Brick landscaping borders...

When we drew up our landscaping plans we had these pretty brick borders lining our planting areas; keeping everything very linear and clean. When we started our paver work I asked how much it would be to do the brick landscaping borders - I almost choked when I heard $6-7 a lineal foot, plus materials. I'm pretty decent at math and I knew the dimensions of our yard and after dollars signs started exploding in my head, my next question was, "How difficult would this be as a DIY project?" The guy we were working with on the pavers is a neighbor and had been more than helpful throughout the process (he's the one that showed up on a Saturday morning unannounced to help us knock down our trees with his bobcat). He was encouraging saying we could handle it - he said it's labor and precision and takes some time. With that, I knew the project just fell into our laps.

I figured while my dad was in town, this would be a good project to tackle. Neither of us had done anything of the sort (which could be the asterisk to all of our projects!) but we did some research and didn't look back. The first day was a Saturday so we had Steve's help as well.



We decided to concrete set the bricks for a permanent edging. We set our string line and the boys dug the trenches and mixed the concrete. I handled the trowel and laid the bricks, making sure they were level and in line. All my work was done from the sitting position which saved my back but my tailbone was more than a little sore. We got halfway done in one days work.

By Sunday the real soreness had set in and I pretty much made up my mind that I would not be returning to that project Monday morning. It would have to wait until after the baby came because I couldn't mentally get behind it another day. And sure enough late Sunday evening rolled around and my dad was willing and ready to work the next day and I knew we could get it done and not have to worry about it later. So I mustered every ounce of mental strength and started again Monday.

It's funny how mental blocks go - starting is the battle. Once I've committed and started, I'm good. And that's exactly how this project went. I was not looking forward to it and it wasn't nearly as bad or as long as I thought it would be. And as we cleaned up late afternoon I was giddy with excitement. It was done. It was done and I was totally happy with how it turned out. I had to send Steve (who was out of town) a picture of our labors.


And remind him that he has the coolest wife ever.

And the most willing and generous father-in-law.