Acting on the premise that an improperly laid patio is better than no patio at all, and the fact that we’ve had these bricks waiting for ten (10!) years, I determined to make my patio.

I started just before the heat wave and got as far as this.

Today, I got this far.

I haven’t decided which is harder–scraping the dirt to make it relatively even or bending in the sun to clean dirt and moss off the bricks. And bricks are rough. When I get back to it, I’ll use a brush, not my hands.

I think it will take me two or three more half days of work. I need to go around that curve toward the top right of the photo–probably to the end of the spa gravel–maybe a bit more, fill in the gap I left in the bottom right of the photo, and pull out a few bricks here and there to remove more dirt and thus remove some bumps. The ground is mostly clay, so I think it will be stable, but I’ll probably not fill in the gaps with sand or fine gravel until next summer.

It is not and will not be perfect, but it will be better than no patio. Better than mud and pavers that move around. If I keep it washed with vinegar in the winter, that should keep it mostly clear of moss.

After the bricks are laid, as a separate project, I want to add more concrete on top of, or redo, the sidewalk section at the bottom of the photos. That’s the corner where rainwater overshoots the gutters in a heavy rain and it needs to be higher next to the house and slant down to the garden. That means I’ll have to dig a small canal at the edge of the sidewalk, because that garden is a mound.

I’m considering using those pavers, stacked by the spa, to make steps to make it easier to get into the spa. Maybe not. It depends on how stable it will be. I may just put them down on the gravel around the spa. Or, I may use them as pavers in the mulched areas of the yard.

That big pot next to the spa is full of the dirt I scraped away. I think I’ll need twice as much in amendments to make it decent garden dirt. I may put the tree growing in the clematis pot, at the left, into it to grow.

The garden bench behind the pot (against the spa) was put there for mom, so she could sit out of the sun when she needed a break from gardening. We never use it where it is. If it fits, I’m thinking it might get used right next to the door (just to the left of the cement at the bottom of the photo). I’d put the back right up to the house, so it would probably come out to the second row of bricks. And it’ll need to be over enough that the sewer pipe is not in front of it. A lot will depend on how much that sewer pipe is in the way. I don’t know why they put it there. I may just have to find a weatherproof chair.

It’s amazing what I see in photos that I’m so used to live that I don’t notice.