Way, way back in 2020 (yes, during the pandemic), I ordered 6 huge fiberglass planters from terracastproducts.com. Four of them replaced the concrete ones dating back to the Previous Owners–two of them were crumbling and the other two had originally been near the front door, where we now have the two lovely cranes. Shortly after moving in, the plants in the two by the door died because the Previous Owners never watered them–go figure–so they now flank either side of where the driveway becomes the courtyard. But all the pots were fugly, so the pretty blue ones I got from Terracast were a huge improvement. I also got four simpler ones that are by the garden shed and serve as little starter spots for plants.
It wasn’t just pretty blue huge planters that I got from Teracast. I also put in an order for a picnic table and chairs. Not your typical wooden table with a couple of attached benches–when we bought this place we had three of those that were rotting away. Instead I got a 36″ round metal table with 3 chairs, all in…blue!
The table was intended to go up near the well head. During the pandemic we carted two garden chairs and the little side table up there to enjoy a few picnics, but we wanted something a bit more permanent and a way to keep the grass from encroaching every year.
The table arrived in September of 2020 and unfortunately sat on its pallet on the side of the courtyard for a couple of years. Then the pallet got moved because we redid the landscaping out front and it was in the way. It wasn’t until last fall, when Agent Smith was in Australia for work and a family visit, that the table was finally “installed” up near the well head.
But I’ve gotten a bit ahead of myself. Before we could put the table in place we needed a level spot, so when Able Septic and Sewer was here in February of 2023 to run new lines between the well head and tank, we had them spend a few minutes with the blade of their excavator to make an a flat-ish spot. We didn’t put the table in place that year though, and the grass sprouted up.
Fast forward to that time last fall when Agent Smith was in Australia. I had some workers in during that time to complete some repairs and projects, one of which was to get the table finally in place. The guys removed the grass, fully leveled out the spot and took up a couple loads of pea gravel we had on hand. They then took up an old paver that had been sitting with a few others on the sports court and settled it in place. A few holes were drilled into the paver, bits of spare rebar and some epoxy shaped to secure the table into the paver, and voilà! We finally have a lovely picnic spot.
