Things aren't just things

I like stuff.

I like having stuff.

I like looking at stuff.

I like looking at my stuff.

As materialistic as those statements are, they're true. The thing is, I just didn't realize how much I enjoyed having my stuff around until I'd been deprived of it for a long time.

Between bouncing around apartments during my college years and moving 4,319,834,987,349 miles away from everything I knew, I haven't seen my stuff in years. Due to the absence of my things and my continued existence (something I was sure would be affected by boxing away my belongings), I concluded that I could easily live without my stuff and pondered why I even bothered having so much stuff in the first place. Conversations were had about the freedom of not having stuff on display. How clean, uncluttered and carefree living seemed without having all the things you thought you needed within arm's reach.

I convinced myself it was good to not have an identity.

Then my bookcase showed up.

The bubbling anticipation of unpacking boxes of books and knickknacks was overwhelming. I contemplated taking vacation just so I could finish painting and installing the thing, but that seemed excessive. Instead, I bided my time and worked on my identity holder when I could. 

 

It was finally time to crack the tape of our moving boxes and discover what goodies lay inside. All the things I forgot I missed stared up at me. All my books, design magazines, trinkets, pictures, bangles, and shiny bobbles gleamed up at me waiting to be rediscovered. Memories came flooding back as I recalled where and how each item was acquired, where its last location of display was, how that one item really helped polish off the ambiance of the room. 

 

As I pulled myself out of my thoughts I realized how wrong I was to leave all my things packed in blank cardboard boxes. As each items was carefully brushed off and placed in its new home I realized it wasn't just my things I was packing away out of sight for so long, it was me.

The Patio Project

When we first moved in, the yard was a clean slate. Really. Everything that had ever lived there was dead and gone and the previous owners had never attempted adding to their outdoor living. . . which was really great for us and our imaginations. 

For months we pondered what could possibly fill the space outdoors. We searched for inspiration in garden books and magazines, while ambling down aisles in the local home improvement stores, and on neighborhood walks to see what other residents had chosen.

Patiently, we collected ideas and concepts and made a few attempts of improvement.

We knew there would be a walkway on the left side of the house, so an afternoon was spent notching out the steep hill in the backyard and gauging the grade of the yard.

We moved on to other projects inside, still mulling paver options and how to move forward.

Then the wet season came.

Before we could even bother with sidewalks and patios, drainage needed to be handled.

Once the skies had cleared and the last bit of standing water had evaporated, a trencher was rented to start the tedious task of burying pipes.

 

Unfortunately, we waited a bit too long after the floods and our ground had turned into concrete. Three long days were had hauling the trencher around the yard and moving dirt out of the shallow trench cupful by cupful.

After that hard lesson was learned, we put our heads together and finally decided on what we wanted. Ced whipped up a schematic so we would be armed with our plan when contractors came calling.

 (Blue indicates drainage pipes, red indicates concrete)

We were lucky enough to find a great experienced contractor who answered all of our annoying questions and got to work.

After four long days, a broken trencher, and a confession that we have the hardest soil ever encountered in fifteen years of business, the drainage was finally installed.

The guys then moved on to setting up the forms.

This process went much smoother, since no digging was involved.

Ced and I helped coerce the arc into something smooth and pleasing and adjusted the transition points to our liking.

There was a minor hiccup when we discussed the expansion joints with our contractor.

We had wanted a large diamond pattern cut into the concrete. Although this was indicated on our plan, our contractor had forgotten this and argued that it would be more work than he anticipated. After an awkward conversation, he agreed to do the work if we laid out the pattern.

Being the giant nerds we are, we quickly agreed and strung out the pattern. This visualization of the pattern confirmed the awesomeness to be.

Then pouring day came.

The truck pulled up at 5:30 and they began pumping concrete in at 6.

The crew quickly worked the concrete into the forms and our dreams of concrete goodness came true.

After all the concrete was in place and smoothed, the expansion joints went in.

When it was time, the patio and gate walkway were stamped with a rough slate pattern.

I was really surprised by the amount of work that went into stamping the concrete. I had assumed the stamps would be applied when the mud was still soft. Turns out, they wait for it to almost set up and pound the stamp into it. I still don't quite get the process, but am thrilled with the results.

Although only the gate side yard and the back patio got the special treatments of expansion joints and stamping, the rest of the concrete looks great.

We opted for a simple side entrance that transitions to the fancy stuff right past the gate.

Our "midyard" has become a breakfast nook, of sorts.

During our initial planning, we weren't going to invest in adding concrete down this side of the house. When the contractors came out, they convinced us that it'd be worth it in the long run. I'm quite glad we did.

I'm still not thrilled with the strange wall that came with the house, but I'm trying to warm up to it.

We think the patio looks great in its natural color, but we really wanted that extra punch, so we're having it stained.

Now don't judge the color by this photo. This acid stain allows varied coloration, which is really what we had in mind when designing the patio.
The plan was to have the patio stained all one color, but our color guy brought in some photos of an alternating color design that we both drooled over.
Although this photo is of freshly stained concrete, it's lacking the glossy sealer that will really bring out the color.
Unfortunately, the sealer cannot be applied for a few weeks, so I won't have a finished product to show any time soon.

The finished product will look similar to this wet area. Oooohh, shiny.

We've only had the patio/sidewalk/midyard for four days and it has proven to be an excellent addition to our home.

I believe our furry friends agree.