A Labor of Calculated Clay

They say a picture is worth a thousand words (maybe not my words) so this post is mainly pictures so that I can remember the details of this project.
Tyler and I have been planning to put in a patio for years now. At one point, we even hired some guy to pour a cement pad. He came and placed the outlying boards but on the day he was going to pour the cement, he upped his price by two hundred dollars. He claimed that he NEVER would have quoted us the original price that he did. So, we just didn't pour the cement. And so grass and weeds grew there, and we put down some weed cover and some pallets to keep things from getting totally out of hand. It was ugly my friends, very ugly. In fact, I think we avoided taking pictures of the area because it was unsightly. The only BEFORE pictures we could find were all Easter shots, oddly enough. So here is a flavor of the patio for the last few years.



Then here is the patio today.



Not bad, huh? Am I kidding? I am thrilled with it!!! I can't believe that Tyler did all this work himself. He came home Saturday afternoon from shooting with the Elders Quorum and he must have been feeling manly, because he took one look at the patio and then went at it. I hadn't even asked him (well, at least not recently).

First, he dug up a LOT of dirt and placed the retaining wall.



Next he poured in the gravel for the bottom layer (this picture was taken the next day, but it shows the gravel nicely).



So yes, the next day was Sunday and he pouted all day looking at the patio and wanting to work on it. I was very proud that he left that day to resting. Bright and early Monday morning (in the rain) he started the project again, but not before he bought himself a nice power tool— DeWalt Heavy-Duty XRP™ 18V Cordless Circular Saw (see Home Depot for Specs).

Apparently, you can't do any home-improvement project without buying some new tool to add to the arsenal. I don't mind this one bit, because I would buy them for him; however, I have no idea what to get. So whenever he buys one, I tell myself that I would have gotten him exactly the same thing, had I the opportunity.



This is quite impressive to me...he's so level headed.



Next he added sand...



Then he lay some brick and decided maybe he wanted a little more sand, so he took it all out and headed back to Lowe's. I'm really glad that Lowe's isn't too far away (he made several trips--it's exactly 2.4 miles according to him).



And once again, finished product!!



I had to do Satin Hands on him in the evening so he could feel his skin again. It was so covered in sand and brick dust. I am amazed and proud. When I walk on the patio all I can think is that MY man built it for me with his bare hands! Is there a luckier woman in the world? Oh, and now the grill has a home in the backyard again, so all you people that come to my front door wondering why we barbeque every night can stop wondering. No, no, that was just our home for the grill until we could find a good place for it. I am a little jealous actually. If I weren't eight months pregnant and allergic to the outdoors, I might make a home for myself on the patio too.