It Ain't Easy Being Green

For over 3 years I have hated this patio.  It COULD be a great space.  Instead it is awful.  A giant pukey reminder that this is not our house and that if I had an extra few thousand dollars lying around I would put it into the house that we actually own, not this house that we rent.  But it is our home (cue the violins) and this charming man I call my husband finally had the brilliant idea not to replace the hidousness at our own expense, but to temporarily remove it.  And so, while I was out the other day.....

 But that's not all.  The patio roof made the whole cave-like interior dark and green as well.

Not any more! Lookie! LIGHT!

But that's not all, no.  Because now that we can actually SEE our entry and sitting room we have some incentive to tidy it up a bit.  And with this newly awesome patio, we have another excuse for dinners al fresco.  It also almost eliminates the need to knock out the dining room wall to put big doors and a patio off that room -- which is more of a giant hallway than an actual DINING room. As if we need ANOTHER place to eat at 23b!  We truly are all just trying to make up for the lack of restaurants in Lusaka. I wish I was kidding about this.

the patio's inaugural supper...can you tell my tripod broke?

For the time being we'll leave our patio roof open b/c the temperature is dropping quickly and the bright sunlight (and heat) streaming in is most welcome.  (think fleece jackets, down vests and our ski hats) Once September rolls around we'll take a little trip out to Kafue (home of Danger Boy, a new friend of Snort's) to pick up a dozen reed mats to secure up there to give us some nice shade while still letting in some filtered and happily NOT-GREEN light.  The rainy season is the big question mark but it's a long way off.  It hasn't rained for 3 weeks and most likely we won't see a drop of the wet stuff until November. Did you hear that in Seattle?  NO RAIN UNTIL NOVEMBER.  I still can't wrap my soggy head around this fact.

always room for guests at 23b....