Remember our gravel walking path origin story? Where we learned the valuable lesson in scope creep?
To refresh your memory, here’s what we started with:
Our path before the gravel and after the rain.
Trenches within trenches, more rocks than I ever thought possible, and a slight drainage issue after a heavy rain. Nothing a good ol’ bucket-and-dump session can’t fix, amiright?
Partial completion
Here’s what the path looked like 3 weeks ago:
Our path shortly after completion, and before the grass seed was planted.
We carried several (wish I had counted, honestly) wheelbarrow loads of gravel from a very far distance (at least 30 feet). Each load of gravel was incredibly heavy, and seemed to fill so very little of the trench. It was disheartening, to be honest. I’m very much an “are we done yet?” kind of worker, and prefer instant results. I did not get that on this project.
However, we trudged through it, and little by little, it actually started to look like a real path.
The completed gravel walking path
Here’s the final reveal, now with 57% more grass:
Our path with grass (beside the path, not on it, thank goodness)
In the background, you can see the pole that holds the electric outlet. Here’s a close-up shot:
Our electric pole, plus a whole lot of junk in the background. Focus on the foreground only, please.
I have to say, adding the electricity was a really smart idea (my gentleman friend is a genius, he is). It’s especially handy for our crappy cellphones that die as soon as you look at them, so we pretty much need to have charger cables nearby at all times. And our fancy solar light post cap makes a lovely addition.
Final thoughts
Even though there is still some minor stuff to do (level the ground on the other side and add grass, add a border to the path, etc.), I’m calling the gravel walking path done. And I must say, I sport a little smile each time I walk on it. The delightful curved shape is so much more interesting, and gives it a touch of whimsy.
It looks great from our back deck, and it looks great from the ground. I declare this project a success!
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