Perched high atop a fourteen foot stem, this Mammoth Sunflower looks down on the rest of the garden.

August 5, 2015 - Wednesday

44 degrees/clear/calm

Pentoga Road

I slept like a rock last night and had it not been necessary to heed nature's call this morning, I'd still be in bed. Sargie is off today and it would have been nice to have slumbered a bit longer.

Tuesday was a busy one. After doing some garden chores, I dove right into mixing concrete for the new patio. 

Twenty-four, sixty-pound bags of Quikrete were used during the day. My back was crying UNCLE as I lifted each, one at a time, as it was needed. It was one of the few times since retiring that I wished I were a few years younger.

The concrete, purchased early last spring, was stacked off the floor and covered by plastic. Even so, a few clumps still managed to form. I found beating them with a large rubber mallet worked best to break them up.

Next came adding the dye to change the color from concrete gray to a reddish brown.

The first two forms were filled directly in the middle of the patio and I worked out from there. It became obvious that there would be no circular pattern; not enough space.

I either shoveled or poured the mix into the forms, then leveled and packed it tightly by hand. 

I stopped during the early afternoon, but found after eating lunch and enjoying a short break, I was ready to go back and do more. I ran out of concrete late yesterday afternoon ending my work day.

Three forms were poured separately with plastic underneath so I could use the various pavers to trim the patio, where the width wouldn't allow the full form to fit.

Sargie was home early last night. After a shower, I fought to keep my eyes open, but managed to inhale most of a family-sized pizza she had brought with her. The evening was spent watching America's Got Talent with bedtime coming soon after.

I'm going to feed the pumpkin, then work on the patio this morning. We're to go to Derek and Leah's early this afternoon for a small family gathering. No doubt, I'll be in the the pool most of the time. After, we'll make a stop at Home Depot for another ten bags of Quikrete so I can finish the patio on Thursday. That doesn't include building the flower box and railing. 

The forecast is for rain on Friday. Since there are cucumbers stacked high and deep in the refrigerator, I'm hoping to spend the day making pickles.

It's true. A man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...