The lawn edger burst into life after I fitted the new carburettor and made some minor engine modifications. A test cut confirmed everything worked so that’s one more completed project.
In the late morning the new carpet was laid in the master bedroom. What a difference that has made. The worn and very tired looking beige carpet has gone to be replaced with a blue carpet containing gold flecks. It’s also much softer under foot.
Apparently blue is currently not in fashion which meant it took time to get the carpet Jan has selected into stock.
After it was laid we had to move that heavy Jarrah bed back. I also managed to do some modifications to the bed extending its length. The mattress used to overhang the end of the bed and I was concerned it would eventually get damaged. The last part of this project is to make and fit the timber headboard with the canal scene. I have been thinking about how that will be achieved and believe I might have a solution.
The bladders in the waterbed will need to be ‘burped’ a couple of times but we will be sleeping on it tonight. No more struggling for room in a queen sized bed.
Jan has also moved the camphorwood chest into the bedroom. She bought two chests when we were living in Singapore back in 1980. Our daughter was given one as a ‘glory box’ and Jan kept the second for long term clothing storage.
So what is the new project?
I’ve purchased some home automation devices from Aliexpress (China).
Clockwise from the top left.
- Human body motion sensor
- Wireless gateway
- Wireless multi-function switch
- Door/window sensor
The products are all made by Xiaomi and cost approximately $60. It’s a wireless modular system which can be expanded. I’ve only purchase a few devices to see how it will work.
The Gateway is the main device linking all the other devices to it creating a private local wireless network. The Gateway also connects to the home router and from there to the world. It also has a configurable LED light and speaker.
The switch is a wireless remote device controller and can be configured to turn other devices on or off.
The door/window sensor detects and monitors the status of the door or window.
The motion detector will only detect moving objects the size of a human. No false recording caused by pets.
to date I’ve linked the motion detector and the Gateway configuring it so the light in the gateway will come on for 3 minutes between 10pm and 6am. No stumbling around in the dark whilst attending to a call of nature.
I’ve also ordered the Xiaomi doorbell and camera which will link to the Gateway. This provides a number of opportunities. For example when the doorbell is pressed the Gateway will chime and the door camera will take a photo which will be sent to my phone. The doorbell has a speaker so we will be able to talk to whom ever is at the door remotely via the phone.
Ordering the parts from China was the cheapest option however it made reading the manuals rather interesting……. They were all in Chinese! Eventually I worked out if I set the Gateway to be located in China it worked and all the devices were recognised.
I can see this kit is going to keep me busy identifying various configurations.
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