Wife and I do this as often as possible. I have the stereo typical midwest backyard : two tier deck, pool, small fountain, barbecue grill, patio bar and outdoor dining table with umbrella. We love the summer and the sunshine. Coffee in the morning, and grilling out during the late afternoon. And one of my favorite things about summer is grilling some steak and salmon on a Saturday afternoon, sun shining, ice cold bottle of Summer Shandy in one hand, with the White Sox game on the radio. Perfect.
Yeah, we’ve got “hot as fuck” as the default state in South Florida. I usually eat my lunch outdoors under a pavilion at work, but that’s because I usually need to defrost from being in a cold-ass library for a little while. We don’t have any sort of covered porch, and sitting outside to eat and drink is really only pleasant in our short winter. If we’re lucky, we get a few months where eating al fresco is nice, otherwise it’s sticky, warm, and [in the summer] mosquito time.
I said yes, but actually if I can enjoy it without going outside of my home then I need a new roof.
We had our roof replaced two years ago, and had it extended to cover our porch as well. We eat outside anytime we can be comfortable without jackets.
We have a lovely fully screened porch and eat out there with regularity. If there were no roof and screens, we would not eat outside. I don’t like bugs and I burn at the drop of a hat.
One of my very favorite things is a Sunday afternoon when everyone else in the house is napping, and the temperature is between, say, 55 and 85. I make an iced coffee and go sit on the porch by myself and read or doze or stare off into the distance. It’s quiet and calm and heavenly. Bonus points if it rains and I get to feel the breeze and hear the rain while staying dry and cozy.
Al fresco really means open air. If the wind blows across your table, that’s al fresco. Having a roof overhead doesn’t take away from that. A glassed-in porch isn’t al fresco, though. That’s an interior room.
It came with my parent’s house. It’s an elevated deck about 12 feet off the ground. The basement entry is underneath the deck. It’s a really pretty view. The house is built into the edge of a hill and the deck looks out on the back slope of the hill.
When we lived in Montreal, we had a huge deck and ate out there practically from march to November. I even had to buy a 13ft waterproof umbrella to fit over the table so we could eat outside in the rain…that’s actually my favourite…hearing the rain on the umbrella without me getting soaked.
Question: are large parts if the US bug infested? Because a lot if people seem obsessed with screening everything in.
We don’t do screens in the UK. Except for the odd fly, there’s no need.
And yes, I will be lighting the BBQ and dining outside today - spring has finally arrived thank god.
I live in Ohio. We have a nice line in mosquitos in the summer. Besides making you miserable, there’s the slim but real possibility of them carrying something like the West Nile virus that can actually make you very ill.
That aside, I live in farm country and my husband raises beef cows. With cows come flies. Lots of them.
So in my case at least, yeah. Lots of bugs.
I have no idea if the US has more bugs, but it certainly has more screens. I think having so many screens makes us more prone to notice bugs, and freak out about them. I notice there’s a bit of an adjustment curve when I go from my bug-free zone at home to outdoor camping. Despite the heavy sales of screen tents, there’s just no getting away from bugs when camping. The first couple of days, I’m hyper aware of everything with more than four legs. By the end of the week, I barely notice them, and I only bother swatting if they’re actually standing on the part of the food I want to eat.
So it could be that you’ve got fewer bugs, or it could be that you’re adept at tuning them out.
Last year I bought a great little wood folding table and chairs set from Aldi. Whenever my SO is around it gets used all over the place - out the back, on the balcony, even if front of the TV or in the sunny spare bedroom upstairs.
When we live in Firenze (I miss it every day) we had a terrace, where we had apertivo in the warm evenings. Sigh
In Florida, we have a significant mosquito population, and it gets worse during certain seasons. It’s significant enough that we have a Mosquito Control Association devoted entirely to keeping the population lower than is normal for what was primarily swampland; it’s a valid concern, as they’re potential carriers of West Nile Virus. I’m pretty attractive fodder for mosquitos, so I tend to get bitten whenever they’re not scarce, which is most of the year.
Nope. But it is a good idea. It’s very cold where I live. I will pull out the banjo and we sometimes have some snacks and drinks on the deck though.
I like the idea of it more then the actual practice.
Hey, let Al dine wherever he wants - it’s his place after all.
Eating outside long ago lost its charm for me. I’ll do it, but my preference is indoors for eating.
If they could just figure a way to get those danged mosquitoes to join that association!
Lots o’ mosquitos here, too.
Yes. Where I live there are alarming rates of triple E, West Nile, and Lyme disease, all of which you get from mosquitoes and ticks, both of which there are shitloads of.