Here at the Crooked Household we love a big project.  We have dozens of projects that have been dreamt up.  Some have been altered, quoted, begun, delayed, squashed and the odd one finished.   One project that we have had in a holding pattern for at least 3 years is a woodfired pizza oven.  After watching ‘The Block’ 2012 season religiously the last few months, hubby and I were itching to complete at least one of those big project ideas and we chose the pizza oven.

For those of you living outside of Australia, ‘The Block’ is a TV show competition where couples renovate and decorate derelict houses to be auctioned off.  We love it.  The couples have some great ideas and we especially loved Brad and Lara’s outdoor area, complete with pizza oven and hanging herb garden. To have a look at pictures of their great area, pop over here.

We love their idea of having the pizza oven as a feature in the small yard.  We also love the idea of the hanging herb garden so close to the pizza oven.  You can just imagine reaching across and pulling off some basil leaves to put on your freshly cooked pizza, or breaking off some rosemary to put in with your roasting lamb.  Yummm!

We too have a small yard and can see a pizza oven and hanging herb garden as perfect additions to our patio area. 

So have a look at our space. 

It used to have a strip of grass running down the side and along the back until we decided it was just plain annoying to mow.  By adding more exposed aggregate  slabs we created one big entertainment area. 

It is a lovely space when it is in use.  At the moment it is the middle of winter so we haven’t been out there a lot, hence the dust on the table. 

In the top right hand corner currently sits the wicker lounge suite. 

The pizza oven is destined for this corner.  It will be put on a rendered structure incorporating the feature piers that already sit there.  This means that my suite will relocate to the front porch where  it can sit undercover.  It will get more use in that location and I will feel a lot better about leaving it uncovered there.

The hanging herb garden is destined to sit between the pizza oven and the barbecue where the yuccas currently sit.

They have grown like crazy and are a little wonky, so it’s probably time they go.  I hope to replant them in some capacity.

Like a typical Crooked project, the location for the herb garden was changed to here at the eleventh hour (the builder comes tomorrow).  Previously, it was to go outside an alcove type area off our dining room. 

Can you see the chalk drawings on the fence to show the builder what we wanted?  We spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon working out the scale of the frame and removing the plants and garden bed that sat below where it was intended.

Having a lightbulb moment this morning, I knew the herb garden had to move.  Even hubby, who has to take out the yuccas tonight after work, will come around to the idea.  Our next door neighbour is a tree lopper, it’s not like he won’t have professional help 😉

I am so excited to be having the herb garden’s frame put up tomorrow.  Hopefully after a visit to the garden centre and the markets on the weekend we will have our herbs hanging ready to go. 

As for the pizza oven, we will have to wait another week or so.  The rain we have had has made the ground behind us soggy.  As the pizza oven is huge and heavy, there is no way we would easily get it down the narrow side of our house.  Instead, we are taking down part of the back fence and driving the oven through the acerage behind us, to its intended spot.  Thank goodness for lovely neighbours. 

If you would like to see how this project turns out for us, I would love for you to sign up to be a follower, either by email or Facebook. 

Have a great week all.

 

Linking up with some of these fun parties
Monday: Singing Three Little Birdies, Add a Pinch, I should be Mopping the Floor, Polly Want a Crafter?, Cherished Bliss, The Gunny Sack, Skip to my Lou, Craftomaniac, It’s so Very Cheri, Keeping it Simple, Creating Really Awesome Free Things, Between Naps on the Porch, Alderberry Hill, Its A Blog Party, A Pinch of Joy, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts, Sew Can Do, Sugar Bee Crafts, Tip Junkie, New Nostalgia, Ladybug Blessings, My Favourite Finds, Jillify It, How to Nest for Less, Watch Out Martha, Clairjustinexoxo,

Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Today’s Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, A Bowl Full of Lemons , DIY by Design, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, Hope Studios, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Organising Homelife, Raising 4 Princesses, Celebrating Family, Carolyn’s Homework, The Blackberry Vine, The Kurtz Corner, Sassy Sites, A Little Tipsy, Gingersnap crafts, Time Warp Wife, These Creative Juices, The Thrifty Home, Its a Very Cherry World, Reason to Skip the Housework, Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night, Cornerstone Confessions, Naptime Delights, Rae Gun Ramblings, Northern Cottage, Clean and Scentsible, Creatively Living , Kathe with an E, Ivy and Elephants, Romance on a Dime, Tales of a Trophy Wife, Creatively Living, The Real Housewives of Riverton, DIY Dreamer, Primp, JAQS Studio, MercyINK

Wednesday: Oopsey Daisy, My Girlish Whims, Uncommonly Yours, Creations by Kara, Raising Homemakers, The Thrifty Home, Twin Dragonfly Designs, A Creative Princess, Sugar and Dots, Seven Thirty Three, Fabric Bows and More, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Passionately Artistic, Trendy Treehouse, Women Living Well, We are that Family, The Mommy Club , Raising Homemakers, Sew Much Ado, Somewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Free Pretty Things for You, DIY by Design, Bloom Designs, Mom on Timeout, We Like to learn as we Go, The NY Melrose Family, Family Home and Life, Savvy Southern Style, Fine Craft Guild, Embracing Change, HandyMan, Crafty Woman, Polkadots on Parade, No Minimalist Here

Thursday: House of Hepworths Delightful Order, Its a Keeper, The Frugal Girls, The 36th Avenue, Raising Mighty Arrows, Thrifty 101, A Glimpse Inside, Brambleberry Cottage, Bear Rabbit Bear, Michelle’s Tasty Creations and Crafty Ideas, Shabby Creek Cottage, Goings on in Texas, Happy Go Lucky, Terpblog, Raising Oranges, Live, Laugh, Rowe, The Answer is Chocolate, The Taylor House, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Imparting Grace, Made in a Day, 52 Mantels, Loving This Crazy Life, Days of Chalk and Chocolate, Confessions of an ADD Housewife

Friday: The Shabby Nest, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, At the Picket Fence, Whipperberry, French Country Cottage, Thirty Handmade Days, Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Stuff and Nonsense, Fingerprints on the Fridge Naptime Crafters, While He Was Napping, My Romantic Home, Bacon Time With the Hungry, Hungry Hippo, Kitchen Fun With My Three Sons, Remodelaholic, Happy Hour Projects, Simply Designing, Simply Sweet Home, Tidy Mom, Kojo Designs, Young and Crafty, Serenity Now , Life as Mom, At the Picket Fence, Tatertots and Jello, Craft Junkie Too, A Little Knick Knack, Blissful and Domestic, Maiden D’Shade, Petites Passions, Bubbly Nature Creations, Here Comes the Sun, Liz Marie Blog, THe Grant Life, Craftionary, Redoux Interior, Common Ground, Just Us Four, Delicate Construction, AKA Designs, Family Ever After, Lolly Jane

Saturday: Be Different Act Normal, The Girl Creative , Funky Junk Interiors , A Vision to Remember, Positively Splendid , Its Overflowing, Natasha in Oz, Shaken Together, Homemaker in Heels, Addicted to Decorating

Sunday: A Rosie Sweet Home, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table Dreaming, DIY Showoff, Nifty Thrift Things, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Homemaker on a Dime, DIY Home Sweet Home, Cherished Treasures, My 1929 Charmer