Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Gettin' Down N Dirty

Have you ever tried to shovel mud?

No? Don't.

Once again this past weekend (while the kitchen countertop grout was drying), I decided to skip the gym in lieu of a different kind of workout. The fact that it had stormed the previous night didn't deter me one bit in my determination to continue unearthing the buried patio - rather, I took it as a personal challenge to see if I could actually do it.

By myself. Oh yeah.

So I strapped on some nasty work clothes, donned a pair of our outdoor shoes (So what? Sometimes having the same shoe size as your husband comes in handy!), grabbed a shovel and the wheelbarrow and got to work.

What can I say? Turns out playing in the mud is kinda fun, after all.

And it looks like I'm not the only one who was outside enjoying the general muddiness of the day; see if you can spy the snake in the photo below:


After disassembling the homemade fire pit (and putting the rocks back on the retaining wall where they most likely came from in the first place) and after about 5 hours of sloshing/sliding/shoveling the goopy mud (which was about 5x heavier than when it was dry) -


I was done. The patio was unearthed!


Now we just need to find us a power washer to finish washing away all that dirt. Oh, and get rid of all that lovely wood that someone who shall remain unnamed *cough Charlie cough* was so kind enough to leave for us to "discover". The rusty nails are quite a nice touch, I must admit.


Once the patio has been washed, we will be able to stand back and assess the current condition of the patio, and then decide what we can do to revive it and turn it into the backyard oasis of our dreams!

...or maybe just a patio. That'd work, too. As long as the glorified weed garden is gone I'm happy. Really.

And yes, I totally pwned that mud-covered patio. Totally.

I just won't mention the fact that for the few days following I was poppin' Aleve and Tylenol like it was nobody's business while I recooperated.

Yeah, it was still worth it.

Anyways, stay tuned for the "unveiling" (translation: washing) of the patio, and then our plans to resuscitate the help-me-I've-been-buried-for-an-entire-year-with-pounds-and-pounds-of-dirt-and-mulch-and-snow-and-ice patio that will follow. Who knows what other adventures we'll tackle!

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8 comments:

  1. HOLA CHELSEA,
    Just stopping over to let you know that you won the pennant banner of your choice, either the earth tone or the more brightly colored one...please do let me know you preference and mailing address ASAP as I leave out of town on Saturday of this week!
    Thanks and congrats!
    RUBY

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  2. And yikes to the SNAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Geezy-wheezy! That woulda planted my derriere right on the couch for the rest of......oh let's be real, MY LIFE!

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  3. Thanks so much Ruby! I'm so excited about it! :)

    ~Chelsea

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  4. Oh, I sooooooooo feel for you! We had tree roots in the dirt on ours it was so thick! It's cleared, but the backs of my thighs are still killing me. Pass the Aleve.

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  5. Congrats on winning the banner Chelsea. *is jealous* :)

    I'm feeling empathetic muscle pains for you. Ouch!!

    Can't wait to see it after the power washing.

    -heather

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  6. wow, that must have been a ton of work and a lot of time! It's a huge space, and I'm sure it will look great once it's sprayed down. Then you guys can enjoy it this summer! can't wait to see the unveiling!

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  7. holy crap, that looks like a lot of work. i would have bailed after seeing the snake...

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  8. Thanks for all the comments, guys!

    Sunny - Would you like some Tylenol and ice packs to go with that? :)

    Micah - Haha, the snake wasn't too close, or I would've run inside, too! It was off in the neighbor's yard, but I still kept an eye on it in case it wanted to go on the attack. :)

    Thanks for all the comments, everyone! We're hoping to power-wash it soon, crossing my fingers for good weather this weekend.

    ~Chelsea

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