My parents will be having their 50th Anniversary this July . 50 Years of Marriage, 4 kids and a lifetime of memories. This past year has been challenging for my mom's health so while a 50 year anniversary is special all on it's own, its even more special when for a time, you weren't sure one of your parents was going to be here for it. Their love story is story book. They were born in the same hospital just days apart. They were in the nursery together in fact. They were high school sweethearts. Dad went into the airforce, mom continued with her professional dancing career, eventually opening her own academy. She was a beauty queen pageant , he was devilishly handsome young man. Their old photos remind me of a Hollywood couple.This is one of my favorite photos of them , it was taken at my wedding and the photographer captured a special moment.
Nonetheless we are having a party and yours truly is hosting it and doing the majority of the planning It will be a small gathering as most of the extended family is back east and can't travel or is no longer with us. As you can imagine, the planning of this has taken the majority of the small amount of free time I actually do have (in between work and riding and keeping the garden watered ...ugh, so sick of dragging hoses!)
Since it's been so hot and dry here, and my yard doesn't have quite enough shade to keep people from congregating inside, we had to come up with a solution.
While I was frantically calling around to try to find a party tent rental (which was turning into an exercise in futility because it's the height of wedding season here) , T had it all pretty much figured out already. Smart guy that hubby of mine!
We had a spot in the back yard that is just a square of gravel with a fire pit in the middle. It's where we have our bonfire parties. It works, but it's not "pretty" or all that exciting. It s just kinda stuck out there, next to the wood shed and the garden boxes, in between a couple of trees.
But it had potential....
He decided that he now had a good enough reason to build that Pergola he has wanted for years. Before I knew it, there was a stack of lumber ready for construction in the yard. I love that he loves to build cool stuff.
So what is a Pergola? (seems alot of people don't know because everyone asks when we tell them what we are building) If your curious, here is the blog site I went to when we did our research and based some of our design on (plus, it's a really cool blog for the DIY'er)
The building , or in this case , its more like a frame , is done, nestled between the trees.
Eventually and before the party, it will be decorated much like this...with a few of my own added touches for additional shade and lighting effects.
Then we have fix the gravel footing. Since the Pergola is larger than the original bonfire site, we have to dig up additional grass, get rid of the ugly gravel that is there now, put in treated lumber barriers and then bring in new pretty stones.
We have a nicer outdoor metal fire pit that has been sitting in the hay barn so finally , we have a good reason to retire the old ugly one that we have been using.
For the slightly less ugly one..
I love creating outdoor spaces for relaxing and entertaining during. I love it even more that my hubby loves building stuff.
**Please excuse me while I go hunting for the water feature ideas (husband rolls eyes)****
ok, onto other things..
The title of this post is Family Time and Outdoor Spaces, after all...right??
We have taken the opportunity to get out there to enjoy a little of both.... I hate to brag.... but doesn't this look like an amazing place? I won't lie...It was....
I just love this place... and the hubby was catching a quite a few nice brookies while I was enjoying a book, listening to the water fall.
Montana can be so amazing this time of year....
Nonetheless we are having a party and yours truly is hosting it and doing the majority of the planning It will be a small gathering as most of the extended family is back east and can't travel or is no longer with us. As you can imagine, the planning of this has taken the majority of the small amount of free time I actually do have (in between work and riding and keeping the garden watered ...ugh, so sick of dragging hoses!)
Since it's been so hot and dry here, and my yard doesn't have quite enough shade to keep people from congregating inside, we had to come up with a solution.
While I was frantically calling around to try to find a party tent rental (which was turning into an exercise in futility because it's the height of wedding season here) , T had it all pretty much figured out already. Smart guy that hubby of mine!
We had a spot in the back yard that is just a square of gravel with a fire pit in the middle. It's where we have our bonfire parties. It works, but it's not "pretty" or all that exciting. It s just kinda stuck out there, next to the wood shed and the garden boxes, in between a couple of trees.
But it had potential....
He decided that he now had a good enough reason to build that Pergola he has wanted for years. Before I knew it, there was a stack of lumber ready for construction in the yard. I love that he loves to build cool stuff.
So what is a Pergola? (seems alot of people don't know because everyone asks when we tell them what we are building) If your curious, here is the blog site I went to when we did our research and based some of our design on (plus, it's a really cool blog for the DIY'er)
The building , or in this case , its more like a frame , is done, nestled between the trees.
 |
| getting better |
 |
| almost done, one more strip for shade and then lights.. |
Eventually and before the party, it will be decorated much like this...with a few of my own added touches for additional shade and lighting effects.
Then we have fix the gravel footing. Since the Pergola is larger than the original bonfire site, we have to dig up additional grass, get rid of the ugly gravel that is there now, put in treated lumber barriers and then bring in new pretty stones.
We have a nicer outdoor metal fire pit that has been sitting in the hay barn so finally , we have a good reason to retire the old ugly one that we have been using.
 |
| Old and ugly |
 |
| will need painted.. |
**Please excuse me while I go hunting for the water feature ideas (husband rolls eyes)****
ok, onto other things..
The title of this post is Family Time and Outdoor Spaces, after all...right??
We have taken the opportunity to get out there to enjoy a little of both.... I hate to brag.... but doesn't this look like an amazing place? I won't lie...It was....
I just love this place... and the hubby was catching a quite a few nice brookies while I was enjoying a book, listening to the water fall.
Montana can be so amazing this time of year....
2 comments:
Ok, I want to come swimming then relax for the evening under your lovely pergola, how awesome! It is my parents 50th anniversary this year too, quite an accomplishment. I'm glad you're having a nice celebration, mine are so low-key they just want us kids to take them out to dinner. Nice photo of them too, I love the even younger ones, it's another whole life they led.
You can come visit anytime! Perfect time of year for it! Our parents want to keep it low key as well . Limited amount of extended family so it will just be immediate family. It was a whole other life for them.
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