Under My Umbrella...Ella...Ella...

Florida is famous for a lot of things;

 heat and sun are definitely right up there.

 I'm fairly acclimated after almost 30 years in the Sunshine State,

but when you park yourself after some puttering in the yard,

a cold beverage and some shade are in order.

 The wide step we put in on Monday was meant to be a perch for Mom 

so she could supervise construction efforts and gardening.

It's comfortable and pretty, but a tad exposed.

(Name the previous projects pictured!)

The umbrella is just what we need here, but we need a cheap way

to raise higher it so it isn't in the way while performing its duties.

It also needs to be easy to stow out of the way.

This little half cinder block isn't cutting it.

It does match the drooping phone wires nicely.

Let's start with some scrap PVC pipe.

 The first piece was long enough to bury 11 inches in the ground

 with the exposed portion shorter than the distance from the soil to the top of the concrete slab.

Grab your PhD (post hole digger),

dig straight down, set the pipe in the hole, and back fill it with gravel or rocks.

We slipped a metal pipe into the PVC.

The pipe's diameter is slightly smaller than that of the umbrella pole, so the umbrella will rest 

on top of it.

We then slipped another length of PVC pipe The same size as the first piece over the pole

Hold the umbrella against the rough structure and decide how high

you want the umbrella to stand.

Measure form the top of the metal pipe to that point.

Mark the pipe with a Sharpie.

Using a pipe cutter, shorten the pipe.

Duh, right?

Slide all of the pieces back together.

There's a 9 inch drop in the PVC to the top of the metal pipe for stability.

Slip the umbrella in.

Voila!

We're made in the shade with a solution that comes right apart when not in use

and isn't in the way

The small pipe won't affect traffic when the umbrella isn't up.

And we made it out of material we had laying around the workshop.

I'll be painting the PVC later.

When it quits raining.

And we'll need the shade.

Oh, the irony...