Outdoor Living

Should you stop by my house on the weekend or any late afternoon during the week we will be outside! Don’t call me cuz we won’t hear the phone! We are digging in the garden, letting the chickens out to free range, my husband is working out and the girls are playing and running around… we just love to be outside!

Let me share a few of our favorite ways to enjoy more time outdoors!

Last fall my husband was able to get some bricks for F R E E at work when I mentioned that we needed to build a fire pit in the back yard. Something tells me that I wouldn’t have a fire pit right now if we hadn’t gotten them for free. The brick he got was from flooring in the mill so it had a little bit of a design to the shape. Made it fun but any brick would do.

We figured out how large we wanted it to be (diameter) and dug out the fire pit about 6 inches or so deep. I didn’t just want it to sit at the same level as the bricks, I wanted it to be sunken a bit. Once we did that it was a breeze laying the bricks and filling the cracks with some sand we had from our last load of dirt. From time to time we get a load of dirt to fill in low places on our property. It definitely is not perfect and uneven in places but it works for us! Every once in awhile we fill in sand that the rain has washed away and mow or weedeat around the fire pit.

Looks like I’m making an inappropriate hand gesture but I’m really just pointing at the fire pit… just a quick clarification. How do you like my hat??

We love to cook out there! We used a few of the bricks to make two columns and laid one of our grates from the grill on top. Works GREAT!!!

We have quite a few things for the girls to do while outside! I shouldn’t say WE because my husband did most of the work and came up with the ideas but I’m going to say WE anyway… He won’t mind.

First up, a tire swing out of a semi tractor trailer tire. It was one we found at a tractor repair/tire business for F R E E!! It was damaged, not roadworthy and it actually helped them out since they have to pay to dispose of the bad ones. We spray painted the outside to keep the girls clothes from getting covered in tire grime. They love it!!!

Next, is a homemade swing set/playground using parts and pieces from an old swing set. Several years back we bought one of those playgrounds that cost several hundred dollars but probably cost $20 to build. As expected the wood began to rot after a few years and pretty much fell to pieces. Hubby decided to build the girls a bigger, more stable and BETTER playground using the swings, slide, climbing wall and other accessories. They also now have a platform with a ladder and climbing rope and a monkey bar that said husband uses as a pull up bar for himself… I think this was pre-planned on his part.

Last but not least is a teepee! Yes, you just read that correctly… a teepee. We were doing some clearing on the back of our property last fall and had loads of long branches, limbs to go on the burn pile. As we were piling it on Hubby sidles up to me and says quietly, “I’m gonna make the girls a teepee out of these.” The best daddy ever I tell you! What little girl or boy wouldn’t like a teepee made for them to play in?!? Rhetorical question obviously.

He took roughly 8-10 of the longest limbs, laid them on the ground (grouped together) and tied the tops with a strong nylon rope. We stood it up and positioned the poles to free stand and began stacking the smaller branches all around the poles. Took some time but was pretty simple to do; just stuffed and stacked in any of the openings till we had a nice little cave for the girls to venture in to.

We are just outdoor LOVIN people! What’s better than enjoying God’s beauty and all the nature around you?

That reminds me I’ve got some burgers on the pit cooking and Doug and the girls are hollerin’ for me.

Tara