Six days trapped inside your house with the flu and bronchitis will exaggerate any amount of spring fever you might have, let me tell you. I’m still too sick to do anything or go anywhere, but getting mighty antsy, fo’ sho’.

I weighed today’s indoor/non-sweat-producing options:

1. Finally do my taxes.
2. Finish the laundry.
3. Fantasize about what I’d like to put in my backyard.

Well, duh. Which one would you pick? What follows is a list of a few things that would turn my blank-slate backyard into a backyard oasis:

We’re gonna need to get our shade on, first and foremost. We bought one of these sail shades in a charcoal color last fall and we’re dying to put it up.

Furniture. I really adore the sense of fun and color motel chairs bring to the party, but before someone stole mine off my dang porch years ago, I hated the maintenance involved with using them. You literally have to break out the cleaning fluids each and every time you want to sit on them because they collect dust and dirt like you wouldn’t believe. Wood options annoy me because they also require maintenance to keep their finish looking good. So I tend toward open-weave metal furniture, or something like this:

Local color. I’m not good with plants so I can’t depend on bringing color into the space via blooming things. Hence, I crave an eye-popping outdoor rug. I really loved these outdoor FLOR tiles, but alas, they’re no longer available. A great substitute are these Chilewich outdoor mats (in the 3’x5′ size). Made of tufted vinyl, they’re resistant to mold and mildew.

Night lights. These rechargeable LED outdoor lamps are supercool. Dim them by spinning them on your open palm, like magic!

Lazy dayz. We bought a hammock on our honeymoon in Merida nearly six years ago and have yet to put it up. Since it will be a hundred years before we have trees mature enough to hang a hammock from in our new-construction-deadzone of a backyard, this would be a great way to finally enjoy it.

Okay. I guess I’ll start my taxes now…maybe I’ll score enough of a refund to do a little online shopping for the backyard. Would take a bit of the sting out of it, no?