We changed the patio in our backyard. May I temper the natural expectation for a stunning before and after? Here we only have room for small delights, not those home makeover dramas… And sometimes I think it’s better that way.

It all began because the garden space felt disorganized. The area between the house and the garage is almost triangular, and using rectangular patio blocks seemed to require a straight line somewhere. We chose to run the patio parallel to the garage. I played with the layout using rough measurements and miniature patio blocks cut from gray cardstock. When the snow melted and the rain stopped, Christian got to work.

We were kind of proud of the fact that this project was only going to cost us the gravel and the machine-rental to pack it. The patio blocks were already ours, scattered in little groups here and there around the yard; under the deck, behind the garage and part of the little patio glimpsed above.

Somehow I am always surprised when we execute these projects how much we change the feel of our space. This summer now has evenings when we sit under the stars and tend a fire in the fireplace, sometimes roasting marshmallows.

Getting a new cement sidewalk is an investment that requires proportional dissatisfaction with the existing state of walking surface and perhaps this is best summarized by the following picture:

If some detail were to be added it would be this: once upon a time, it used to rain in Winnipeg to the extent that the city had a certain reputation for mosquitoes. All this rain made the little circle paving stones a somewhat romantic path to and from the garage, even if, come winter, they were impossible to shovel. The rain ceased, and grass retreated like a receding hairline so that the circular paving stones seemed to float like forlorn islands in a sea of dirt… occasionally mud. So, this year, fed up entirely, we called a cement company for a quote and penciled-in the end of August for the beginning of work. We subsequently learned that getting a cement sidewalk involves a number of steps, the first of which is the digging.

After the digging come the forms.

Sometimes the plan needs modification because the little island of grass that Enzo likes sleeping on has too tight a curve for the form builder. Besides, he thinks it looks weird.

Once that little snafu gets cleared up, gravel is laid, packed and watered.

Then comes rebar, like artwork. In the course of all this, the dog escapes a handful of times.

Then, the glorious day of cement-pouring arrives and your son, who loves construction and imagines himself growing up to be a construction worker, comes home and asks you to tell him all about it. “There’s not much to say…” you apologetically reply… The truck was on the street and the crew brought in cement a wheel-barrow-full at a time, while you hid out in the basement doing work and staying out of the way, mostly because you’re shy.

A day later, lines are cut and the day after that, the forms are taken off.

Then Christian makes a run to the greenhouse for dirt and sod and the sidewalk is made to look like it was always there.

We both congratulate ourselves for hiring professionals.