This summer I have amusingly fallen prey to the hype of the enthusiastic sellers of “can’t live with out” products on TV…well, sort of .

 

I do not, as a rule . watch a lot of television. I enjoy well produced period dramas like The Tudors  which was a Showtime series, Downton Abbey on PBS  and others of their kind, but generally buy the DVDs or watch them using the On Demand feature of our cable system. Once in a while a series will capture my attention but usually after it has gone in to syndication and some sort of marathon of episodes is being run during bad weather or while I am suffering from a chest cold  that keeps me on the couch .I think this is true of many people who garden or spend lots of time in other outdoor activities. Sometimes it has to do with time , as in there is not enough of it, some times it has to do with things there are too much of,like  great books to read , physical exhaustion , and poor quality programing. Also there are no good gardening programs being aired currently a and I wistfully think  back to when HGTV actually included GARDENING programs in their line-up instead of the quick makeover BS they offer now. Erica Glasener where are you?? In the spring on Mothers Day I received a bunch of garden related gifts from hubby and the kids, and this year Wil was brave enough to venture into the stores without a request list from me and I ended up with this…it is a pocket hose.  Funny thing is, it works and is quite possibly the best new garden tool I have seen in ages. It lives up to all the claims, it weighs next to nothing, is durable, holds water pressure like any other hose, will not kink and when you turn the spigot off  it writhes back into its portable little shape expelling residual water as it does so when you pick it up none of that excess water drains out on you or on the garage floor as you put it away.

To be fair, I never saw this on TV, and thus was never curious if it worked or not. Now many stores like Walgreens and CVS around here have a section of shelves brimming with As Seen on TV products and that is where it came from. To be fair to Wil as well, I left it in its box just knowing that certain disappointed awaited until he took it out and used it first and was ever so pleasantly surprised.

I have never uttered the statement “Wow! I really like this hose”  EVER, until now ( and I have been through more than you can count), but guess what? I like it, I really like it! Thanks Wil!!! I may ditch all my other hoses, I only wish it came in a more subdued color.

Bouyed by our success we bought a Magic Mesh Screen. This year we had to rebuild the gazebo that makes up the side of our deck. The roof needed replacement, there were rotted floorboards , and the door was warped. When the structure was again sound and freshly painted, we decided to give the Magic Mesh a whirl knowing we could always replace  the door if it did not work out.

 This screen cost only 19.95 ! and you could get 2 for just adding in the extra shipping and handling! Oh ! The hype! Oh ! The exclamation marks!

 

But guess what (again)? I works!  The gazebo in reality was hardly ever  used because the door swung open awkwardly into the area near the chiminea and then it felt closed off  and a bit claustrophobic inside when you sat down. The Magic Mesh is a walk-through screen that self closes with magnets ,so no door problems and it feels more open than it did with the door, As a bonus, the dogs can get in and out and in and out and in and out ( any of you with canine buddies will know what I mean) without our help.

 

We were on a roll!!!

Then came a purchase that was all me. Any of you who have heard me speak on Clematis  know my experience with QVC (my gram was a fan). One day stuck at home with the flu in the springtime I tuned in to this home shopping network only to see them selling a tree form of one of my favorite hydrangeas,  ‘Quickfire’.  “Quickfire’ is a paniculata hydrangea that has large cone shaped flower clusters that appear on new wood  in the later part of the summer but these blooms appear a full month before  its popular cousin ‘Limelight’  and last just as long. The flowers  will turn mauve as they mature and the stems will darken as well.Without hesitating at all I ordered it and have been rewarded since with a vigorous and thriving plant that is showing the spectacular red stems ‘Quickfire’ is known for and its early and floriferous blooms. In short, amazing!

 

 

Maybe I need to work in some more TV time so I can order more fun things for the lowest price ever if I order in the next twenty minutes with an upgrade to priority shipping that come with a limited lifetime warranty and full money back satisfaction gaurantee !

ps You may have noticed I have “font” issues in this post. I tried a new plug in to change the font and you can clearly see it is , unlike the Pocket Hose , Magic Mesh and Quickfire Hydrangea , neither useful , practical or lovely 🙁