HOW I LIKE TO PASS THE TIME

Working in the yard.

That’s how I like to pass the time.

Building things, maintaining things, beautifying things.

It’s therapeutic. It’s challenging. It’s relaxing. It’s sometimes exhausting. It allows me a creative outlet. It’s rewarding.

Take, for example, a master bedroom window facing the backyard. How can I pass the time on this one?

First hire a contractor to replace the window with a door. That’s something I can’t do myself.



Once the door is installed, I can start building a deck. Instead of simply looking out of the bedroom into the backyard, I will soon be able to step out of the bedroom into the backyard.



And it’s always nice to have visitors stop by when you’re working on a project.



Now the deck is done and the cement slab is poured. Just one more item to complete this project:



A hot tub.



And what better way use a hot tub than to share it with people you love.



How else can I pass the time? Well, something needs to be done when your only backyard patio is in direct hot sunlight all day long.



It looks like I need to pass the time by building a structure for some shade. And it always helps if ivy grows at the base of the posts.



Galvanized steel panels make inexpensive yet durable overhangs. And look how that ivy has grown!



And it continues to grow. When the ivy grows, I can pass the time with a hedge trimmer in my hands.



Another way to pass the time is to extend a patio using square red pavers. But there’s lots of work to do before placing those pavers. First, forms need to be built for pouring cement.



Then those forms need to be removed.



Then sand needs to be dumped inside the cement borders. Then the sand needs to be screeded using a 2x4.



After the sand is screeded and tamped down to make it firm and level, then I can place the pavers. But wait! What do you do about those gaps that are the size of half a paver?



Easy. You buy a brick-cutting blade, cut the pavers to fit, and then finish the job by putting them in place.



Then you do the same thing all over again at the foot of the steps. All that dirt needs to be covered with pavers.



Whew! That was a lot of work! But that part of the job finally gets done, too.



Another fun way to pass the time, which I am trying for the first time this year, is to grow a tomato plant upside down in one of those “Topsy Turvy” planters advertised on TV. No weeding is necessary and no part of the plant touches the dirt. It’s like a tomato tree growing from under the eaves.



I can also pass the time by watering it and watching it grow.



And, of course, the lawn will always require mowing.



The front yard needs work, too. When the slats on a wooden fence become rotten, they need to be torn down.



So, that’s how I pass the time. I tear them down.



Then I put up new slats and spread them further apart to create a more open feeling.



Then I beautify the garden inside the new fence by placing a glider seat with end tables and by planting a bunch of flowers.



And, of course, what better way to use a glider seat than to share it with people you love.



That’s how I like to pass the time. I like to work in the yard and share the yard with people I love.

Two questions:

1. Who are those visitors sitting on the hot tub deck?

2. How many people are in that particular photo?