BBQs are, with any doubt, a quintessential part of the British Summer. You genuinely can’t have a Brit summer without fish and chips by the beach – with the obligatory fending off of seagulls, a plethora of moaning about the weather (irrespective of whether it is dazzling sunshine or not) and a BBQ complete with booze, cheap inflatables for the kids and more sausages than you can shake a glittery fairy wand at.
The one thing that truly makes a BBQ British though, is the inevitable rain that is almost 100% guaranteed to start pouring as soon as your first friend’s arrive. Being British, a bit of drizzle (read rainforest style down pour) doesn’t stop us does it? By jove it does not!
A couple of weeks ago, on a rather dreary day at the beginning of the holiday, we had a dental appointment and as we all trolled along nicely the street, Toby hanging off my legs and Edith throwing a huge temper tantrum as Reuben skipped along splashing in puddles minus the wellies… So much fun. I happened to notice a little party of sorts going on in one of the gardens we passed. It was down the side of the house, all tucked under the prettiest verenda I have ever seen. Thy had flowers hanging on the sides, the BBQ sizzled, people were laughing and DRY enjoying their outdoor party in some sort of semi-outside-but-still-dry perfection.
See, I always view houses with conservatories in their back gardens (on my frequent and utterly pointless trips to RightMove) with somewhat of a green eyed monster lurking over my shoulder. See I would love a conservatory, our back garden is big enough and it would be lovely to have the extra space, maybe make a snug for the kids to relax in – or a room for me to hide in – but we simply can’t have one.
The pipes for our house run directly underneath the kitchen windows, right in the spot I would like to put the conservatory. Technically we *could* slap a conservatory there, but it would cost us a merry fortune! So, we make do without for now but an alternative I never really considered until I saw this enviable little soirée going on, was a verenda. In our back yard we have the perfect spot, already decked and covered with a pretty gazebo, for a glass veranda like the ones that 123v offer. It wouldn’t impact the children playing but would mean that we wouldn’t have to apply the rainy day clause every time the weather was a bit naff. Rainy day activities could migrate outside, with the veranda covering us up and allowing the kids to make mischief without getting sodden.
Now my house might be an veranda designers dream, but if yours isn’t, you need not panic. You can shove one of these bad boys virtually anywhere so having that safe haven from the delights of British weather is easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
At the moment, putting a veranda in has taken a back seat at the moment because we are saving for our holiday, however our annual BBQ fascination will hopefully be covered (literally).
Would you consider verandas? What do you do to avoid the delightful rainfall that we seem to get in our not-so-sunny England?
H x
I am a big fan of verandas, like you said they’re so useful especially in the uk if you want to spend time outside!
So true!
In our next house we are hoping to go with the outside Veranda route. I feel it has more purpose than just a conservatory, for the likes of BBQs.
I mean, i wouldn’t personally do a BBQ in my conservatory, however i would cook under an outside Veranda
Couldn’t agree more!
I think is a good compromise having a veranda for now. Enjoy the BBQs!
Thank you, we will!
I would love something like this above our patio. It would be exactly where I would want a conservatory too
Right?! So true!
These sound like such a great idea! We live in a flat at the moment and I hate not having any outside space of our own!
Ahh I wouldn’t like that either Sam, but just think flat = less cleaning = win!
We have been looking in to getting one of these. nice to stay in the shade too.
Yes, my mum lives with us and detests the sunshine!
Everytime we decide to have a BBQ it decides to rain so I feel your pain! LOL
Love the idea of a verandah x
Haha exactly!!
Why oh why does it ALWAYS rain when a BBQ is planned, despite if the BBC weather app has predicted full sun!
I know!! Such a pain in the butt!