And we're (pretty much) done!

Today has been a good day. This morning I did housey things like cooking Big an eggy, toasty, sausagey, bacony breakfast and putting a load of washing on in the lovely new machine. Happily, I must have installed it all right as it's working and we're not flooded out. 

Sent Big off to buy play bark to cover over the new playground section of the garden while I played in the garden with Small, or rather tried to but he was in a very Two Year Old mood about things and just begged for stuff as his life depended on it - Go Inside! Go Outside! Want Drinkie! Want Bubbles! - then got even more upset when he got them. Took me a minute to realise that it was gone midday and he was looking for lunch and most importantly, naptime. That take care of I got myself back outside and saw to the weeds along the side of the fence and was just finishing that when Big got back with the bark. Well, a start on the bark anyway, we definitely need some more.
Got Small back up when it was all done and Big's Dad came round to help get the old washing machine down the stairs (our kitchen is on the middle floor of a 3 storey townhouse). He brought Small's 5 year old cousin with him so Small had a playmate for a couple of hours and the two of them had a bit of a blast.
Small being Small, he had to enjoy playing with the bark more than toys and added it to the sand and water table, then loaded up his dumper truck and sent it all flying down the chute but that's my boy for you. 

I did have a little pang about the veggie growing but this afternoon, sitting on the lounger with Big while the boys played with their grandad I just knew it was right. For almost two years now it's been a bit of a work in progress that I never had the resources to actually progress. We had to keep the climbing frame thing on the patio to stop it destroying the grass and getting in the way of the washing line, pulling it onto the grass when Small needed it so it was safer. It's huge so it took up most of the patio space and as these things tend to go, the space around it got filled with the bits and pieces of half-assed gardening that we didn't get round to putting away like tools, old plant pots, that sort of thing. Now it's all clear and we have our patio again. We can get a table for there, we can sit out and relax when the weather's like it is today. I won't feel shame and guilt looking out at the mess and the weeds, neither of us needs to worry about what Small will find to play with. It's all good. I'd like to get some flowers though, we badly need some colour! 

So this is it, from the kitchen window so you can't see the patio but you do get the general idea. This was this evening once Small had gone to bed and I'd tidied away all the stuff. 

And this is it from the patio, with all Small's stuff spread everywhere and our loungers out. It's lovely to finally feel at home in our own garden. I may even hassle Big much less about not 'wasting' good weather by staying at home :)