Let me stand next to your fire

In preparation for building my fire pit, I searched the Internet for DIY tutorials.  In the end, I choose the This Old House tutorial.  I love this show.  It was important to me that my fire pit be sound and not collect water.  This tutorial exceeded those two expectations.

There was a spot in the lower pasture that had been previously used as a burn area so we felt that it would suit our needs as well.  Cowboy (Stephen's blog pseudonym) gave me a hand with the tractor to break up the earth.  He also gave me tips and pointers on how to get started on the trench.

Once I had the grass cleared away, Fletcher inspected the area and gave it his approval.  He would have you believe that he built the fire pit all by himself.  Do not be fooled by that sweet face.

I followed the tutorial step-by-step, only omitting the metal campfire ring and the capping of the blocks.  Trenching is probably one of the most labor intensive things that I have ever done.  It was also one of the most rewarding.  The trench is 12" deep, 12" wide and approximately 48" in diameter.  Creating a level base was challenging, especially since the ground slops in this spot.

Here are a few photos of our Mabon Celebration.  A great time was had by all.  Lots of amazing food and amazing friends.  This is the first of many gatherings.

This was my Mabon alter.  My first alter ever.  I had more plans for it but I ran out of time. 

The morning after.

This is just the first phase for this area.  Eventually, I would like to put paving stones down in a circular pattern and build these.  Next year!  Everything is a work in progress and each year we have plans to expand upon what we have started this first year.

As I mentioned before, the area we choose was already a burn site.  In removing layers of dirt and grass, I found all these artifacts.  I am not sure what I will do with all of this but there are some fun and interesting finds.  A lot of it is horse related and I think that I can clean it up and use it for decor in the Roadhouse. 

Since I started this post over a month ago; the demo/remodel of the Roadhouse has begun.  

Here is a sneak peek of the new skin and windows.  We had to choose to either preserve the exterior or the interior.  We choose the interior.  Roofing felt was put down first, then ridged foam insulation and finally the metal siding in Blackberry (ahem, purple).  More to come on the Roadhouse transformation!