The last few days have been a patio Rorschach test of sorts. I look at endless google images of patios (we dismissed the deck idea fairly early on - remembering how many critters roam around our place at night and how very very little we would like a fledgling group of skunks to set up shop under our deck) and figure out how they make me feel. I started with visions of grand pergolas, built-in outdoor fireplaces (note: when "rightoverthere'n" - our term for dreaming of new projects - budget does not get much play until WAY too far down the line), possible enclosures, etc. Then, out of the blue, I realized I didn't think our much loved but humble-in-design house just wouldn't support the grandeur of a 38-foot cedar pergola over our back patio. It would be like me walking around in my typical jeans and t-shirt plus a lovely bedazzled tiara.
So, without the pergola fall-back position, I started thinking about what would be a little less tiara but not quite patch-o-concrete with some chairs on it (not that there's anything wrong with that). Beer Garden!! Table(s) set up under trees with paving or gravel underfoot and lights in the trees (and beer). The pic on the right illustrates the concept well-translated into the home garden. I've gotta have some of those light strings. Luckily, they seem to be widely available.
We'll add a shade sail over part of the 12x38' patio to decrease the number of bugs falling out of our trees and into our food (not to mention the sun and occasional rain), and somewhere in the mix there will be a fire pit (we have an indoor fireplace but it is seriously not up to code so we don't use it - it'll be great to have a place to roast marshmallows and watch the kids carry out their (genetically-assured) pyromaniacal urges). We like the Ball O' Fire. Too weird? (Keeping in mind it's for us.)And then? Shrubbery.
Real Monty Python fans will fill in the rest of that one...
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