outside, outside

This is one place that Older Grandson loves to be.

For a few weeks, our backyard was a construction site so going outside wasn't very practical. It certainly wasn't a safe place for a very active two-and-a-half year old and his now-walking fifteen-month-old younger brother.

Although we are nowhere near finished with the landscaping, the construction is over and I give you …. (drum roll) … the long-awaited deck!

To give you some idea of scale, the deck is 5 metres long and 3.5 metres wide (16.5 feet x 11.5 feet). The photo was taken before the step was added to the left end. The stepping stone path has been realigned to go past the deck and join up with that paved area on the left (where the clothesline is).

The deck has been painted and new dining furniture has been purchased and installed.

So this is what it looked like last Saturday.

This is real life at our place. The washing is on the line (you can only see WM’s work shirts), part of the furniture is uncovered because we had morning tea on the deck, the cordless drill is on the deck because WM is installing the new umbrella, the tub on its side in front of the covered barbecue is there because that’s how Older Grandson left it and his mummy forgot to take it home!

And for those who might be curious, the two shrubs in the neighbours yard are Australian natives – the one on the left is a banksia and the one on the right is a form of grevillea. The nectar in the grevillea flowers is very attractive to many species of birds, but my favourite are the rainbow lorikeets – a small parrot, native to eastern Australia. They have just returned from their winter migration and it’s good to see them again even if they are very noisy!

The little bridge over the dry creek bed replaced our Japanese-style bridge.

It has been stained a similar colour to the deck (same stain, different timber) since this photo was taken.

Finally, this is the view from the clothesline through the flowering cherry to the miniature rose garden and swimming pool. The “lattice” you can see in the middle of the photo is the back of a bench seat in the rose garden and the two white arches above it are the “handles” for the swimming pool ladder.

Quite a lot on a small suburban block!