Gardening this weekend was a real blast!

Have I told you that I love my parents? Like, really love them? It never fails to surprise me how much I owe to them, not just life and a happy childhood, but just always having what I need and letting me have it when I need it.

Can you see which flags have been cleaned? You betcha!

 And in my mid 40's they are still turning up trumps. Like my garden clean up and my patio woes. Dad just trolls up with a power washer and a warning (don't let it run on one spot for too long. That's powerful enough to wipe off the top of the slabs. And don't point it at anybody. OK so sometimes he forgets I'm a mature sensible adult.)

This is the back patio. We cleaned as much as we could on Sunday
 and finished off the far corner on Monday after we got a long enough hose.

Mid process. The sun was generous enough to make a pretty patio shine beautifully.

 And I waited until Sunday and Monday when I had a couple of free hours and took my Mini me into the garden to work, really work and Get.It.Clean.

It's the determination on the face I like. She is very determined.

You can see at least 5 years dirt being cleared here.

 It took us the whole of the second half of the Liverpool-Manchester City game (too exciting to sit through)

There is always a moment of madness. The lance did look like a
dangerous weapon!

and the whole of the Hull-Sheffield United semi final (too little involvement to be bothered) on Sunday and all my free time yesterday (that's starting at 2pm after Oscar stopped giving evidence. I have been gripped by the trial) but we are done.

And the finished result; Our outdoor dining room

 The patio area in my back garden is clean. And it looks lovely. I am so happy with it.

This is our garden equivalent of a spare room; all the junk, toys,
chairs etc that we don't keep elsewhere are stored here.

 And we are planning our next gardening work; there is ground elder rather than fairies at the bottom of our garden so we are in for a lot of spraying, weeding and burning. That means we will need some where nice to sit; somewhere to chill with a cool cider (apple juice for the Mini Me) and cuddle under a crochet blanket in the evening.

Evening on Sunday; a pause half way through the process.

We're saving up for a little settee and a small table. Best value we've seen so far; B&Q Silba set at £99