My back hurts

I'm a little whiny tonight because I'm tired.  But I have lots to show for it!

This is our front yard this morning.

You can't tell, but there are a lot of missing edgers and the ones that are there are uneven and a mess.  I've been glaring at them for almost 3 years.

So this weekend I decided to take them out and replace them with a new retaining wall.  Jon had a date with his boys to go golfing, and I figured this was a "no big deal" project.

I was wrong.  Very wrong.  I figured that out when I found out that I could only transport about 50-60 pavers at a time.  I needed about 170.  And bags of stones.  And bags of sand.  Which are all very heavy.  Did I mention my back hurts?

But I'm kind of thick headed, so I decided that I am no wimp and I can do it.  I drove to Home Depot, got about 52 pavers, some pebbles and sand, and started.

 

This is my first trip to Home Depot. 

I dug a hole after removing the old pavers.  Then laid the pebble mix down.  This helps the pavers not to go underground as the soil moistens.  Then you put sand down to level the pavers and get them in there nice and tight.

These are my two helpers.  I went in to get my iPod and they didn't get to go in.  This concerned them.  A lot.

Here is the new retaining wall from the side.

Here it is again.

This is the view from the front.

There are still a few spots that don't have two levels and I can't finish them today, but I'll get them tomorrow so I'll post some pictures of the whole thing then.  It looks really nice!  I'm excited.

Anyways.  My back hurts.