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With our housewarming less than two weeks away, the time has come to finally create a space for a bonfire (we’re taking the warming part quite literal around here).
County laws will only allow us to burn during the fall and winter months, so our timing couldn’t be better. Plus, with all the landscaping and general cleanup going on in the front and back yards, a fire is the perfect opportunity to get rid of unwanted vegetation (and lessen the burden for our trash guys).
Remember all of the ivy we killed off? And the limbs we cleaned up? All are strong contenders for the first fire of the fall season.
To create a place for our fire, we first had to select the perfect spot – away from our house, our neighbor’s fence, and clear of any low-hanging branches (which obviously creates more firewood – score!). You may recall several months ago when we got rid of an old stone bird feeder. After making a new friend and helping her carry her Craigslist freebie to her car, we were left with a trefoil shaped spot in the middle of our yard.
It was perfect. All we had to do is follow the line of the trefoil shape made from the stones that were already in the ground. Other than a few stray tree roots (possibly from plants that were removed long ago), we had the fire pit dug in just a couple of hours.
Pictured here: my aunt – the other half of the superhero team that’s been visiting us lately.
Then, it was time to get rid of all of that pine straw we had to rake up to make the fire pit area safe. We bagged up four or five hefty bags of pine straw for my sister’s house (they have a sloping hill they wanted to cover), but the rest was destined for the fire. Pine straw smokes a fair amount, so it’s best to keep a very watchful eye on it and keep the fire extinguisher nearby just in case a strong wind takes off with a stray piece.
See what I mean?
Poof!
On my next trip to my local Orange or Blue, I plan to pick up a number of paver stones to surround the fire area which will serve as an additional safety precaution. It’s also going to dress up the area a little better and make it look like we put the fire pit there on purpose.
NICE. It's cool to watch your progress as you unearth your backyard (been there), and I missed the birdbath post, so I liked the little trip back there too.