One Brick, Two Brick, Three Brick, Four...

We've been having some great weather lately, so many of my projects (that take forever) have been outside. I took the opportunity to try and finish my brick walkway.

When I first moved in, I couldn't stand that the bricks were all overgrown with grass and weeds. I started to pull up the grass and found that this was going to be a bigger job than I had first anticipated. You know the old saying, "do it right the first time." ? Well, I decided to re-lay every... single... brick... You would have too if you came upon the mess that I did! This is how it started. 

Beware: The following photo may cause you feelings of compassion and pity for the persons involved in taking on such tasks. And, they accept.

This is only about HALF of the walk way. The other half leads to the driveway.

This is the start of the drive way...see what a mess it is???

I spoke with my neighbor (as he looked at me with crazy eyes at the task I was about to embark on) and he said that he hasn't seen the top of these bricks in about 16 years! 16 years people!! I am doing a service by liberating these bricks to work to their full potential!

You can see the other half of the walkway in this picture, leading up to the driveway. I've made progress, right??!!

After hours upon hours of pulling up grass, digging out the bricks, leveling the dirt, laying sand, and RE-laying the bricks in a different pattern...it is almost complete.

I just need to lay a sand/mortar mix on top of these bricks and they should be nice and sturdy for walking! Only about 4 or 5 more feet to go. 

UPDATE:
Here it is complete! I'm so glad this project is over. Now I get to start on the brick patio.

creative. endeavor=  complete

Onward.

Creative Endeavors goes- Outside!

I took my endeavors outdoors this summer to do some landscaping work. Lucky for me previous owners didn't do any landscaping, so all I had to do was clear out grass and not cut down trees! There is a walkway from my back door leading to the back yard. I just got sick of seeing grass. I want to be welcomed into the backyard with whimsical plants! So, that is exactly what I started to create. Here is what the landscaping (or lack there of) looked like before:

Plain as you can get! I killed off the grass first and then cut it into sections to be able to roll the grass out of the space. I thought about renting a sod cutter, but it was just too big to be able to maneuver in this small space. So, I did it all by hand, and my muscles love me for it!

Anddddd, after! What a difference some hard work will make! I got some day lilies at a local greenhouse for $5 a piece, and in a few years they should multiply so I can move them around to other places in the yard. Not too bad for my first try at landscaping! Boy was it hard work. Very much worth it in the end.

creative.  (outdoor) endeavor= compete

Onward.