1. I may or may not be starting a new "job" next week. It's unconfirmed at this point and is leaving my schedule in flux. That combined with not knowing if I am scheduled to work Twins games may drive me insane- I could be busy every evening next week or none, how am I supposed to plan things like dinners, exercise, house projects, and general fun around that??
2. I had to take the majority of this week off from running. I'm not sure if it was my new shoes or just the combination of the 10 mile race plus being on my feet all weekend doing projects that left my feet quite sore for a day or two, and now just generally tired to run on. Let's hope it's not the shoes and that I don't wind up needing ones with more cushion for those longer distances.
3. I jumped on the bandwagon and got a fiddle-leaf fig just over a month ago. I don't have much of a green thumb, and it is probably too soon to tell, but I am still excited to report that my little plant has new leaves budding and no tragedy has befallen us in the 30 odd days it has been under my care. I will have to report back periodically on how it goes, I understand they are quite fickle plants.
On a related note, I also planted some herbs awhile back and the only one that took was basil- I don't even really like basil. Luckily my raspberries are used to fending for themselves (the house was vacant last year after all), so I think at the very least, come late summer I will have raspberries to eat, even if all other plants have died.
4. How many times is too many times to watch Pride and Prejudice in one week (the good version
of course)? I am on 4 times I think, and for a 5.5 hour movie/
miniseries that is quite an accomplishment. In my defense sometimes it
was just providing some background noise/ listening.
5. And most importantly of all, tomorrow marks David's and my 10-year dating anniversary! 10 years together! I think this will be the first year we haven't celebrated it, but we'll just have to do it big in August for our 4-year wedding anniversary. Crazy to think that 10 years ago tomorrow I was driving David (who didn't have his license yet) to Chipotle and weirding him out eating plain lemon slices...
Friday, May 30, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2014
2 big things
Big things are happening around our place; well relatively, I hope you didn't get too excited.
1. We got our carpet installed upstairs! It is so nice not hearing the little pitter patter of paws in the middle of the night on the plywood anymore when the puppies decide to get up for a midnight stroll. The color isn't quite what I was expecting, but I'm pleased nonetheless and it is also so soft under our feet even though it's just the cheapie carpet, but that is probably just because we are used to hardwoods (or in the attic's case, plywood) and carpet squares.
2. Curtains are being made for the living room! We are about 3/4ths of the way through the project (my mom and I) and I love how the color of the fabric looks against the blue walls. I haven't had curtains since my room in high school so this is kind of a big deal. They are making the living room look more polished already, even before they are hemmed. Get ready for a curtain reveal coming soon!
1. We got our carpet installed upstairs! It is so nice not hearing the little pitter patter of paws in the middle of the night on the plywood anymore when the puppies decide to get up for a midnight stroll. The color isn't quite what I was expecting, but I'm pleased nonetheless and it is also so soft under our feet even though it's just the cheapie carpet, but that is probably just because we are used to hardwoods (or in the attic's case, plywood) and carpet squares.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
memorial day weekend
Extra- extended weekend shall we say. Starting on Thursday with a trip to the drive-in. 3 movies for the price of 1, but probably a bit too much for a work night... so we opted to stay for just the first two, which was still too much.
And then by Saturday my parents were in town for my grandpa's 79th birthday party and a visit to Midway Stadium for a St. Paul Saint's game, food trucks, and fireworks.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
workout recap and race day
Workout Recap May 19-25
Monday: off
Tuesday: kickboxing
Wednesday: barre class; 3.97@ 10:23/ mi
Thursday: off
Friday: off/ walk 4+ leisurely miles for work
Saturday: off
Sunday: 9.98 miles @ 9:45/ mi (9:47>10:01>9:49>9:37>9:36>9:26>9:43>9:49>9:52>9:26)
____________________________
2014 Mississippi 10 Miler Recap
Last year I wrote up quite a lengthy play by play of the Missisippi 10 Miler- what can I say, it was my first race, I was excited. I'm certainly glad I did it however, since now I can look back, compare the two races, and see where I have grown or improved as a runner (or not). And since there's a fairly good chance I will continue to do this race in the future-it's cheap, local, and the perfect distance- I think I'll write up a slightly shorter review for my future self's sake, and yours of course.
First things first, official time: 1:37:07. The race was not chipped and since I started in the very back of the pack, in reality my actual time was probably a few seconds shorter. This time put me 47/82 female finishers. If you recall last year, I ran in 1:40:38 and was 71/105 women.
So 3 minutes and 31 seconds faster! And it was about 10 degrees warmer this year (although still relatively cool), and sunny, not overcast. Apparently all that cross-training paid off!
I am really quite happy with how I ran. I think having the Garmin to moniter my pace was really motivating. I went into the race thinking I would do about 10 minute miles, the same as last year, but even concerned about that time since some of my "training runs" had been even slower than that. But after I looked down and saw I ran the first mile in 9:47 (and usually my first 1-2 miles are pretty brutal since I don't feel warmed up), I made the conscious decision to try and maintain that pace throughout the race. And then of course I could look down at my wrist whenever I wanted to keep myself on track.
The course itself was different than last year. It was an up and back route, with more of it up along a road (in the sun) than winding by the river than last year. I DID NOT like this year's course. Whoever decided that there should be a water station IN the narrow turn around point should be fired from course planning. Some of us carry our water and didn't want to stop and walk in the turn around behind those who grabbed a cup from the volunteers. It was seriously not appreciated and notably threw that mile off.
The up and back route did have one major plus though: it was motivating on the way to the turn around watching the race leaders already turned around running back towards me (and being able to run by David and give him a quick high five). However, once I reached the turn around, and was running back, by myself, in the sun I lost a little steam. Those miles heading back on Shepherd Road before heading down to the river- miles 6 and 7- were the most physically and mentally challenging. At that point I questioned whether or not I would be able to hover around my 9:45/ mi pace goal. Soon enough, however, they were over and I was down in the shade once again.
If you look up at the splits you can see that I stayed relatively consistent- the splits show where there was a hill or two or where the sun was worse. But overall I had a negative split from the first half (48:50) to the second half (48:16) so I clearly was doing something right maintaining a slightly faster race pace and still having a little kick at the end.
Monday: off
Tuesday: kickboxing
Wednesday: barre class; 3.97@ 10:23/ mi
Thursday: off
Friday: off/ walk 4+ leisurely miles for work
Saturday: off
Sunday: 9.98 miles @ 9:45/ mi (9:47>10:01>9:49>9:37>9:36>9:26>9:43>9:49>9:52>9:26)
____________________________
2014 Mississippi 10 Miler Recap
Last year I wrote up quite a lengthy play by play of the Missisippi 10 Miler- what can I say, it was my first race, I was excited. I'm certainly glad I did it however, since now I can look back, compare the two races, and see where I have grown or improved as a runner (or not). And since there's a fairly good chance I will continue to do this race in the future-it's cheap, local, and the perfect distance- I think I'll write up a slightly shorter review for my future self's sake, and yours of course.
First things first, official time: 1:37:07. The race was not chipped and since I started in the very back of the pack, in reality my actual time was probably a few seconds shorter. This time put me 47/82 female finishers. If you recall last year, I ran in 1:40:38 and was 71/105 women.
So 3 minutes and 31 seconds faster! And it was about 10 degrees warmer this year (although still relatively cool), and sunny, not overcast. Apparently all that cross-training paid off!
I am really quite happy with how I ran. I think having the Garmin to moniter my pace was really motivating. I went into the race thinking I would do about 10 minute miles, the same as last year, but even concerned about that time since some of my "training runs" had been even slower than that. But after I looked down and saw I ran the first mile in 9:47 (and usually my first 1-2 miles are pretty brutal since I don't feel warmed up), I made the conscious decision to try and maintain that pace throughout the race. And then of course I could look down at my wrist whenever I wanted to keep myself on track.
The course itself was different than last year. It was an up and back route, with more of it up along a road (in the sun) than winding by the river than last year. I DID NOT like this year's course. Whoever decided that there should be a water station IN the narrow turn around point should be fired from course planning. Some of us carry our water and didn't want to stop and walk in the turn around behind those who grabbed a cup from the volunteers. It was seriously not appreciated and notably threw that mile off.
The up and back route did have one major plus though: it was motivating on the way to the turn around watching the race leaders already turned around running back towards me (and being able to run by David and give him a quick high five). However, once I reached the turn around, and was running back, by myself, in the sun I lost a little steam. Those miles heading back on Shepherd Road before heading down to the river- miles 6 and 7- were the most physically and mentally challenging. At that point I questioned whether or not I would be able to hover around my 9:45/ mi pace goal. Soon enough, however, they were over and I was down in the shade once again.
If you look up at the splits you can see that I stayed relatively consistent- the splits show where there was a hill or two or where the sun was worse. But overall I had a negative split from the first half (48:50) to the second half (48:16) so I clearly was doing something right maintaining a slightly faster race pace and still having a little kick at the end.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
may birchbox
Yay! It's that time of year, my Christmas Birchbox subscriptions are coming again! This is actually the second one I've gotten for 2014, but the first one went undocumented.
I really love getting these in the mail every month. Yes, some months are hit or miss. However I have gotten to try some products I love (and have since bought), and have gotten some full-size, full-price items that have more than paid for the month's box. I don't know if this is something I would be willing to pay for, but it really is a fun gift to receive, especially since it is a gift that lasts 3, 6, or 12 months. I would highly recommend gifting it to someone you think would enjoy such a subscription.
-Cynthia Rowley Beauty Silver Eyeliner
"A luxe, creamy liner from the NYC-based designer fro smudge-proof, all-day wear."
I haven't tested this out yet, because, well, it's silver. But I'm sure when I have the perfect occasion to wear it will be great. It seems to be high quality, and bonus, it's a full size item.
-Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy Body Lotion
"Rich in marine extracts, this paraben-free moisturizer leaves skin smooth, soft, and calm."
-Marcelle BB Cream Golden Glow
"A multitasker from the Chicago-funded branch rich in antioxidants and hydrating aloe."
I love the idea of a BB Cream (even though I've never bought one), so I was super excited to try this one out. The coverage was pretty good, although it did leave my face a little too shiny. I would not recommend this one more than the BB Cream I tried in an earlier birchbox, although this sample size is significantly better.
-Number 4 High Performance Hair Care Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner
"Sulfate-free, botanical rich cleanser creates bouncy, bodacious hair."
-SmartyPants All-in-One Gummy Vitamins for Adults
"These delicious gummies provide essential nutrients without artificial flavors."
These were good, but I'm not about to spend $34/ mo on vitamins.
I really love getting these in the mail every month. Yes, some months are hit or miss. However I have gotten to try some products I love (and have since bought), and have gotten some full-size, full-price items that have more than paid for the month's box. I don't know if this is something I would be willing to pay for, but it really is a fun gift to receive, especially since it is a gift that lasts 3, 6, or 12 months. I would highly recommend gifting it to someone you think would enjoy such a subscription.
"A luxe, creamy liner from the NYC-based designer fro smudge-proof, all-day wear."
I haven't tested this out yet, because, well, it's silver. But I'm sure when I have the perfect occasion to wear it will be great. It seems to be high quality, and bonus, it's a full size item.
-Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy Body Lotion
"Rich in marine extracts, this paraben-free moisturizer leaves skin smooth, soft, and calm."
-Marcelle BB Cream Golden Glow
"A multitasker from the Chicago-funded branch rich in antioxidants and hydrating aloe."
I love the idea of a BB Cream (even though I've never bought one), so I was super excited to try this one out. The coverage was pretty good, although it did leave my face a little too shiny. I would not recommend this one more than the BB Cream I tried in an earlier birchbox, although this sample size is significantly better.
-Number 4 High Performance Hair Care Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner
"Sulfate-free, botanical rich cleanser creates bouncy, bodacious hair."
-SmartyPants All-in-One Gummy Vitamins for Adults
"These delicious gummies provide essential nutrients without artificial flavors."
These were good, but I'm not about to spend $34/ mo on vitamins.
Monday, May 19, 2014
weekend recap
Workout Recap May 12-18
Monday: sand volleyball match
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: 3.73 miles @ 9.50/mi (Splits: 10:11>9:44>9:57>6:49)
Thursday: kickboxing class
Friday:5.54 @ 10:01/mi (9:59>10:09>10:13>10:10>10:00>5:00)
Saturday: off
Sunday:9.03 @ 10:12/mi (10:03>10:07>10:04>10:12>10:08>9:59>10:07>10:26>10:47)
^^Clearly those last two miles show I was not feeling my first afternoon run in "hot" weather ; sand volleyball match x2
So ready or not I had my last long run before our race yesterday. I probably should not have waited til 3:30 in the afternoon on our first truly warm (74*) day of the spring, my body was not ready for that. But I survived, and am a little mentally tougher for it (just a little though), so all is well.
Also, poorly planned, was immediately after I finished my run I had to head to play sand volleyball for a new league I joined. Sunday nights' is co-ed 6's and considerably faster-paced than the Monday nights' womens 4's league I'm already in. Both have their pros and cons, but both are really fun and make me really glad I finally got around to playing again versus coaching.
Even if the nice weather did beat me up, it did provide more time for yard work: weeding and hauling rocks/ gravel/ dirt around. And the puppies enjoyed 2 leisurely days of finding the sunny spots around the house for the perfect nap.
You would think that the nice weather would have been perfect for some outdoor baseball too, but the fans didn't think so. And a lack of fans means they schedule less vendors- I have only been scheduled for 4 games (of 26). I was enjoying the break, up until now. Now, session is over, my evenings are freeing up, and I am ready to be able to work some baseball games and make some money!
Oh, and that's the other thing I should mention. As of late Friday, the 2014 legislative session officially ended- welcome interim ! My days got a whole lot less busy/stressful; until campaigning picks up that is.
Monday: sand volleyball match
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: 3.73 miles @ 9.50/mi (Splits: 10:11>9:44>9:57>6:49)
Thursday: kickboxing class
Friday:5.54 @ 10:01/mi (9:59>10:09>10:13>10:10>10:00>5:00)
Saturday: off
Sunday:9.03 @ 10:12/mi (10:03>10:07>10:04>10:12>10:08>9:59>10:07>10:26>10:47)
^^Clearly those last two miles show I was not feeling my first afternoon run in "hot" weather ; sand volleyball match x2
So ready or not I had my last long run before our race yesterday. I probably should not have waited til 3:30 in the afternoon on our first truly warm (74*) day of the spring, my body was not ready for that. But I survived, and am a little mentally tougher for it (just a little though), so all is well.
Also, poorly planned, was immediately after I finished my run I had to head to play sand volleyball for a new league I joined. Sunday nights' is co-ed 6's and considerably faster-paced than the Monday nights' womens 4's league I'm already in. Both have their pros and cons, but both are really fun and make me really glad I finally got around to playing again versus coaching.
Even if the nice weather did beat me up, it did provide more time for yard work: weeding and hauling rocks/ gravel/ dirt around. And the puppies enjoyed 2 leisurely days of finding the sunny spots around the house for the perfect nap.
Oh, and that's the other thing I should mention. As of late Friday, the 2014 legislative session officially ended- welcome interim ! My days got a whole lot less busy/stressful; until campaigning picks up that is.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
landscaping
We've been hard at work outside this week, trying to accomplish some minor projects before summer hits us and we dive into some big projects. Fortunately the projects we are working on are pretty low budget- we have the things (rocks, soil, gravel, tools, etc) we need at one property or the other, unfortunately these projects are all weirdly intertwined and proving to be a little more time consuming than we thought and transportation, in our smallish trunks, is also not ideal.
This all started by clearing out the raspberry bushes, there were a lot of tiger lilies popping up everywhere. Naturally I wanted to get the lilies out of my raspberries, but I didn't want to get rid of them all, so I had to clear a place to transplant them to. We filled up one empty bed in the front of our house, but I also thought having some by the garage in back would be nice (opposite the raspberries). This meant we had to remove the rock. I know this doesn't look like a lot of rock, but the first 3 feet filled up all our containers (and our car) and this stuff lines the whole other side of the yard.
The good news is that we have plans for all this rock. We are going to use it to make a path at the duplex to the upper unit's back door. I had originally thought I would go with stepping stones, but I figure I might as well use what I have.
Before we can put the rocks in at the duplex though we had to dig the path. It's a relatively short path, maybe 10 feet. I thought we could easily knock this out in one evening, and just fill a trashcan up with the dirt to bring back to our house (to use to fill a hole in one corner of or property- so resourceful!).
This all started by clearing out the raspberry bushes, there were a lot of tiger lilies popping up everywhere. Naturally I wanted to get the lilies out of my raspberries, but I didn't want to get rid of them all, so I had to clear a place to transplant them to. We filled up one empty bed in the front of our house, but I also thought having some by the garage in back would be nice (opposite the raspberries). This meant we had to remove the rock. I know this doesn't look like a lot of rock, but the first 3 feet filled up all our containers (and our car) and this stuff lines the whole other side of the yard.
Before we can put the rocks in at the duplex though we had to dig the path. It's a relatively short path, maybe 10 feet. I thought we could easily knock this out in one evening, and just fill a trashcan up with the dirt to bring back to our house (to use to fill a hole in one corner of or property- so resourceful!).
We both grossly underestimated the volume of dirt this would produce and just digging out maybe a third of the path filled up our trashcan (and buckets), so we had to stop just a little short of completion.
So hopefully we can finish this project up this weekend in only 12789 more trips.
Oh, and of course we are trying to do most of this transporting using our 1 spare yard-waste trash can. And before we can dump the dirt out to fill the hole, we have to get the gravel out of the hole (why is there a gravel pit on the property, I don't know). Once the gravel is out, we can dump out the dirt, and fill it with rock- then transport and repeat. It's all quite tedious. But where are we going to put all this gravel??
Monday, May 12, 2014
workout recap
5/5-5/11 Workout Recap
Monday: sand volleyball match; run 1.53 miles @ 9:30/ mi
Tuesday: kickboxing class
Wednesday: barre class; run 2.85 miles @ 9:35/mi
Thursday: kickboxing class
Friday: 2.25 mile walk
Saturday: off
Sunday: 8 miles @ 10:11/mi (Splits: 10:29>10:30>10:17:9:57 (GPS died), last 4 miles @ 10:08/mi)
Monday: sand volleyball match; run 1.53 miles @ 9:30/ mi
Tuesday: kickboxing class
Wednesday: barre class; run 2.85 miles @ 9:35/mi
Thursday: kickboxing class
Friday: 2.25 mile walk
Saturday: off
Sunday: 8 miles @ 10:11/mi (Splits: 10:29>10:30>10:17:9:57 (GPS died), last 4 miles @ 10:08/mi)
Monday, May 5, 2014
Running and Gardening: A Good Weekend
Happy Monday! I decided it was high time I graced you all with my presence again.
In light of the fact that the weather is finally warming up, I have a 10 mile race in a few short weeks, and that I enjoy/ draw inspiration from reading running roundups on other blogs, I thought I would start out today with something a little different for me: a workout recap from the previous week. This is the least amount of running-training I have done for a race (though the most amount of "cross training," so we'll see if that helps) and I need to keep myself motivated. I also got that fancy Garmin thing for Christmas, and I might as well show off what it can do!
Workout Recap April 28-May 4
Monday: off
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: kickboxing class
Thursday: kickboxing class
Friday: 4 miles @ 10:33/mi pace
Saturday: off
Sunday: 7 miles @ 10:35/ mi pace (Splits: 10:47>10:36>10:34>10:41:>10:23>10:23>10:40); 1.07 mile walk with the dogs @18.26/ mi
I'll probably run another long-to-me race at the end of the summer, so maybe this feature will be a common occurrence around here, but really, who can say.
And now onto the gardening portion.
I was relaxing in the yard with the pups on Saturday eying our "gardens" full of a lovely combination of dead and overgrown bushes as well as mysterious shoots sprouting up haphazardly, when my neighbor came over for a chat. She saw I had just replanted some of my indoor plants (and made a mess all over the patio table), so the conversation turned to gardening... which I know nothing about. She seemed to know a bit on the subject and quickly informed me, that the mess of half dead bushes in the back corner of our yard are raspberry bushes (she also identified a few of our other plants, but those weren't as exciting). I was immediately thrilled (and so was David)! I've wanted raspberry bushes in my yard ever since we moved away from our raspberry bushes when I was 8 and my parents refused to replant them at our new house. And now I have them and I didn't even have to go through the hassle of planting and buying them. I did however have to spend a significant amount of time pruning them.
So Sunday after church and a quick stop at the hardware store to get some gardening supplies (I've never done any more garden maintenance than weeding or the occasional bush trim with our electric trimmer), the pups and I headed out back to enjoy some sunshine.
This is approximately what I started with. I was so excited to get going that I forgot to take a before picture til I had spent about 30 minutes in the bushes, and had lopped off maybe 1/4th of the total branches lost.
The pups supervised, from their blanket.
Nearly 4 hours, 4 bags of kindling, and 1 huge lawn-waste bag later this is what I have to show for my time/ effort/ scratched up arms:
Speaking of kindling (which we kinda were), David and I also sunk our fire pit this weekend while we grilled outside Saturday evening. Total this project took maybe an hour to pick the rocks and weeds, dig the hole, and then place the fire pit and fill in around it. I don't have a before picture handy, but for some reason this fire pit had been all filled in with dirt to the top of the brick and had a few dead plants/ weeds growing in it.
We opted to put the metal fire pit in the ground to keep clean-up easier and allow the use of our grate and cover. Though we could have just dug out the dirt and used it as-is (which would have given us bigger fires, but oh well).
Once all is said and done, I do wish we would have taken a few more minutes and sunk the pit just a few inches deeper, but assuming the rain doesn't wash the rocks and dirt under the metal pit, I think this will function just fine, and this too looks quite a bit better than when we started.
And lastly, for those of you with a keen eye (and who have probably seen our backyard in person), you might have noticed in the upper right hand corner of the pit-picture that the plastic and gravel bellow the swing set are gone. It's just dead grass now. But I'll take that over the messy gravel that was there any day. Though now our garage is full of buckets of gravel and thus even further from being used as it was meant to- to house cars....
In light of the fact that the weather is finally warming up, I have a 10 mile race in a few short weeks, and that I enjoy/ draw inspiration from reading running roundups on other blogs, I thought I would start out today with something a little different for me: a workout recap from the previous week. This is the least amount of running-training I have done for a race (though the most amount of "cross training," so we'll see if that helps) and I need to keep myself motivated. I also got that fancy Garmin thing for Christmas, and I might as well show off what it can do!
Workout Recap April 28-May 4
Monday: off
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: kickboxing class
Thursday: kickboxing class
Friday: 4 miles @ 10:33/mi pace
Saturday: off
Sunday: 7 miles @ 10:35/ mi pace (Splits: 10:47>10:36>10:34>10:41:>10:23>10:23>10:40); 1.07 mile walk with the dogs @18.26/ mi
I'll probably run another long-to-me race at the end of the summer, so maybe this feature will be a common occurrence around here, but really, who can say.
And now onto the gardening portion.
I was relaxing in the yard with the pups on Saturday eying our "gardens" full of a lovely combination of dead and overgrown bushes as well as mysterious shoots sprouting up haphazardly, when my neighbor came over for a chat. She saw I had just replanted some of my indoor plants (and made a mess all over the patio table), so the conversation turned to gardening... which I know nothing about. She seemed to know a bit on the subject and quickly informed me, that the mess of half dead bushes in the back corner of our yard are raspberry bushes (she also identified a few of our other plants, but those weren't as exciting). I was immediately thrilled (and so was David)! I've wanted raspberry bushes in my yard ever since we moved away from our raspberry bushes when I was 8 and my parents refused to replant them at our new house. And now I have them and I didn't even have to go through the hassle of planting and buying them. I did however have to spend a significant amount of time pruning them.
So Sunday after church and a quick stop at the hardware store to get some gardening supplies (I've never done any more garden maintenance than weeding or the occasional bush trim with our electric trimmer), the pups and I headed out back to enjoy some sunshine.
This is approximately what I started with. I was so excited to get going that I forgot to take a before picture til I had spent about 30 minutes in the bushes, and had lopped off maybe 1/4th of the total branches lost.
The pups supervised, from their blanket.
There is still a bit more work to be done on the patch- I plan on creating a sort of trellis for the bushes to help contain them, and we also need to remove a few shoots that are "out of bounds" and transplant those supposed Tiger Lillies that are taking over (and of course edge and mulch). But for now it is infinitely better and we cannot wait to watch the bushes grow and eat some delicious raspberries from them later this summer.
Speaking of kindling (which we kinda were), David and I also sunk our fire pit this weekend while we grilled outside Saturday evening. Total this project took maybe an hour to pick the rocks and weeds, dig the hole, and then place the fire pit and fill in around it. I don't have a before picture handy, but for some reason this fire pit had been all filled in with dirt to the top of the brick and had a few dead plants/ weeds growing in it.
Once all is said and done, I do wish we would have taken a few more minutes and sunk the pit just a few inches deeper, but assuming the rain doesn't wash the rocks and dirt under the metal pit, I think this will function just fine, and this too looks quite a bit better than when we started.
And lastly, for those of you with a keen eye (and who have probably seen our backyard in person), you might have noticed in the upper right hand corner of the pit-picture that the plastic and gravel bellow the swing set are gone. It's just dead grass now. But I'll take that over the messy gravel that was there any day. Though now our garage is full of buckets of gravel and thus even further from being used as it was meant to- to house cars....
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