To say no is easier but to say yes is 'pleasier?'

Today I spent my day at a friends house, a friend I've not seen for nigh on 5 years, at a house I have in fact not visited before. Why? you may ask

Well, this friend's wife posted an appeal, of sorts, on Facebook last week for any local friends that could help with laying a patio

Now, I had no confidence in my patio laying ability, and with a 45 mile drive I wouldn't describe myself as particularly local either, so the obvious choice would be to not comment

But then I thought to myself, if I needed help with something, such as digging a hole for block paving, I'd like to think I'd have a friend or two that would come to my assistance, and I had a relatively free day today so I thought 'why not?'

As the week went on, the amount of assistance required was also reducing, which was nice. Upon arrival today, at around 9:30, it seemed that all that needed to be done was wheelbarrowing some (freshly diggered) soil from the back garden to the front and into a 'Hippo Bag'.......this only took about 45 minutes and as we watched the digger man drive away it seemed like our work was done

Or not

'Could you just give me a hand moving the paving slabs to the back garden?' was the question asked, 'why not, its only a 10 minute job'. But then I enquired as to what my friend's plan was to lay the patio

............... was the response 

So myself and another friend of my friend offered to stay on and at least make a start on the patio 

And so it was, at around 4:30pm I got in my car to head home, having completed the patio which is now ready for the shed for which it was intended to hold 

I've rambled on, but I do have a point. It's all too easy to find a reason why you're busy, it's all too easy to decide that you just can't be bothered, it's too far, too much effort...it's raining. 

But it's also easy to forget that you may miss out on an enjoyable day with friends, old and new, a belly full of pizza and freshly baked muffins, and the realisation that you actually can do something you previously weren't confident about, and with that a huge sense of achievement 

So next time you're about to say 'No', just try saying 'Yes!'

I will include some funny pictures today, but I'll leave the focus on the fantastic split level patio we created

Bye bye for now