Mr. Aitch and I power washed, cleaned, and scrubbed the deck, deck furniture, and the patio umbrella last weekend.

We had a beautiful tree cut down last fall that overhung the deck as it was getting too big and close to the house. 

It provided a home for hummingbirds one summer and lots of shade but also lots of dirt.  Going to miss that shade.

You can see how close it was to the deck.  The branches were almost touching the back of the house.

I didn’t get a picture of the dirty umbrella when we began but this was a cheap nylon umbrella and for now, I just wanted it semi-clean. I ended up using some dishwasher detergent with bleach (I know that’s a no-no) until I ran out of it.  Had to save some for the dishes!  It’s not the best but it’s better than it was.

Now that the big oak tree isn’t hanging over the umbrella, maybe it won’t get as dirty.

I still need to get more plants.