So when did this little basement patio project begin? As a sanity saving device I shaved two years off of my memory. The truth is my imagination was sparked and a project was born a full six years ago in the late fall of 2007.
The lower wall was thrown up quickly. I had plenty rocks close by for that wall. Then I slowed way down for the second upper wall. Ohmm...
You can tell the difference in the stacking. The upper wall is much prettier with tighter joints.
I slowed down so much the upper wall took five years and ten months of the six years it took me to build these two walls. I did slip in another short retaining wall along the entry path to the patio in that time.
In my slowness I also managed to build two small grottoes into the upper wall.
There is a logical explanation for how long it takes my imagination to be made real. When I started these walls, the cozy cabin looked like this. Half of the garden becoming was a barren slope.
So the upper wall is now done, but the basement patio itself is not finished. It needs a gravel base for fill and a stone floor to cover it. That will cost some money I do not have. There is no telling how long it might take to actually finish the patio. The gravel I can swing. That much flagstone is another matter. I'm now plotting how to scrounge remnant flagstone. I only need 400+ square feet.
All those years. It is a bit discouraging if I think about it. But look. There's a cozy cabin above my walls now and it only took four years to do that.
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5 comments:
Though I haven't commented much, I've enjoyed following your progress on the cozy little cabin and the garden becoming. I discovered your blog about halfway through the cabin construction, read the back story, and have been following since.
We bought our land in Madison County in 2010 and are just now starting construction. We had to get a contractor to get a loan, but I really admire your do-it-yourself style.
It all looks fantastic. I have followed you since the beginning.I greatly admire your persistence & your dreams.
Don't be discouraged. It is all worth it. I am sure you will get the stone in due time.
Hi JudyB. Welcome to the Kingdom of Madison. I think I have met your building contractor if he is married to Kathy at Country Places Realty.
Lola I am almost surprised by the fact that you have followed me that long and that it has been six and a half years now.
Lisa I have been around enough places to know there are always left overs at construction jobs. I just need to befriend some more stone masons.
I submit that you have just defined the difference between "done right" and "done right now".
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