Because I don't like staying idle for long and because my motivation behind the yard sale was to raise money for future home-and-garden endeavors, I am going to do something I've never done before. Something I've wanted to do for a long time but never have.
I am going to install a patio.
In my backyard.
By myself.
. . .
Let me clarify just a bit.
There is a little, tiny cement patio already here. It's not a patio, really, more like a foundation for what used to be a deck that is no longer here. It's not big enough for anything. A previous owner added large square stones at the end of the patio to enlarge the space but it's still not big enough. And the gravel in between the stones drives me absolutely bonkers. It's not gravel, really, more like crushed shell that you would find at the bottom of a fish tank. It hurts when you walk on it in your bare feet and it gets everywhere. Also the weeds grow right through it.
My first order of business was to lay a stone border around the whole thing and remove the fish tank gravel and replace it with soil and soon-to-be creeping thyme.
There we go. That's feeling a little better. Things look like they're supposed to be there now. I like giving the garden clean edges—especially where two different materials meet.
Putting the border down has been great fun, actually. I like this kind of work. But right around this corner, things are going to get a little dicey. The ground slopes down slightly which means the stone border will soon become a very low wall that will contain the extension of the existing patio. Does that make sense?
This part hasn't been so much fun. The digging, that is. I'll be laying more large square stones and dirt and finally creeping thyme here. There's one catch, though, and that is I am not very good at creating straight lines and making things even. This is the part that is making my husband nervous. Nervous because he is one of those people who makes things very straight and even and measures before hand. But he's been working like a crazy person and waiting for him is just not an option when I am this motivated.
Boy, that shovel looks small to me and that digging area looks really big. And, look! It was sunny that day! When we walked to school this morning it was 52 degrees and misty, and someone wished me a "Merry Christmas" which was really funny but also very sad.
I'll keep digging and let you know how things go, okay?
