Yes, I am still on my outdoor entertaining kick.  But I keep finding a lot of cool outdoor furniture and it’s really inspiring me to get creative!  Now if i could only find some money to fund this creativity…

At any rate, here are some great pieces for a Wine Country-inspired patio:

• Recycled Wine Barrel Tables: Looks like the perfect place to set a glass of wine and plate of cheese when relaxing on the patio.

• Split Barrel Planter: Another great twist on the standard container garden.

• Recycled Wine Barrel Chair: This great looking folding chair is the perfect solutions for larger-than-planned get-togethers.

(Source: Green Vaccine)

As much as I have been complaining about the recent heatwave, I really love the fact that Southern California weather makes it easy to eat and entertain outside pretty much year round.  I have kind of become obsessed with browsing through the patio designs at HGTV and finding new ideas to spruce up my little patio for some fall relaxation. I am currently drooling over this Moroccan-themed patio:

Sadly this entertaining area is a little too elaborate for my space, but I feel like some other features could be easily incorporated.  For example, I love this “Chef/Pass-Through Table” and could totally see using it as a bar table:

Also, this Chef’s Garden is totally inspiring me to take another stab at the container garden.

For the time being, though, I think I’ll start with mint for some great Moroccan tea!

Want to bring a reminder of your favorite boulder field indoors and have comfortable furniture? Then check out Livingstones! These giant “stones” are actually soft cushions, chairs and couches in organic shapes that are both comfortable and really, really cool. Livingstones can also be used as outdoor furniture, but I recommend not putting them too close to actual boulders to avoid any painful mistakes.

They are only available at a few US retailers, and I have no idea how much they cost, but that is not going to stop me from adding them to my wish list and dreaming of the day when I might have some Livingstones to call my own.

I was delighted to return from our recent road trip to find our orchids coming out of a long hibernation and our chamomile in bloom! I am most surprised about the chamomile; of all the plants I have potted recently, it seemed like it wasn’t really taking off. But I guess Miracle Gro really does live up to its name–it’s been just over a month since I planted the chamomile, and it’s already blooming! The feverfew and lemon balm are also growing by leaps and bounds as well (and yes, I KNOW i still need to do a lemon balm post!) My tropical oasis is within reach; now I just need furniture so I can enjoy it!

It was great to be on the road because it gave me a lot of great ideas for patio furniture. I can’t decide if I’d prefer a clay chimenea or a fire pit, because I can see pros and cons to having both. I LOVE the design and the Southwestern feel, but it doesn’t seem as versatile or as easy to clean as a fire pit. Then again, since we live in Southern California, there might not be that many fires, and a chimenea definitely has more stand alone appeal as outdoor decor. Maybe I should wait until the weather warms up before I make any decisions.

PIC and I collect rocks from different places we’ve climbed or visited as mementos, and while most of the rocks are small, there are a couple in our place that are around 15 lbs. each and are placed decoratively near the fireplace. At least, they are usually near the fireplace. Recently, Partner-in-Climb has gotten into the habit of using the larger rocks as weights, which I guess makes sense for training for climbing, since the rocks force different grips than free weights do. They seem to be a decent substitute for the Metolius hang board that we had at our last place, and I don’t have a problem with him using them, except for the other evening, when they did not make it back to their home next to the fireplace. Unfortunately I didn’t realize that the rocks weren’t back by the fireplace until I was walking through the living room the next morning–before I put my contacts in–and so I walked at full speed into the more jagged of the two rocks. I will not get into a graphic description of my injury, because it is REALLY gross, but I believe from the persistent pain I have been experiencing since that moment that I will be losing this toenail very soon. I am not quite sure if it is a really bad bruise at this point or a fracture, but in either case, it means a few days of reduced activity until the swelling and pain subside. I cringe at the thought of even trying to put on my climbing shoes or biking shoes at this point.

However, the weekend is coming and I know I will get stir-crazy if I am stuck in front of the TV without a plan for some activity, so I think I am going to do some gardening and figure out how I want to set up our patio and porch for spring and summer. We have tons of plants already for ambiance and scenery, now we just need furniture! I was looking for some design ideas online and saw that Design On A Dime is re-airing an episode on outdoor patio design on March 26th, so I will definitely tune into that to get some ideas. I think I want to get a set of steamer chairs for the porch, and then have a grill and small table set up on the patio, but who knows, maybe I’ll get more inspiration from the show.

In related garden news, the feverfew, chamomile and lemon balm I planted a few weeks ago are really taking off! I still have to get around to writing a post about lemon balm. It’s a really beautiful and fascinating plant. I started a few of the babies on our spider plant in their own pots last weekend and re-potted some of our older plants, who love the weather at their new home and have been growing like weeds since we moved in. The next mission is to get some sunflowers started.