A Cottage Pocket Garden

I love little spaces. 

Maybe it's because I'm the youngest of 5, 

and that's all I could eek out of my family home growing up.

I found all sorts of hidey holes in our yard where I could curl up with an apple and a book.....,

(or a bar of chocolate and a comic.....)

(don't tell my parents)

Sooooooo.....

today I'm going to show you guys one of my terraces....

I know! 

right?

ONE!!!!!

I've got two!!!!!

This is my barbecue terrace.

Not to be confused with my lie on my @$$ and read terrace.

See my grill on the left at the back?????

It's plumbed into the house's gas supply, so I never have to deal with a propane tank.

I am living large I tell ya, 

living

 LARGE!!!!!

Let me show the class how I got to this point of grilling bliss..... 

When I first bought my condo, there was no terrace here.

Just a rectangle of crab grass with no way to get to it.

Not that you'd want to get to a rectangle of crab grass,

unless you're a crab.....

Although, I don't think crabs have lawns.

And if they did.....

I don't think they make lawnmowers small enough for them to use.

Okay, now I'm just being silly.....

Speaking of being silly.....

You wouldn't believe the idiot I have been dealing with over the last couple of days, 

so he says......

WAIT!!!!!

I'm supposed to be writing about design......

I'll tell you about that later.....

BACK TO THE GARDEN!!!!

This terrace is off my dining room.

I changed the window in the room to sliding doors, and now I can get to my new terrace!!!!!

Here's a shot looking into the dining room when I bought my condo.

So I changed the window to this.....

I like it better.

Sooooooo.....

Now I had a way to get outside, I needed to make it purty....

I had a bluestone terrace installed in a round shape.

Why round you ask?????

Because it's more expensive that way!!!!!

The mason has to cut the stone.

why can't I do anything

 the simple and easy way?????

I have had this garden table for eons.

EONS

EONS

EONS!!!!!

I made it out of the top of an old white metal table from 

Scandinavian Design.

For those of you over a certain age.....

(you know who you are.....)

remember that store?????

I put the top on a resin figure of Pan.

I am no longer thrilled with this design decision.

But I have it, it works, so I've kept it.

Didn't look that great with the old, rusty, dirty, white top.

 Ruins the overall look.....

There's old chippy cool.....

And then there was my table.

Then I met Amy Chalmers.

Then I found out about chalk paint.

Then I realized that I was not a prisoner of dirty white tables.

Bwa ha ha!!!!!

So I whipped out the Annie Sloan Graphite.

And painted up this baby.

(first I washed the top with a little soap and water.)

The whole thing took almost no time at all.

Two coats later and it looked like it had a stone top!!!!!

Past the round terrace and grill is my little rose arbor I put up.....

This is how the back looked the first year I live here.

I could see the condo units behind me.

So I planted climbing roses on the arbor I found online.

Installed a Kousa dogwood behind it, 

and have had the association let those round bushes grow up and together.

So now.....

I can't see anyone behind me.

And I hope they can't see me either. 

 I had stone steps added outside the new doors with platforms on either side for my cement dogs.

I tried to fit in all the things I loved when I moved to the condo.

The little tree on the right is a tree hydrangea.

It fills in over the summer and ends up like this in the late summer, early fall....

I ringed the whole area in large hosta that have a wonderfully fragrant flower that blooms in the middle of the summer and perfumes the night air.

I love leaving my windows open in my family room for the wonderful scent.

They have large white trumpet shaped flowers that get really wet and drench me when I'm grilling.

I'm too lazy to trim them back.

Oy.

I've run out of things to talk about.

Now I have to go grill my chicken.

Today is the sell by date on the  package, so I can't put if off any longer.

Latah, Gatah