As you read this I truly hope you had the most wonderful Easter weekend, here in the UK the sun shone so brightly it was hard to believe it was a Bank Holiday.
As is my way I decided to get cracking with a project that has been waiting for the right time, energy & of course funds. My garden patio was not going to lay itself & time as they say waits for no woman.
So I’ve watched Grand designs & seen people create amazing things, far bigger & grander than a little patio, & besides it always comes good in the end. I am not going to lie however, last Friday afternoon that familiar look on my husbands face said it all, without words the air of ‘what have you got us into’ filled the yet to be created patio void.
However, when you are 1000 kg of Indian stone, 400 kg of sub base (not enough it turns out) & 400 kilos of slab layer in there is no going back.
“Though she be but little, she is fierce!”
― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
So where do you begin when you have absolutely no idea where to start, you dig deep & dig in but mostly you manage your expectations. So slowly alongside my husband we figured it out, one stone at a time. Was it difficult, yes, did we require Prosecco & Beer at times to preserve our sanity, absolutely. Did we get fractious, only occasionally because we stayed focused on the results. We both love our garden & old cottage, it was always going to be a project of Love & patience.
Never knowingly able to stay focused on one thing I did take a detour to the Garden Centre whereupon I bought yet more flowers & vegetables to grow in and around the space we have been creating. You can build a patio in days but plants, well they take time. I am now obsessed with planters & shade loving blooms, a bit like myself we don’t all thrive in direct sun it seems.
So we did it, having been dismissed continually by Landscapers who didn’t want such a tough job. Part one complete, only 3 more parts to go but the best bit is when the HSS man comes to collect the ridiculously heavy wacker plate & makes reference to how much work your husbands done. You then gently explain that on this occasion a small, fierce & oh so stubborn wife just couldn’t resist lifting 400 kilos herself, well, just because, she could.
Wishing you an inspired week ahead & if your curious to see the results just scroll down, its not perfect but its ours,
Suzy
