Oh, My Aching Back!

“Look, there’s a garage sale,” I announced to my husband as we were coming home from eating at Sonic yesterday. Actually, it was in a neighborhood where I usually wouldn’t be likely to stop, but today the sun was shining beautifully and the small cottage looked oddly appealing. There were big, beautiful collector’s dolls in cases, strangely attractive furniture pieces, and the show-stopper of them all, a huge lion fountain!

This caught our eye, and when we glanced around, we saw a lily-pad covered garden pond with all kinds of statuary around it, including a dolphin and, balanced on rocks above the pool, a shallow 3-foot concrete bowl holding a mermaid. Not that I wanted any of that, but Howard did ask about the ubiquitous figure of a straw-hat- wearing little boy holding a fishing pole. They had two of those. The proprietor said everything belonged to his late sister, who obviously had extravagant tastes in yard décor, and he was getting rid of everything.

“How much for the rocks?” Howard asked of the flat, ornamental stones that were piled along the edge of the driveway. He’d been wanting to make a flagstone patio area out near his garden project. When he was quoted a “rock-bottom” price, he said, “I’ll be back tonight with my truck.”

Thankfully, grandson Adam was available to help him, because he came home with quite a load of them. And they were heavy! I carried a few of the smaller ones, but Adam made several wheelbarrow loads of the rest, piling them in our back yard. Today the fun began. “Don’t lift those! You’ll hurt yourself!” I cautioned my husband, but he wouldn’t be deterred. With both of us working, slowly the shape of a small patio began to take shape. A little excavation was necessary, and it’s not finished yet, but the effect is charming!

Now he is building a gate (to nowhere) as a backdrop for our nook, to be covered in vines to camouflage the garage walls behind it. Where will this all end? I can hardly remember how it got started! We stopped today at Tractor Supply for gate posts, and we saw a wonderful yard swing with awning that would be perfect out back! Well, both our birthdays, anniversary, and Father’s Day are coming up, so maybe we can splurge a little (more)! After all, we need a place to rest and enjoy the view!