THE GREAT OUTDOORS

I have a confession to make, I am a PINTEREST addict. A friend told me about the site a few years ago but when she warned me it was addictive, I poo poo'ed her. For the record, she was right and I was wrong, VERY wrong! Most everyone, unless you've been living in a cave somewhere knows what I'm talking about, it's electronic hoarding without the clutter! Now, the only thing I have to feel guilty about is the amount of TIME I spend on there searching for ideas rather than the amount of CRAP I have accumulated and have to store!

My latest obsession is outdoor living. Initially, I thought it would be a great idea to have a Pergola set up on the back patio where we could have summertime dinners in the late afternoon or enjoy a glass of wine under the stars. I imagined soft lighting, a Chiminea and maybe some music wafting through the night air, a little Romantic Sax or some Al Green perhaps...

After giving this some REAL thought, I realized that THIS is our reality, endless pine needles from this magnificent 100+ foot tall pine tree that I sweep off the patio every morning and an avalanche of snow coming down off the family room roof, in winter...

I am not one to be deterred once I have set my eyes on something I want, I will just roll it around in my head until I figure out a way to get it. This is where PINTEREST came in. I saw some creative ideas to design the outdoor living space I wanted but I can make it completely mobile.

The directions are pretty basic, sinking either posts, or in our case we have some leftover tree trunks from a remodeling job, into concrete. I can place each one on top of a plant caddy with caster wheels, so I can move them around the patio easily as well as for wintertime storage. Drill a couple of pilot holes near the top of each trunk so I can screw in some hooks and then string my globe lights between the poles. I picked up some red, white and blue globe lights on clearance after the 4th of July and yesterday I found this cute bistro table and chairs marked down to a ridiculous end-of-summer clearance price!

Since we upgraded to a 26 foot U Haul truck, it looks like we will be able to take the gas grill with us after all rather than buying one up there. I have already planned our first evening meal outside, some grilled Salmon in Raspberry Chipotle Glaze with fresh Rosemary garnish, a favorite of ours along with a nice Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Pralines and Feta Cheese and maybe some fresh steamed Broccoli; top it off with a scoop of Huckleberry Ice Cream for dessert...life is sweet!