create a sanctuary on the patio

Bought a banana tree and another plant today and pulled a piece of bamboo off a plant while walking home. I dont know if it will take root, but it will be fun to see. I also have a pinapple top started, and have an avocado in the fridge that I am going to try rooting. Just need a couple of candle lanterns and some fairy lights and I can mark this as complete.

NG is on board with me on this, which makes it a little easier. There is a garden store near where I work that sells desert plants and I am going to go check it out. He is willing to come out with me this weekend if I find some plants to buy.

At the cheap grocery store last week they had umbrellas with stands for $30. So we stopped by to pick one up and they were gone. This is what the side of the patio we are using looks like so far. Its twice as wide as the picture shows with the other half being used as a work space (im refinishing the desk)

So i bought one of those beach mats to block off part of the patio, but I couldn’t figure out how to connect it so that it would stay straight. Last night I remembered that there is an Ace Hardware near work, so I stopped and picked up garden stakes. I nailed the mat to the stakes and then tied the stakes to the patio wall and this is what we have so far.

I have a problem with this goal that is really beginning to bother me.
As the attached picture shows, our patio is right next to the stairs. My solution to the problem of people lookin ginto the apartment or trying to talk to us when we were on the patio was to fill it with plants. We found one in a store walking distance from here and bought it. Its so sunny here that the poor plant is near death (and now cluttering the kitchen. I didnt need another object taking up floor space). We cant find anymore plants anywhere that doesnt require taking a bus or a shuttle. So I thought that I would block the area where people can look in with one of those beach mats sold in chinatown. I picked one up today, but because there is no place to attach the sides of the mat to, it just keeps flopping over. IF anyone has any idea how we can block the view from the stairs, please let me know. We are trying not to spend more than $20 on this problem as that we probably wont be in this apartment for more than a year.

Im having trouble getting to a point where I am finished with this goal, and it may just be circumstance. Our patio is right next to the stairs, so anyon coming or going is right there. We want to line the edge with plants for some privacy, but we cant find the places around here that sell large houseplants. We only have one and its in the sun too much and we have to move it before we fry it.

I bought vinyl coated canvas today to make footstools for the ikea chairs. For $7 I will get two, which was cheaper than any other footstool I could find out. I am going to stuff them with those plastic grocery bags, a fitting use for something that the stores may or may not recycle.
Just need plants and an umbrella for this goal to be complete.

Our neighbor left us a flowering plant this week. I cant believe what a difference it made on the patio to have a little color. Im going to try hard this weekend to get some more stuff. We need two footstools and a large plant or two to block the view from the people walking up the stairs.

I introduced myself to our neighbor tonight and he gave us a plant. Im really excited, and hope that this weekend I can pick up a couple more.

Made my way to Ikea this weekend and bought chairs, two little rugs, and a towel drying rack for the patio and it made a huge difference. We just need to get some foot stools, some little string lights, and something to block a little more of the view from the stairway and we will be all set.