My latest upgrade! Or, at least....

[mrs-b]

....it would have been, had I not done this!









750 sq ft of paving, so I have a decent area for my dogs to play without being able to get into the Boston mud. It's getting fenced on Wednesday, and then my canines will have the run of it. When they're older and more sedate, we'll take the fence down and place more furniture out there. But for now - this is it. It's been seeded already, so hopefully grass will kick in soon - to say nothing of a few leaves on trees! This patio is going to save my life; without it, I have to wash my floors every day, which is getting pretty darn old, I can tell you! The dogs have unlimited access to the house, so combining that with unlimited access to the backyard for 2 one year olds is just not feasible. But this should help. A LOT.

And here are the 2 banes of my existence. Firstly - Ballin (said like Allen, but with a B);



And Cirrus - like the cloud:



Your mother has your number, boys!! BRING ON THE CLEAN FLOORS!

 

[missy]

....it would have been, had I not done this!









750 sq ft of paving, so I have a decent area for my dogs to play without being able to get into the Boston mud. It's getting fenced on Wednesday, and then my canines will have the run of it. When they're older and more sedate, we'll take the fence down and place more furniture out there. But for now - this is it. It's been seeded already, so hopefully grass will kick in soon - to say nothing of a few leaves on trees! This patio is going to save my life; without it, I have to wash my floors every day, which is getting pretty darn old, I can tell you! The dogs have unlimited access to the house, so combining that with unlimited access to the backyard for 2 one year olds is just not feasible. But this should help. A LOT.

And here are the 2 banes of my existence. Firstly - Ballin (said like Allen, but with a B);



And Cirrus - like the cloud:



Your mother has your number, boys!! BRING ON THE CLEAN FLOORS!

Gorgeous babies! And love what you have done with the patio and grounds. Though I feel your pain. Our home renovations have cost me some gorgeous earring bling. And in fact I almost let it cost me Bubbalah but luckily my DH insisted and insisted.

And it's worth a little bit of bling sacrifice for home beauty. And @mrs-b you have the best of everything. Homes and bling and of course your DH and fur babies. Enjoy!

 

[LittleRed]

This is great! I love “livable” outside areas and this will be perfect for your dogs for now. Your upgrade is grand and I’m glad you included the specs. Your pups are adorable!

 

[LinSF]

That's definitely using the next upgrade funds! HA! It looks great, and it's going to keep you so happy... it's a pain to keep floors clean with pups!

 

[Ally T]

This is lovely! And now it’s done, your floors will stay clean & you can start saving for your next bling project!

 

[Gussie]

This is awesome!! Money very well spent. Plus you could always have al fresco dining there too!!

 

[MamaBee]

Love the natural edged bricks! They’re my very favorite! My second house is in a historic district..and the streets have brick like yours! I love your patio!

 

[D&T]

Its gorgeous! ooh and your furbaby... so adorable!. My last bling project(s) are in the works, and from the proceed of my bling items...hopefully soon, will be going towards Reno project (whole house siding and new garage doors) but if not, i'll have to save up for 1-2 years for the house reno siding project at a later date.

 

[MamaBee]

@mrs-b! How could I forget to say I think your dogs are so adorable! I got a little taken with your bricks!

 

[sarahb]

Your fur babies are absolute beauties mrs-b!!

Hubby insisted on a cement driveway, he disliked our black top. I resisted for a year or so, then finally relented.

I feel your pain, this project cost me a few bling beauties also.... But just think, in the long run, it'll be so worth it to have your cleaning efforts reduced, plus it looks like a perfect outdoor area!!

 

[redwood66]

How beautiful @mrs-b! Your doggies are so cute! I have this mud problem with my Chow and DH's border collie too. I keep a towel by the back door all spring and fall for wiping feet when they come inside. It is daunting. They have learned to stand still as I pick up each foot to clean it off. My fenced backyard is a half acre so I could never be rid of all the mud.

 

[tyty333]

Your pups are so cute! I'm sure they appreciate you given up a ring upgrade for a house upgrade! I'm sure you'll be thanking yourself that you did
it too. Its a really pretty patio floor!

 

[the_mother_thing]

@mrs-b LOVE the new patio, and your pups are gorgeous!

I so feel your muddy-paw pain ... we have an area of our yard that gets washed out every time it rains (like right now), so it’s always a production to let the dogs in and clean their paws before they get near the off-white carpet.

 

[yennyfire]

Totally worth it!! As someone who has a digger, I’d be thrilled to have a patio area where she could run around a bit, but not get muddy/covered in leaves and grass. I vacuum and mop daily too and I HATE it!

Your fur babies are gorgeous and obviously well loved!

 

[mrs-b]

Thanks, @missy. And I agree - houses are the real money pit! Jewelry is a distant second! Worth it, tho.

Thanks, @LittleRed - I like anyone who liked my dogs! They really are the center of any home we have.

@LinSF - it's worth every penny. I refuse to spend my entire life cleaning!! I'll put up some photos of my previous home at the end of these comments. It was perfectly set up and I miss it - tho not the fact that it was built over four stories!

 

[mrs-b]

@Alex T 0 I have waaaaay more home projects to do than jewelry projects! I am fanatical about houses, and this house was veeeeery different when we bought it to what it is now! In a couple of weeks, I'll put up some photos of where we started.

@ceg - the protuberant verandah has a full sized dining table that easily seats 8. Even so, I'm thinking idly about doing a pergola over part of the paving and also building in a large fireplace, so we and guests can sit outside in front of the fire, even when it's not Boston's 15 minutes of summer!!

Thanks, @Mamabean! I love cobblestone work - warms up a house no end. Prior to this there was a patio made from bluestone - very dead and boring looking - about a third this size. It was more ugly than useful.

 

[mrs-b]

@sarahb - thank you so much for your comments about my pups; they're huge in my life and I love them. I'd love to see some photos of your driveway - in my opinion, I far prefer it to black asphalt! So I'm Team Husband on this one!

Thanks, @redwood66! The dogs are a LOT of work; apart from anything else, they have a combined weight of roughly 120 lbs, so they generate a huge amount of dirt and subsequent cleaning!! My yard, also, is a half acre. Definitely gives me something to do!!

Thanks, @tyty333! I have explained to them more than once, very carefully, what I've given up for their comfort. As it turns out, they are monumentally unimpressed. Extraordinary bad manners!!

Ballin as a puppy AKA He Who Cannot Be Ignored - the night we brought him home at 9 weeks.

 

[mrs-b]

@the_mother_thing - 'washed out every time it rains'?? - what a nightmare!! We go through more towels than I care to mention, and the MA snow is a terror with dogs! You have all my sympathies!!

Thank you, @yennyfire My dogs are spoiled beyond belief and have the best life I can possibly provide for them. And one year old dogs dig like the very dickens- so I totally feel your pain. Daily mopping and sweeping and washing of bedding - both mine and theirs - takes up a huge percentage of my day. This patio will help a LOT. When we lived in NY, before we moved to MA, our back yard was perfectly set up for dogs - I'll attach a few photos. Our paved area there was 2 1/2 times the size of this one, and they had a stack of room to play where they couldn't get dirty. We also had a fenced grass area, where we let them rumble around for a while every day - not long enough to wreck it, but long enough to enjoy the feeling of the grass under their paws. And, of course, they were walked on top of that every day, taken out and about with us regularly, did classes, shows, grooming, play dates - it went on and on.

This was our yard in NY:

 

[the_mother_thing]

@mrs-b Your yard in NY is lovely as well!

Part of our problem is that there is a slope from our neighbor’s yard to ours, so not only do we get ‘our rain’, we get hers too! So the area where our yards meet gets pretty muddy, and of course, that’s where the dogs like to go. Hubs just heavily reseeded it, and the grass is starting to really come in nice & thick, so hopefully that helps. But we get more rain where we are (mid-Atlantic) than Seattle, it seems. It’s nuts! And we have an entire bin of “puppy towels” we keep downstairs as well. The things we do for our furbabies ... but life just wouldn’t be the same without them.

 

[Dandi]

Looks fantastic, what am awesome area for your BEAUTIFUL boys to frolick in! Washing the floor every day must drive you nuts!

 

[MissGotRocks]

Love it - looks so nice and clean! I have a little Yorkie and I know what a mess she can make so your boys are triple her size! Sometimes I feel like I work only for her!

Your guys will now have a fun place to play and it looks fabulous. I sincerely hope this cuts your workload!

 

[foxinsox]

Your puppies are gorgeous @mrs-b! Totally worth the upgrade sacrifice. The paving looks terrific and will be such a lifesaver for the reduction in cleaning

 

[yennyfire]

The yard in NY is gorgeous and Uber functional! I can see why you wanted to replicate it a bit! I hope you (and the pups) enjoy it and your new found free time, spared from washing and mopping!!

 

[jbake]

What a beautiful patio! The pavers are lovely, as are your pups

 

[elle_71125]

Ah, the joys of dog ownership. The new patio looks great and your beautiful fur-babies are going to love playing out there (even though they won't get to play in the mud anymore).

Last year I caved in and bought a robot vac to help out with the excess of dog hair that 4 pooches provide. Best decision ever! Sometimes, we need to do something to help keep us sane, while still letting our favorite babies live their best life.