Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Our Lady of the Patio

Living in Palm Springs, we pretty much have 360 days of sunshine a year. Those other five days it rains like a son-of-a-gun for a few hours and then it is just overcast. Where I'm going is we spend a lot of time living outdoors because we have such pleasant weather. This may spark some debate, as the summer months are incredibly hot, but I happen to enjoy the 100+ degree temperatures. We installed a shade structure over the length of the patio, which surprisingly works quite well to make being outdoors in the summer very tolerable. (In the photo above you can see the shadow on the patio surface from the shade structure). Anyway, the point is we spend a lot of time outside enjoying the patio. So let me tell you about Our Lady of the Patio. Recently a friend of ours purchased a building that previously had a restaurant as a tenant. When they closed, they pretty much left behind all their furnishings, dirty dishes and all! While looking around the premises, we found a religious statue of the Virgin Mary, holding a baby Jesus. I didn't want to leave it behind for the demolition team, so I rescued it and brought it home. She now resides outside, near the pool and I have renamed her "Our Lady of the Patio". It's difficult to see from this photo, but her head has some sort of crown being lowered by angels or cherubs, it is quite elaborate. At any rate, Our Lady of the Patio presides over our desert paradise and offers protection to all who pass.

above: I mentioned the shade structure we have over the patio, you can see here how simple it is, yet it reduces the sun exposure on the back of the house, thereby reducing the temperature inside the house
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above: On our patio we have a fireplace (see first photo above) but we also have a Chiminea fireplace on the northwest patio. A Chiminea is basically a clay pot raised off the ground to burn wood. I like the detail of the sun cactus and moon on it. It makes for a nice cozy atmosphere on late evenings while relaxing under the dark, clear desert skies. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed meeting Our Lady of the Patio!
-Rick Rockhill

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rick! The Outdoor living space looks wonderful. That shade structure is perfect!

The 100+ temps don't bother us either, although the bugs can be an issue some seasons.

Jeni said...

Cool -in all senses of the word! Helping to cool the inside of the house, making the exterior more palatable too plus, looking really snazzy too. I love the chiminea you have too -wish I had an outdoor area where we could have something useful and pretty like that. Maybe someday.

lime said...

i think i would have quite an adjustment to make as extreme heat makes me wilt. though i know it's not nearly so humid so maybe i'd find that more tolerable than the east coast 95 degree/95% humidity days.

in any even it looks like a lovely and relaxing space.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Lovely Structure, Rick, and a BEAUTIFUL Backyard! Your "LADY OF THE PATIO" is fine! And I love that Clay Pot with the Cactus & Sun on it...!

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

but it's a dry heat! ha ha ha

seriously i love the heat too. this is a pergola, right? i love it! enjoy...

smiles, bee
xoxoxoxoxoxoxxo

Elizabeth Bradley said...

Last summer my son rented two condos at La Quinta, I have to say, I couldn't take the heat! Jumping into the pool was like jumping into a very hot bathtub! I love the desert but can't hack it from May to October. (I am a wimp)

Your patio is lovely and the little statue is a fine addition.

KathyA said...

I certainly did enjoy stopping by! Also love the pergola!

kenju said...

Your patio is beautiful!! We could sure use a pergola like that. Mr. kenju would really like your Lady.

Rick Rockhill said...

I learned something new today- I had no idea that it is called a pergola! Thanks all!

WAT said...

Imma be going to Palm Springs so very soon.

I can feel it.

Unknown said...

I'm soooo jealous! 360 days of sunny weather! Our winters here are longer than our summers! How I long for some nice outdoor living that lasts longer than two months!!

Love the outdoor furnishings you've got! Soooo jealous!

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