Me and Dad laid the slate over the top of the previously poured cement cap to complete Grandma’s new patio which was all initiated with the removal of the old to fix a broken pipe. Grandma had previously picked out ‘earthy stone’ slate tiles which we had delivered with the cement. The decision was made to put cement grout between the slate tiles as well as underneath. We placed the tiles diagonally in orientation with the two buildings as suggested to elude to a larger space. Little more work, but I think the end result turned out rather nice. I ran the cement factory and the tile cutter while Dad placed the tiles.

We broke a few pieces, and some came broken. We thought making a mosaic pattern on top of the two steps would be a nice way to use the broken pieces as well as make the stairs more noticable. Grandma had been concerned with the stairs blending in too much at not being seen. Her church had recently installed the same tiles, and they have some trip hazards due to this problem. I was assigned this task. Sounded like a fun little project. It was fun, but also a lot harder to get the pieces all to fit and not look like a mess. I admit, I cheated and cut some of the pieces. We pondered a bit to do this same process for the fireplace, but we opted to just cut wedges for the curve front. Two short hand rails were also installed.

new patio


mosaic stairs and hand rail


fireplace

Well, we worked hard, but we played just as hard. Puddle came along as well. He loves the water… but just isn’t the best swimmer yet. He’s been practicing while playing fetch back at Martha Lake near my apartment. This weekend he was sporting a new life jacket which enabled him to swim all day. Also, having a handle on him was handy while out in the kayak.

puddle fetch