The Other Side – Part 2

Good morning and welcome to Part 2 of the Other Side!

So this is where I left off in Part 1, after we had a nasty wind that ripped the gazebo from the deck and deposited it into the back alley.  If you missed it, you can read about it here.

Apparently, the long, narrow space acts like a wind tunnel.  Who knew?  The following year, we replaced the gazebo, and added some trees to reduce the “tunnel” effect.  I don’t seem to have any pictures of the trees when they were first planted, but they would have been quite small and spindly, like this small one pictured here, second one in from the right.

I actually don’t have many good photos of this intervening time, period, (at least without people), so why don’t I just show you what it looks like now, four years later.  The trees we added are columnar aspen, known for the hardiness and their rapid growing rate.  They have almost tripled their size and are taller than a two story house now.

We also purchased an island/hutch combination, mostly to give us a bar/beverage serving space.  Admittedly, it was a bit of a nuisance the first year; we didn’t want to leave the wood exposed to the elements, so we would take the hutch off and put it either in the garage or the gazebo, and then cover the island with a tarp.  That meant I had to take everything down and put it away, only to put it back the next time we used it.

The following year, I discovered that there was actually a cover for it, and, although pricey, I ordered it.  Turned out to be the best investment ever.  It’s very heavy duty and completely covers both the hutch and the island, and I don’t have to dismantle anything except to move what is on the very top shelf to the interior.  It stays out all summer with no issues, even with our crazy weather!

From our summer of “tarping” the island, it sustained some water damage.  Hubs says it adds character…

Decorating the island and hutch is always so much fun.  I’ve set it up as a beverage/bar station, but you could do anything with it.  I’ve seen it as a potting station and a laundry station.  For entertaining, I usually fill the large dispenser with a sangria or similar and the smaller owl dispenser with lemon water.

On the bottom shelf, there is a big galvanized bucket for ice to keep drinks cool.

It has a towel rack on one end, and a built in bottle opener on the front.  So handy.

Some pretty spheres on a galvanized tray.

Some faux greens that don’t mind being under the cover for days at a time, and some parrot martini glasses.

Some fish plates and fish straws.  Never know when you might need those lol.  Really, whatever makes you smile.

Here is what the cover looks like.  It goes completely down to the ground.  No rain getting in here now…  I don’t miss grass at all in this space- the river rock is so much more maintenance free once the annual weeding is done.

I think it was the following year or maybe the year after that we added a small shed to house our growing collection of outdoor “accoutrements”  It has been very handy for storing the island, hutch, outdoor cushions, and accent tables over the winter.  The island and hutch took up a lot of room in the garage the first couple of winters…

The shed defines the end of the entertaining space, but it doesn’t have a lot of visual interest, in and of itself.  I found some colored trellises at Lowes and some bird houses at Jysk to make it a bit more interesting.  I usually have a larger collection of plants/planters here in this corner as well, but the Covid-19 selection of flowers this year was lacking; many of the seasonal plant places (e.g, Home Depot, Superstore) had closed by the end of June.

The Adirondack chairs are still arranged around the fire pit.  I added some small accent tables to hold appy plates or drinks.  You can see the dappled effect of the sun through the trees.

Here is the top of one of the accent tables; I have two of them and they were from Pier 1.  Pier 1 always made it so easy to find pretty things, and it was my most favorite store.  They have been closed here in Canada since March.  Sigh.

The picture is still the same one as before but I’ve moved it over to the seating area…

I brought in some yard decor; planters, a bird bath, a watering can, and a turtle, among other things…

Some planters with flowers.

and hanging flower baskets…

From this…

to this:

The sound of the leaves rustling in the breeze is amazing.  The place is very private and serene; I hadn’t really expected that it would turn out this way.

I wish the pictures had turned out better.  I was fighting the weather all that weekend, and was in a hurry taking the photos, trying to get them before the next batch of rain.  I think that we covered and uncovered the island about half a dozen times that weekend.

Happy summer everyone and thanks for visiting!  Your comments are most welcome and much appreciated.

Sharing with Between Naps on the Porch.