Pressure Washing the Patio - Before and After with Karcher

In our own low-budget way, we do try to keep up with the garden. Over the ten years we've lived here, we've turned it into a tidy, functional, yet low-maintenance garden, despite the drawbacks of heavy clay soil and either full sun or total shade in parts. One aspect that has been letting the garden down for some time though, is the ageing, grotty patio and recently, we got the chance to finally do something about it. Read on to find out how the Karcher K2 Compact stepped up to the task and see the results in our before and after pictures! This post is not sponsored, we borrowed the pressure washer from a friend. 

A Garden Makeover on a Budget

I've been working on the garden for a few years now. There are a few reasons why it's taken so long; there isn't much money to spend on it, I'm not very good at it, and time and weather are not always our friends. So, this is this season's update, and I have to say, I am really, really happy with it. The aim has always been to make the garden effort-proof and I think that part is almost perfect. Aside from a little mowing and picking up stray leaves, there's not much to do day to day, but it still looks pretty good. I am still very much an amateur and gardening for me will probably always be trial and error, but it's so great when something actually grows! Here's how we did it, what we've added recently, what worked and what didn't. 

Camping Must-Haves and What You CAN Leave Home Without!

Camping can be ideal as a low-cost family holiday option when money is a bit tight. However, on your first camping trip, it can be very easy to get bogged down with the different products available to buy, until you end up spending the cost of a week in the Algarve. As we've got better at camping, we have found some products that have been invaluable, and some that haven't. This is our guide to your camping essentials and how to keep the costs down by avoiding what you really don't need. This post contains items we've bought, and some we were sent to try and really liked. I have marked the review items, with an asterisk * for clarity.

20 Ways to Encourage Children to be More Active

We all know how important it is to encourage our children to be active, and the summer sunshine makes it all the more obvious, but not all children appreciate it. This might be open to a bit of a 'nature versus nurture' debate, but, in my opinion, all children are different and this aspect is no exception. There are some children who would prefer to be indoors, probably, shock, horror, on their playstations. So, I've made a list of 20 ways to encourage your child to get outside and be more active. I've tried to include different age groups in this, as it does get harder as they get older, but some ideas will overlap anyway. 

Gardening Tips for Spring.

It's hard to believe, but winter is on its way out and it's time to start thinking about those necessary spring gardening jobs that encourage new growth and bring us hope of brighter days and warmer evenings. Everything is looking pretty abandoned and unloved at the moment, and I can't wait to tidy up a bit and liberate the lawn from under the piles of leaves. I don't know where they all come from. Night-time leaf ninjas, presumably. The weather is pretty grim here at the moment, wet and really cold, so this post might be a bit previous. However, knowing how fickle the British weather can be, it doesn't hurt to be prepared! Your Spring gardening tips are brought to you by my stepmum, landscape gardener extraodinaire. Her previous post was Autumn Gardening Tips.

My Sunday Photo: A Quick and Affordable Garden Makeover

Autumn Garden Tips

It's fair to say, I am not the most organised of people. I try, honest I do, but I always seem to be five steps behind. This year, though, I have been determined to get the garden sorted and keep it that way. It took me six weeks this summer to plant a border to match the one on the other side and that just left my nemisis; the back of our garden. It resembles marshland for most of the year, as it collects a lot of rain water and gets barely any sun, so it is hard to get anything to grow. Except bindweed. That stuff grows like, well, a weed.

My Unusual Shed Design

This is a bit of a nostalgia post, as we have had our shed for a while now. It was originally 'designed', by me, in 2014 and has attracted a few comments since. Mostly, because you can see it from quite a distance away. I had always wanted a beach hut-ispired shed and, a year later, I have no regrets about the bold statement it makes in the garden. Every now and then, I like to applaud The Husband's stoic ingenuity, often in the face of financial adversity. This somewhat psychedelic monument celebrates The Husband's dedication to some of my more bonkers design ideas and has so far gone largely unsung. So,today, I give you... Our Garden Shed!

Attracting, and Keeping, Garden Birds

We decided a long time ago not to keep pets in the house. This is partly financial, and partly down to the level of commitment required. We have always quite liked the fact that we can go out for the day, or even the weekend, at short notice, without having to worry about who's going to take care of the furry offspring. It is still possible for children to observe and learn about animal behaviour, though, by encouraging wildlife into the garden. It helps animals find food and a safe place to be, and encourages children to be considerate to their environment. Here's how we brought birds and frogs to our garden. 

Homage to the Husband's Inventive DIY

Over the years our family has been through some pretty tough times. From living in a two bedroomed flat with three children, to some fairly dramatic financial struggles, that took an epic battle on all fronts to eventually defeat. What has this got to do with DIY I hear you ask? Well, you don't get through those sorts of problems in one piece without two things. Firstly, a huge dose of solidarity and team spirit. Whatever you are in, you are in it together, that is the joy of families. You all pitch in, you all get out. And secondly masses and masses of creativity and imagination. To make things fit, to cheer things up, to make things better. That's what gets you through. So there follows some of my favourite examples of The Husband's handiwork. A man who has suffered for ten years from a wife who has all the ideas in the world, but no practical skills what-so-ever. I draw it, he builds it. 

Effort-Proofing the Garden!

Late last year I organised a project to redefine a garden area at the school where I'm a Governor. I was very lucky to have the help of Almondsbury Garden Centre, who were brilliant, generously donating loads of materials and designing a low maintenance, tactile, visual area, that really appealed to the senses. Here is the 'before and after' picture, so you can see what I mean...

Kids Grow Wild at The Parent Game

 Fun in the Garden, Parent Game Style! 

Here at The Parent Game, we believe in a fun, relaxed approach to life. So, when a lovely Gardening Kit arrived from Money Supermarket, we knew just the friends to invite along for a bit of fun in the sun! The kit included everything you could possibly need to brighten up your borders, as shown by my lovely volunteers!

Thrifty is the Word!

This is a competition post, in association with fromspendingtosaving and whichoffshore and it is on a subject we are very, very fond of at The Parent Game, saving money! Fromspendingtosaving is a brilliant new blog, by the writer of Northern Mum, charting one family's all-too-familiar road to solvency, surviving on one income. It's a story most of us know all too well and we all do what we can to make the best of it. It's all about imagination I think, when it comes to a thrifty life with children. We've all heard the older generation telling us how they managed to entertain the children with next to nothing but their imaginations and the great outdoors, but things were different then.

Homemade Bird Cake

I don't know why, because it still feels like the depths of an Antarctic winter to me, but our nesting box already has residents! No babies to show you yet, but above is a picture of the blue tits we had in 2009! The new arrivals this year look a little familiar and I'm pretty sure they're the same coaltits we had last year, but anyway, they were queueing up eagerly in the tree for breakfast this morning. We have had nesting birds for the last few years and the children love it. The first year we had them, they flew the nest and made their way into the world, only for the local children to keep bringing them back to us! Two little girls even knocked on our front door and asked if they could have one! It's always good to get children involved in nature and show them how precious and wonderful our world can be, but it doesn't have to cost a lot! Today, I bring you... a bird supper, on a budget!