patio.

So we had our first really nice weather weekend these last two days and that, well, makes me want to work on stuff outside. So yeah - the bathroom sits, still mostly gutted, waiting for ... I'm not sure what.

But now - like I was out of nowhere completely random about building new stair railings and the subsequent complete painting of my house - I am motivated on something just as ridiculous ... putting in the back patio and then - building a patio cover over it.

I know - I should be doing a lot of other things. The garage overhaul will also for-sure come this summer. But during the month of May I'm now thinking I will spend it finishing the backyard landscaping and, well, putting in a patio and such.

So once I put in the two front sidewalks using a combination of 6x6 and 6x9 cement pavers, I realized it (like most - er, all - of this remodeling business) ain't rocket science and decided at once to use the same pavers for the patio I've been planning for something like four years = since I had the yard tore out, regraded and planted anew. Which is just to say at that time I measured out the 12x20' space that would become the patio and didn't plant any seeds so ... it turned into a 12x20' weed garden. Good times.

But that just say I've had this plan for a while now and it's time to act on it. Building the patio will be easy, if not a bit back-breaking but hopefully all-in-all not terrible. It'll take a truckload (or two) of sand from the landscaping place I pick up my mulch and now stones. And a truckload (or two) of pavers from the Depot (haven't been able to find them anywhere else). Removing a lot of weeds and leveling the whole two-hundred-and-forty square feet before dumping in the sand. Tamping it all down then starting to insert the pavers. One. At. A. Time.

It'll be tons of fun, but it'll look nice (hopefully) when it's done. Then the real fun will start ... building a patio cover.

Luckily - like the space - I've had a plan in mind for years based off this random structure in the middle of a parking lot at a nearby elementary school. Yeah, I have no idea why it's there but the first time I saw it I remember thinking 'that would make a cool patio cover.' And so today I biked over there with my camera to take some detailed photos of how it was put together, then with a tape measure and some graph paper to sketch out all the measurements and dimensions so I could figure out how much lumber I would need.

Yikes - that's a lot of lumber ... must find a place to get cheap - ideally recycled - lumber.

And a couple notes to self -

- run an electrical conduit from the garage to one of the posts and put in a double-gang outlet - for Christmas lights, the charcoal lighter and the iPod dock or something

- build the plans from knockoffwood for the chaise lounges

- incorporate a clothesline on the patio cover
- put in a fruit/vegetable garden in the strip between the patio and the garage