A Sneak Peek

The very beginning of the back yard.

We have had a BIG day. My Beloved spent most of it mixing up cement and laying the concrete paver mould. I drove to three different stores to get supplies. The oxide we brought the day before was not going to do the job.

 The plan was to lay the mould then sprinkle the 2 different oxide colours and the finished result would be awe inspiring... It was nothing short of cringe worthy.

YUCK.

 I gave it three attempts and decided we'd have to do some thing different. The store we usually go to for our concrete supplies has recently changed hands and the products we know and I personally love are not available. So what normally would have cost me 20 dollars will now cost 150. I was not all that pleased to say the least. But then that is the first rule of D.I.Y 'Just when you think you have everything sorted and you know what you are going to use/do... something major will happen and you'll have to rethink.'

By the time I had returned home with cement, oxides, adhesives and a beef & Gravy roll for My Beloved. I noticed that he had deviated from the 'plan', something that really should not surprise me as he often does. It was however good to see him regretting his decision and it was even better to hear him admit that I was right! 

The 'plan' was simple. Use the paver mould. Use the same pattern. Keep the 'gaps' between the moulds as small as possible. Use concrete blend for strength. The concrete blend and the pattern were used. My beloved decided to off set the moulds and as a result there are 'spaces'.

Not part of the plan...

At first I was peeved. But then I realised it was to my advantage. The 'spaces' could be an outlet for my 'creative' streak ( I had originally planned to do a lot of mosaic squares with pebbles, a LOT of work and I decided it was do-able but too much for me to do and My Beloved flat out refused.) Now we get the 'best' of both worlds and it will take a little longer to finish but when we have it will be something completely our own.

The very first 'space' has been 'boxed up' and some concrete put in. I decided a simple hand  coated in terracotta oxide and an old bit of a cuff bracelet would suffice... along with the year.

I found some blue foam to use as a 'box' and filled it with cement then used my terracotta oxide covered hand to 'decorate' it. I planted some mondo grass along it. Those spaces will now be the 'heart' of the backyard. Some spaces are long enough for me to get each kids hand or foot print side by side, the smaller areas can be for each child to draw or mosaic something in the cement. 

There is a lot more to do and it will take longer than we thought, but then it ALWAYS does ( rule number 2 of D.I.Y) but it will be worth it!

Tomorrow My Beloved and I will start the day out the back and then with the excuse of needing to go 'food' shopping I will be off to see what I can find in the way of pebbles and some more oxide ( I am thinking a green blue.. it will be fine, trust me). Hopefully I can spend the day getting as many spaces done as Littlest Miss and Mr Cheeky will let me. On Friday the fun really begins as I get to play with colours and oxides so those ugly 'higgledy piggledy' bits of concrete look awesome!

I could go on, but I wont. I will just go to bed! Stay tuned. :)