outdoor dining {One Room Challenge} week five

With only one week to go to the big reveal on the One Room Challenge, I was really hoping to get a lot of work done this week end... Unfortunately it rained all week end long, and it has been hailing and pouring even since! It stopped raining long enough on Sunday for us to start attaching string lights between the tree and the patio. It started out fine, I was quite happy at the idea of more pretty lights, I looked at the directions on the box, they could be hanged as they were as long as  the length was shorter than 24 feet, we were below that so no problem, right?

Sad face! Three trips later to Home depot (luckily fairly close)

Happy face! (house light from last week) We had to add some cable between the house and the tree to support the weight  of the string lights. After trying a few different tying system, we found one that work for us!

The first string was up, and then it started raining again. Electricity, wet ladder and rain are not a good combination, so it would have to wait.... The lights have successfully survived their first hail storm, so I feel like we are good. Now I would like some more dry time to be able to install another string... Speaking of downpour, we had an area that needed some help. After we removed the old deck, and the patio was installed, we were left with a big gap where rain from the whole yard had a tendency to accumulate....

very far from ideal. So we installed a French drain on the edge of the patio, retained by a mini brick wall, covered it with some stone (more drainage and aesthetics). Then Mon Cheri had a few yards of soil delivered, and shoveled it all to cover the area. The final trick has been trying to grow some grass, at least something green. Because of all the trees we have in the backyard and Malou(our young dog), things do not grow very well, but at least it is starting to grow and resemble grass, at more importantly the area is no longer a pool!

We added a couple of flagstone steps for Miss C. and her friends to go jump on the trampoline, I have lost the fight on loosing this piece of equipment.... It is still an eyesore, but a good exercise for tweens, so it will remain another year, may be next year I will win and we will try to grow more grass! Now let's look at what need to happen by next week: First thing, when/if it finally stop raining, I can screw my table top to the base, and stain the whole thing. Then attach the other string of light, touch up on paint, make some pillows  ( you would think with all the rain we had I would have time to sew...) find some cool accessories to decorate the place still lots to do, but nothing is possible until the rain stops! Wish me luck!