Time for Spring Cleaning

Monday was so exciting--all my outdoor brick was power washed! As you can see, it really needed it. This is just from last winter.

The brick that was exposed to shade was so black with moss, and slippery too.

Even the teak was stained and mildewed.

My friend Martin and his sidekick David showed up at 9 am and literally power washed until 5 pm!

Everything looks so much better now.

Every thing except the tent pavilion.

After being left out for three winters, it is now unsalvageable.

Martin tried everything.

Power washing, bleach, scrubbing with a stiff brush. Nothing was going to take off the moss. The moss literally had roots!

I made the decision to take it down.

So, time to say good bye to the tent pavilion, after almost ten years. We had a lot of good times under this tent!

Here it is four years ago for my friend's 50th birthday party.

Here it is last spring for a tablescape I did.

Many an evening we ate under the tent, or just sat and had a glass of wine.

I loved having coffee in the morning too under my tent.

And of course, all my adult children and their friends often sat under the tent socializing.

Here is how the sitting area looks today, without the tent.

The rug and coffee table were power washed, so the area looks a little better.

It's weird without the tent though.

It does seem bigger and it's definitely sunnier.

Especially from the inside, looking out.

I'm still sad to see it go....

...However, it feels good to finally take action and get the backyard cleaned up. Clean brick, clean teak and new plants in the window boxes!

Next on the agenda is to fill in with perennials in the garden.

Blogging does have a way of encouraging procrastination! I'm on a roll now though!