One of the problems with buying a commercial slide for your children is that it takes up much space in the garden and has to be moved when you want to cut the grass.
It also leaves much to be desired in appearance alongside your lovingly tended flower garden.
I came to the conclusion that we needed something more photogenic that blended in with the garden and was easily moved when the time came to tend to the lawn.
The obvious answer was the stepladder and a plank made of plywood that we happened to have around.
It needed a good rubbing down with sandpaper to make it smooth and then some coats of varnish to make it slippery and splinter proof.
Some holes in the end of the plank could be used to tie it to the top of the steps, but it was better to fix it with hinges to a short strip of wood which could lie flat on the top of the step ladder.
We also screwed some 2x1 inch strips of wood to run down the sides.
This made it strong enough to use half-inch plywood.
We had a slope in the garden so by placing it up or down the slope we could change the steepness of the slide.
We have a tree in the garden that is useful for tying the ladder to so as to make it more steady.
It also provides extra hand-holds for our children when getting from the ladder onto the slide.
The next step looks even more garden friendly.
It looks as though we need not use the ladder.
We made one out of rope using the branches we pruned from the spruce tree.
Pruning may not be the right word since they were too thick for my pruners.
They were an inch thick and had to be sawn, but they are just right for the ladder and when they dry out we can use them for fire wood.
It is becoming a challenge to the children to climb the tree to get onto the slide and there is a branch that we can use to tie the plank on to.
It just needs some creative thinking to make sure it is safe.
We help out toddler up of course and make sure she is safe.
Perhaps we should leave the grass underneath the slide much longer to make a cushion in case they fall off.