This is the story of a backyard, a patio wall, and the man in the yellow shirt. A story of danger, intrigue, mystery, suspense, courage, shovels, swearing, dirt, the wheel-barrow, the level. Man vs. the elements.
The taming of one small corner of the planet, a triumph of the human spirit.....a wall going boldly where no wall has gone before...........and the man in the yellow shirt who tamed the dirt, tamed the yard, and ultimately tamed me (well, no, not quite).
First, he dug. And dug, and dug. And dug some more.
Over 70 wheel-barrow loads of dirt were removed from this small area.
I don't have a "before" picture, but it was all weeds. Weeds, I tell you, weeds!
Then he put over 35 loads of stones in, as part of the patio foundation.
Then, he bought and carried all of these Allan blocks to the back yard. They weigh approx 75 lbs each, and he used about 45 of them. This was the dangerous part. Danger of dropping block on foot. The courageous part was me watching him almost drop block on foot. Repeatedly.
Did I mention swearing?
He carefully places each stone, mindful of my screeching reminding him to use the level.
A purposeful stride to the next block. Thinking "Whose idea was this wall, and when am I going to have some beer?"
These are the caps - about 60 of them were used, at about 30 lbs each. He had to rent a special saw to cut them for the curved area and other tight spots.
Now some of the previously-removed dirt comes back to fill in the planter areas. this is the intriguing part. Dirt go away - dirt come back.
He goes to get more dirt. Things are shaping up.
The photographer is relentless!
Artful stepped planter area: to be filled with stunning greenery.
Bedraggled old greenery to be rearranged/removed.
Money to be spent at nursery; credit card to be further melted.
This is still the old greenery. Not enough form, shape, colour!
It's mostly shady back here, so a few hostas and other shade-lovers are in order, I think.
Another angle. I love this wall, and plan to praise the man in the yellow shirt daily for the rest of our lives.
Or, until I get distracted.
I think my deck pots need scrubbing.
Oh man in the yellow shirt....another chore for you....
(Just kidding, I'll do it myself)
A final shot of his holy walliness.
We're off to the store to buy some plants.
We'll tackle what to put down as an actual patio some other day. Now he's talking about putting in a Japanese garden instead of a patio. We'll see. This is the mysterious part of the story...and the suspense.
Stay tuned for plantings, patio or garden construction, and more stunning images of the man in the yellow shirt!
