My New Stone Patio

I went to Pete Carrol's Stone Yard and picked out this native Oklahoma stone. So I ordered the ton and a half of stone, then you need cement, then you need sand. It took more than my $500 savings, so luckily Dad chipped in another hundred. They brought it all out on a big truck and dumped everything in my front yard. They delivered on Saturday and we started bright and early on Monday morning.

This is what you look like after you work on making a stone patio. When I say work, I mean work. Michael tried to tell me how hard it would be, but I really didn't know. Do not ever make a stone patio in Texas, in the summer, or really anytime. I'm so happy to have it now and the pain is fading, kinda like childbirth, and I am so thankful that my dear husband would help me create the picture I had in my mind of sitting on the patio and watering my garden.
I truly underestimated how much WORK!!!

This is the part after all the stones are laid when you have to suck up the extra sand between the stones using the shopvac.

This is smoothing of the grout. You have to mix cement and sand in a bucket and then Michael had to squeeze it our of a big pastry bag into each section. It made me feel bad to watch him

carry that heavy bag and bend all the way to his toes to full each crack.

My Hero! He doesn't complain, he just listens to me grumble, cry, complain.

A picture so you can see the great work we did putting the stone in place just like a puzzle.

So this is the before picture.

And this is a picture I took in the spring when I decided to make a huge flower garden. I dug up all the dirt and replaced it with good soil and lots of worm dirt. I added the stones and then the plants. After I finished, I decided that I really needed a patio. I love going out in the early mornings to sit on my patio and water and care for my plants. Come and see!