. What's growing in the garden
The garden is reaping benefits. I've been enjoying lots of green/red lettuce for a while now, and it is only now starting to bolt. I will miss it!
I've also been picking small zucchinis, yellow squash and cucumbers. Not sure how long the zucchini will last as it's beset by cucumber beetles that I pick off when I can, and the leaves are riddled with tiny holes, but I don't feel comfortable spraying Neem as I noticed bumblebees nesting at one of the raised bed.
I decided to underplant everything becus in the past I squeezed in too many plants in 3 4 x 4 raised beds and they grew so much i had trouble even getting in there. So I just have 1 yellow squash, 1 zucchini, 2 cucumber plants, a row of lettuce, a row of string beans just starting to flower and 4 tomato plants.
Really, the one disappointment so far is the tomatoes, which I consider my most important crop. I only planted 2 initially, but we had an unusually cold spring, so while they were alive, they appeared stunted. I bought 2 more and just added them without pulling the original 2 out in case the first 2 recovered. So of the 4 plants i currently have, only 1 appears to be the right size for this time of year.
Next Day Trip
My "one fun thing" this week will be a trip to visit Wickham Park, which seems to have a ton of stuff to see (aviary, arboretum, many different gardens, nature musuem) and yet I hadn't ever heard of this place until about a year ago. It's about an hour away but no tolls.
Kiva Loans
This week I reviewed Kiva loan profiles for borrowers in Jordan, Kenya, Phillippines, Tonga and Uganda.
Any Cordless Vac Recommendations?
I need a new vacuum. I have a cheap cordless stick vacuum that only does a very modest job on bare floors and is not really good at all on rugs, but that's okay since I have just a few area rugs and a backup vac. I LOVE the cordless but need something more powerful but still lightweight.
I also have a corded canister vacuum which is VERY powerful but also pretty heavy and loud so I don't like to use it.
Based on reading a zillion reviews, I've come to the conclusion that a good cordless vac doesn't exist and will settle for a corded one as long as it's 1) lightweight and 2) powerful "enough." I don't need it to suck up everything within a 5 foot radius and sound like a fighter jet, but it should be strong enough. If you have one you really like, let me know!
July 9th, 2025 at 02:10 am 1752023457
However, I hear the previous generation Dyson (V15 Detect?) also comes highly recommended, and at a lower cost ($500 to $600 if you find it on sale.)
A close competitor to that would be Shark’s cordless vacs. I bought one of the previous generation Stratos, but I recommend sticking with the newer PowerDetect models out now, with a convenient swivel neck and perhaps even a charging station. In any case, if your budget is more like the $300 to $500 range, Sharks are your best bet. My older generation Shark Stratos was $300 USD.
Some don’t like Shark because of supposedly lower build quality and poor customer support. I don’t think they are that terrible, and please keep in mind that a lot of people on the internet saying that are comparing it to Dyson, which again costs more. But yes, if your budget is higher, then by all means please buy the Dyson.
Also, Sharks are the original inventors of the dual roller which is something I definitely wanted. Where I live is a combination of hardwood floor on the 1st floor, and carpet for the 2nd floor. There are roller heads that specialize in each of these surfaces, but where one excels, it fails completely on the other, and vice versa. I could have settled for some kind of generic multi-purpose roller head, but in practice, they don’t do well on either surface. Shark solved that issue with their dual roller head that basically the rest of the industry has copied as well, including Dyson. Dual rollers are the best of both worlds, and if you are buying new, there is no reason not to go with this in my opinion, and pound for pound, Shark’s dual rollier cordless vacs still represent the best value, costing roughly $300.
If that is still too much money, you can go cheaper still, but here, I would focus on just carpet roller heads, as that appears to be your main need. I would also focus on ones that are previous generations and even refurbished.
If possible though, I would still not budget or purchase anything lower than $300? Because below that are probably going to be questionable vacuums that may or may not perform well or last a long time. Please remember that when you are asking for both Power and Weight reduction, you are basically asking for the proverbial cake and wanting to eat it too. Mind you, it is possible to have the best of both worlds, but no-comprise technology like this don’t come cheap.
July 9th, 2025 at 01:16 pm 1752063402
I don't really have a budget, per se, but i would feel much more comfortable in the $300 range. I think I spent $300-something on my Kenmore canister maybe 5 years ago and I remember feeling at the time that was a lot of $$ for a vacuum.
I will look into the Shark PowerDetect model...thanks!
July 9th, 2025 at 01:39 pm 1752064749
The other thing I really want is the headlight...so many dark corners.
July 9th, 2025 at 02:24 pm 1752067453
July 10th, 2025 at 05:44 am 1752122655
There are two options here. The first and most obvious is that you do not need it to vacuum the entire house, and therefore, that smaller bin should suffice.
The other is that Shark also sells ones that comes with a charging station that automatically transfers the debris from your cordless vac to the charging station's much bigger bin. I am assuming that this is what you are saying.
Based on your entry here, it would seem that you already have a main vacuum cleaner that handles most of the cleaning, and you are only looking for a smaller one for spot cleaning. Therefore, it makes more sense here to save the $100 and get a regular manual one.
However, if you decide that having this charging station is convenient enough to justify the cost, then by all means, invest that additional $100 for all that, assuming once again that additional cost indeed includes said charging station and automatic debris transfer. It's entirely up to you of course.
July 10th, 2025 at 08:36 am 1752132978