Patio Project: Stage 1

This has been a crazy busy weekend - in some ways, it doesn't feel like Sunday.

On Friday, Andrew and I started work on the patio. I took a vacation day and Andrew works 1/2 days on Fridays, so around noon, we sped off to rent a U-Haul truck, then to the rental equipment store, and then back to the house to start tearing into sod.

I thought I'd be spending most of my time watching, but I forgot that when you cut sod, you also roll sod. So I followed Andrew, rolling up some pretty dry sod and getting covered from head to toe in dirt. And because it was ungodly hot, the dirt stuck. It was a pretty gross job. It also wasn't as easy as we'd thought. The machine would run away with Andrew a little bit, and then it would cut power at random. We have the worst luck with large machinery.

But by the end of the day, we'd cut the sod away for our (slightly larger than) 9x9 patio.

Earlier in the week, we had the Iowa version of JULIE come out and spray paint our yard. Unfortunately, there were gas lines right where we'd wanted the perimeter of the patio to start. We backed up the patio by about 2 feet, so I got the brilliant idea to extend the foundation garden by about another 2 feet, so there is still the same width of lawn between the edge of the garden and the start of the patio.

So in addition to the oversize 9x9 patio, we cut the sod out to extend the foundation garden under our bedroom window and also cut out a new spot for the fire pit that is a little closer to the patio.

Before Andrew put the sod cutter away, I talked him into attacking this crazy overgrown spot in our yard that was at one point a garden but is not overgrown with vinca, wild mulberry, and other assorted weeds. We've been working at killing the stuff for the last couple of years (I've transplanted all the actual flowers - the day lilies and Easter lilies and taken mounds of the ground cover to the other side of the house), but crap still keeps growing. We tried to get some of the roots out by sod cutting, but the vine was pretty pervasive. Still, cutting that deep was a good start. We uncovered a small beehive, which was not fun, but at that point, it was time to get the sod cutter cleaned up and back on the truck. We ran back into the house for quick showers, and then we arrived back at the rental place a few minutes before closing time. Perfect.

Our plan after dropping off the truck was to do some very light shopping and then go get dinner. I was looking for some things to go with a dress for an upcoming wedding, so we made a couple stops and then decided to run over to Target to price out some patio furniture. When we got there, we found a solidly constructed coated metal table priced 1/2 off at $62 and sling-back chairs for $25 a piece. We decided to run over to Lowe's to do some price comparison, and then realizing how good the deal at Target was, ran back. Unfortunately, we were driving Andrew's car, and after purchasing the table and chairs, nothing would fit inside. As Andrew raced back to our house to get my car, I waited in Target detention - seriously, we learned that Target makes you stay with your purchases if they won't fit in your car. They had a bench for me and everything.

Luckily, after the car swap, we got everything in the car and resumed our errands as a small storm brewed up outside, getting all of that fresh rolled sod back in our yard nice and watered.

The next morning, my mother-in-law (and probably my biggest blog fan - hi!) was due to visit, so we scrambled to get outdoor work done and clean up our house enough for it to be presentable. We had just enough sod to cover naked patches in the front, the empty space left from the old fire pit location, and areas that we had yet to fill in around the egress window when it was put in last summer.

We had a great visit with Andrew's mom - hit the farmer's market before lunch, and she helped me pick out some cone flowers to help fill out my newly expanded flower garden. It was a nice break - we had a leisurely lunch, a tour of Andrew's new workplace, and then went to our local dinner theater later that evening. But after brunch (and a nap) this morning, it was back to yard work for us.

Andrew and I headed to Menard's to complete our order for the patio materials and schedule delivery. But while there, I walked past the exact same chairs that we bought at Target on Friday night. Instead of $25, they were marked $20 with a $10 rebate. Uh, hello! We loaded up a new set of chairs with the intent to return the Target ones (which we did later this evening). The rebate is all filled out and ready to go, and I am stoked that we bought a nice quality table and chairs for $100. Now to find an umbrella and stand on the cheap...

And in addition to ordering the rest of the pavers at Menard's, we picked up 29 feet of crescent-shaped edgers (83 bricks) so I could make an outline on the new expanded garden and match it with my potted herb garden on the other side of the house. Andrew purchased some extra bricks and tarps, and I grabbed the Twizzlers (an important material, obviously).

Before heading over to pick up the bricks, I scooted over to the garden center and filled up a cart with some perennials. I bought a hydrangea plant, hollyhock, some red stuff and some purple stuff (uhhh....). When we got home, Andrew and I unloaded the car and set up the edge of the garden, and then I placed all the plants still in their pots (will plant later this week). It's surprisingly filled in, which made me happy. I've never had an actual flower bed, and everything looked tall and a little wild together - the kind of garden I like.

At some point this week, I'll take some of the extra dirt that is still on the perimeter of the patio (well, the hole that will be the patio) and fill in the garden a bit. I still have a ton of soil from my herb garden, so it should be pretty quick work to get everything planted.

The big next step will be this Wednesday - Andrew scheduled delivery for patio pavers (each one is a little over 40 lbs, and there are 49 of them...think my trainer will take it easy on me when I go work out on Thursday?), sand, and rock. We will be celebrating the independence of our country by waking up insanely early and laying a patio - and hopefully enjoying sparklers and a grilling out in our fancy new backyard by the evening of the 4th!