Sunday, January 30, 2011

Campfires

Have a seat, take a load off, sit your busy butt down and enjoy the moment.

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Ahhh..stretch out your legs and warm the bottom of your feet at the fire pit.  Have you put marshmallows on your grocery list lately?  You will need some for the roasting, toasting and burning that happens at this firepit.  WHHHat?  You cannot imagine…

IMG_3043 This campfire pit worried me..were we going to run out of marshmallows? Was Adam going to have the sticky marshmallow picked off of his cheek successfully?  Was Andy’s marshmallow going to just hang there on his stick?  No..NO the fire is at ground level. I was worried…

IMG_3039 These are the reasons why..especially the black and white one with the fluffy tail he likes to wave in the air like a flag.

This was the old campfire pit.  Far Guy and I dug a pit and put some rock around the edges and smeared some Quickcrete here and there.  It worked fine..but at almost ground level, I worried about a child or a dog falling in..plus in the winter I stepped in it one time..no harm was done, I felt stupid but that is nothing new.

Far Guy was in the Emergency Room late one Sunday evening with his Mother a number of years ago. A burn victim was brought in.   A two year old child was playing near a campfire up in Itasca State Park..and fell headfirst into the campfire and was severely burned.  That summer we found an old refrigerator rack and put it over our campfire pit so that no one could fall in.

IMG_3239 Far Guys fancy smancy way to make sure that we start this project on the level.

Last summer fixing the campfire pit was on our “things to do list.”  Maddie helped, she got to drive the three wheeler back and forth with the landscape blocks.

IMG_3251 In between throwing the ball for you know who.

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We still have to watch Chance and his tail that he waves like a flag..but no one should be able to fall in head first..not a dog and not a child.  Notice the Shelties and how they carry their tails versus the Border Collie.

I like my marshmallows burned to a crisp..black ..crunchy..the ones that are mistakes..the ones no one wants or the ones that are thrown back into the fire.

There is no such thing as a  completely safe campfire..but ours is safer now:)

16 comments:

DJan said...

Cute, putting a picture of the campfire as it looks today. No worries about getting burned right now! It does look much safer, and you're right about the difference in the way those two breeds carry their tails, I hadn't realized until I saw the picture. :-)

Nancy said...

You are the only person I know who likes marshmallows the same way I do! I set it on fire and wait until the entire marshmallow is covered with a crispy, black shell. Then I carefully pull the shell off and pop it into my mouth. I can almost taste it now. Delicious!

The rest of my family think a roasted marshmallow is just barely brown, and they carefully turn it over the fire or extinguish a flame it it appears on their precious blob. Absolutely ridiculous if you ask me. Burn, baby burn!

LindaG said...

Thanks for the tips and picture of your campfire pit!

Lanny said...

Ummm, I love toasted marshmallows. Mine are golden brown and nearly liquid in the center. I don't talk whilest toasting, it is a high art form with me.

Almost more that the fire pit, the flaming marshmallows kill me with paranoia, I'm just sure someone is going to end up with one of those balls of fire on their face one of these days.

Country Gal said...

MMMM I can smell it now ! One of the best smells in the world to us. Thats one of the first things we put in our back yard was a stone camp fire pit much the same the one you have here.We Love to sit around it in the late spring, summer and early fall in the evening and look at the stars! Great post .Have a wonderful day !

Country Gal said...

Our Miggy does the same with the puffy tail held high, she has Border Collie and Golden Retriever in her and they are both high tail holders lol! Great post and photos . Have a wonderful day !

Lynda said...

You all did a very attractive job on fixing your firepit. Do you still get as much heat since it has walls? It's still worth it to keep someone from severe burns.
Your dogs take everything as an adventure meant just for them! You can see it on their faces.

ain't for city gals said...

I really never thought about this but very good idea...

Karen said...

The new fire pit is great! Serves as a seat if it isn't in use, and when it is in use there are lots of little spots on the side to put your mug or whatever:)
I'm not a big roasted marshmallow fan, and I like them gently toasted. After a few the sugary sweetness gets to be too much.
We have a fire pit at the corner of our patio. The special round fire pit bricks are about 10" high, and then there is a round metal thingy with two bands around it that sit on top to add another 10 inches or so. When it's not in use there is a wooden cover that fits on top and then I put a planter of some sort on that. The wooden cover serves as a good place to get the dogs to stand on when I am brushing them:)

Linda said...

Hard to build a fire in that one this week;)

Leah said...

This makes me want to sit out in our yard in my favorite chair by our fire ring - guess I will have to wait for summer.... Thank you for your comments today (both of you) -- believe me we know the good times far outweigh the sad ones! Hugs to Chance!

Rae said...

We have a fire pit in our backyard too. Looks very much like yours. It is a big hit with the grands. They love wienie roasts in the fall. Ours pit has been buried under all the snow. It finally reappeared this weekend with the snow melt.

Red said...

Great looking fire pit. Rather neat design with the brick.
So enjoy the campfires even in winter!

RURAL said...

Ackkk!!! My marshmallow is on fire, and I don't like them crispy black. Can I have another one? Pleeeeasssee?


Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Very good points about fire safety, Connie. Grenville is a retired professional firefighter and he says folks just don't pay enough attention to fires, including barbecues. Your pointers may have helped lots of folks. And YES I like marshmallows nice and crisp, blackened from flames. Most likely an unhealthy enjoyment but so good and gooey!

Oz Girl said...

I think this summer we will finally put a fire pit in our backyard... and we'll have to watch Trixie Lou's tail, she waves it like Chance! :) And like you, I love my marshmallows quite brown, maybe not black, but very very brown.