Patio update

Patio update  NEWS FLASH  I am so over cleaning bricks.  Most of the last 4 weeks you could find me outside pounding mortar off bricks by 7:00 AM.  I have to dress in jeans, log sleeve shirt, gloves, mask, shoes and socks and the mortar dust still gets in places it shouldn't.  About 200 bricks to go.  I'm sure the neighbors will be happy not hear the pounding of the hammer that early in the morning.

Selfie ready for mortar battle

.  With the help of our son Rich and grand daughter Katelyn, we made a lot of progress this weekend.  The ends need to be finished and two more feet added to the sides.  A round planting bed will go around the stump because of all the roots. The fire pit is ready to be built.  I want a two foot wide planting bed along the side of the patio with an outside brick edging.  That doesn't sound that hard when you read it in a few sentences but the finishing always takes the longest.  I can't wait to get the furniture out of the yard and start decorating the new space.

That big ring in the center is the base of the fire pit

The first two piles of about 3000 bricks are already in and more than half of the last pile is cleaned and ready to be set

Our wonderful assistant cleaning/breaking bricks

The brick layer himself, he's much more exacting and a perfectionist than I ever could be.  That's why I clean and he lays the bricks