My husband's latest present has not exactly blown me away - though it's certainly moved me.

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We've been needing a new lawnmower for a while, so he's bought me a self-propelled, mulching petrol mower. Obviously, it's not the most romantic gift, though well intentioned. I tend to be the one that does the lawn because of his asthma and I think the idea was that it should be easier for me to use. I found the old mower kept catching on things and the jolting wasn't good for my leg.

The new mower is pretty nifty and fast on large rectangular/square areas, where one has space to do a forwards loop to turn round. But it has got quite a lot of power, dragging me forwards with it. It's also a lot harder to use on small, fiddly areas, as it is a lot heavier than the old mower and the self-propulsion only has a forward mode not backward, so I seem to end up trying to turn round by dragging it backwards.

I'm sure I will get the hang of it eventually, of course, and probably find it a godsend. Meanwhile, if you see someone being dragged along the street by a mower doing 90mph, then it's probably me!