high.  Peas will likely be blooming by now.

At this point, the planting is done until some mid-summer plantings for fall harvest.   Weeding, watering, and insect control provide a chance to watch the plants grow and enjoy the outdoors before the super hot months at the end of summer.  And, of course, there will be a succession of things ready to pick and eat.

I have a couple of things every year that don’t do well, despite my best efforts.  It is typically something different each season, so I try again the next year.  I am constantly learning, the weather is never exactly the same, life events interrupt inopportunely.  But I keep plugging along, growing my garden in the moments that I have, because it gives me a little taste of heaven.

Dear Grandbaby,  I am so full of ideas for you.  The new life that God has created in you is such a gift and my heart is bursting with love waiting to smother hug you.  We don’t know if you are a boy or girl yet, so I’m just practicing lots of things.  One recent project is these little mittens which are sized to last until you are about 2 years old.  (I’ll make some out of “girl fabrics”, too)  I got the pattern from the book: Oliver + S Little Things to Sew: 20 Classic Accessories and Toys for Children.  I already made a very soft polar fleece bib using one of the book’s patterns.

The directions in the book are good, but I’m adding a few things I did to help me, just in case you want to make them for a doll or a teddy bear someday.    First, one of the keys to making mittens is to pin the pieces for both mittens at the very start to make sure that both a right and left are being made.  Once the sewing begins, it is difficult for me to visualize which one I am working on!  Next, I have noticed the seams are less bulky if the 3/8 inch allowances are zig-zagged.

You will probably find it easier to use pins with balls on the ends.  I use some extra long ones that were sold for use with quilts.  Otherwise, the pins tend to get lost in the soft pile of the fleece.  With the ball ends, time isn’t lost trying to grab hold of them.  However, you will want to spend some time finger pressing the seams open after sewing them, before you go on to the next step.  That will help everything to lay better and sew together more smoothly.

In the left hand picture below, you can see the process of the thumb seam.  Then, on the right one stair-stepped below, notice that only one side of the mitten is sewn.  It is much simpler to put the wrist elastic casing on before making the tiny circle of the cuff.

For the casing, I have used both store bought single fold bias tape or made my own.  I bought my first bias tape makers for this project.  The size for the various bias tape makers seems to refer to the finished width of the tape.  Such a small amount of casing is needed for your little wrists, that it is a good way to use up odds and ends of cotton fabrics.

The directions said to draw a line before pinning the casing in place, but as much fun as it is to write on fabric, I had trouble getting something to show up on the polar fleece.  I decided to just use the measuring tape as I went along.  For the first pair of mittens, I tried just sewing the elastic in when I sewed the other side seam, but it made a lump that I thought would be bothersome for your tender skin.  I also noticed that keeping the elastic totally on the outside makes it much more adjustable.

It wasn’t too difficult to sew the other side seam while keeping the casing open.  Then, elastic was inserted using the time honored tradition of safety pins.  Probably the hardest part of the whole project was getting the ends of elastic together and under the needle of the machine to sew.  I’m wondering about doing that part by hand next time, especially if the elastic needs to be tightened up to get the mittens to stay  on.  I don’t want them too snugly around your wrists, but a lost mitten is always sad.

Lastly, a pseudo satin stitch was recommended for edging the cuff.  The polar fleece tended to bunch and stretch when the zig-zag stitch was done that close to the edge, so on one pair I used some narrow satin ribbon to stabilize it.  This should be very soft for you.

Once again, Mr. Bear has agreed to model for me, even though 6 month to 24 month size mittens give away his diminutive size, looking more like boxing gloves on his graceful figure.  He chose the plaid pair, as it contrasted better with his fur coat. Sadly, he does not have thumbs.

Looking forward to nibbling on your fingers when I help you put your mittens on.

Love, (Grandma) Lulu

Sewing pins kept in their original plastic box containers is handy enough for storage, but after a few times of picking them out of there, my fingertips begin to feel as if they are undergoing some sort of electric shock treatment.  There are many cute pin cushion ideas out there, yet one thing has held me back.  Dust.  I have one pin cushion that someone gave me and I have watched it collect dust.  Well, not just sat there and watched minute by minute, but I can see the development of the dust layer every time I go into my sewing room.  Fabric can’t be simply wiped down like wood furniture and I don’t fancy regular vacuuming of my pin cushion.  Don’t call me OCD.  I refuse to give in to labels that messy people make up for those of us who strive for order!

Last week, I began a serious scouting for what I might have in the house to solve my problem.  I found this lovely covered tea mug that my husband had brought me from China.  With his permission, I began it’s transformation.

Since it is opaque, I didn’t have to be concerned about the finished look of the bottom.  I just cut a wide circle of some washable red velvet, stuffed it with scraps of polar fleece and stuffed it as tightly as I could down into the mug.  I think I will try using plain old polyester fill next time, since the polar fleece seems to have become too compact in a few places, making it harder to insert pins.  I didn’t want to use any harder substance like rice or sand that might damage the smoothness of the pins.  I would also probably try to position the cushion just a bit lower in the mug, but not low enough that it was hard to reach in for the pins.  I had fun filling the mug with a bunch of my pall point pins, then checked to see if the lid still fit.  Success!  It looks like an exotic drink with sprinkles on top. 

Since one of the goals is to be able to keep types of pins separate, I labeled the inside of the lid with permanent marker.  I thought of taping the original label in there, but there are still some pins in the box, so I kept that label there.

I will be on the look-out for another covered container, like a tin or glass dish.  If it is glass, I will need to come up with a neater finish for the bottom of the pin cushion.  I think just gathering it, then slip stitching a small circle of fabric will suffice.  If the tin needs to be weighted for stability, I’ll put some dried beans in the bottom.  I expect there are similar mugs sold at places like Cost Plus, but I’ve been trying to only use things I can find at home, not make special purchases for this project.  I love it when practical solutions turn out beautiful.

Before last week, it had never occurred to me to make a bib out of polar fleece.  But, with nieces announcing babies coming, I was having fun thinking of gifts.  One book that I found:

had patterns for cute little mittens, so I dug out my polar fleece scraps.  Between that and other reading regarding homemade diaper options, it suddenly dawned on me that polar fleece might make a soft, cuddly bib using a pattern from this same book.  The fabric is water repellent and strong.  And Voila!  Here we have it-

I suppose I could have come up with my own bib pattern, but I don’t have any little bodies around to measure, and while the bear makes a good model, the proportions are probably not close enough to design from.   Also, I appreciated the thought that went into this pattern, with the wider area across the shoulders and a side closure.

I will add a few tips for sewing:  The polar fleece is trickier to get the bias tape around and the double layer at the bottom with the pocket would have been impossible without doing a zigzag over the seam allowance to flatten it.

I made my own bias tape and find that it is useful to iron one side of it slightly over the other, putting the wider half on the underside while sewing, so that I don’t have to worry about it catching on the underside while I’m sewing.  My strips were 1 and 1/4 inch wide before I did any pressing, but if I do another on fleece, I might make the bias tape a smidge wider.  A friend suggested putting some flannel on the front to add some absorptive qualities, but I didn’t want to cover up the smiling spiders on this one.  I have some solid colors of polar fleece that I might use with that idea.

The bib is so soft, I almost wish I needed one!  Here in Idaho, it can be chilly for 8 months of the year, so maybe there is a market for “winter bibs?”

What is the secret to fudgy brownies? From scratch?

by late night guest blogger Chef Betharoni

This, my dear readers, is where the secret lies:

And this is the secret, kept by my mother since 1978, when, as a penniless student, she managed to stretch her pockets enough to purchase the small reunion cookbook.

When we lack unsweetened chocolate squares, we follow the penciled in substitutions using cocoa powder and butter.  No matter the ingredients on hand, the results have always been fully deserving of the capitalized and exclamationed “Good!” written in the left-hand margin.

Brownies are an inherently simple baked good; tamper with them too much and you end up with not-brownies.  Less flour and you have fudge, more flour, you have cake, more egg gets souffle-y and less sugar makes it more of a biscuit.

The ingredients look like they belong together, which I take to be  a good sign.

The saddest part of the secret is that a good fudgy brownie, made from scratch, will require fat, calories, and a leetle more fat.

The happiest part of the secret is that this fat comes via chocolate and butter, which are good friends of any pastry chef.

Just as the three rules for real estate are location, location and location, the three rules of French cooking are frequently listed as butter, butter, and butter.

This guideline is based on two facts regarding fats, particularly natural fats such as butter.  Fat carries flavor and fat tenderizes.  Too much butter in a cake batter and it ends up structure-less.  Work your butter into your pie crust properly and you end up with a tender and flavorful crust.

While giving butter full credit, it would be a mistake to not spend some time on the sugar and eggs.  When I was still taking my culinary classes, one of my assigned bakery lab experiments was to increase and decrease the amounts of sugar in a cupcake recipe and observe the results.  The cakes with less sugar lacked flavor and structure, while the ones with an excess … exploded in the oven.  Sugar as an explosive – who knew?  Whisking the eggs with the sugar until the mixture is thick and fluffy provides some air and structure for the brownies, while the correct ratios, plus beating yolks and whites together, prevent an overly fragile and airy dessert.

Adding the warm chocolate and butter to the mixture deflates it somewhat, but the incorporated air helps avoid accidentally cooking the yolks with overly warm chocolate.   When melting the chocolate, it is helpful to melt it with the butter, this prevents burning of the chocolate and makes a smoother mixture to add to the eggs and sugar.

In return for all the butter, sugar, and eggs you have added to your batter, you may avoid unnecessary carbohydrates as you proceed to add the flour and salt.  It takes very little flour to counter the moisture of the eggs enough to reach the proper level of moist, yet slightly firm, chocolate that fudgy brownie eaters desire.

Here, the printed recipe suggests the addition of nuts, which we sometimes add.  We have also been known to add m&ms, chocolate chips, and oatmeal, in various combinations.  Much like a choose-your-own ice cream shop, the mix-ins here are up to your discretion, although it is wise to keep in mind that additions such as oatmeal will make the final product slightly drier, unless you compensate with extra liquid or less flour. 

Once the mix-ins have been folded in, the batter can be slipped into a pan, which can be slipped into an oven, where it can sit for approximately half-an-hour, while you clean the kitchen.

I won’t judge you if you decide that the best way to clean the mixing bowl requires that you consume some of the batter.

Now, if you have kept your ratios and mixing methods in order so far, there is one final secret to the fudgy brownies.  You have to remove the pan from the oven while they are still moist and soft in the center.  The top will gloss over beautifully and form a crisp top layer, but underneath, you want there to be lurking beneath the surface a layer of still malleable chocolate, not yet formed into a firm structure, with only semi-distinct crumbs to give a hint of previously applied heat.

And I imagine everyone already knows the next step.

I started out to make a dress to wear to the wedding.  Then I found one in my closet that fits much more nicely since I lost about 15 pounds.  Only now, after all this barefoot activity, I was cringing at the thought of my dress shoe choices.  I briefly considered going barefoot, since it is an outdoor wedding, but social expectations hung over me.  Besides, the ceremony will take place at a cabin in the woods and I might not be able to see the ground.  It has never occurred to me to make my own shoes before, but it did today.

I mentioned it to dear hubby and he was very supportive of the project.  He immediately thought of the 13 year old deer hide he had hanging in the barn and I experienced my second major *cringe* of the day.  Still, it was leather and free.  It helped that he set right to some final cleaning, softening, and ironing. (He promises he cleaned the iron right afterwards…)  Meanwhile, I searched the internet for ideas and came up with a pattern of sorts.

I must emphasize that I made several mistakes while making this first pair.  Some I may not have yet realized!  Also, I had to make adjustments to deal with the somewhat stiff deer hide.  I traced my feet, making sure that I was fully bearing weight on them, then sort of rounded that out to create the pattern piece for the soles.  I added about a 3/8 inch border all around for a potential seam allowance.  Next time I will probably cut the sole more narrowly where it is under the arch. The topper pattern was sketched by tracing around the toe and sides of the sole pattern, but leaving it in a open “U” shape at the bottom.  I determined the distance of the outer perimeter by placing a string around the sole tracing, then stretching it straight to measure.  Greg doubled checked my results (or did it an easier way) by measuring around my foot with the cloth tape measure perpendicular to the floor.  Again, I made sure I was standing with full weight on my feet.

I cut pieces for toppers and soles out of both outer and liner material, all things I had on hand.  My worst choice in that category was thinking a knit would be comfortable and easy to work with for the topper liner.  I will not do that again. The sole liners were quite acceptable, being cut from a soft, but substantial slightly fuzzy cotton woven.  The outer topper, the part that is seen, is cut from a only slightly stretchy polyesther faux snake skin that my son bought as a scrap in Taiwan 3 years ago!  (waves at Jesse)

Then, based on this blog on making slippers and this equally good slipper tutorial, I began to sew pieces together.

1 )  I sewed the heel seam(right side of fabric together) first, that is, the ends of the open “U’s”.  All seams are a bare 1/8 inch, then reinforced with a very narrow zig zag in the seam allowance.

2)  Next, I attached the sole liner to the topper liner, also right sides of fabric together.

This next step is the most glaring deviation from directions for making the slippers.

3)  I saw that I needed to sew the right side of the outer topper to the right side of lining topper around the upper edge at this point.  To help that seam lay flat, I under stitched the seam allowance to the topper lining.  Then I top stitched the upper opening a scant 1/8 inch from the edge.  This is where I admit that I accidentally sewed one liner-topper combo inside out, but had gotten so far along before I noticed it that it would have been a lot of seam ripping to get it out.  I tried it on as was and decided it didn’t make enough difference for this pair of shoes.

4)  Meanwhile, Greg was moving on to cutting out the soles, followed by using a freshly sharpened ice pick to poke holes a scant 1/4 inch apart about 1/4 inch from the edge:

5)  Then I proceeded to use a large needle and doubled regular thread to whip stitch the wrong side of the fabric outer topper of the shoe to the deer hide sole.  I always began a new thread under the the topper, to hide the knot.  I ended the thread under the topper as well, enabling me to tuck it under with the next bit of sewing.  For the final section, I just tied it tightly, left the cut with about 3/4 inch thread out, then pushed it into the shoe seam with the needle.  I will consider using a tougher thread next time, but I wanted to not make any trips to the store this time around.  We’ll see how it holds up with wear.

6)  I made a simple bow and hand sewed it in place.

You can see that the deer hide stayed a bit wrinkly.  It is also a little slick.  May need to rough it up.  The topper may have been a touch too short, heel to toe.  I added a dart of sorts lengthwise along each side of both shoes because it looked like there was too much fabric there.  Even with all the mistakes, I am ready to try to make another pair.  They are super comfortable and very inexpensive.  There is fashion potential.  I have enough deer hide for at least one more pair.  When that is gone, I will look for a softer leather for the soles, and maybe use two layers it.  The possibilities are endless.

“I had no idea faucets came apart like that,” I told my husband, crouching next to him as he turned previously invisible (to me) screws, to expose broken washers.  That was why the faucets by my raised garden beds were leaking profusely.  I would need to buy 8 replacement faucets the next day, since the screws were also crumbling apart.  I was given the follow-up assignment of making the change.  I innocently and ignorantly accepted.  He made it look fairly straightforward.

I had forgotten that I can’t even use a screwdriver without intense concentration combined with trial and error.  As I squatted in the rock pathway, struggling with the crescent wrench, attempting to loosen the 4th old faucet, a dill plant kept finding its way up my nose, while a sunflower attacked me from above.  I was sputtering in my mind:  “and don’t give me any of that lefty-loosy righty-tighty stuff!  I know that!  I just can’t seem to apply it!” It seemed every faucet faced a different direction.  Every time I took the crescent wrench off of the faucet I got confused again about which way I was turning it.  To top it off, I couldn’t even remember which way to turn the knob on the crescent wrench.  Then my sweet, unsuspecting friend walked out into the yard to see how I was doing…

Seeing I was exerting a great deal of effort, she cheerfully reminded me, “”Lefty-loosy, righty-tighty”  In exasperation I yelled, “I KNOW!”

She cringed a little and I went on to explain in an agitated way what I had just been thinking.  Since she is such a dear friend, she recognized my distress and gently asked if she could help me.  Mumbling loudly something about Greg wanting me to learn how to do this, I agreed.  She gave me a couple of reference points, as did my photojournalist daughter who had also just come out.  Then, with those two cheering me on, I finished removing the remaining faucets more quickly.

After a short break, I went back out to put on the new faucets.  Its relatively easy to figure out which direction to screw something on.  And, for reasons unclear to me, the crescent wrench stayed at the appropriate size.  Other than one faucet ending up being the wrong size, I got them all in place, but refrained from turning on the water main until the Master Plumber could check my work.

A few minor adjustments proved to be sufficient and all is working again!  But, don’t call me if you need help unscrewing anything.

(Battery operated WorxGT from D&B Supply.)

Every helpless female needs to have some knowledge of and ability to use power tools.  Especially if she is a gardener.  Especially if her last son leaves home and she has to now figure out how to handle the overgrown edges of the lawn.  Such was my situation and I, with an acre lot, was overwhelmed.  We have a grass trimmer/weed wacker that my husband bought me a few years ago, but I have always felt like I was holding a tiger by the tail when using it.  I couldn’t keep it moving in a straight line and the roar it made set my brain to humming for hours.  Just turning it on was always a challenge, so I couldn’t deal with interruptions, even if I could hear the attempt.  I would use it until my arms were so fatigued they were quivering.  That made the monster even more prone to violent behavior.

I had heard rumors of electrical grass trimmers, but wasn’t thrilled with the idea of dragging a heavy extension cord around the yard.  I was dubious about a cord even reaching my extensive yard.  But, the cost of hiring someone to do the edging regularly was not appealing, so I set off hunting a better option.  I was introduced to the WorxGT at D&B Supply and excitedly took it home to play.

I was a bit concerned when I opened the box and saw some assembly was required.  Assembly often ends up by me humbly asking for help from some engineer minded person in the family.  However, there was also a very clear DVD included and the clearly enunciated instructions carried me through.  I put the battery on to charge and took a short break.

The edges of my lawn were over a foot long is some places, which kept them moist growing under shrubs and flowers.  My new orange friend hummed pleasantly along doing its work.  I found that it worked best to use the rolling edger set-up on the edges first, followed by some more sculpting with the more standard grass trimmer alignment.

I bought one extra battery, but think I might consider getting a third since each battery has to cool of before recharging.  The battery life is only about 20 minutes right now, but the manual says it should gain some longevity if I completely drain it the first 5-6 times.  There were a few minutes at the end of each cycle where I just had to let it run out since it didn’t have enough power to actually cut any grass.

The machine is incredibly easy to turn off and on, and advancing the string is done at the same time, no pounding of the ground necessary.  I had FUN using it and my 15 year old daughter wanted a lesson, too.  It’s not that we won’t miss you, strong son-of-mine, but I am relieved to have found a grass trimmer suitable for helpless females to use.