A Porch of My Own

A Porch of My Own

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

There's Always a Project in the Country

I thought I was finished with the outdoor kitchen and then a couple of things came up. I ended up with a pallet and built a table where we can eat, play cards, work puzzles, whatever. It cost about $15 in material besides the pallet, which came with the new AC unit we bought. I actually had the material already from other projects. I had one chair and bought the other three for $9 each and spray painted them. I had a hard time finding the metal chairs. Everywhere I checked had plastic ones. Finally found the metal ones at WalMart. We don't have an actual table in the cabin; we eat at the island, so I was happy to have a table! We have had some beautiful ones over the years in different places we've lived but none of them survived the downsizing. 


Rickie has two BBQ pits. One is small and low to the ground and is perfect for just the two of us. He asked me to build him a table to put it on. I made it about 3 or 4" shorter than I would have, but I had 4 pieces of 4 x 4 left over from another project and wanted to use them. We have to get a piece of metal to put on top of it then he can sit the little pit on top of that. I used some of the decomposed granite to extend the kitchen area to include it. (You can see the shadow of the hammock in this photo!)


Rick had recently ordered a couple of Adirondack chairs online. Found some that weren't too expensive but they were unfinished. I finally got them stained and love how they came out. We want to use them by the fire pit so we can recline and look at the stars! (They have pull out foot stools.) But we needed a place to put them off the ground when we weren't using them. So I used the last of the granite gravel and made a place for them. In front of them we're going to have our fire pit. We're waiting on the nice but busy fellas at the welding place in Fredericksburg to get our ring with swing arm grill completed. Then we'll put some stone around the outside of it. Hope to get it finished soon so it will be ready for the Thanksgiving week! My sister Kathy and her husband and grandsons are coming out again this year for some deer hunting!


We have a little garden of volunteer plants by our septic tank cleanout, which is covered in some rocks to disguise it. The wildflowers and the garden flowers have all been pretty the last few weeks with the cooler temps and rain.



Bixby and Justin came out a few weeks ago and Bix has become quite a little climber. We had a good time doing ranch chores and exploring. I took him to the turkey feeder to see and smell the milo and toss some out on the ground for the deer. I love the way it looks and smells; it's my favorite grain! In fact, I think I'm going to fill an old clear jar and put it on the mantel. It has beautiful orange and yellow fall colors.
We broke the pallet table in, having our breakfast, which we cooked on the outside stove, there. Everything tastes better outside!



The area by the pumphouse is filling in with plants and odds and ends. Just like I like it! The chickens were a gift from my sister Jackie. I made the Howdy sign from a piece of leftover metal we found here. 





I finished a project that I've had on hold for over a year, closing in the bottom of the woodshed. I used stone from the property and moved it there a long time ago. Then it got hot, and one thing then another interfered. I was kind of dreading this project too. I closed in the other shed with stone a couple of years ago. But I had some cut stone left from the cabin and it was easier to use that. This project required me to try this and that stone and finding ones that fit. I like how it came out though. I added some trim boards and they'll age and match the shed. We had a couple of big flat stones that worked out great for a step into the shed.


This little area by the birdbath I made a few years ago is one of my favorites. The birds love it and the plants have been really pretty this month. The Mexican sage is blooming purple flower spikes now. It'll die in the winter and we've not had any luck getting them to come back here. If the winters are a bit warmer where you are they'll come back each Spring and get nice and big. It's on the other side of the rosemary in this photo so it's a little hard to see the plant.

This is a busy time of year here and it's our favorite time! We've got some more projects in the works. And it's time to move the big washtub that holds firewood onto the back porch. We'll soon have the fireplace going!

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion." Henry David Thoreau









1 comment:

  1. Your hard work is showing!!! And it looks great! Isn't it amazing how resilient this old state is? Just add a little rain and everything perks back up. So glad the hill country got some good showers these past few weeks. Reading this post reminds me that I need to either dig holes in the flowerbeds to set the herb pots in or move them up against the south side of the house for warmth.

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