Sunday, May 17, 2009

The stepping stone project

You might remember back in March, Ray was pouring concrete stepping stones in molds. These were for a small paving project, which is progressing. This will be an extension to the sidewalk that comes up to the front porch. Eventually the front yard will be relandscaped, with no grass and mostly native plants. Pathways will come off this little paved area and wind down to the creek and around the side of the house.
This is how the project looked a couple days ago.

The stepping stones look very new and nearly white. They would age naturally over time, but I wanted to make them more subtle and bring out the designs, so I stained them with diluted acrylic paint. Little by little natural aging will replace the stain, but I think this will help the transition.



The bricks and stones are set on a base of sand and when everything is in place, they will get more sand swept across them to fill in the spaces between.

This morning Ray is working on final touches—a wood border to hold everything in place. Of course his faithful companion Gracie keeps an eye on the proceedings.

It looks quite like an arrow pointing out to the lawn right now, but I think when we get the landscaping and pathways in it will be a nice little bit of texture and interest right in front of the house.

7 comments:

  1. Wow, this is so beautiful! To good to step onto!

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  2. I remember reading in some gardening magazine that if you make something out of concrete (I think it was a faux horse trough to be used as a planter), and you want it to be less bright--washing it with buttermilk (? something dairy) and it will fairly soon grow some spores of local microbe into an interesting and spotty surface. Mean while, it seemed to me it would smell sour!
    Your solution seems like a better one.

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  3. The walkway looks beautiful, the grey acrylic really made the design pop. Where did you get the molds?

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  4. It looks great and the darker gray really makes the designs pop.

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  5. These look great, Terry, and so do your stamp designs!

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  6. Lovely! And the staining idea is such a good one.

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  7. What a job. It will be stunning.
    Not to mention your husband is a Saint!

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