Originally we incorporated four sitting areas into the garden when we were planning the garden out 25 yrs ago. The first area was outside the back door where we had a wooden table, bench and single chair. The second area was the gravel area at the back where I am in the midst of giving it a makeover. The third area was the swinging seat under the dead oak and the fourth area was beside the wildlife pond. Our daughter and family gave us a beautiful Naples Love Seat for our Golden Wedding (ah, sweet!) but there was a dilemma – where were we to put it! On went the thinking caps and we decided that it was time to play musical chairs!
This was honestly the only photo I could find of the old table, bench and chair that used to be outside the back door. It was taken Dec. 2010 when we had a really bad winter.
The wooden chair and table outside the back door was where we ate our meals, weather permitting, but they were now 25 yrs old and slowly rotting away, so we decided to replace them with something that would hopefully last a bit longer without having to have treatment every year. The 3 seater bench belonging to the table however is still in pretty good condition, so we moved it round the back and put it under the arbour when I started re-doing the gravel area, it just fits between two of the uprights, just the right size, it will be painted the same pale blue as the Lutyens type bench to match the pale blue grass.
3 Seater bench, moved from by the back door to the arbour.
The Lutyens style 2 seater bench that was under the arbour in the gravel area came out into a corner near the large terracotta pot. Seeing them together, they didn’t look very good, terracotta against brown, so that was when I made the decision to paint it pale blue to match my new lovely Festuca grass!
We’ve made a start on the painting, after scrubbing them down, sanding and filling any worn places. We have just painted the Lutyens bench with primer so far, it is actually white at the moment but looks pale blue already!
The painting is now further on from when I took the photo, I will show you the finished product in a while!
Naples Love Seat. This will go by the pond when we have weeded up in that area.
We decided to put the new Naples Love Seat in the pond area, where we would now have somewhere to rest our coffee mugs when we are sitting there watching the pond life. This means that we need somewhere to put Mothers old bench – into the woodland – after it too has had a makeover, that will now making sitting area no.5, but that can wait a while!
So where does the U.S. treasury come into the story? The new table and 8 chairs that we ordered for outside the back door is called the Havana Dining Set. When we tried to pay through Pay Pal, all sorts of security checks were demanded. When phoning Pay Pal to ask what the problem was, after a long time of being passed from one person to another, the undergardener found someone who could explain what the hold up was. Apparently the US treasury doesn’t allow anything to be imported from Cuba! The undergardener very patiently explained that the table and chairs were not coming from Cuba, it was just the name on the set, just like the Naples Love Seat didn’t come from Italy! Anyway, isn’t America supposed to friends with Cuba now? (Apologies to those of you in America!) We finally took delivery of our table, chairs and parasol about 3 weeks later than it should have been!
Havana Dining Set.
Eventually the problem was solved and we now have our lovely new dining set, we just need the family to come back and use it now, what a shame it didn’t arrive in time for the Golden Wedding celebrations!
Seating can be such a nice part of a garden. We’re looking for a new table and chairs too. Your Havana dining set is attractive. Glad you made it through the red tape.
I have tried to make a seating area for various different times of the day, breakfast, morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea and evening meal! Some are in the sun and some in the shade, it depends what the weather is like, where we will sit. Sitting areas are very important at the moment when we can only do bits of gardening at a time.
I love your new dining set! I’m looking forward to seeing all the renovations completed, that Lutyens bench does look blue, how lovely! Seating in the garden is something I need to sort out.
Hoping the undergardener is feeling good, love that he sorted the CUBA crisis!xxx
I too am looking forward to the renovations being completed Dina, I hadn’t planned to re-do this area at all!
The undergardener had a bit of a wobble over the weekend, but is improving again thank goodness, we were warned that this would happen, it was a bit of a worry at the time, but we now know what to expect after the next lot of treatment.
We had a similar funny story. A friend who lives here in Canada had her oboe seized when she once went to the US. It was confiscated because it was made of rosewood and rosewood cannot be imported in the US! She had a hard time retrieving it.
Alain, officials everywhere seem to have a problem don’t they! So glad your friend managed to get her oboe back!
Pauline, I enjoyed your story about the Havana garden furntiure and Cuba…. it made me laugh! Anyway it looks lovely so well worth the wait. I love the Luytens bench and the colour you’ve chosen for it. How lovely it will be in the, hopefully, mild Autumn to enjoy all the ‘new’ seating areas!
Well Denise, we got there in the end with our garden furniture and have used it quite a bit already. The painting is coming on nicely too and I’ve started planting up some new pots for that area, so soon we should have a nice new area to sit in.I’m liking the pale blue, it makes a nice change from brown!
Golden Wedding Anniversary? Congratulations, what an achievement. I love your new garden furniture and the Havana story. It is always fun painting old garden furniture and making it look new and different.
Yes Chloris, it was a month ago, you must have missed my post about it! The up-cycling of the garden furniture is going well and they are starting to look like new once more.
Gosh, they will all look so different and certainly like having new furniture! I had to giggle at the Havana mix-up! Hope the undergardener has got over his wobble Pauline
They certainly do look different Cathy, the smaller bench and little table are finished, just the large bench to have it’s last coat now, but the Olympics keep getting in the way!
We were warned by the hospital that we would have “red, amber and green” weeks following treatment, we just weren’t quite prepared for the red week to be so bad and painful, much better this week and next week will be a green week when we have been told that hubby should be back to normal, all ready for his next treatment on the 25th!! At least this time we will be prepared.
Sounds like they should launch an investigation into bars that serve rum and cokes.
Quite Jason, where will it all end !
Places to sit around the garden are what make the garden inviting. I’m glad you are managing to spend some time sitting and enjoying your garden, I think that seating can be what differentiates a private haven from a public space.
Seating is essential for relaxing in a garden Christina, we couldn’t manage without it! Also we like a choice of sun or shade, depending on the time of day, we both have our favourite places. I’ve almost finished the painting of the benches, 3 coats each, and they look so much better.