September 15, 2025

A Little Upgrade

Summary

See how we refurbished our fire pit in a few hours using things we already had.

We are moving some things around to prepare for October, such as prepping for guests wanting to sit by crackling fires. We have a giant handmade fire pit originally purchased for the Airstream Experience that we moved to  the winery. But that meant our “glamping” guests needed something. Cue the DIY. 

So this was the “before. Fortunately we did have a nice collection of rocks already in place so my back was spared somewhat. But the weeds and grass had taken over, not to mention the sizable colony of biting ants. Let’s just say my left wrist has a bracelet of welts.

This is how we refurbished our fire pit using things we already had.

Step 1. Son #1 sprayed the pit and a two foot swath around it with weed killer. Then we waited a few days for it to do its job.

Step 2. I pulled the egregious weeds remaining. The ants were tenacious so I had to light a fire to evict them.

Step 3. I encircled the stone ring with a wide piece of landscape fabric and pinned it to the ground to keep the grass and weeds from coming up.

Step 4. I dumped bucket after bucket of smooth gravel we had leftover from the winery to cover the landscape fabric. The hubs jumped in at this point which definitely sped up the job.

Step 5. The two youngest kids were recruited to finish gathering some rocks to line the outside of the gravel.

Step 6. I learned the lesson that asking for help early in the process makes short work of the project. It’s not rocket science but a needed reminder.

Step 7. In lieu of chairs, we brought down four of our tree stumps from our stash.

Step 8. Carrying out the hub’s idea, we made a fire rack out of two cement blocks and two leftover pieces of pressure treated wood then the kids loaded it up with seasoned firewood. 

Now it’s your turn: Book a stay and don’t forget the marshmallows!

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