The Patio

As one of my daughters pointed out it's been a month since my last post.  I can only plead busy as the last month has been a whirlwind of activity.  As I mentioned in my last post, so very long ago,  Earl and I decided we wanted a brick patio out by the garden and decided we could do it ourselves because how hard could that be?  Really, with him working 60 hours a week, planting the garden and all the rest of the upkeep on a home surely we could fit in building a brick patio right?

Right.

We did it. But clearly you can see why blogging has been on the back burner.

 The patio itself is finally finished, we still have a bit of work to do on the areas around the patio that were torn up in the process.  There is still lots to do and we are of course looking forward to changing some things out and adding things over the next few weeks.  We haven't hung the lights over the patio yet, (maybe this weekend?) and we need a few things here and there. Earl wants to build a couple long farm tables to replace the glass topped table we are using. That may take a while, but in the meantime, using the old stuff doesn't decrease our enjoyment out here in the evenings one iota.

 As you can see, this patio is pretty big.  I hauled 3 pallets of bricks to Earl, one wheelbarrow at a time as he laid them.  After that it was multiple wheelbarrows of dirt to fill in around the patio where the topsoil had been scraped away.  My advice if you want to do this yourself?  Make sure you are fit or hire a contractor.

 Can someone tell me why, when brown is my least favorite color, I bought brown cushions a couple years ago for the patio?  They must have been on sale, Lol.  Well at least they are fairly neutral and maybe I can dress them up with some pillows or something.  Eventually I'll replace them because, brown.  Purchasing something you don't like because it's a good price is obviously a false economy, when will I ever learn?

The garden still has areas that need to be planted with later season veggies, at least I got my flowers in right away!  Flowers tend to be my priority ;)

This project has taken so much time I feel like I am behind in just about every other area. Housework, weeding, and lawn.  One of those things you tend to forget when taking on a project of this size is that you have other things that will have to be set aside in order to get the project done.  I am so glad this is (almost) finished! I know we will use it for years to come, but it was a lot more work and time than anticipated.  I'm looking forward to a little more time to write and catch up on blogs, and also to the more fun aspects of this project, like decorating and parties!

And how is your summer going?