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Yesterday was a day filled with outdoor winter preparations, a day where all hands were on deck as hubby directed us all on our responsibilities on this, his day off.The lawn mower roared into service, both an electric and a gas weed eater clipped grass edges noisily, the garage had both vehicles removed for a general clean up and full sweep, the barn was swept and tidied after the outdoor lawn furniture was stored away for winter, decks were cleaned, the pool dried and stored as well as the trampoline pads, the hoses, sprinklers, tarps, scooters, and all was well until the belt blew on the Husquarvarna ride on mower.
Drats!
Off hubby went on a wild goose chase to find someone who might have a replacement, to no avail. The part had to be ordered in, and we now await the phone call for it to arrive. With the lawn partly mowed, his task ended earlier than he expected.
Call from our son in the west while the fire is stoking...
Meanwhile, the rest of us worked and tried to stay motivated to the final reward, that of a campfire complete with roasting of wieners and marshmallows. Yes sir! The fire pile had grown, grass grew around it and was now completely weed whacked (we had to wait to purchase a gas one to get to its location), and the children began gathering up those lovely stored bricks in the wheelbarrow once more, to begin the construction of a circular outer perimeter safety zone. Then they got quite creative, making benches to sit on and now our “fire pit” is complete for the future!
They did a great job!
Handmade benches, even a brick table.
Sing around a campfire, sing the campfire song....
Our fire pit proved to be a rewarding end to our chore filled day, as all was coming together for the dinner fare.
I love this!
Almost ready!
“It had to be a traditional roast…with marshmallows too” declared our older children. “Even our favorite root beer please?” (ugh, such a junk food meal uttered the mother)
The fire was great, almost too hot though
to stand near for cooking our food.
Everyone was eager to get the fire stoking, though it eventually heated up so intensely, it became difficult to stand and cook over the fire itself initially.
A toad was attracted to the warmth of the fire at first and surprised us all by jumping under a piece of burning wood into the coals. Then, a few minutes later he bounded out, remained on the brick edge for a bit, and then scooted away across the grass.
Crazy cold blooded toad jumped right into the fire then out again!
The children were fully determined to reap the bonus at the end of a duty filled day, and ingesting the whole meal out there. The scene before us invited relaxation as we parents sunk into our camp chairs, and the children sat on their creative handmade benches.
The children were keen on the whole thing, the younger ones I’m certain were doing a science experiment to see who could get their marshmallows blacker, on fire and falling off their stick into the fire. They ate them from the bag, but cooked them on the fire too, though not liking them heated or dark in color. Then there was the mess that turned them off, humoress really when our younger daughter was just so disgusted, she ran inside to wash up and wanted nothing more to do with that type of fire food cooking.
Burning marshmallows to see burn alot, or to eat?
"What a messy food" she said...
Yes, all was well, until we heard thunder in the distance and eventually the lightning that accompanied it lit up the skies wirht huge forks bounding down at the earth's surfaces. One of the good things about living in the east is hearing storms brewing for some time before they are actually near or overhead, therefore we actually completed our meal just fine before having to retire to the house.
beginning to fill the night sky
