Prepping for our Patio

Last week, Marie asked when we were going to Europe in response to my announcement that we finally got cable. I'm assuming that's because we could have skipped the cable and used the money for plane tickets. Unfortunately, that's not the case. At least not this year.

Logistically speaking, a long week or so of travel doesn't fit into our schedule. John is using a good chunk of vacation time to go to Appalachia with our church. Plus, we'll be going to Denver for a wedding this fall and are planning on spending some extra days there.

Finally, our "big win" savings are being put towards a brick patio! As you may recall, we had a giant hedge in our backyard. Exhibit A to refresh your memory:

When my parents visited last fall, we made the executive decision to rip out the hedge in the hopes of adding a patio. Turns out, the hedge was three plants and had some super-thick trunks and roots. Exhibit B of John with a fraction of hedge remnants:

Now that it's summer, we're itching to get this brick patio started! At one point, we considered installing the patio ourselves. That is, until we saw the yard sloping towards our house. Clearly, that's not good if it rains, so we called a few patio and landscaping companies for quotes.

We decided on the company and we finalized the design a few weeks ago. And yes, we borrowed the neighbors furniture for illustrative purposes.

We'll have a curved path connecting the driveway with the patio, keeping space for the rosebush and some grass to the left of the path. The day lilies will be moved since they were only planted there until we found a more permanent spot for them.

The left side of the patio will be the eating area with a table that fits 6 or so people. On the right will be a conversation area with chairs and a small table. Yes, Dad, we'll conceal the air conditioner with some plants.

Underneath the window will be a raised, walled planting area. In addition to planting space, this will also give us more seating. We don't plan on putting the grill on the patio since there's plenty of space to put it on the driveway when we use it and roll it back in the garage when we're not.

We're currently waiting on the building permit (we applied for it last Friday), so once we have it, we'll start breaking ground!

Are you completing any big projects this summer?
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