Brush Strokes

I arrived back to the mountain top after my Thanksgiving excursion with several hours of daylight left and adequate weather for activities. Being well fed and rested, there was no reason not to start moving more gravel down to the basement patio.

At this point, the new gravel layer is finished and eyeball level. There will be some settling of contents over time no doubt. I trust the grade follows the natural slope down to the north end. I could check to be sure. I might just out of curiosity. Or I could wait for the next hard rain and see if my catchment box for the drain is working. Until I decide to install a stone floor, it doesn't really matter as long as it is comfortable to walk on.

After I was satisfied with the gravel, the tan bricks came down to the patio and I started to move them around.

This morning before the rains began, I moved them around some more. I kept coming back to this design. It is the current leading contender.

It is simple without being plain.

It has nice movement and flow.

It uses every single brick with no shortage and no leftovers and covers the full length of the patio. I think I like it. I can live with it for a while. I can still try out new ideas. Eventually, once the decision is made, the bricks will be sunk into the gravel and only the tops will show. That will subdue the design a great deal.

Now I need a table and chairs. A working basement patio has arrived.

I also want to do a little touch up work on the top of the lower dry stack retaining wall. I'll need to go fetch me some smaller flat rocks. Constant kitty traffic has caused some minor disruption.

Check out the winter under garden. It is coming along. Next year the yuccas on the other half of the slope will be as big as the ones on the right.

It's all visible from the scenic byway in the barren time. A living abstract painting continues to gain new brush strokes.