The boys had been wanting to build a fire pit for some time. They had been very mathematical in measuring out the hole, planning the surrounds and dreaming of their nights toasting marshmallows.
There was quite a lot of clay where they decided to put it, so the digging was quite difficult.
Unfortunately, it rained and rained not long after they dug their hole and it become nothing more than a duck pond for quite a few months.
They had almost given up on the idea and signed it over to the ducks permanently, but as the cold nights hit, they had a renewed interest in the project.
They dug it out and lined it with old bricks, tiles and anything else they could find.
Of course, when it came to lighting, no ordinary match would do. They wanted to experiment with lighting a fire with a battery and some steel wool. It worked really well.
As they built up the layers of wood they could find from around the property, it settled into a beautiful warm fire. We moved some chairs down there and brought down a really nourishing meal of slow cooked meatballs and mash and all sat around chatting.
It was such a slow relaxing night. It felt like we were camping, but we were 100m from the house.