Sometimes you have to fake it!

In early November last year we had our sewer connection completed. It made a mess of the area over the septic tank, but it started to snow the week after, so we didn't really care about it too much. What you can't see doesn't really exist....right?

The previous year, in mid summer, the pipe was installed, and after that was done,the contractor put top soil and grass seeds which sprouted relatively well. This time five tonnes of sand had to be hauled into the backyard via mini-backhoe, and shoveled manually into the decommissioned septic tank. The trips with the machine into the backyard caused some ugly ruts, and of course not all the sand ended up in the tank.

So we had a mess on our hands this spring when the snow melted.

We have been waiting for years to redo the patio. There was no point in doing this while sewer work still needed to be done, and that was hanging over our head for years, until there was consensus in the village. The existing patio is a really too small, but more annoyingly, it was never properly installed. There is no edge and the outer rows of bricks are slowly sinking into the flower beds. There is no crushed stone under it, just a tarp, so it is horribly uneven. The previous owner also managed to get paint stains on it, which we have not succeeded in removing completely.

A phone call to the same contractor brought minor disappointment. He has a huge number of connections still to make in this area, and won't be able to consider this job until later in the year. I know I could call someone else, but this guy delivered on his promises, so why mess with a good thing? Are we really that impatient to spend money? Besides, I know many households (especially those with small children) have problems with their septic systems, and I just want cosmetic work done. (Did I really just say that?)

At the same time we really did not feel like living with this mess for a good part of the summer. It's just too ugly to leave like that.

I have had a mini-obsession with Japanese style gardens and Zen gardens for a while. If I had the time and the money I would revamp our whole yard into a Japanese style garden. What the heck, a girl can dream. We had some big 24" by 36" tiles leftover from where the path used to be. So we made it look like it was intended to be this way, and not just a "fix" to tide us over until the reliable contractor is available to do the work.

I'll probably have to re-rake the patterns in the sand every few days. An I have a few more rocks I can move into the squares. But in the mean time for about an hour's worth of effort we now have something we can live with for a while. I can even pretend I sort of like it.