Today is a beautiful warm day that reminds me more of early April than early February. Forecasters are warning us that winter will make a return this weekend. OK as long as it doesn't snow I'll be fine. However, this wonderful warm winter has set my mind to a project that we must think about; the patio.
Last April we ran across an excavater who was working in the area and asked for an estimate to excavate for the patio we eventually wanted to put in. He not only gave us a good price, but actually did the work that day. We didn't argue with him when he wanted to do it that day because there was the property next door that was under construction but not owned by an individual and he could bring the heavy equipment up that lot without destroying our new grass lawn. Still, we weren't ready financially ready to finish the job, and for a the purpose, I didn't even know what I wanted. I just knew where I wanted it and approximately the size. He gave us a 15x27 foot patio
area to work with. All this past year, we've been walking on the stones as if they were the patio. They are well settled now and ready for the block, brick, slate or whatever we would decide to put down. The one thing I was pretty sure about was the layout of the patio and where I wanted curves and where I wanted angles. I had ideas on how I wanted to decorate this patio but nothing solid. All this past year, whenever we were at a home improvement store or large nursery we would look around at the block and patio stone that was available trying to get ideas. Nothing appeared to grab me. It was all the common stuff and I truly wasn't interested in trying to make it unique for a unique patio. The end of the patio at the water fountain I want rounded off blending into the curves of the flower bed and to the step of the arbor. On the end where the bird feeder is, on the outside only, I was a pollster with a lamp. This was the layout I was sure about. The rest was up in the air. The common stone, tile, slate, patio pavers just didn't seem to cut it. The color would be a combination of the house color and darker colors, all earth tones, to match the house. This I was sure of. The one last thing I was sure of was the outside curve of the fountain area, I wanted an arbor angled across with a curved bench seating area.
With no more desire than to sit in front of the computer the other day, Husband decided to shop eBay. He searched around and found some interesting patio molds and showed them to me. PAY DIRT!!! It helped when he stated he thought it would be interesting to make our own patio pavers for the project. I agreed hole heartedly but am a little concerned that it might be more work than we anticipated. Still we will get what we want, the color we want, etc. I'm thinking 12" square tiles x 2" thick, most of them plain (we may even be able to buy these at the local home improvement store, if we tire of making them) and get several molds of a decorative tile that really takes my fancy. There are several I've seen that would work wonderfully. I want approximately 20 of the decorative tiles in a chocolate color and the other 980 tiles just plain in the clay color of the house. The decorative tiles will be scattered randomly throughout the patio. The wooden arbor will be set on small pollsters in the outside corner of the rounded end of the patio and I'm still debating if I want the bench built into the patio or if I want to use a small curved concrete bench you can pick up in any nursery or garden department of almost any store. I do like the idea of the little concrete bench. It would tie in the small sitting area I have on top the hill under the tulip poplar. On this arbor I will grow two Veilachenblu roses, once blooming ramblers with small mauve roses that actually look blue. They should be exceptionally pretty when you enter the patio from the lighted entry, looking across to the arbor with the blue roses and the brilliant pink flower, purpled leafed Kanzan cherry tree with the little cement bench.
This is the last of the high cost hardscaping projects we have planned for the property. We have several other landscaping projects slated, but not like this one. Now to make this project a reality.
Oh, BTW, I've decided not to do laundry. There simply isn't enough of it for the washer to bite into. I'll do that another day.
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