Today is the first of April and the high for here is 32 degrees.  At least some of our snow has been melting and we’ve even had some birds chirping around here.  This little guy was so cute hopping around on my deck railing the other day, I wanted to keep him.

This spring we definitely have a few outdoor projects we need to accomplish.  The biggest one is staining the deck.   Thanks to the 40% off sale in September at Sherwin Williams we were able to score some stain for a great price.  If you can’t tell from the handrail in the picture above, let me show you the rough shape our deck boards are in.

The sun beats down on the deck for most of the day along with two dogs and four kids running around, it definitely takes a beating.

Last year thanks to a hail storm, our insurance company and Lowes, we were able to purchase a new Allen & Roth Gazebo.   This gazebo is amazing, we love it!  There are mosquito net screens, along with heavy curtains that block out the sun which is important when we dine on the deck as the sun is in full effect at that point and it’s usually right in someone’s eyes at the table.  It’s also a little bigger than our last gazebo, at 10×12 we can fit a table and six chairs under here, zip up the curtains and have plenty of room to move around.  Definitely a great purchase for our home!  (Lowes did not pay me for my gazebo or to say anything about this gazebo, they don’t even know I exist.  This is just my personal review).

This year, we are due for some new outdoor patio furniture.  Our original set is now 8 years old and the cushions are past their prime and the table is rusting.  Two thoughts on this, one I spray paint the table and give it new life, purchase new cushions and call it a day.  Two, we find a new set, probably one that does not have cushions.

While shopping at Sams Club last week, I spotted this awesome Safavieh 6×9 indoor/outdoor rug for only $69!  It jumped into my cart and I can’t wait to use it!

The hubby and I have checked out a few different patio table and chair sets recently.  These are a few we are really eyeing up:

We like this Garden Oasis Owens 7 piece set from Kmart/Sears, the table is a great size for playing games in the evenings, the chairs don’t have cushions, they swivel and seem comfortable.

This one isn’t really in our price range but a girl can dream, right?  I love this one from Hampton Bay Woodbury at Home Depot!  Although it has cushions and a longer table, the chairs are just so lovely, I could sit in those all day and read while the kids swim in the pool or play in the backyard.

This Garden Glen Patio set at Walmart caught our eye as well, although it has cushions which we would like to avoid.   The reviews are great and it’s in our price range too.

I did try to find some cushions but the dimensions are 19×19 and somewhat hard to find replacements for.  I did find a few options at Kohls but they are kind of pricey.  It’s almost cheaper to buy a whole new patio set than to replace the seat cushions.   With a coupon these would still be pricey, they are originally $170, on sale for $102 for two cushions.  I need 6.  So $300 just for cushions!  Crazy!

The search is on, wish us luck!  Hopefully the weather will warm up enough soon so we can enjoy our gazebo and dinner outside.  Do you have a patio set?  Do you have cushions on your chairs?   Have a set you would recommend for us?

I’m back!  Well at least for this post, summer is still in full swing here,  school doesn’t start up again here until after Labor Day.  As I type this the girls have some friends over and they are busy swimming and having fun, enjoying the beautiful day.

I thought I’d share our backyard with you today, there have been some glimpses here and there with the play set and pool getting set up in May but never a post dedicated to this space.  Our backyard is one of the things that attracted us to this house, it is large, fenced in and has a big deck off the back of the house.  I can’t even fit the whole thing in the camera frame so I tried a few different angles for you.  Here is our backyard in its current condition, toys, Christmas trees under the deck (waiting for a campfire and drought conditions to go away), our makeshift fire pit, pool noodles and I’m sure dog poop is scattered in there too.

In May handsome hubby built a play set for the kiddos and also dug out an area for a pool that our friends kindly gave to us.  This pool has been used a lot this summer!  It is helpful that with the full sun in our backyard in the afternoon and evenings, the average temperature in the pool without a cover on has been between 85-90 degrees.

The kids like to put the slip and slide at the bottom of the play set slide, the slanting backyard really makes this quite a ride for the kids, I end up laughing as much as they do when they come down the slide and land in the grass.  I’m hoping next time to capture some of the fun on video.

A few years ago I purchased a gazebo on clearance at Target for less than $100.  It served us well at our old house but when we moved here, the poor thing couldn’t handle all the wind on the back deck and the cover was ripped off a few times and eventually the frame was  bent as well.

There was discussion about what to do as our backyard is full sun in the afternoon and evening.  There are no trees to provide shade so if we want to enjoy the back deck and eat out there, we need some sort of cover.  To make a long story short, insurance adjusters were out for our roof, apparently they saw the gazebo with the bent frame and we ended up receiving a nice amount of money to replace our gazebo along with the roof.   After much researching we went with this one from Lowes.  It had very good reviews online, seems well made, sturdy and something that will hopefully withstand all the wind.  So far it’s held up very well and we love it!  The solid curtain panels are nice to zip up for relief from the sun when we are eating dinner on the deck.  The mosquito curtain netting is great for at night when we are playing games and don’t want to be eaten alive by the pesky little buggers.

Our deck is rather large so I made a smaller sitting area in the back corner with my two adirondack chairs from Target, the $7 table from Kohls, my $2 plant stand from Savers and my Allen & Roth pillows from Lowes.

Now we  need to stain the deck as it is in poor shape right now from sun, dogs and kids.  That is a project we will be tackling soon, after I finish reading up on what we are going to have to do and to make sure we do it right.  We are also on the lookout for a new table and chairs, our set is starting to show its age after 7 years.   Hoping to strike some clearance gold at the end of this summer.

There is more to the yard, as you can see.  This area is in need of some major help.  The original owners had a boat they stored under the deck.  We have children and dogs that think running down this little hill and sliding with the rocks is really fun.  The plan is to  build a little garden area into the side of the hill, get some stamped concrete poured at the bottom of the stairs and extend it out to the side yard for a fire pit area and steps leading to the pool with a small landing area for the ladder.

In other news, Ruby is on the mend and doing quite well now.  Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and concerns for her.  She gave us quite the scare last week when she was so ill she couldn’t even walk.  Thanks to the veterinary staff for keeping her for the day, hydrating her and giving her medication.  We were very sad and worried thinking that we could lose our precious doodle Ruby.  Make sure there are no little brown mushrooms in your yard as it is so hard to distinguish between the poisonous and non-poisonous variety.