Lol.
Glad to see my garden (dilemma) being used for chit chat!

Just anxiously awaiting the sculpture doc! What's the ETA?

A few days, a week...not really sure

drdeb1234 -- just picked up the yellow guy at Brick Works. He looks great in my garden. Thanks for the heads up about this.

Glad to hear it hatetoshop! You're very welcome.
And post a pic if you get a chance...

drdeb1234, if you are looking for colourful, inexpensive outdoor pillows, try Jysk.

http://www.jysk.ca/outdoor-living/patio-furniture-1/patio-cushions/beynac-outdoor-pillow-3.html

http://www.jysk.ca/outdoor-living/patio-furniture-1/patio-cushions/beynac-outdoor-pillow-1.html

We've just sold our house, and I grabbed some of these when we were staging.

Cheers.

Thanks for the suggestions denboo!

The sculpture has arrived!
The base is taller than I thought it would be, and in my opinion too tall. Once we decide definitively on the location, we will try to sink it into the ground by at least 6" I think. Hopefully that will be enough. Other than that I love it.
In case you're wondering, the hammock has been moved, at least temporarily, to the upper level of the deck. While we loved how it looked at the back of the garden, in that location it was always getting covered in tree detritus and bird poop, so it wasn't getting used.
We're going to see how it works in this new location.

Boy, I love the look of this back yard! I bet the hammock will be much more useful in this position and, now that you explain it, I can totally imagine your issues with it in the tree area. I really love the new sculpture! 6" lower would be great.

Raising the canopy on those trees would solve a lot of your problems: dark cave look, sculpture, bird poop, mitigate the leaf problem.

If privacy is a problem, raise them each to the height of fence behind a given tree. Do you have smaller chain saw with an arm? If not, you could call a landscaper or tree company. I would also recommend having (tree company) lace your tree. They will remove dead and strategic branches. This will allow a beautiful filtered light to be cast on your backyard. No more cave.

Thanks for the suggestion CDR.
I think trimming some of the lower branches might be helpful for in terms of the sculpture, and I think I'll ask hubby to do that. To be honest, given that there are several massive oak trees back there, I don't think trimming would make much of a dent in the detritus/poop problem!
It does look much more cavelike in today's picture because it is very gloomy and rainy out. Normally the effect is more of a pretty and somewhat dappled shade, but not really cavelike.

I mostly post pictures from overcast days cuz it's more flattering somehow (for people too I think!), but in this picture you can see that we do get dappled shade in the back.

Picked up some pillows. Thoughts?

Like!

The artist just delivered a lower base for my sculpture and it's perfect! Wish you could see how great it looks when it's moving.
And just in time for a little BBQ party I'm having this evening :)

It looks much better. I think the first cold beverage goes to the sculpture. Have fun!

Drdeb1234, can I ask what you used on your deck for the grey? Is that paint or a stain? Love it!

It's a stain, diveloonie

What a beautiful oasis you have created, drdeb! I love how much just adding the sculpture makes the backyard come to life. Glad that I came across your thread.

Thank you so much Karen! I somehow thought you had posted here before. I guess we're running into each other on so many threads!

Thanks for the suggestion Linda! That's looks very pretty!

Just a note: I'm not too fond of the tablecloths on the coffee table and side tables. Just me maybe. It kind of distracts from the vignette.

LB, that was just for a party I was having that evening! Normally no tablecloths!

Lovely patio Linda! That looks great! Thanks for the idea!

Very comfy patio Linda. Nice decorating.

drdeb -- are you leaving your yellow garden sculpture outside for the winter or putting away? I would love to see mine all winter, but it might be ruined by the weather.

Hmm. Good question. I hadn't given it any thought. I'm leaning towards leaving it. I might contact the artist. If I hear anything I'll let you know (but in return, I really think you should post a pic of yours!!)

I know, I should have posted, but now my garden looks brown and tired. Next year, I promise. I bought the smaller, yellow guy you first posted.

Good news hatetoshop. From the artist:
"The sculpture can stay out all winter with no prep or covering. The only thing that really breaks down or fades is the paint. It's a tremclad metal paint that is available everywhere if you ever want to update it."
I'm leaving mine out for sure.

Thanks for checking that out, drdeb. I don't have the name of the artist (though I could just go over to Brick Works since I'm so close). I'll leave mine out (great bit of colour this winter). Thanks again for sharing.

Drdeb -- discovered I had taken a photo this summer of my "running guy". Here he is.

Looks terrific!!

(and some very impressive basil you got there!)

Thanks! It was my best crop of basil ever. Don't recommend the broccolini -- just couldn't get over the abundance of tiny worms that I only spotted after washing then eating one of the little green guys (although the flowers looked great).

Eww. Thanks for the tip.
I'll stick to basil!

Hi drdeb, I just accidentally stumbled upon this thread. ;) What a wonderful garden! (And what a big house, I guess you're not downtown.) I'm totally in love with your sculpture and I'm glad you can leave it out all year round. We have a bronze statue in our (stamp sized) garden that makes it always look good too, but I would very much like to have something colourful as well.

Thanks babophz. We're enjoying this garden immensely. Don't know if you saw the "before " pic, but it was pretty ugly. The deck was also in crappy shape but was wonderfully revived with a cleaning, sanding, and staining. And I love the sculpture- you know it moves, right?

The house is no McMansion, lol, but it's a decent size. And our lot is still small enough that we know it's dimensions by heart down to the 1/3 foot!
(Yes, another weird Canadian metric/imperial thing. Distance generally in km, but lot sizes always in feet!)

And if you want to post a pic of your garden and sculpture I'd love to see it!

I'll keep my eyes open for it and try not to blink so I don't miss it lol!

I don't know how big a McMansion is, although I have heard of them, so how big is your house? Ours is about 180 square meters (appr. 1950 sq. ft., if I remember correctly) and the garden about 50 square meters. Both are actually not too bad size wise, considering we are downtown. We had to overhaul our garden completely when we bought the house, since it was basically one large container for an old, ugly and HUGE conifer! lol.

Our house is about 2500 sq feet. From what I remember. I think that may not include the basement. Don't know what officially qualifies as a "McMansion". I think the general idea is TOO big - for the lot, for the neighborhood etc.
Just did the math on the garden - 123 sq meters (not including the deck). So not vast by any means, but a decent size.

2500 sq feet plus a basement? That would be big, no: huge, anywhere in our small country, even far from the towns. An average sized house over here would be about 100 square meters. It really is incomparable, isn't it? Since I"m on Houzz I've become fascinated by those North-American basements that are sometimes as big as a whole house by our standards. I didn't know that they are often completely inhabitable, with tv rooms etc. A basement over here is a low, dark and smelly space where you keep stuff and that you leave asap. :)

I forget the specifics, but I remember reading something somewhere that because of how cold it gets, frost lines, bla bla bla, it is necessary to dig foundations that deep here. So ya, houses basically all have basements the size of the footprint of the house. And once you have all the space, you can just leave it as "unfinished " ie no drywall, concrete floor - or you can finish it and have the extra (although often darkish) space.

I just checked something. I think it may be 2700 sq feet including the basement.

Big

:)

By European standards definitely!!

But we don't get to drive 3-4 hours in any direction and find ourselves in one of several different countries for a weekend away. Trade offs!

True! However, the cultural differences between the (neighboring) countries are marginal these days. Still, it's nice to hear a different language.

Different languages, different foods, interesting small towns and big cities....you take it for granted, but if you want to get that from here it involves major travel.

Funny, Houzz is featuring a story about garden art and one about basements today :)

How funny/coincidental!