Thursday, April 24, 2014

Making A Flagstone Path

 We made a new flagstone path..

We had  put in a flagstone pathway a few years ago....and I have loved it! One section was damaged, though when we built a shed because the Bobcat machine we used rolled over the path many times....and it wasn't built for that purpose!

The poor path was broken a LOT, especially half of it.  We used the broken path for quite a long time..... then my guys tore it out in preparation for replacing it..... so we lived with the dirt  in the path for a few months.

Here, they have put up a form on one side of the path and were planning stone placement and breaking stones, where needed.  The first time we put the path in a few years ago, my dad was here to supervise the project with my guys, but he wasn't available this time as he lives a few hours away. Only one son  remembered much of the process, but he lives on his own now and wasn't here, so another son (son #2) was learning as he did the prep work...... he did a good job. :) He worked really hard on this project - digging it out, leveling it, making forms, doing stones, etc.


 For the start of the cement part of the project, our oldest son came over to get us started. He is the one who had mainly worked with Grandpa in doing the original path, so he had some idea of how to do it.  He worked to mix the cement....this little pile is one bag of cement.... it took a lot of cement. We just used the quick mix cement where you mix it with water.
 Another load dumped.... after dumping the first few loads, the guys were rather discouraged as it was very slow work, but they kept at it and worked faster and faster!

I was pleased with how nice the forms looked.... son #2 had never done it before.... and he did a good job.

By the way, I LOVE curving paths...so much more interesting that straight ones for here.
This was many loads of mixed cement..... they would dump the cement in and then level it a little, then put stones in, working them down into the soft cement, trying to get them as level as possible. Then they again leveled off the cement around the stones.

Since there were no experts here, it was a learning process, but they did so well. Son #1 was here for about half of the path and he taught his brothers, then he had to leave, so they took over. What a blessing that he could come.

We use such projects as on site "shop classes" for our homeschool and it is amazing what skills our guys have learned in this way.

 This is a closer shot and actually, the cement is probably deeper than the original path was...... we don't plan to run a Bobcat over it again, but you never know!   :)

We ran low on cement so sons #2 and #4 made a run to buy more while the other 2 continued working here.
 Just a bit more left to do..... Son #3 has been working hard on this part with mixing cement and doing the process......  You can see the rocks on the grass.......they would have to choose which ones would work well in different spots.
All finished.... now needs to dry and cure. The cones were put up to remind all of us to stay off of the path.

All of the guys worked on the path.... my husband worked with them with mixing cement part of the time, although he was at work for most of the job. The girls helped by bringing out drinks and making shortbread for treats for the weary workers.... and all worked on clean up duty.

We left it alone for a few days.




 This shows the original path on the other side of the stairs....  we are still using this one.... you can see where they patched the corner while the cement work was being done.

Now the path goes both ways again. I LOVE paths. When we moved in here, there were no paths.... now we have several!  I like to walk to my gardens without walking in the mud. We live in the city, so we need to keep things looking "pretty" as well as useful. :)
 The path above shows what is left of the original path on the left of the stairs and the new path on the right side of the stairs.
The guys hauled a lot of dirt in to bring the yard level up to the level of the path. You can see in the pictures above that the path stuck up way above the ground...we wanted it to all be pretty level.




 I love the new path.... although it still looks "rough" with dirt and a bit of excess cement, but I was so glad to get it done before winter. The dirt and roughness will smooth out more as the path is used.
 The path helps much. We tried to keep costs down as we did it and we re-used some of the stones from the original path.

Future Post Alert
By the way, there was extra cement left, which I just couldn't let go to waste...... so, I decided to try making homemade stepping stones. It was something I have never done before, but I tried it and will be making a post on it, with pictures. You can sign up to receive it in your email(enter your email to sign up) or just check back to see it if you are interested. I learned some things in that project and plan to try it again sometime.




























Here is our path adorned with the beautiful fall leaves from last fall.  I am enjoying having the path this spring as I am starting to work on the gardens.
    
By the way, one lady commented on my previous post of Removing A Little Wall project and then asked, "What's next?" I chuckled over that comment and we do tend to have many projects going on here, so this answers her question, and I will continue to add more projects, recipes, and more. :)  Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you have a great day.

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52 comments:

  1. Your path looks great! It looks like we have the same goal... fixing up our yards!

    Tania

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    1. It does seem to be that time of year.... it is so nice to make our "outdoor living spaces" attractive again. :)

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  2. Kudos to your sons (and your husband) on a great job.... They must be very proud and happy to have gotten it done. Not sure I'd be patient enough to do this myself.

    Stopping in from Paula's No Rules Blog Party. Have a great weekend!

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    1. They did do a wonderful job.... and I love seeing them all work together.... this was another true "family project". :) Thank you for visiting.

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  3. love this pathway, and so cool to see the project progress! :-) looks great!
    Cathy @ three kids and a fish

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    1. Thank you.....we sure are enjoying it..... I really dislike having to walk in mud....and spring has mud. :)

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  4. How nice your path came out! I'm going to share it with my husband. Thanks for linking up at Soul Survival. Blessings, Donna

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    1. Yes, it did and we are really enjoying it.... thank you for visiting and for the link up. :)

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  5. Thank you for sharing this on Green Thumb Thursday! I pinned it to our hop board and shared it via Twitter and FB. See you on Thursday!

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    1. How nice!! Thank you..... and thank you for the link up. :)

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  6. fantastic! would love to have you link up to the garden party tomorrow over here at Fishtail Cottage - first party of the garden season! xoox, tracie

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  7. Congratulations - you are being featured at Green Thumb Thursday! I was unable to save a photo from your posts - browsers or Blogger just weren't letting me get you a pict for your feature. Should you wish for me to include one, leave your choice on my FB page https://www.facebook.com/Homesteadlady. Be sure to grab the featured button!

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    1. I'm sorry I didn't get this for you.... life took a very hectic turn. Thank you for the feature though and thank you for visiting. :)

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  8. Your project is being featured in a shout out tomorrow on DearCreatives! Thanks for sharing at the party & feel free to pick up a featured button! Theresa

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  9. It turned out beautifully!
    Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!

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  10. Oh, wow! Beautiful!! Thank you for sharing. You are one of the features tonight at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Here is the link to the party so you can check out your feature. http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/2014/05/make-it-pretty-monday-week-99.html Hope to see your prettiness again at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

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  11. Love curving paths over straight ones too! :) But, when you have a muddy farm, you love ALL paths! :) Thanks for sharing your pretty landscape with us!

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    1. P.S. I am your newest follower :)

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    2. WELCOME! I am so glad you are following my blogs.... I agree - paths are wonderful... I like to walk to my gardens without stepping into the mud! :) We have added a lot of paths at our house... and I love it. :)

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  12. This is really pretty and looks easy to do. Need to put this on my list.

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    1. Thank you... I was glad to have my guys put their muscle into it... it sure is a wonderful help to our yard. :)

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  13. I love your path!!! I would love it if you link up to Garden Tuesday at Sidewalk Shoes today!!

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    1. Thank you... I did link up and I appreciate the invite and the blog party. :)

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  14. It looks great! I love curves too. Our planting beds are curved and it adds so much more interest.
    Love how the brothers are teaching each other. Homeschooling at its best.
    Thanks for stopping by Maple Hill today!

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    1. I love the curves... my guys tolerate the curves and remind me that straight is so much easier. :) I am so thankful they did it curved.... I love how it disappears out of sight and you wonder "What's over there?" I took love how the guys teach each other... one of the huge benefits from homeschooling... it blesses my heart. :)

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  15. Oh, I LOVE the pathway! I have been wanting to do something similar for a path from our driveway to the front door... I will have to show my husband yours :)

    Thanks so much for sharing with Roses of Inspiration - it's always a blessing to have you join the party.

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    1. I love paths... the prevent walking on dirt/mud and so I can keep my shoes "clean", but I also love how a nice curving path just invites you to walk on it. :) I hope you are able to get your path in soon... it really is a fun addition to the property. :)

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  16. Wow that looks like a lot of work!!! The pathway looks great:)

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    1. It was... but it was so worth it... it gets a LOT of use at our house.... and I sure appreciate it. :)

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  17. I would love to do this in our backyard. Yours turned out wonderful! It would be the perfect fit for our backyard. I will be sharing this post for sure! Thanks so much for sharing!

    I would also like to invite you to join a new link up that I am co-hosting over on my blog. Your post would be a wonderful addition to the link up! Feel free to join in on the fun!

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    1. The nice thing is that it can be curved to fit whatever shape is needed.... or it can be made straight (although I really like curved paths best!) :) Thank you for visiting and sharing the post.... I will be checking out your link up part. :)

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  18. It's always great when the kids help! The pathway looks great!

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    1. It sure is... and I love it that they are learning and using skills that will be useful to them many times in their lives. :) Thank you.

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  19. I know it was a lot of work but it turned out beautifully. My hubby and I have done several concrete projects, not much fun but the results are great.

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    1. True - not much fun and it takes quite a while... but I am so glad they persevered! :) The paths last for a lot of years also. Thank you for visiting. :)

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  20. A lovely path and I love those interesting curves that give some intrigue. #blogbooster3

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    1. Thank you... I have sure enjoyed those curving paths. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  21. I like the pathway. This is an awesome idea.

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    1. Thank you... we have worked hard to come up w/ more path ideas over the years... we finally have a lot of paths and I love it. :)

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  23. It looks cool! Using the stones is such a simple & clever idea !

    Thanks for linking up with us again :)
    xx
    Mila (Idea Box)

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    1. Thank you... it was really nice also because my parents' neighbors were doing some work and these stones were there, so Dad brought them for us to use... free is good. :)

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  24. Love your path! This is just what I need to do along the side of our house leading to my clothesline! thank you so much for sharing your post on the HomeAcre Hop, as one of the cohosts I am going to feature your post tomorrow! Hope you come back and share again!
    - Nancy
    On The Home Front

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    1. Thank you.... it is SO helpful and I love not walking on mud. :) Thank you for featuring this... what a fun blessing. :) I will be back again... I really enjoy your blog party. :)

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  25. Oh wow, I love your path. I can really picture something like this in my grandmother's garden, or even my mother's yard. I wish I had a place we could do something like this.
    Thank you for stopping by and sharing with Throwback Thursday Blog-Style. I just wanted to let you know that your post was featured this week!
    I can't wait to see what you share this week. Have a great day!

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    1. Thank you... it is fun. Our yard is actually not terribly big... only 1/4 acre total for our property... but it is amazing how much can be packed in to it. :) Thank you so much for featuring my post... what a blessing. :)

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  26. Great job on the path! It's perfect!

    Thanks for sharing at Green Thumb Thursday! I hope you'll join us this week too!

    ~Lisa

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    1. Thank you... it has been such a blessing to us. :)

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