Patio Furniture for the Backyard

This BBQ party had better be pretty fabulous. I've put enough work into my yard and other projects.

I am sunburned. I don't know why, after having worked in the backyard for three weekends in a row, this time I got sunburned. It was a bit warmer than it has been. Apparently the sun is stronger when it is warmer??

I cleared the area around the citrus trees of weeds. I pointed it out to Jacob this weekend. He didn't notice a difference. Such is life.

Of course, there were quite a few times Jacob put something down just to lose it, and I would find it for him...right under his face. 

But to be fair, this is the part of the yard we're hoping people don't pay attention to. 

We went back to Singh Farms and for the third Saturday in a row, got a truck full of compost. The guy who runs the large loader recognized us. (I just googled different tractors to figure out it was a loader. Now I'm sure I'll get ads on Facebook trying to sell me one.)

It's not even hard shoveling ten wheelbarrows of compost anymore.

We were also recognized at Lowes.

Can't really blame the workers for noticing this stud. (The man, not the wood.)

Now that we have our nice patio, what do we need? Patio furniture.

My only issue is the intense Phoenix sun. I left a plastic tupperware outside for a while once, and when I tried to pick it up it just crumbled. Plus I got rid of my chairs that had fabric cushions, because a few years in the sun destroyed those. (Blog about the little front patio set I replaced it with here.) After my fruitless search of trying to find cushions that fit, I decided I didn't want a patio set with cushions. I wanted wood.

I found a perfectly nice wood table and chair set on Craigslist for $80. J informed me it was ugly and he didn't want that. (It was not ugly.) He had found this tutorial online for burning wood. He set his mind that that is what we were going to do.

It's not very often that J sets his mind to something, so he usually gets his way when he does. I thought burning wood was a little weird, but it turned out pretty interesting.

The grain really becomes apparent.

The Svancaras were in our area while we were working, so they came over so we could give little Lily her bday present.

We put that kid to work.

Don't worry, she's wearing eye protection. 

We finished the table first.

Don't let the photos of J and his brother fool you; I was hard at work. I mostly concentrated on the bench.

And that's about as far as we got. For the party I'm planning on renting a couple more tables and folding chairs. Let's hope it's not a repeat of my sister's baby shower. I picked up the table and chairs just in time for it to pour...and pour...and pour. Very unusual weather for my beloved sunny, traitorous Phoenix.

We'll get around the building some chairs.
Eventually.
J and I have agreed that after our party, we're not doing anything for awhile.