The weather has been so lovely recently down here in deepest Cornwall and with the nicer weather comes a little relief from the pain in my knee. I don't know why it happens but as the weather warms up the pain eases and with the lessening of the pain, I always experience bit of extra motivation to set to and get doing things .... in this case, this meant tackling the garden. So, this morning, I started on the big patio tidy-up in preparation for the massive job of strimming it tomorrow. The plant pots have been stashed neatly on the storage shelves, I moved the picnic table to the side of the patio so I will have a clear run at the tussocks tomorrow and I gave the table top and the seats a squirt with mould and mildew remover. With a hefty dose of elbow grease and a bit of a scrub with an old nail brush it's come up beautifully. Truthfully, I'm quite surprised the table survived at all because it was cheap and cheerful and was made from softwood which tends to rot quite quickly. I did give it several coats of outdoor wood paint but even so, I'm surprised it came through the winter as well as it has.
Table Under Construction Last Year
Three Coats of paint Later
I also washed the parasol cover. Over the winter it stayed outside, flapping miserably in the cold winter weather, basically because I kept forgetting to bring it in and as a result, it had turned a slimy green colour with nasty spotty patches on the bits that were exposed to the elements. After two washes, it was still green so I had to resort to drastic measures. I sprayed it all over with mould and mildew remover and quickly stuffed it back in the washing machine for a third quick wash. It came out clean as a whistle so I popped it back on the parasol frame to dry in the sun. I'm so pleased. I didn't want to buy a new one but I'm not sure I could have lived with the icky green slime stains.
I've also been playing with my blog header. I have wanted to change the picture for a while now but I'm ashamed to say, I couldn't for the life of me remember how I changed it last time and I didn't want to mess it up and get stuck with no picture. Anyway, I was feeling brave so I made a new photo collage using my favourite photo editing site and decided to give it a go .... I'm happy to say it was really easy to change and I really like it. It makes me think of summer. What do you think?
Your blog header is brilliant - captures Cornish countryside perfectly! I've some shortbread from your recipe in the oven and I've just popped over to wish you luck with the tussocks! I'm battling bindweed - and losing, as I do every year! I just wish I could train Flora Puddleduck to eat the stuff. I treated us to a new parasol this year - cherry red! It's going to have to last a long time too. Enjoy your week - Ax
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the bindweed, I feel the same way about the brambles that invade my garden every year. It's a never ending battle.
DeleteLove the header - I wouldn't say "No!" to that portion of goodness on the left.
ReplyDeleteMy parasol is a goner and WILL need replacing this year - and soon, because the catch that holds the top half of metal tube in place had disintegrated. I tried standing the top half in a suitably long hollow tube - and the wind picked it up and it sailed over the hedge into my neighbour's garden (into his fish pond and he was not best pleased) Oooops!
I had a Mary Poppins moment with my parasol last year and ended up chasing it down the driveway lol, The screw on my parasol base has rusted and I couldn't screw it in to hold the parasol in place no matter how much WD40 I sprayed on it so this year, I wedged a stick into the hole to try and keep the parasol in place ..... fingers crossed :-)
DeleteLovely header - all ready for summer and warmer weather! :)
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