End of Summer

For Arizonans the end of summer means we can all venture back into the great outdoors!   The temperatures start to drop (just a little) so we can now elect to eat in the patio of a restaurant,  we can take evening strolls and we can start spending time in the backyard patio!   With the temperatures starting to drop little by little -- it was our queue to start getting the patio ready!

click to enlarge

Earlier this year we bought a pergola at Lowe's and Sweetheart and his dad installed it in the back patio.   We added lights to it to give it a little bit of outdoor charm.   This weekend we washed down the patio furniture and added new flowers to the pots that sat sans flowers for too long.    I don't know about anyone else that lives in Phoenix but keeping flowers alive during the hot summer months is next to impossible.  It's just too hot.   

It's a work in progress.  I want to get an outdoor rug for the patio and you see the orange extension cord along the left side of the picture?   We are looking for a black one that we can tack down so it blends with the column.  

Sweetheart and I love Talavera Pottery.   We started buying it years ago and we add a little to the mix every year.   We go to a little shop in Guadalupe called Mercado Mexico.  It's a quaint shop and if you are ever in the area stop there -- it's quirky but we always find good stuff there!

We added a cactus and some succulents to the planter on the wall.   Fingers crossed that they will thrive there.    This picture doesn't really show the charm of this planter with Talavera pots -- it's one of our favorites.

We're hoping that the cooler temps and the covered patio will keeps these flowers happy.

We stopped by Mercado Mexico today to buy some saucers for the pots we have on the spiral planter in the corner:

They were waiting on a shipment to come in so hopefully within the next two weeks or so we can give the pots below a proper saucer.....

When it gets a little cooler, we can have breakfast and dinner in the patio on the weekends.

Sweetheart did a great job of cleaning the patio and getting it ready for us.  

That's why I call him Sweetheart. 

:)

We have a home game against the 49er's tomorrow.   Look for us in the Red Sea -- we'll be there!

Go CARDINALS!