I've been doing my usual of taking on so much work that things here fall to the wayside, but we have managed to do some things lately.
One thing I managed to organise a few months ago that I haven't posted about was to get the retaining wall in for the patio.
The old wall was crumbling and inadequate and for my plans I want to build something that's going to last and cause me as little maintenance as possible. So I got in my trusty bricklayer, Dill, and he came for a day and put up all the blockwork you see in the picture below.
I was impressed with how much he managed to lay (as most of those blocks are laid flat), I had made sure that I had put all the blocks ready for him and the sand, cement and mixer were as close as they could be (good tips for keeping costs down when having work down).
The "ribs" coming out of the wall above serve two purposes; firstly they add strength (pretty important) to hold the soil back, secondly they allow me to break up the front in sections. The middle part is going to be a wide set of steps to make going up and down to the garden easy and then a section either side will be storage under the patio (more on that on Friday's post).
Hopefully this should make a great outdoor eating place, I have plans for a BBQ and hopefully some form of outside oven and/or smoker.
What would you have in your ideal outdoor eating space?
You must be knackered
ReplyDeleteI'd definately build something for a bit of shade for those hot days.....perhaps a pergola or similar....
ReplyDeleteDill should have given my neighbour a lesson in block-work. His builders hadn't a clue and the wall has already split in two. I've covered the crack on our side; I wonder if he has too?
ReplyDeleteI love outdoor cooking spaces, the one we have planned is a brick oven and BBQ area with storage space underneath, I am also thinking of a fire pit, your garden is coming along great well done :-)
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