Building Bensonhurst: May 2010

Since I last posted (three weeks ago!) we've been busy working on the yard and finishing up a few odds and ends in the house, but mostly we've just had some really fun visitors.. hence the lack of updates and small amounts of work that have been accomplished.

In the Yard..
This is our attempt at laying a patio..

Sad I know, but this is why.. When discussing landscaping we always knew exactly where we wanted to put a patio. We were both looking forward to taking advantage of an outdoor space, but because patios are hard to do (and very time consuming) we figured it would be a project for next year. Basically the area would have to be cleared of the MANY tree stumps, the ground would have to be levelled- and with all of the other work that still has to be done to the outside of the house, we put that all on the back burner.. until we found this..

What we thought was a random cement slab that we could break up and haul away turned out to be what we think is an abandoned sewer. While it may in fact have served a different purpose originally (if there's anyone more familiar with the history of our neighborhood who knows exactly what it is please email us!), we knew that no matter it was, it had to stay- and suddenly that became the new location of our patio! And not only that- while originally we had opted to be patient and do the patio the right way in a year or so, it suddenly became a priority for us to cover up the horrible manhole. So, we went to Home Depot and came home with a truck load of pavers..

While I won't go into detail about how we actually installed the patio since it was wrong and no one should ever do it that way- I'll share the highlights.. just remember, we had lots of things working against us, tree stumps, manholes and all..

I unloaded the truck as Ben moved the pavers to our patio site..

Don't worry there weren't any pavers in there while he was taking Henry for a spin.

Henry patiently looking on as I unloaded the truck.

As Ben poured a mixture of sand and top soil, I tried to level the surface (obviously unsuccessfully!)..

He then staked out the area..

It looks like Henry was watching Ben's every move but really he was just plotting when he could sneak in and and grab the orange string out of his hands. We wasted lots of time chasing him around the yard trying to get it back!

Once the pavers were down we dumped top soil over them. We're hoping to grow grass in between them to make it a more rustic and almost natural looking patio- not to mention we're hoping the grass will help to mask all the problem areas- and believe me, there are plenty to mask!

While our patio skills aren't exactly up to snuff, I also did a little planting- Ben did some more recently that I have yet to photograph. I was very proud of my work- I planted three peony bushes, two hydrangeas and two rose bushes (all by myself!). Below are the peonies that will hopefully bloom just in time for the summer of 2015..

Don't worry, I can't see them either.

In the House..
We've done minimal work in the house recently- with the beautiful weather we've had Ben and I have done everything in our power to work outside! But this past weekend he finished up installing the base molding in the bathroom..