8.06.2026

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  Monday 8th 59F/15C Overcast but mostly dry. Breezy from a southerly direction. Rain tonight. 68F/20C in the room. 61F/16C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 6.30 after a more disturbed night of coughing. The siren call of the fire bucket loomed.

 I ought to continue work on the West Lawn. I have strimmed it but it needs mowing and the molehills raked out. The Makita mower can't cope with the molehills and just stalls every time.

 It's exhausting even when I am not coughing and feeling unwell. Now I think I have gone deaf in my right ear. The hearing aid start-up jingle is subdued.

 09.20 My Eufy E-18 robot mower was delivered. Four days later than the big box shifters promised on the order form. I am hoping this mower will save me a lot of effort. In keeping the drive and West Lawn under control. I no longer feel able to invest so much energy in this task. 

 I have watched many of the dozens of YouTube reviews. Coming to the conclusion that this model offers the best value and features for my special needs. No perimeter cables are required. No intermittent and unreliable RTK antenna. It uses AI stereo vision and FSD to steer and control the mower. 

 The only worry is having a strong enough Wifi signal at the far reaches of the drive or on the West Lawn. There is no problem getting a strong signal at the charging station/garage. 150Mbs compared to a healthy 500Mbs indoors. So software updates and mapping should be fine. It is when the mower is over 80+ meters from the house. The mower will work on a 4K mobile service but will lack certain features. The onboard, live camera view will not be available. 

 45 minutes later! I can't register as a new user of Eufy. It keeps saying the code has expired! Even after it was entered mere seconds after it was sent. Time and time again! What is the point in claiming mowing within ten minutes from initial set up if I can't register?

 I have uninstalled and reloaded the App. No difference. A total, amateur farce! Now reached the maximum number of logins! Now it wants me to download Eufy Clean App. AGAIN! I did several times and but it only recognizes vacuum cleaners. Another half hour wasted!

 The mower is recognized and installed on the Wifi network but has no internet? Presumably it is waiting for registration before it can work through the Eufy App. I can't use the QR code to register or log on. It demands I download Eufy Clean again! And again! There is no PC registration. Only by mobile phone within the App! 

 It is just sitting there in its smart little garage and charging. 

 12.50 Now Eufy has sent welcome emails!!!  

 All is now well. The mower reset itself to button presses and started mapping the drive. This could take some time! I have blocked the far end with some handy timber and a recycling bin. So no unexpected visitors run over the poor thing. I shall set limits at that end but will still need barriers to traffic. The Wi-Fi signal becomes progressively weaker away from the house. It has warned that map updating is suspended. The robot is halfway to the end now. Luckily I can monitor it through the window. 

It is mowing! I can follow its position on the phone. I gave it no instructions on the direction of mowing stripes. Default may be horizontal judging by it back and forth behaviour. 

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7.06.2026 Beetle rescue. 😇

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  Sunday 7th 61F/16C [9.30] Overcast and it has rained. Cloudy, showers and breezy. It might reach 18C/64F.

 Up at 7am. Woken by coughing in the night. Still having eye watering, coughing fits this morning. The antibiotics seem not to have achieved much. I may have to contact the doctor.

 I checked the car and the Noco5 smart charger has rescued the flat battery yet again. It had been running all night. Fully charged 13.5VDC. The car started effortlessly. So I am mobile again. 

 The day continued with coughing fits as I sat on the computer. 

 15.50 I have been strimming the Western Lawn. Now I am completely breathless! 

 I have just rescued a large and beautiful, metallic green beetle. Which was clinging onto the tidemark of the greenhouse pond. Presumably having escaped from the water but too exhausted to climb the near vertical side. I placed the beetle on a tissue to dry out and recover in the sunshine. It had gone when I went back to check its progress.

 I remembered to take the recycling bin along the drive. Breathless again.

 Dinner was sliced boiled eggs on toast.  The eggs were fine with 10 minutes but the toast was too dry. Sandwiches would have been better.

 

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6.06.2026 Going Electric

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 Saturday 6th  Sunny periods but breezy.

 Up at 6,.30 after a reasonable night. Now feeling dizzy. My cough is much more intermittent. My chest hurts from the involuntary exercise of coughing for well over a week! 

I sat on the computer until the room started spinning and then lay down. An hour later the dizziness had receded.

 13.00 I wasn't feeling very well when I went out to the car for the trip into the village.The battery is flat! I'd left the lights on [Again!]  So I had to go shopping by bike. Fortunately I had a bike battery well topped up. Meanwhile, the smart charger has been left running on the car battery. One can but hope that the battery isn't ruined.

 14.00 Back from the shops. I used Sport and Turbo mode to cruise at 30kph going both ways. Sunny, but rather windy. A vast container lorry pulled into the supermarket car park. As I loaded my panniers with the newly purchased essentials. 

 The lorry was delivering goods but without the usual rumble of a big diesel motor. It was strangely silent. I looked up and saw 100% electric printed on the cab. Smart!'

 The rest of the day was spent coughing. 

 Dinner was fish fingers and chips. 

 

 

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