Paving

My dear hubby went to an auction of the local hardware store and spent ALL DAY waiting for the paving lots to come up for auction. There were a few different lots and he had marked them in order of preference. The first two lots went for way more than we had anticipated, but he managed to get our first choice for exactly our upper limit. Then my dear stepson helped him bring them home in two lots. Thanks to both of them!
MY job then started, digging up all the grass - it was very sparse in that area as it has been under the shade of the gazebo and with lots of foot traffic. We just have sand, so I saw no need to go out and buy a load of sand, so once the grass was up I raked and levelled and then started laying the pavers. Two edges were already there - a line of bricks (which I levelled out to the same height) and a patch of cement, and I began to lay the pavers keeping them level with them. It went surprisingly well and I had the whole lot down in two days. oops I should have taken photos of the progress!! Oh well, too busy working at getting them down! there are a few high and low spots - will work some beach sand into the gaps to firm it all.
The remaining pavers, and a few other ones left lying around have been used to create a bit of a path to the back door and around the back of the gazebo. Spots without pavers will be filled in with ground cover. Mondo grass and rhoeo. I have found that I dont do too well with prior planning - mostly I just wing it and then adapt as I go along. Luckily when things dont work out I can always adapt from there. My gardens have always been growing, living experiments! I generally dont move the furniture around, but do move plants!

I do love how this extends our living area, especially in this climate where we can eat out in the garden year round!