On Second Thought

That patio I was so excited about last night is going to have to wait.  The reason is simple.  See, after I'd posted, I went to YouTube and looked at some videos on how to install a paving stone patio.  It looks pretty simple.  You stake out the corners of your patio, then string mason's line, and make sure it's square and all that.  Then you dig.

That there is the problem.  It's been so dry this year that my back yard is just about as hard as those paving stones I want to put down.  Seriously.  We're under a nearly state wide burn ban.  Some guy decided to ignore the ban and burn his field.  It was so dry that the fire got out of control, overtook the guy, and killed him.  Yes, it's that bad.

I'm thinking that if I wait until Spring, after the rainy season, it'll be easier to dig out my patio base.  That'll give me a lot of time to plan, and try to decide which paving stones I want to use.  There are so many options, I can't make up my mind.  There are also molds that I can use with Quikcrete.  I will probably go up to Lowe's and see what they look like in person before I make a final decision.

I did get out this morning and measure out where my old patio was.  I was thinking it was bigger than it was.  I was thinking it was 10' x 12', but after measuring, I now think it was only 8' x 8'.  That's how big I'm going to make the new one, so that'll be a little less money.  I don't need a really big patio.  Just enough for a lawn chair and maybe a table.  And a small fire pit.  Maybe.

The other thing I did today was to get in my bedroom and pull the rest of the screws and nails out of my walls.  And there were a lot of them.

I think I've finally gotten them all out, except for one that I left on purpose.  I'm going to hang my calendar from that nail, so I decided to leave it where it is.  Then I got out my trusty wood putty and filled in all the holes.  Again, I think I got them all filled in.  I'll probably find some I missed when I paint it.  Next thing to do is to sand all the putty smooth, and lightly sand the paneling.  I've already started sanding the door frame to get the finish off.  There is a lot of damage to the door and door frame, but it's nowhere near in as bad a shape as my bathroom door was.  I'll eventually replace it, but probably not until I get the whole room remodeled completely.  

I spent most of the rest of the day watching ST: TNG and knitting.  At one point, I looked over and saw a little spidey sitting on my shoulder watching me knit.  I named him George.

Then I killed him.

Sayonara, George.