We bought a hot tub!

This summer we have treated ourselves to a new garden accessory - a hot tub! We've been pricing them up for a while, having enjoyed using them on a couple of Airbnb stays, but baulked at the price. It's not just the initial cost and installation of the hot tub, it's also the ongoing maintenance charges that add up.

But then a few weeks ago Ram spotted a special offer at Argos, and we are now the proud owners of a Lay-Z-Spa Cancun 2-4 person hot tub! It's an inflatable hot tub, you just inflate it, fill it with water, switch it on, work out the chemicals that you need to add to keep it clean and off you go. We've had it for a few weeks now, and we have used it to create our very own spa experience at home every day.

We built an insulated platform for it to sit on using foam mats and Kingspan insulation boards, and we also bought an insulated cover for it. This has really helped with keeping it to a good temperature and so we don't need to leave the heater on overnight. We just put the temperature up during the afternoon ready to use in the evening. We also don't really use the bubbles as they are quite loud and can be a bit annoying, we just chill out in the hot water. 

It's marketed as a 2-4 person hot tub but in reality it only fits two adults comfortably, and then two children can fit as well if you all squish in a bit. I think that you'd only want to share it as four adults if you were all very friendly with each other!

We've bought some new outdoor lights to decorate the surrounding area and we've really enjoyed using it, mainly in the early evening and later at night. It's a great opportunity to have a break from the phones and catch up with each other. We are hoping to get plenty of use out of it this summer, and if the weather heats up a bit we can also lower the temperature and sit in it to cool off. That would have been so nice during the heatwave last August!

It was one of my April goals to spend more time in the garden, and this is definitely going to help!