I'm Getting There!

The patio is done with the exception of scrubbing off the film from the mortar. The contractor was supposed to return on Monday to do that, but he has still not been here and I got tired of waiting...and, I'm sure the film will wear itself off if he never shows up - or I will do it - in any case, I had to get started. So far, I have decorated by doing nothing more than shopping my own house and yard and I'm starting to like it.

As you can see, I moved the chiminea. Apparently, it is much safer not situated so close to the fence. I really never thought about it, but I burn mostly the citronella logs and I guess they burn even hotter than a regular fire - who knew? Of course, this info came from my currently MIA contractor, so who knows!

I planted some things in the ground but wasn't happy with the heights, so I decided to intersperse some of my potted urns. I like this better for the moment.

I wish I had another chaise I could have carried over here. I love the position of my other chaise on the pool side and didn't want to give that up so I brought over one of my "bouncy" chaises - not as comfortable but great for right now because literally 30 seconds after seating myself here, the most beautiful iridescent green hummingbird came over and proceeded to flit from flower to flower within feet of me! I am totally in awe of those gorgeous birds. I have a copper "sprinkler" tree on the other side of the garden and the first time I witnessed a hummingbird land and sit on one of the branches I thought I would pass out because I held my breath for so long for fear he would fly away and I had NEVER seen a hummingbird sit still before.

The only change I have made to this is the addition of the rock. I found it as I was digging holes to plant the flowers, stuck it there for the moment and liked it.

I feel like the patio needed something of size. I will probably look for a wicker loveseat but until then, I found this old wrought iron table over on the other side of my yard. We do have almost an acre, so I'm not as ditzy as it sounds. Seems I put this in an inconspicuous spot many years ago. The chairs are long gone, but the table frame was still there as I walked by it for about the millionth time and actually SAW it. I thought it would give the patio that old Mediterranean feel but didn't want to spend money on the topper. Well, lo and behold, there was the original glass sitting not too far away. My first thought was to paint it, but it has been 3 different colors just under my ownership and I bought it in a little antique shop in Maitland many years ago, so I kind of like all of the other colors peeking through all of the chips. I brought out an old iron candleabra and sat it on the table along with a pretty pot of geraniums and an old birdhouse. I think this will look pretty as a serving table for snacks in the evening when the candleabra is full of lit candles - can't wait! Going through lots of magazines and coming up with more and more ideas, so stay tuned!