The Shade Patio: from Start to (near-) Finish

We reset the filler pavers in the shade patio today and filled in the cracks with sand. Given how hard we worked on this project just two days ago, I think returning to it today is a great testament to our perseverance and strength of character. Or, possibly, our stubbornness and bloody-mindedness.

In any event, I'm so enamored of the whole thing, that I thought I'd recap the patio's progress in pictures, so I can admire it in an orderly, chronologic way.

This was the beginnings of the beta version--lots of gaps, no border of little Pez-shaped pavers, no metal edging, and just the beginning of a walkway to the mudroom door.

Shade patio, Mark I.

Once we had figured out what size and shape the patio would be, given the miscellaneous collection of pavers at our disposal, we wrapped the whole thing in metal edging. Then we lifted all the pavers and filled the edging with sand.

Empty edging

Here's the pile of sand we used as a foundation for the pavers. It came from the former sandbox on the cement pad where the orangery now sits.

The contents of the former sandbox

Then we began to reassemble the pavers, starting with the 5 medallions.

Beginnings of the gold version of the patio

We capped this off with more sand to fill in the (many) cracks and gaps.

Partially sanded patio

We did not, unfortunately, have enough sand (or metal edging, for that matter) to complete the walkway to the study door, but we did get a sizeable chunk laid down. We shouldn't have to buy too many more bags of sand to finish the job. We will, sadly, have to buy crushed granite, however. The sand is the foundation for the walkway, but the mortar, as it were, that will go around the stones, will be crushed granite, which we will also use for the path out to the pond and to redo the driveway. I suspect we'll have to buy a whole truckload and have them dump it somewhere on the property. A proceeding that cannot possibly be described as "cheap," unless, of course, we're comparing it to the cost of paving in actual concrete. No telling when we'll get around to making that investment, in other words.

Our partially sanded walkway

And here's the (almost) finished product. Ta-da!

We will need to cap the whole thing with cement, and neither walkway is complete, but, still, this is basically a functional, usable, sturdy patio. Isn't it much nicer now that the holes are all filled in?

Shade patio: the gold version