I had it all sorted for today's 366. When the rain halted briefly at 11.30 this morning, I sent The Boy out onto the patio to splash around in the giant puddle that had accumulated. I took some fabulous shots on my dSLR of the water droplets flying up everywhere and I knew that my 366 would be one of those.
Then it turned out that the rain didn't start up again, and by 2pm the sun was blazing down turning all the water droplets on the plants into diamonds and helping the giant puddle to evaporate. By the time Mr. TBaM came in, it was glorious and the first bit of sunshine we'd had in well over a week and a half. I sent the boys outside to play while I prepared tea, watched them having fun and smiled to myself. I'd waited for this time of year to reappear for so many months and even if it only here for today, we were going to enjoy it. We ate our tea on the patio: me on the backstep, The Boy at his picnic table and Mr. TBaM sitting on the only dry grown-up seat. Both of them were splashing their welly-booted feet in the now rapidly-drying giant puddle.
If it rains again tomorrow and for the rest of the week, I can cope because we've had a glimpse of Summer.
I always thought I had a nice lawn but according to the lovely man from Green Thumb just because it's green doesn't mean it's a good lawn. So look at that picture and tell me what's wrong with it?
If you guessed that 75% of it is made up of clover, you'd be right. If you also guessed that there is a further 10% of other weeds in it, you'd be right. Now I'm no mathematician but even I can work out that that leaves me with only 15% of my lawn being grass.
As a part of the Bosch Garden Makeover Challenge, we will receive two lawn treatments. Which, quite frankly bearing in mind what the lovely fellow from Green Thumb told me on Friday, is just as well! I never knew that lawns were so complicated. Surely you just keep them watered and mown? No, no, no! You also need to aeriate them (which they did for me), scarify them (!) and preferably give them some lawn treatments. Many of the DIY lawn treatments just kill the leaves, the Green Thumb treatments get right to the root of the problem (ha, see what I did there?).
I expressed my concerns that in four weeks time, the lawn would look a little naff to put it bluntly, but I was reassured that whilst that may happen temporarily, the fertiliser that they put down would help the grass to grow.
Green Thumb recommend four treatments a year and at only £15 (starting price) a time, I think that's quite good value for money, especially to have the ability to walk barefoot in emerald grass in the summer.
Meanwhile, our tools from Bosch have arrived. I love gadgets and we have two new ones! A cordless strimmer for Mr. TheBoyandMe to use, and an Isio Cordless Shape and Edge (for me, although hubby is having kittens with my safety: I'm known for saying, "I'll be fine" and then cutting myself).
Now, Mr. TheBoyandMe need not worry because while I am a klutz, I'm not a complete idiot with garden tools (that's why I've chosen him a cordless strimmer), and neither are Bosch. The Isio Cordless Shape and Edge is really nifty and has a brilliant safety catch on it which means it stops if you release the pressure on either of the switches. It also has an edging tool for the lawn which is going to save hubby from having to manually cut them with shears and comes in a nifty metal storage case. I'm going to test it out on the lavender and rosemary bushes that line the drive, I've left it until now so that the bees get their fill of them, but now they are gargantuam.
There are some serious bonuses to this blogging lark, you know. We've been really lucky and happy with all the lovely toys that we've had to test from Toys R Us, and then, just when I thought they couldn't do any better, they send us a house. Yes, that's right a house.
The Little Tikes Town Playhouse is one of the best designs of outdoor playhouses that I have seen. There are four sides to the Town House and this is where the flexibility in the play lies, something for every child.
I especially like the fact that the petrol station has a pump which is compatible with the Little Tike Cozy Coupe car we have, all the children in the garden have headed straight to that to fill up the car. The other most appealing side for boys seems to be the sports side with the football net and basketball hoop. The Boy doesn't take much notice of the fire station entrance at the moment, preferring to crawl in through the tyre hole in the petrol station side.
Construction was relatively easy, it took Mr. TheBoyandMe about an hour with some extremely useful help from The Boy. Tools needed included a drill and a screwdriver, that was it.
One person on their own will not manage it as it needs one person to pull the roof into shape, while the other screws from the inside-up to firmly attach the roof. The only thing that went wrong with the building was a mis-aligned screw from Mr. TheBoyandMe which unfortunately made a small perforation in the roof. Aside from that, it was quick and simple.
The Boy could not wait to get started on playing with the sports features, incidentally this remains his most favourite side of the house to date.
One of the other features that I really like about it is the height, it is quite a bit higher than other playhouses I've seen, which means that he is going to get a good few years play from it. So much so that when a friend came over with her three children (8 years, 6 years and 2.5 years) they played with it for well over an hour, using every single one of the sides and really playing nicely together!
If you are looking for a sturdy, outdoor playhouse, then you would be hard-pushed to find a more adaptable and engaging one than this. The Boy adores it, and happy Boy means a happy mummy!
Thank you Little Tikes and Toys R Us!
The Little Tikes Town Playhouse is available to buy from Toys R Us online and in store for £314.99. For more Toys R Us reviews, please visit the ToyBox application on Facebook by clicking on the banner below.
We Were provided with this free of charge for review. My opinions are, as always, honest.
