Taking advantage of a weekâs vacation, we used some of the time to do the dreaded chore of cleaning up the patio for summer and replanting our pots for warm, by which I mean smoking hot, weather.
Mesquite
This tree. Isnât it gorgeous right now? Except. Those yellow flower-dealies (sorry for the technical botany terms) fall and blow all over the patio. Every. Single. Day. I use the blower, the shop vac and wipe down the furniture. And then I do it all over again tomorrow. Whatâs worse. Those dealies turn into pods that fall on the ground and we gather BAGS of them for the trash.
Our yard maintenance is about 80% less than the rest of the country, so Iâll stop complaining now.
Palo Verde trees in our area are just gorgeous right now. Unless you have allergies. Or you need to clean all the blossoms out of your yard.
Patio Furniture
We dragged everything off the patio, took it apart and gave it all a good bath. John used the power washer on the furniture and cushions. I took a broom with OxiClean to all the cushions, then we rinsed and let them dry.
The cushions are not all that old and they are Sunbrella fabric, but they look pretty crummy. But, theyâre clean and comfy, so theyâre not getting replaced this year. Iâm of the mind to purchase less expensive cushions and replace them more often. At least theyâll look nice.
We even gave our old BBQ a good scrubbing down.
Plants
We took our semi-annual trip to Summer Winds Nursery and spent way too much money on plants that will be thrown away at the end of summer. But we didnât really mind. Their customer service is A+ and the plants are grown to withstand our climate.
The General Manager spent a lot of time with us recommending plants for our patio and picking out good looking specimens. When weâre on the road or visiting other towns, I often detour into local nurseries. Itâs so interesting to see what grows when in other climates. Nurseries qualify as official happy places for me.
Last year we purchased new pots for the patio, and for the most part, they still look brand new. We only needed to clean out the plants that arenât going to make it and fill in with our new stuff.
Rearranging for Heat
After everything was cleaned up and ready to go, I rearranged the furniture to take advantage of shade and the misters for upcoming hot weather. You know Roxy was in on the action, right?
Cord Reel
A side note. Our shop vac has a really short cord so we need to drag out a huge extension cord each time we use it. That was such a mess, so we got a cord reel. And that didnât work out because the cord had to be completely unreeled each time we used it to get to the plug.
Hmmm, poor engineering in my book. But not to worry. YouTube to the rescue. A man posted the exact same reel and demonstrated how he drilled a hole in the center and fed out enough for the plug. Hub got out his tools and saved the day. I love this reel now.
Playlist
The weather was so perfect for this chore which was nice because it basically took us two days. Part of what made it so nice was listening to upbeat music. Between Pandora, my iPad and my Bose speaker, we had never ending good music to listen to.
My playlist? The Train station on Pandora. Besides listening to Train, I got to hear other band favs like Goo Goo Dolls, Gin Blossoms, Matchbox 20, Nickleback (I know, I know, but I like them anyway!), Maroon 5, American Authors, Neon Trees and Pink. DS Monique thinks all those bands sound alike, but I like that pop music.
Donât think I didnât take a little time for a cocktail hour out there to enjoy my clean patio and pretty plants. I might have needed a few ibuprofen as well. But it’s done.
I hope your week is wonderful and you can get out enjoy nice weather where you are. XO