our outdoor space

Hello all my faithful readers and new ones too. 

I've been busy. 

Let me rephrase that. 

We've been busy. 

A few months back I had an idea that was swarming inside this pretty little head of mine and so one day recently I said to Mr. Wonderful. "Mr. Wonderful, I would like to have a porch swing in the front of the house so that this summer we would be able to have someplace to sit and enjoy our fantabulous view. I want just a nook and I think I know where that nook is. What do you think?" 

Mr. Wonderful is not a man of many words, but action. He likes action and so it took only my little idea to get him into action and so he announces to me one day soon after our little discussion that we were going "swing shopping" that Friday night and I was like, "serious?". 

He was serious. 

By the end of that weekend we had a swing on order and it was coming in three weeks. 

That was two weeks ago, I think. 

After "Polly" the swing was ordered we then discussed where for sure to place her and if we placed her where I wanted her, what that foundation would look like. I mentioned I liked those "pavers" that folks are using. Mr. Wonderful and I also discussed how big we would make the "patio" for the swing and came up with from "shutter to shutter" on the garage. and that is it. We would still have a little bit of ground on each side of the patio for some flowers. 

That week we went looking for pavers and after a long and hard search, a swan chasing me, and some discussion with our children we found out that the more people in the discussion, the more ideas, and out of those ideas a project like this can grow in size and proportion. It helps when you have one person on the team who has "been there and done that" before. Our son in law did this kind of work for a long time and so his ideas are wonderful and his help even more wonderful. 

Our son in law explained to us about "sitting walls" and how they provide not only extra seating, but they also provide a certain look of being "done". We were all convinced we needed two sitting walls and the whole patio had to spread out from there to there, rather than from shutter to shutter. 

So, with pavers and caps and sand and gravel and a packer ordered and everyone on one page that this weekend is "THE" weekend to to get this project done and finished, everyone stopped by to help on Friday night already and even one of our friends came to help as well. My dad was involved in picking up the pavers with his tractor and the neighbor's trailer and somehow we ended up with most everything we needed for the project and so the fun insanity ensued. 

No, it really was fun. 

Really! 

Friday, late afternoon, our son in law and Mr. Wonderful started with digging out the foundation. It had to be precise and correct or we would not have had it level with the sidewalk that runs in front of that little piece of ground.

It was raining, raining, raining on Friday afternoon. I thought for sure they would cancel it, but I learned something about the menfolk in our family this weekend. When they say they are going to tackle a project, they mean just that. We don't have "pansy's" in our family! 

By 7:30 PM and five men working at it at various times the foundation was dug out and the gravel and sand was packed in and ready for Saturday morning. 

The only thing us ladies did was eat. And talk. I had made Mexican Haystacks for dinner. The girls had provided cookies and puppy chow for dessert and snacks for Friday night and Saturday. My mom brought a fruit dish along too, so there was plenty to eat. 

Saturday morning came a little bit quickly. I got up at 5:30 to finish cleaning up the kitchen and do my laundry and get my roast beef started for lunch. Mr. Wonderful got up a bit later and the fun began. By 8:30 everyone was back on the job and I've not seen so much teamwork in a long time, especially with folks who normally get together for social/fun functions, rather than big work projects. Our son, son in law and our friend were absolutely amazing in what they did to help Mr. Wonderful! I was just amazed with what they were able to accomplish in a single day. 

There are still a couple more steps to do before we can set Polly, the swing, on top of the patio. We have to water it down and take a brush to a couple of the pavers that have some mold on them. Once those steps are finished then we have to apply a sealer and then it is time to set the swing on top and there is so much room we can now purchase a table and chairs for the space as well. 

Us ladies provided a lot of food for the guys again on Saturday. Roast Beef Au Jus sandwiches, French Onion soup, and a potato casserole were the main dishes for lunch. And then once the work was all said and done and the clean up over with, we ordered pizza from our local little pizzeria and filled them all up again before they all made their way home. 

Mr. Wonderful and I were so tired out, we were in bed by 8:30 last night. I know I was asleep before 9 PM. It was a good tired though, but we both figured out we aren't as young as we once were and we really do need our kids sometimes to help us with projects like this. Sure, we could have hired someone to come do this for us, but it ended up being a fun project for us all and the children and grandchildren and our family and friends will all get to enjoy this little outdoor room when they come over. We feel so blessed to have children and friends and family who are willing to help us out

So, now for a bit of show and tell. Here are some pictures. As we decorate and add things to our little outdoor space, I will try to add pictures on Facebook this summer so you can see what it really looks like in the end. 

The famous "before" picture. At this point the plants had all been pulled out, so it looks a little bit messy.

Another view of the before look. 

Our son and our friend posing for a picture. 

Digging out the foundation. Our son in law hard at work. Mr. Wonderful taking a break. I didn't get many pictures of the digging part because by the time I arrived home from my 8-5 they were half way through with that little project. 

My dad supervising. 

The dumped the dirt in our pasture. I wish I knew how many wheelbarrow loads of dirt they hauled out to the pasture. 

We had many helpers, all arriving in various modes of transportation. My dad's tractor and his neighbor's trailer brought the pavers over from a local surplus store. They don't deliver, so we did the next best thing we had. Dad and his tractor, or as my sister and I have dubbed the blue piece of machinery..."truckster". Because dad uses it more like a truck than a tractor. smile.

The first layer of sand and gravel have been carefully placed and leveled out literally. Our son in law was very careful about the leveling part of the project.

Friday night when the fellows went indoors to eat Mexican Haystack, I slipped outdoors to take a few pictures. I loved this one with the wheelbarrows all in a row. 

Pavers lined up for tomorrow. (Saturday morning.) 

Saturday morning, bright and early, placing the second layer of sand and gravel on the foundation. 

I like our son's stretched out look here. 

You can see just how thick this gravel had to be. I was amazed it took so much, but I guess that is how you do it. 

The border pavers have been laid down on top of carefully placed sand over the gravel and the inside pavers are now being laid down. 

Everyone is a busy bee. Teamwork to the fullest and a lot of joking around. 

Our daughter and "little guy" checking out the progress. Here you see a better view of the sand and the lines in the sand, everything was carefully done so there wouldn't be crooked lines and dips in the floor of the patio. 

Since we have some downspout coming down on the corner of our garage they had to take some care with that. Here is they are taking care of things. 

Another shot of them working with the downspout.

Our son placing more pavers where the go next. 

Of course, on a beautiful day, I will capture anything that catches my eye. Our neighbor's horses were out and about in their pasture. I noticed the green of that pasture more. No more dead wintry brown, but beautiful and glorious summer greens! 

The project is really taking shape. 

At the end of the patio you can see a sitting wall taking shape. 

And there they are, but sitting walls and pillars. 

This is the packer. It is noisy as all get out, but somehow pounds the pavers down into the gravel and sand and creates a sturdy floor. It was amazing to watch it. 

Our yard was a mess for a few hours. 

Little guy was having so much fun...he is always carrying something. 

Starting to clean up, hauling pavers out behind the barn for another project some day. 

Our daughter in law coming out to see how things were going. 

Little guy inside the garage looking out. Look at that grin. 

This picture should have been inserted before the packer. In this step our son in law spread a special sand all over the pavers and then swept the sand into the cracks. After the sand was in the cracks to his liking was when he did the packing with the packer machine. 

Little guy found the dirt and excess sand. 

He was totally in dirt heaven. 

Just nothing like sand to dig your hands into when you are a two year old. 

I like this picture. Brother in laws discussing something. Our son is already sitting on one of the sitting walls. 

There is the finished product. We still have to apply a sealer after we clean up a few of the white stones...they have some mold on them and need to be cleaned before we can seal the whole thing. 

Of course, if a cat is around, I have to take his or her picture. I liked Ace in this picture, her little paw in the air. 

Here is our mean girl cat, she is cranky as all get out but I love her anyway. I like this shot of her. 

One more view of the after. Can't you just see Polly, the swing sitting there? And a nice table and chairs? I can! 

To think we initially had planned to just go from outside shutter to outside shutter and no sitting walls to what we have now leaves me feeling so blessed that somebody else knew better than we did. It is so pretty and I can't wait to spend a few minutes on this little space before I start my days this summer and then to end our evenings on here as well.

So happy we did it! 

And to put a period at the end of the day, this glorious sunset! It was just beautiful! 

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