For as long as we’ve had our house, I’ve hankered after an outdoor fire, though we never had the right space for it. When we renovated last year, we built a small, sheltered deck out the back; it’s two steps down from the main deck, and there’s a handy window for passing out a sundowner. There’s a big hedge, the wind shoots over the top and there’s a built-in seat. In short: it was crying out for something to burn.
One afternoon, a friend rang to say he was having a new little freestanding fireplace made, and would I like one too? And finally, my wife caved, on the condition it is lit only after the children go to bed – which is fair enough, I suppose. A few weeks later,…
