Summer in the Garden
Today we had a surprise BBQ lunch！ I love the roughness of a BBQ. Especially the coal kind. It makes me feel like I’m in the woods camping with little or no supplies! Silly I know but that’s just me! Bear grills eat your heart out kind of thing!
The thing is, we tend to think we need to spend a lot money to make something fun and worthwhile. We don’t! We really don’t. I’m going to explain how €319 has made our summer in the garden feel like summer in Spain! Thankfully we have been blessed with good weather so here’s hoping it stays that way!
This year I invested in the garden. I’m not talking landscape here or fancy patio areas. I’m talking cheap simple things. We are not going on holidays so I thought I’d throw some money into a few things that will make summer special. I’m at home all of this summer due to unpaid maternity leave, so this summer is special! Plus there are no summer camps available due to COVID, so any money I have I put towards I put towards the garden.
First thing I got is a washing line. I know your thinking so what but this is something I just never put in the budget. Such a simple thing but I just never felt putting €70 towards it was important. How does this help summer become fun? It bring’s me out into the garden more with the kids and guess what??? My electricity bill will drop massively!
Next is a paddling pool. Ok I know there is now a ban on paddling pools here in Ireland but we filled ours ages ago so don’t shoot me! I got the simplest little pool I could find. I had a budget for €50. They were all sold out everywhere. Then I stumbled across this tiny little shop in a tiny little town. I got our pool for €10! Delighted! Kids love it, even the older ones, it’s deep enough for them and shallow enough for me to sit in with the baby! Win, win!
Ok so cooking in the garden! Right I love eating and cooking outdoors. Once the sun is shinning and there is no rain, I’ll cook outdoors from April to October. I had a very expensive old gas BBQ, (the spending years) which has basically rotted in the inside. I will however get new parts for this next year. But I love the coal. I prefer the taste and like I said I love the rawness of it. This year I got one for €50. Delighted with it as it does exactly what it says on the tin. Cooks the food and easy to manage. Plus no kitchen clean up. I get the coals for €3 in lidil once a month.
So we got the food sorted, paddling and the reason to be outside more (the washing line), now we need something to sit on! So I researched garden furniture. OMG the prices! The range was huge. I budgeted €200. I found 3, one in little woods, next woodies and lastly home store and more. My problem was they looked rubbish! (Sorry to these stores but my kids are hard on furniture). You really are getting what you pay for. I then decided on woodies, however they couldn’t deliver for nearly a month. I checked Facebook marketplace and found a beautiful picnic bench for 8 people! How wonderful! Now it’s here I couldn’t be happier with it! It cost €180.
Lastly we needed something to eat off. I wanted plastic plates but everything I could find was pretty expensive. €40 for 4 plates, 4 glasses, 4 bowls and that’s it. I know it’s not that much but when your clearing debt every cent matters. I strolled into dealz yesterday and I found plastic (very plastic might I add but I don’t mind) everything! Got ALL for €9! Was so excited about this! Anther thing I love about plastic is that it is so easy to wash! And seeing as our dishwasher hasn’t arrived yet, easy to wash is making summer in the garden loads of fun!
So summer in the garden rather than summer in Spain! The thing about being off work is I never miss a sunny day! I’m home all the time rather than one week in Spain! And €319… delighted with all we have!
