A couple new thingies

After getting our deck redone a couple years ago we've struggled finding just the right furniture.  At first we got some powder-coated metal furniture from Target, which was supposed to be rust-proof, but it collected water in the legs and when you moved the furniture around the rusty water would spill out and stain the deck.  A couple years ago I ran into a couple from Holmes Crafted Furniture selling at the Wayne County Fair and they seemed so nice.  Their furniture was just what I was looking for so about a month ago I placed an order with them.

The furniture comes in a variety of colors and is made from recycled milk jugs.  They can stay out year-round, which is a bonus because we have absolutely nowhere to store it.  We went with the brown color to basically blend in with the rest of the deck.

Here are the cafe-style chairs and tall table:

This is the glider and a side table.  The glider has a center piece that folds down with two cup-holders.

Here's a view from sitting in the glider.  If you face this direction the hill in the back yard is very nice and private.  Lots of critters pass through while you're sitting.

Well, the view from chairs facing the front of the house isn't as peaceful, especially since our oak tree is long gone.  Eventually we'll plant another tree so we can get some of our privacy back (in say, 20 years!).

One other purchase to mention... I have the WORST luck with pepper grinders.  I've gone through about 3 in the past couple of years, but I have to admit fault by continuing to purchase the same model over and over again.  The one I kept breaking matches the sea salt grinder on the left.  It has a lot of movable plastic parts as part of the grinding mechanism, which would easily jam on the pepper corns, breaking off plastic pieces.  The salt seems to work fine, thought.

So, on the right is my newest grinder and I have to say I absolutely love it!  It's made from Oxo, which makes a lot of other kitchen gadgets I really like. On the top you can control the size of the grind, which is a feature I especially like.  I picked mine up at Crate and Barrel, but you can also get it from Amazon.

OXO Good Grips Pepper Grinder