BISSELL® CrossWave® Pet Pro Review

I finally got the new BISSELL® CrossWave® Pet Pro Multi-Surface Wet Dry Vac and the short of it; I’m ecstatic! I’ve been using it for about seven months.

Pardon the unfinished wall. This is my kitchen in the raw!

Let me share with you why I still love this machine…

As my readers know, I have the original CrossWave, (the lime green one; Oh Bissell, please bring back that happy color!). (CrossWave review here.)  I purchased the “purple” Pet Pro a few months back and let me tell you, there is ZERO learning curve from the first one. The main difference is the pet hair strainer/debris catcher. I didn’t think it would be all that useful, but I was WRONG. It makes the job even easier. The strainer lifts out easily and I can just toss out the debris in the trashcan. It’s very useful and saves me from having to reach my hand into the container to scoop out the pet hair/solids.

Pet hair/debris strainer.

Quick recap: Parts copied from my other post on the original CrossWave. Check it out! 🙂 Plus there is a video you can check it out here… That video is on the original lime green machine. Everything about it is pretty much the same as the Pet Pro.

BISSELL^® created BISSELL Pet Foundation^®. Their mission: to help save homeless pets. I’m all about that cause!

The ability to vacuum and wash at the same time is so amazing.

BISSELL^® says: Goodbye pet hair wrap! The Tangle-Free Brush Roll scrubs to remove debris and minimizes annoying pet hair wrap.** ^**Tested with hair length up to 8 inches…

**I can attest to the pet hair under 8″. I haven’t noticed any pet hair clinging to the brush tool. My hair does get wrapped up in it, though the hair seems to catch in the center and on both ends. To be fair, my hair is pushing 24″. Cutting the hair away is super simple and comes away very easily. Definitely not a deal breaker.

There is a separate compartment for the clean water and a separate one for the dirty water. How cool is that?

Touch of a button and clean water shoots out over the brush. I like that it doesn’t spray out, but goes gently over the brush tool, dispersing the water nicely.

I have used this on polished concrete floors, wood floors, vinyl, and ceramic. I’ve also lifted this onto my couch to clean a spot. (Yes, it worked. I wouldn’t tell you to do that. 😉 This machine is awesome!). I’ve put this to the test many times and on many types of flooring and I can say that it cleans any flooring beautifully.

I have used this on rugs and carpet with fantastic results.

This machine has a lot of suction power! I have yet to find a comparable “wash and vac” machine with this much suction. Nothing beats this BISSELL^®CrossWave^®!

Got me up off my knees! Which…Eased back tension. Try washing floors on your hands and knees. It’s not easy. If this is you, you’ll thank me for getting the CrossWave^® 🙂

Gave me back time! From the moment my eyes open, I’m on the go. The CrossWave^® has saved me time! Lots of time!

Two in one; vacuums and washes at the same time. Now who doesn’t love a two in one? Did I mention that already? 😉

Eliminate multiple “tools”. This replaces many.

Easy to use. Maneuverability and size of this machine make it easy to move about my home.

Still easy to take apart and clean. Takes me 5 minutes or less.

Not a big cumbersome machine. Storing it in a small space is very doable.

Makes cleaning fun! Not as fun as eating chocolate cake or hiking with my favorite peeps, though I save time using it so I can have fun eating said cake and going on a fun hike!

I love it so much, I bought two!

It’s a workhorse. I use this a minimum of one time a day, though a usual day is two and sometimes three. I know that sounds excessive, but I really enjoy squeaky clean floors and I have a lot of fur babies.

I can’t tell you how nice it is to put a new post out there and connect and re-connect with you all. I hope this finds you happy and healthy. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to give this a look-at! Until next time…

Peace, Koko❀

 

Review: Chefman Precision Electric Kettle

This does what it’s supposed to do! I love that. I love when you buy something for a purpose and it does it! I’d say even to perfection. Okay, so all it does is boil water, how difficult is that? Well, this has temperature control and that is the key when making a good cup of tea.

The kettle doesn’t take up a lot of space. Also – still love the hanging cups underneath the cabinet. See how I did it HERE! 

What I love:

Easy to use!

Hot water anytime I want it; even if the unit is shut off, from off to boil, is darn near instant. I usually turn it on first thing in the morning and I go about my business. The beep will sound that it’s ready (loud enough, but not obnoxiously loud); warm lemon water, followed by an herbal cup of tea. As I sip away, I’m using the boiled water to heat up dog/cat food; I’ve used it to make instant oatmeal, heating up pasta, I’ve even made coffee!

Easy to clean; add white vinegar and water and set to boil! Doesn’t get any easier than that! Tip to keep my sink drains unclogged… I will pour the boiled white vinegar and water down a drain in the house. I pick a different one than the last. (Another tip; adding baking soda first in the drain then the boiling white vinegar and water helps to keep my drains clear).

If I’ve made tea in the pot and leave the tea sitting for a while, it will leave a stain at the bottom. No a big deal! To remove the stain I will use the white vinegar and water method. Set the pot to boil. I will do this 2-3 times and the stain will lift. If there is any stain left over, I will just use the kettle as is and the stain will eventually be gone after a few uses. I have used the kettle for just boiling water with the stain and it does not affect the taste of the water. I have very hard water, so even using filtered water, in time, there will be bits of hard water deposits. The white vinegar and water method keeps the hard water deposits out of the pot and it will come out totally clean the first time.

Programming is simple and straightforward; One button for the ON/Off and a red light will turn on letting you know the unit is on. The button next to that is the program button; press that. And a blue light will go on, then you have two buttons on the left side of the base that controls the temperature you want to set it at. It’s super easy, if I so say so myself, since I’m not the best with most electronics of any kind!

If you just press the ON/OFF button once it will turn on the kettle and warm up to whatever temp it was on last, then once heated, it will turn off. This unit heats to a maximum of 212 F and can be adjusted down in increments of 5. If you press the ON/OFF button and then the program button, it will heat water to what you had it set at last and stay heated for 60 minutes. That is what I do automatically as I want hot water all day long. I will keep making teas and as the water level goes down, I add to it and turn the unit back on as needed throughout my day. The temperature setting will stay on the last setting unless you unplug the unit for it to reset. I just adjust the time by using the (+ or – ) buttons on the left to control the temp. And another thing; you will notice an ER indicator when removing the kettle. It does NOT mean there is a problem with the unit. It shows up when you remove the kettle from the base. Once you place the kettle back on, the ER indicator goes away.

Holds a good amount of water. 7 cups…1.7 liters. I have filled mine past the max line with no issues. (not saying I would recommend this, I just haven’t had an issue)

Kettle is made for right and left-handed users. Returning it to the base can be done from either side, even from behind the unit base!

Comfortable to hold. The kettle handle is comfortable in large and small hands. (My husband has large hands and I have small hands and we both can hold the kettle easily). The lid release button is substantial; easy to find and press.

Tea infuser; I’m just gonna say, I LOVE this! Adding tea leaves, herbs, dried flowers; this infuser holds them and steeps them beautifully! The water flows into the infuser easily allowing a wonderfully infused pot of tea. Removing the infuser is simple and cleaning it is just as simple; press the button on the handle, remove the infuser, dump the contents into compost bin, and wash tea infuser with soap and water, rinse well and set out to dry.

The display light makes it is easy to see/read; bright enough to read with no other light on at night and bright enough to read in good daylight.

No cord on the kettle. The cord is on the base (obviously), just not on the kettle which makes it super convenient when pouring and taking the kettle to another area such as the breakfast table. The unit will stay on and remember the setting for five minutes after removing the kettle.

Glass kettle; I can easily see what I am brewing or if I need to add more water. It’s also rather soothing watching the bubbles. There’s a soft blue light that adds a nice touch too!

It’s a nice size. Kettle is next to my Ninja coffee maker (which is still going strong! We brew about a pot or two a day. Check out that review here.)

Parts of kettle can be removed and cleaned. The tea infuser, tea infuser mount, spout filter can be removed and cleaned. I don’t need to clean it often as I mainly boil plain water. Once or twice a week I will make tea in the pot using the tea infuser. Most of the time I make tea using the tea infuser inside my cup. I like to drink many types of teas during my day and the tea infuser is awesome. Just find a cup/mug that it can fit into. It eliminates me having to use a tea ball or straining it out with a strainer or something like that. Like I said before, when I am done using the infuser I dump out the contents in my compost and wash and rinse. It takes about 30 seconds.

One complaint:

If I had to pick one, I suppose I wish it would stay on longer. It has a boil-dry protection mode and if there isn’t enough water in the kettle, the unit will turn off automatically. That is a good thing. Though, as I mentioned above, I fill the kettle throughout the day so there’s always a good amount of water.

All in all, I really can’t complain about anything with this unit. I am very glad I bought it and have used it for about five months nonstop. I turn it on first thing in the morning and off last thing at night. If I don’t turn it off, it will shut off within the hour of the last time I turned it on. I would buy this again as well as give this as a gift!

I hope this was helpful for you in choosing an electric kettle.

Happy tea making/happy boiling water!

Love and Peace…Koko

Bissell Crosswave Review

Bissell came out with a new one! In this post, I will be reviewing the older model. And will compare the two using their site for reference.

Let me begin by saying how much I love my Bissell! It really is a game changer. You can watch the review here on youtube, if you don’t want to watch it, please read on.

What this machine does is it vacuums and washes your floor at the same time! If you are tired of being on your hands and knees scrubbing your floors, if you have kids, pets, a lot of foot traffic, just want clean floors….this is for YOU! It’s lightweight and easy to use and easy to clean. Buy it! I’m seriously in love with this machine. It has saved me so much time and time is something you can’t get back! It has helped my back, as in it got me up off the floor. I can now have clean floors without the stress on my back. Did I mention how much I love this?!

Here it is in all its glory!

Pretty!

Easy push button for different surfaces.

This button releases clean water.

 

Only a few parts. Makes things nice and easy!

All parts easy to put on and take out of machine.

This Crosswave vacuums and washes at the same time, saving me so much time and not to mention energy. (I know i’ve already said it! I’m just so excited about this machine!) It used to take me hours to wash my entire house floors. As the years went by, I’d have to break up my home into sections because it was getting difficult to scrub and clean for so long on my hands and knees. I’d been trying to find a better way. I tried many “tools”, mop, swifter, other types of things attached to a pole and nothing would clean the way I would, using my own hands. There had to be a better way and gosh did I find it! I know this sounds like a bad commercial, but seriously, this machine has given me time back not to mention I’m not exhausted from cleaning. My back thanks me. (I know I’m repeating myself! Haha)

Now if you have the “green” Crosswave; the original or if you have the new “purple” one; the Crosswave Pet Pro, you can’t go wrong. I haven’t used the Pet Pro yet and I no doubt will pick one up so I can show you the difference. In the meantime, from all that I’ve read, the difference that I can find are the bristles on the roller for the Pet Pro might be a smidge longer (could be because mine is worn) and on the Pet Pro there is a “pet hair” strainer. Both new features will fit on the older model and can be purchased through them! Way to go Bissell. Thank you for making something that can enhance the old model without having to purchase a whole new machine.

So this “fur/debris” catcher fits inside the container that catches all the dirty water. It’s like a strainer so you can easily pull out the debris and toss it in the trash and the dirty water you can dump down sink or flush down the toilet. I wouldn’t normally buy this as I don’t find taking out the clumps of hair by hand an issue, however I will, so I can review it for you at a later date.

The (maybe) longer bristles on the “new” roller is something I am very interested in, so I do see myself purchasing that even if I wasn’t reviewing it (I wouldn’t mind a new brush anyway). They also have two other rollers; one for wood floors and one for rugs. I’m going to definitely buy the multi surface roller and will probably succumb to the wood floor and rug roller attachments too, just so I can see how well they work. FYI, the multi surface roller that I have been using works perfectly for all the surfaces that I’ve used it on.

Again, kudos to Bissell for making new attachments that fit the older model. I wish the Pet Pro was the same color as the original Crosswave. I’m not fond of that purple on a machine I use so constantly it is like a piece of furniture in my house! Hahaha. Other than the color, I am a fan! Insert cheering here* woohoo!

You can check out more details on Bissell’s site here!

So, should you buy this? For me it was a no brainer. I’ve been using this crosswave going on two years. I think in the video I said I use it 2-3 times a week. I probably use it 3-4 times on average. Some weeks I’ve used it daily. Basically this machine gets used! A lot! And still running like a champion.

Got me up off my knees! Which…

Eased back tension.

Gave me back time! From the moment my eyes open, I’m on my feet doing something. The Crosswave saved me time! Lots of time! Time you can’t get back!

Two in one; vacuums and washes at the same time.

Eliminate multiple “tools”. This replaces many.

Easy to use. Maneuverability and size of this machine make it easy to move about my home.

Easy to clean. Simple and easy to clean the machine when done using.

Not a big cumbersome machine. Storing it in a small space is very doable.

Makes cleaning fun! Not as fun as eating chocolate cake or hiking with my favorite peeps, though I save time using it so I can have fun eating said cake and go hiking!

If you are teetering on if you should buy this, know that Bissell is donating up to $1,000,000 a year to BISSELL® Pet Foundation™3. That’s pretty awesome to me!

Q and A

How much can you clean before having to dump the tank? On the Bissell site, it says, “700 sq feet”. Just so you all know, dumping out the container isn’t a big deal. Seriously simple and easy and fast.

What kind of surfaces can you use the Crosswave on? On the Bissell site, it says, “Sealed wood, sealed laminate, tile, and linoleum as well as area rugs!” On my video I say I even use it on my carpeted stairs and in the garage. I would also use it on a room that had carpet, but I’m not telling you to do that! 😉

Do you need to vacuum first? I vacuum sometimes before I use the Crosswave, but it isn’t necessary. I have a lot of furry four-legged family members. I vacuum anywhere from 2-4 times a day and I Crosswave a lot during the week.

Thank you sooooo much for popping in here At-Kokos-Place! If you have this machine, I’d love to hear your thoughts and if you have any more questions, please mention them in the comment section and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Have a happy day and happy cleaning!

Hugs and Peace,

Koko

If you know someone that this post would benefit, please share/follow. I so appreciate you and thank you in advance! 

 

 

 

 

Ninja Coffee Bar with Glass Carafe

I had a Cuisinart Coffee maker I had been using for almost three years. The review on that can be found here . I really liked that coffee maker. A lot! At almost three years, the machine itself started leaking water. The coffee maker still worked, but the side where it made hot water sprung a leak. I tried taking it apart to see where it was coming from and I found the parts I would need just wasn’t worth it to fix. Enter the Ninja Coffee Bar with Glass Carafe!

This is the Ninja Coffee Bar with Glass Carafe!

I looked at a few dozen types of coffee pot machines and after careful thought, I decided on this Ninja. It didn’t hurt that it was on sale at Target! I believe I picked it up for less than half the price. Winning! 🙂

Ninja’s words…”Ninja has a patent-pending brewing technology designed to deliver better, richer- tasting coffee with variable richness levels that are never bitter. Only the Ninja Coffee Bar® brewer has Thermal Flavor Extraction, which truly unlocks the full flavor potential of your coffee using automated controls for Temperature Calibration, Pre-infusion & Coffee Saturation.”

The settings brews four types of coffee; classic, rich, over-ice, specialty. I have used them all. It’s stepped up my coffee game! Classic Brew is what I’d call a regular brew, a nice perfectly brewed coffee. I like this setting when I drink it black. The Rich Brew is a bolder flavor. And by bold I don’t mean bitter. Just a nice stronger flavor. If you use milks or creams, I find you don’t lose out on that coffee flavor. Using the Over Ice Brew makes the coffee even richer so as not to lose any coffee flavor when pouring over ice. No watered down taste! The Specialty Brew is even more concentrated coffee, making the coffee flavor just right when making any type of “fancy” concoctions. It comes with a recipe booklet too. Tweaking the recipes to my tastes is a lot of fun. WE have coffee bar nights where we pick a recipe to try! A great “party” theme.

Their trademarked Ninja Easy Frother™ is such a simple design that does the job very well! I’ve had other frothers, yet there’s something about this one that sets it apart. To me, it froths the milk much faster and the consistency of the froth is much thicker.

This coffee pot doesn’t have a filter. It wasn’t a deal breaker for me as I use filtered water anyway, though I  had to “get over” not having my coffee double filtered, hahaha! As it turns out, it’s good in the way that I don’t have to remember to change the filter (and the cost savings of buying them) and have to deal with another compartment to keep clean. And speaking of keeping it clean, this pot is very easy to clean. The machine comes apart easily. Nothing tricky about it. Seriously easy!

The reservoir is a neat feature. Ninja’s Auto-iQ™ One Touch Intelligence feature sends out the right amount of water you need depending on what size you want. Super cool! I keep it full of filtered water, so making a cup, half a pot, or full pot is quick and easy. You can remove the water container to fill it or you can pour water into it from another pitcher or other vessel (which is what I do most of the time).

See that silver round piece? It flips down and that is where you set your cup for that single serving cup. Flipping it back up allows you to make a travel sized mug full of coffee, or of course, a half pot or full pot.

What I like about this feature is you can make that single serving or travel mug size without using those “pods”. I have yet to meet a pod that made a decent cup of coffee or tea for that matter. By the way… I’ve used this machine to make yerba mate tea! It does a fantastic job at brewing it just right! How does it know? 😉

My only “con” about this set up…the mouth of the carafe is small. You can’t fit your hand inside to clean it. So, you need a bottle brush or something like that to clean it effectively. This is not a complete deal breaker, however, if I were looking at two coffee makers, both being equal, but one had the traditional carafe opening, I would buy the wider opening. Ninja does sell a soft sponge brush for $5.95. See the video I made below to so see how I clean my carafe!

Dyson Pure Hot+Cool Link Review

Dyson heats, cools, air purifies your space! All three in one! How cool is that?!

Look what Santa brought me! Dreams do come true. Santa knew! I don’t know how, I never said it out loud, nor did I write it in a letter to the big guy. Though I have a feeling a special elf was involved!

I am super stoked to be talking about my new toy! I’ve walked by these units on display at stores for a couple of years. I must admit they had me at the “cool” setting during one very hot summer. The delightful coolness had me sighing and the near silent machine had me in awe! Then as winter would come they’d turn on the Dyson units that “heat”. The yummy warmth literally had me dreaming of one for myself. Something I didn’t know was Dyson made a unit that did both hot and cool and to make it even better they made it with an air purifier too! What!? Yes you heard me right.

Seven is helping me unbox. What a good kitty!

Since I took this out of the box, I’ve been using it daily. I know it’s too soon to review the longevity of it, but I will do a re-review on that later on during the year.

If you get a chance, take a look at the video about it HERE. Or watch below 🙂

I like its compact size and how quiet it is while on. I love the magnet feature on the remote. When done using it, you can set it on the top of the unit and it stays! No more losing the remote!

The first thing my daughter said was it reminds her of “R2D2”. Of course we had to give ours a name!

This is really easy to use. The controls are simple even for someone who isn’t techie savvy like me! I love that this is basically a 3 in 1; heat, cools, and air purifies. I love that this will replace three units in my home; space heater, fan, and air purifier and I’m looking forward to not having to carry the many units I do have up in the attic with each season when not needed.

The only con I can tell this far is the filter is not washable or reusable. But…from reading the manual, the filter should last a year if using this unit for 12 hours a day! That really is pretty awesome. I’m sure the filter will depend on individual homes: dust, dander, outdoor pollen, etc.

I didn’t go in to minute details on this, mainly because it really is simple to use. Plug in and go (well after I read the directions).

• cools
• heats
• thermostat (this is fantastic, literally you can program this at even increments of one. my space heater starts at 65, 70, 75, 80. So far I’ve enjoyed the temp at 71!)
• air purifies (the air quality is so nice. no burning smell you get with space heaters.)
• airflow control (allows you to control how hard the air pushes out)
• auto mode (this mode adjusts the airflow to the air quality in the room! smart!)
• oscillates
• two modes focused (air blows out directly) and diffused (air blows in a wider direction)
• sleep timer (i love this feature)
• night mode (the display on the machine is dimmed and it runs more quiet! how cool is that?!)
• remote control (easy to use and the magnetic feature to secure it to the top of the unit is smart stuff!)
• link this up to your phone! (what? yes, that’s what I said. I haven’t done this feature yet, but totally looking forward to it)

All in all I’m excited about this unit. Stay tuned for another re-review on this in about 6 months time.

Did I mention I had a few pets? Haha. They are enjoying the heating feature! Can you guess how many are dogs and how many are cats in this picture?

Please stay tuned to why I have green tape on my wall and what I do with it and all the other things I’ve been doing while it seemed like i’ve been MIA! 🙂

Thank you so much for all your likes, comments, and follows. They really do make my day, each and every one!

Be well and just love! Peace, Koko 🙂

Review Cuisinart Coffee Maker

This is the same machine, 2 years later. Still looks and preforms like new!

Remember when I reviewed this Cuisinart’s Cuisinart Coffee Plus 12-cup Programmable Coffeemaker plus Hot Water System coffee pot? Here I am re-reviewing it.

It’s still awesome! 2 years and going strong! Insert cheers here***

This is the one appliance that is used daily in my household. The first thing I do when I step into the kitchen is turn on the hot water feature. (Pets are cared for first thing. I use it to warm their food.)

I can say that this machine is quite the workhorse as daily pots of coffee are made and many, many cups of tea. The hot water feature is used not only for teas and cocoa, I use it to make oatmeal and as i’ve said, heat my pets food.

Everything I’ve done 2 years ago with this machine, I still do. I wipe the machine down with a damp cloth (inside and out) regularly. I used white vinegar to clean the inside of the machine about one-two times a month and the filters get changed about every three-four months. I feel I can stretch the filter changes as I use already filtered water. I don’t have “off/funny” tastes with this unit. I’ve had people ask if the tea tastes like coffee. I can honestly say, I don’t have an issue with that. My tea tastes like tea! 🙂

This machine is so useful when friends are over. They go to the hanging cups and help themselves. We can sit at the breakfast bar and chat and sip and make more beverages to our hearts content!

Cuisinart still sells this unit. Don’t hesitate to buy it. It was a smart purchase, I mean…(I thank Santa Claus for leaving this amazing machine under the tree those years ago!)

Hope you enjoyed the review and it was helpful to you. Whatever you do in your day, make time to have a cup of something. Whether you are a coffee, tea, cocoa drinker, taking a moment for yourself or with someone you care about and enjoy a cup is a wonderful way to start your day. I take mine out onto the deck (weather permitting) and even if it’s for five minutes, I take time to breathe in the clean air and sip my drink…starts my day happy.

Take five minutes for YOU. Breathe, sip your drink, and let the happiness fill you!

Be well Friends. Peace, Koko❀

Review Cuisinart’s: Coffee Plus 12-cup Programmable Coffeemaker plus Hot Water System

We just got the Cuisinart’s “Coffee Plus 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker Plus Hot Water System”.  In one word; LOVE. We are big coffee drinkers, and what’s more is we are big tea drinkers too, and the occasional hot chocolate gets in there somewhere.

Coffee makers come with all kinds of bells and whistles. In your most basic maker, there is an on and off switch and the hot plate; which is what the coffee pot sits on. For most people this is good enough. But for those of you that need a built-in programmer so your coffee is ready whenever you want it to be, this has that, and more!  The features are really simple to use.

It has a temperature setting for low, medium, and high allowing you to really customize your cup-of-joe! We keep ours on medium temp and that is plenty hot enough. Now when we are going outside with a cup we will turn the setting on high to give our hot coffee a chance at staying hotter longer while we are out working in the cold.

This maker does have what Cuisinart calls “brew pause” and that means if you need that caffeine fix NOW, then you can simply pull the pot out and pour before it’s finished brewing the entire pot. A brilliant feature for when that visitor or relative comes for a visit; you know who I’m talking about, the one person that won’t utter a single word until coffee has crossed his or her palate.

It has a water filter; a simple charcoal pack that is easily installed. I use filtered water anyway, but knowing this has a filter built-in, makes it doubly nice. I’m all for filtering out as many impurities as possible.

I like that it comes with a gold tone filter basket. Not all coffee makers come with one. I made the switch many, many years ago, well before some coffee makers started including them (again, not all coffee makers include the gold tone filter basket). I’ve had to buy them in the past.  If you have to ever replace it, it costs around 10 dollars, but keep in mind, my last one lasted 2 years!  I never really liked dealing with the paper filters. Less to toss in the trash the better. But if you go this route, look for the paper cups that aren’t bleached.

Now I’m really excited to tell you about the hot water feature. I seriously never thought how this one luxury would change my life! Okay, maybe I went too far, but really, this feature is so awesome. I’ve said it before, we are big tea drinkers. The tea kettle was the most used “pot” in the house. We boil a lot of water. Constantly filling the pot setting it to boil, waiting for it to boil, then forgetting it, to then be subject to the eardrum piercing “teapot scream”. This would happen no less than a dozen times a day. The stress of not wanting to leave the kettle because you wanted to avoid the “scream” was apparent  .  Pouring water from the kettle was another stress as water would spill out and down the spout and puddle on the counter no matter how careful you were.   We have gone through many tea kettles and all have this leaky-when-you-pour issue. If that wasn’t bad enough, we always had to be mindful of a kitty burning his paws on the hot stove.  I know, they shouldn’t be on the counter in the first place, but it happens. (And YES counters are wiped down several times a day! Not so much from the occasional kitty not minding manners, but I have black granite counter tops. Need I say more?  )

Not only is the hot water feature awesome for making tea and hot cocoa, it is very useful for our pets foods. If you are into the dry soup mixes this hot water feature is perfect for that too. It’s also great for making oatmeal too (just ask about my amazing oatmeal recipe).

It has its own water reservoir; holding 54 ounces. The heating element works so fast that I feel it’s almost a no wait ready hot water maker! The hot water feature even tells you when you need to add more water via red light indicator. Again, the water heats up so fast that I have never had to “wait” for it to get hot before I can use it. By the time I’ve measured out my tea leaves the water is ready. If that isn’t a fast enough time measure, I’ve taken a tea bag out of the canister, put it in my cup and poured. In my book, that’s fast. And the best, best thing…no more loud kettle scream! My ears thank me daily. There is a light to tell you when the water is ready if you really need to know; It will go from a flashing light to a solid.

A convenient drip tray catches an unwanted drip or two and it’s removable allowing taller mugs to be used.  Great for those tall travel cups! There is a safety feature that allows you to lock the hot water dispenser lever. We don’t have use for that as we are an adult household, still, may come in handy if you have a very curious cat or counter-high-dog (Great Dane!)

It has a blue back-lit LCD making the digital clock easy to read. The blue light is so pretty!  Another plus. What!?…Pretty makes me smile.

If all of that wasn’t good enough….wait for it…, it’s BPA free! I love that!

Is this machine perfect? Do I have anything negative to say? If I had to pick one thing, it would be the “beeping” sound it makes to let you know when the coffee is finished brewing (and turning off).  It’s… very audible.  Not obnoxiously loud (not sure if it would “wake a baby” kind of loud), but definitely perceptible. I suppose that is a good thing if you are in another room, upstairs, sitting on the back porch waiting for “said” coffee to brew, you get the picture. All in all, it’s certainly not “too” loud to make me take this back. In fact there are a few appliances I do own that I’d give back….NOT my Coffee Plus 12-Cup Programmable plus Hot Water System! NEVER!

Would I recommend this to a friend? Absolutely! In fact I would give it to someone I love! ❤ This would make a wonderful gift for a college student. Coffee and hot water on tap!

Thank you for reading. Be well. Peace, Koko 🙂

 

RAZER BLACKSHARK-2.0 gaming headset

Don’t laugh.  I know on a lifestyle blog-hahaha, but actually is makes sense since this blog is my lifestyle and well yep, I own a gaming headset.  I got it as a gift.  From my son.  (When he travels, it’s just another way we stay connected.)  We play games together and he insisted I needed one and this one to be exact.  It kinda goes with the awesome purse he bought me one Christmas.  I will have to write a post on that…stay tuned, it’s adorable, what can I say?  Anyway, my review on this headset goes like this…

After he proudly adjusted it to my head, he informed me that it was designed based on the military aviator headsets-the ones worn by attack helicopter pilots.  Cool huh?

What actually blew me away was the sound quality.  It really blocks out all noise except for the fab music that I had playing.  It really intensified the music with crisp-clear sounds. I seriously was thinking, “this is amazing!”  You can detach the microphone if you just want to use it as headphones.  As for the headphones the only acronym is OMG.  I stay up crazy late and one night my son and I were having a chat.  I had to whisper so I didn’t wake the house and he could hear every word I was saying clear as a bell!  I seriously was talking in what I thought was even quieter than a whisper.  I was shocked and impressed.  The quality is superior.

You can plug this into your iPad, iPhone, iPod, Android phones, Kindle Fire, MacBook Pro etc.  I have used it in all my apple devices as well as my gaming computer.  Easy to use.  When I don’t use it I put it in a box on my desk.  Gotta keep the cords away from my kitty!

You can check it out on Amazon by going here: Razer BlackShark Expert 2.0 Gaming Headset (RZ04-00720100-R3M1)