Pictures Of Patios

Tour de France – live!

Like Philippe Gilbert, rather than one of the sprinters.

With around 200 riders, cycling for 22 different teams, attempting to cover 3,430.5km over the course of three weeks, this is truly one of the most mind-blowing, body-frazzling spectacles in sport. Luckily you can follow it from the couch, whilst eating crisps. It shouldn't be so hard to send in an email every now and again, should it?

So, I've found a way to watch Eurosport, which is currently giving a platform to the aforementioned Monsieur Fotheringham. They're talking about the situation involving Alberto Contador, the defending champion, and the ongoing wrangle over whether he should be suspended (the court of arbitration for sport recently held over its deliberations until after the Tour). And now we're back in the studio with AC Jimbo! The man is a sports broadcasting polymath ...

Thoughts on whether Contador should be racing? He put his positive test for clenbuterol during last year's Tour down to eating contaminated meat – the Spanish federation have accepted that explanation but the UCI (cycling's world governing body) aren't buying it.

The peloton is heading out on to the causeway now. There are crowds of people getting in the way, which is one of the charming things about the Tour de France – the riders just have to put up with spectators behaving like t*ts. The tide will come in and completely submerge the Passage du Gois later on, so hopefully the lollygaggers will have shifted by then. There is actually a bloke punting around on a stretch of water with the aid of what appears to be an ironing board and a broom ...

Our first email of the day comes from David. "Is Wiggins a real leader?" he asks, referring to the designated Great Briton of Le Tour, Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky's main man. "I still quite don't understand how Wiggins left Garmin's team after all the magnificient work the TEAM did for him to put him fourth in the 2009 TdF General Classification. A real leader doesn't behave that way, does he?" You and David Millar , eh? Just what is your surname, monsieur?

They've now stopped to play the Marseillaise and cut a ribbon. Looking at that causeway, I can't help but think of the Maldon mud race. Now that would be a good way to start the Tour – make the riders wade through the gloop for 400 metres before they can get on their bikes.

Anyway, the riders have stopped doing wheelies and pretending to pedal backwards furiously whilst actually still moving forwards and THE RACE PROPER HAS BEGUN. There's no prologue this year (though I'll confess, I've never really been sure what the prologue was. Is it an introduction written by the wordiest cyclist?), which is apparently bad news for Fabian Cancellera, the Swiss Leopard-Trek rider who likes to win it. Pauvre Fabian!

decor8 » Blog Archive » Handmade Home: Creating My Dream Patio

Today decor8 columnist Anna-Malin is back to visit us from Sweden sharing her recently redecorated patio. I love seeing how people treat a patio space – some fancy tables and chairs with a big umbrella, others add a water feature or fire pit and still others incorporate hammocks or even build a koi pond. It’s amazing to see the difference from patio-to-patio as you browse magazines and books for outdoor spaces, isn’t it? I think you’ll love Anna-Malin’s patio because it’s more of a second living room and lounge space for relaxing, reading and entertaining during the warmer months and can take her straight into the Autumn. I’ll let her take it from here…

Hello everyone it’s Anna-Malin ! For my June column I wanted to share my newly decorated outdoor patio because I am very proud of it and feel that it could be an inspiration to many of you who are unsure as to how to decorate your outdoor space. Last summer my husband and I built a wooden frame in the backyard to create a room in our garden area (below). Since we have full sun in our yard all day long we needed a place with some shade for relief! On top of the wooden frame we put branches and twigs to create a rustic, natural ceiling. On the concrete wall to soften it a bit visually, we added a shelf and some wood for vines.

This year I bought new furniture — a sofa, a big round table and a chair — all in bamboo. I wanted the feeling to be calm and relaxed

I have an undercover outdoor area, that I have done nothing with. Each year I tell myself that I will for summer, but it continues to very dull with nothing but an outdoor table and chairs. I use the excuse that I rent, but that is a ridiculous reason for not making a nice space – I do inside, so why not outside too? Thanks for making me think about it again. :) i began the project three summers ago when i bought this little house.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dawnhouser/5627534966/in/photostream

(scroll below the photo for ‘before’ photos and more ‘now photos’)

it was a brave move after a sad divorce and shoveling rock by the wheelbarrow and planting my future garden truly healed my soul. it is funny how you can’t feel how hard your heart hurts when your the rest of your body is in pain, too. :)

superlovely patio work! i want that string of lights.

What a lovely patio – it looks soooo chillaxing:) Great job to Anna Malin!

Decorate your deck, patio or outdoor space to make it look even better!

Nice, could picture 4th of July there! RT Feast your eyes on 6 inspiring spaces for your next garden project:

The soothing sight & sound of bubbling water can add ambiance to your outdoor living space and mask unwanted noise. Exs:

How to design and build patios

M Jfe^ first chapter, contains so many photos of patios. The pictures introduce the various patio styles and illustrate the many ways to finish, plant, ...

Finding Zola

All these patios look alike." I picked up another photo. ... Why take pictures of patios? I hoped she'd have pictures of burglars breaking into houses or ...

Decks & patios, inspiration & information for the do-it-yourselfer

How to Use This Book he pages of IdeaWise Decks Si^Patios are packed with images of interesting, attractive, efficient decks and patios. ...

A Recipe 4 Robbery

What I did see, though, were stacks of landscaping magazines and pictures of patios and flower gardens— lots of them—along with an open notebook. ...

Popular Science

Complete construction plans, drawings and photos for patios, fencee, terraces, walls, walks, steps, outdoor furniture, pools, garden houses, trellises, ...