I didn't spend that much time over the winter thinking about what to do with the yard (don't believe everything VPH says), but I had a few ideas. I found out that we were getting a larger than expected tax refund in early March and my imagination went wild. I love shopping on-line and I'm particularly fond of the W Mart site -- low prices without the unpleasant experience of walking into the store and fighting the teeming masses. The only drawback to enjoying the patio in August/September had been the swarm of mosquitoes that attacked every evening. If only there was something that would allow us to enjoy the outdoors but would keep us separate from the bugs.
Sure there are those tent rooms with no floor that you zip your self into, but have you ever seen one that wasn't butt ugly? I'm sure they're very functional and all, but I just couldn't see us in one, plus VPH, who usually goes with the flow, had vetoed this structure out of hand. Something had to be done though and I mounted a concerted effort to find a solution.
Then I found this on the W Mart site. Isn't it lovely? 
It's a gazebo/it's a screened in structure. I love things that are atheistically pleasing and functional! So it went on the must have list and as long as we're getting it, we really need some furniture to go in it. Wait, where are we going to put it? Remember the patio is awesome, but it's also already covered in furniture and I love my fire pit table and probably shouldn't use it under a canvas awning. We need another level spot in the yard!
Initially my idea was to have the whole yard graded and re-seeded. I started getting bids and again, way too much money for a rental. I approached my landlord about possibly splitting the cost, but this time they weren't interested. I started revising my idea to a smaller scale and working with the one contractor who was responsive, helpful, and reasonably priced, my pal John (I'm happy to share his company name and contact info if anyone has a project they need a guy and heavy duty equipment for). Together we came up with the idea of a 15' x 15' gravel pit.
I started calling it the conversation pit, but I was the only one who could see it. My landlord has repeatedly said, you do what you want, but I don't think a big pile of rocks in the middle of the grass is going to look good. To which I really wanted to say, you see any grass out there woman? But I'm trying to be a nicer person. Here's the sketch that I made for John. Ironically, this is pretty much what we ended up with, but for some reason I didn't know where the spigot was located on the side of the house -- not where it is in my drawing -- and don't laugh at my horrible drawing ability or my sense of scale, or rather lack thereof.
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