Using Our New Fire Pit

Yesterday I shared the fire pit that we built, but it was a really long post, so I didn't share any pictures of it being used. Today's a new day, and a new post, so here's some pictures of us enjoying it, after I ramble for a bit :)

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Our gas grill died late this winter in a storm. The wind was so strong that it actually blew the whole thing over on its side, which knocked loose the gas fittings which were rusted anyway, rendering it unfixable and useless. Before hauling it to the dump, we salvaged the cooking grates to use with the fire pit.

The grates just fit across the top of the fire pit, but we were worried about the grates shifting around and falling in, so we hammered metal plates in between the joints of the first two rows of blocks and rested the grate the other direction on the plates. It's much more stable that way, though we're not sure of the longevity of the plates. They're corner braces leftover from the deck and treehouse that we flattened for the purpose. If these plates don't work out, we'll look into a different option, but this works for now and didn't cost anything.

Mr M has really missed our grill and we'll get a replacement one of these days, but in the meantime this will definitely be better than nothing.

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It rained again the evening of the day I finished the fire pit, so we waited a couple days before lighting our first fire and grilling hamburgers and toasting marshmallows.

the last burger finishing up

not sure I like the aesthetics of the metal plates we used, but like I said, they do the job

we moved the grate out of the way and toasted our marshmallows

Sunshine cheesing it up

We need to come up with a better solution for our firewood so we don't have a stack of wood sitting directly on the grass, killing it and looking ugly. That'll come later though, after I've had time to think about it.

I'm also going to make a cover out of outdoor fabric to go over the top of the fire pit and keep leaves and other debris out of the fire pit. I probably won't get around to it until after the baby's born, but I will definitely get it done before fall arrives and the leaves and acorns cover everything.

So far we're enjoying the fire pit and looking forward to using it often. I love it when a project turns out so well!