Building the Patio

In this case we had to get the old concrete slab out first. Luckily, Tom was in town. We asked him if he was hungry. Luckily, he was. We told him if he busted up that slab we would feed him. Really wish we'd gotten a picture of him swinging the sledge hammer!

We needed a solid border around the rose bed for the patio to abut. Tom felt the need to learn something, so we all took turns setting the blocks in a ditch Jim had dug.

We grew a crop of eleven-hundred-fifty pavers on out front garden this year. You can barely see the step forms in the back, but there are twelve of those too.

After the rose-bed wall was finished we started bustin' sod and digging out the top layer of dirt. Pavers don't like to sit on top of organic material and we want to keep the digging to a minimum.

Picking apart clods of sod to get the dirt out of the roots is a leisure time activity we have spent long enjoyable hours pursuing.

Now what we want is a firm packed base at a gentle grade away from the house. Well, we got so good at keeping things on the level for the castle blocks, this grade thing will take some getting used to.

Oh, and that's Abby taking a short break from her supervisory role to roll in some catnip.