Muscles!

I got real close and personal with my muscles today! I can't tell you how much they ache. Today we put down most of the patio except for the decorative paver which still need to be set in. The patio finished out at the 14x20 area that we had designed and with just a few exceptions is pretty much laid out the way I had it drawn up and scaled.

We left two corner bricks out to make little raised flower beds that I will keep steppables in. The little plants thrive on being stepped on and will grow over the hardscape to soften it a little. We decided to go with two sets of decorative pavers instead of four. I think it is still enough to brake up the intense space of stone and still define the fire pit that will sit between them.

These are two of the decorative pavers trimmed and set into their area. So far this is all we have done of these. The pavers are made, but need some small adjustments to fit in the spot. For the next few days, or as long as we have good weather, we'll spend time sweeping sand into the cracks of the patio and washing it down every evening to set the stones.

Each of the flat stones are 24"x24" and weight approximately 84 pounds each. There were a couple of them that I ended up carrying myself. Believe me, they didn't go far! I had no idea I could even lift anything that heavy! My muscles are telling me now that maybe I shouldn't have either.

We started this morning bright and early at 7:00 am and finally finished for the day around 6:30 pm. We were tired, thirsty and covered in cement dust. Who wanted to eat? Not me. I was to tired to cook or even try and not hungry anyway. We ended up running out to the local grocery store to throw together a light salad about an hour or so after we finished putting things away and sweeping in the first round of sand. Afterward we sat on the little bench at the Tulip poplar and looked over our work before finally heading out.

Oh, that plant on the arbor is a two year old New Dawn Rose. That is such an amazing plant.