Roasting the Neighborhood

I had my first Landscape Design class last week.  The instructor spoke plenty about establishing "rooms" within your landscaping and deeming those spaces as public or private.

That made sense.  Some of our yard constitutes public space--our front porch, front yard and even the side yard by the alley.  Some of it constitues private space--our sideyard to the south of the house and our backyard.  With private space comes entertaining!

We really didn't do much outdoor entertaining last year--we just didn't have the sitting area to do so.

The concrete pad is what we have been using as our patio.  We found that our itty-bitty green patio set fit in the nook very easily and the porch protected the grill from the elements...but it left very little room for anything else!

Our current back porch...I would love to have it decked in someday!

Our house came with an extra parking pad that butts up to the garage...we have never utilized it and it goes unused.  I have always thought it would be the perfect outdoor dining area.  Justin, on the otherhand, was not a fan of the idea.

The parking pad is between the yard and garage. With the right decor, it could be a nice retreat in the evenings.

But wait--Justin decided he wanted a fire pit all of a sudden.  Something about what the Landscaping guy said had convinced him of the need for heat.  And thus, he decided the parking pad would be a great place to entertain!  Add a rectangular 7-piece table set, some tiki torches, window boxes of flowers, the grill, a radio and the fire pit and he is convinced we could have a great time.  Why--why--why will guys never accept a suggestion unless it's their "own"?!



Far right end of the parking pad


If it takes an Extension Agent to convince Justin of creating an entertaining area, that's fine with me!  I'll take what I can get!  It just so happened that a fire pit was posted on Craigslist this weekend and the price was perfect.  Justin went to pick it up last night and this is what he brought home...

The thing is ginormous...the picture really doesn't do it justice.  From the picture posted on Craigslist, I was not expecting anything of this size.  It's has to be almost 3' wide and is as tall as a young adult.  I'm almost a little scared to build a fire in it for fear we could roast the entire neighborhood.  Justin, on the other hand, is pumped.  He brought home some firewood this evening and ordered a rack to store it on.  Our entertaining area is finally starting to happen...Justin has his fire pit...now it's time to wait and see if I can score a great deal on "my" dining set!