Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Up, Up, and Away

So we had our first backyard BBQ this past Saturday night. A milestone for any new homeowner, to be sure.

But as of Friday afternoon, all we had, patio furniture-wise, was a set of two wire chairs and an itty bitty table. Not quite enough room to seat 15-20 people. We headed down to IKEA to remedy the situation with some cheap furniture, but to to our disappointment they were totally sold out. In June! Sad.

Enter Saturday morning garage sales. I spotted this beauty as I was driving home, and quickly convinced Josh to pounce on the opportunity.

Okay, so beauty might be a little strong.
But it was #1 cheap, and #2 big, and #3 available that day.  And you know I love a furniture bargain!  We can always stain it or paint it in the future.  Plus it came with an umbrella, perfect for our backyard, where shade is limited.

Our casual BBQ went off without a hitch. Hot dogs on the grill + yummy appetizers and desserts + grown men who played soccer for an hour = a good time.

Then on Sunday afternoon, I walked out to this scene:

Clearly, something was amiss.  Like, the umbrella.

After yelping out loud and looking frantically around, I finally found it - a solid 20 feet away.

The pole had come apart in a place not designed to come apart, and away it floated.  

I guess these things should be expected when you buy garage sale patio furniture.  But amazingly, it was completely intact and, after Josh brought it back and wood glued it back together, as good as new in its rightful place.

We'll just have to remember to keep it closed overnight.


3 comments:

Bryan said...

Whoops :) When I was younger my parents bought one of those small kiddie pools. One night we had a HUGE rainstorm and the pool had been left out. We found it about 10 houses down in someone else's tree. Whoops :)

This is Erika by the way :)

jbajema said...

It has been so much fun reading about your European adventure. Thanks loads for sharingyour stories and pictures. Every few days I see if there is another story. Your umbrella story is something many homeowners have probably experienced. During one of the Michigan summer storms ours flew away along with the table. The glass was in about a million little pieces stuck in dirt and grass. Soooo much fun to pick up all the glass.

The Bajema's

Short Stop said...

First, congrats on your first bbq!! Knowing you and Josh, I'm sure you'll have many, many more!!

Our umbrella flew away countless times until we FINALLY learned to close it at night!