pit.

Through word of mouth, I discovered Pinterest, a site where you "pin" ideas you like to virtual bulletin boards. The first thing I found that I thought was pretty ingenious was this:

A make-your-own fire pit. We needed 30 retaining wall stones to form a three-level pit (though we'd like to raise it to about five) and they were about $1.80 each. (Apparently you can find them for closer to $1, but we have a loaded Home Depot gift card.)

The stones were heavy! Nate used the wheelbarrow to move them from the car to the backyard.

We had to take the base off of the fire pit and just use the bowl, but it turned out great! Once we get a miter saw, we want to build seating around it and some flower boxes. (Like a mini unattached deck.)

The wood we gathered last night was too wet from recent rain so we didn't have a fire, but I think we will enjoy it so much this fall and winter. S'mores, anyone?

Also at Home Depot, I picked up some polyurethane finish for the file cabinet I painted. It used to be a putty color, but now it matches the study. I'm going to use black chalkboard paint to paint the area where you write the file label.

And I got some fall flowers. I'm not sure yet where I'm going to plant them, but they were too beautiful and too inexpensive not to buy. Plus they are perennials, which is the best kind because as long as I don't kill them, they'll come back next year.

The weather in Nashville today is wonderful! Unfortunately my allergies keep me inside more than out, but I still love it. I picked up my square foot gardening book from the library so I'll plan out some of my spring planting today while I fold laundry.

Happy fall!