STAYING at my parents' house last weekend, I was putting the children to bed when we all heard a loud grinding noise outside. Thinking a monster was trying to eat the car, the little ones leapt to the window, only to see a large fridge-like object in next door's garden and a man with an armful of twigs.

The "fridge" - the source of this deafening din - was in fact a garden shredder into which was being fed bits of hedge.

The following day we passed another neighbour wielding what looked like a huge balloon attached to a large pipe. He was swishing it around on the path outside his house, sending leaves flying in all directions.

That, it turned out, was a leaf blower.

Why are we so obsessed with gadgets? What's wrong with a brush to sweep up leaves, or a few robust sacks in which to stuff hedge cuttings (by hand, of course - gardening gloves come in handy here, if it's hawthorn or holly).

I know a shredder could make the task easier - but you've still got to drag the machine outside, set it up and plug it in. Not to mention the expense. I don't know how much they are but I guess you wouldn't get much change from £100.

Yet people don't seem to consider these things. In today's world, if it can be done with a gadget, then that's the way to do it. And there's a gadget for most things, from cleaning our teeth to washing the car.

Some devices beggar belief. I've just received a leaflet from gadgetshop.com, giving details of all sorts of labour-saving bits of kit.

Like the "Rolodisc" - a CD holder that allows you to locate the one you want using an electronically-operated foot switch. Great - for a mere £99.95 you can save yourself the trouble of looking through your collection and pulling a CD out for yourself.

Then there's the E-Map - small enough to fit in your purse, it shows where you are heading so you can navigate the best route with the minimum effort. Fantastic - it sounds a lot less hassle than an A-Z, and it's a steal at £299.95.

Seriously, though, what is the point of such gadgets? Even if I had more money than sense, I don't think I'd buy one.

Even our children are being indoctrinated into this gadget-mania. There's the television cartoon programme Gadget Boy, and pre-Christmas adverts feature electronic "toys" so advanced that they would not look out of place on space station Mir.

"ME, me, me, me want that," squealed my two-year-old as a robot the size of a waste bin appeared on the TV this morning. The toy contains a secret camera for filming (no doubt that will cause a few red faces when it's left switched on in parents' bedrooms). It's got numerous other functions, most probably an inter-continental missile launcher and super-intelligent space probe.

And when is a mobile phone simply that? Nowadays they can send e-mails, play the stock market and sing you happy birthday.

It's all too much for me. I've made up my mind and, whatever the children say, I'm sticking to it - no gadgets in our house. Well, apart from a squeaky dog that yaps ten to the dozen then does a back flip and lands on its feet. But that was a present, so I can't include it. And anyway it's relatively inoffensive compared with that revolting Cyberdog which barks, growls and guards your house.

Thinking about it, the only gadget anyone really needs in the home is a can opener - which doesn't need batteries or a plug. Although it seems I spoke too soon.

Needing a new one, I flicked through a homeware catalogue only to find the object with a description alongside that included the words "hands free", "automatic start/stop", and "integral power-driven knife sharpener." Arrrggghhh...