Patio Road

After making the patio, we wanted a way to get there without walking on sharp stones or having to find your shoes every time... the answer? Stepping stones!





Blake found these bricks buried under the gravel along with a welcome mat featuring three puppies in a wagon. It's just DARLING.

Patio Unveiled!

After work it's finally time for the unveiling....



send the dog on first to see if he sinks!


Looks like it can hold a dog & he loves it!



All the Dorés in one spot - that's a solid patio!

Buster Bonus

Birth of a Patio

It's almost time for a patio party - the new project is almost done! I've never worked with concrete before and this was certainly a heck of a way to start. It took about two weeks to dig out a bed for the patio. Then I screened the soil I'd dug up to get rocks for the patio bed. Next came tamping it down to solidify the bed with the big yellow machine. (Getting that thing back into the car was one of the most difficult things I've ever done.) Then I built the forms and finally poured the concrete with the help of the cement truck driver from Meter Mix - I couldn't have done it without his help!

On with the pics:









after the pour & first floating
after the second floating
after the final floating... not perfect but pretty darn good!
Now it has to stay damp and cure for a week... then it's time for a patio party!
Hmm... now I've just got to get rid of all that fill....

Grass = complete!

The grass is in & growing (and part of it dying from the heat)!

Unfortunately, I lost most of the pics of the grass going in - so here's what we've got!

Dirt is here!

Five cubic feet of topsoil was delivered the other day! I took the afternoon off and wheelbarrowed it all from the alley to the bed. That was some heavy, heavy work but well worth it! Below you can see the dirt going, going, gone. Next comes the grass!

Building a raised bed!

Hello!
Long time no post, yeah?

The big project that's underway is building a raised grass bed in the back yard. It's 11X24 and about 6 inches deep. Chels & I built the wooden bed last weekend.
Here's some pics for the curious folks...

Bush Begone!

It looks like spring is on it's way! Chels and I took advantage of the fantastic weather (This Afternoon: Sunny, with a high near 57. East northeast wind around 9 mph.) to tear out the overgrown bushes by the front door.

Chels sawed off the trunk and branches and I dug out one of the stumps. These things must be old because the roots were huge!




after!

Whatcha think?

Old works

Oy! It's been a very long time since I posted any of my new projects!

Here's a few photos from the garbage disposal install project I finished back in August. It only leaked water everywhere once....