My thought process went something like this:
“Now that we have the garden, we could really use a composter. I should put it near the kitchen so it’s convenient.”
“While I’m out here, I might as well clear the weeds from the patio.” (I did not ask Baxter to pose. Dude was in a photogenic mood.)
My technique is to take a sharp spade and shove it sharply against the joints between the slabs. If you feel like you might break your wrist, you’re doing it right.
“Now that I’ve cleared the weeds, I might as well see if I can uncover the steps.” (We’ve never seen the steps, and you probably can’t either).
“Holy heck. What was I thinking trying to clear the steps? This ivy is ridiculous!”
“Wow, these steps are much bigger than I thought. And they look amazing.”
“Now where to put the composter? I’ll just clear a little more of this ivy.”
Clunk.
“What was that? Are there more stones under this ivy? Why?”
“Oh hello, husband. You have great timing. Milkshake? Yes, please.”
—Break for Matt’s amazing chocolate peanut butter milkshake—
“Alright, that gave me the fuel I needed. Let’s do what I came out here to do in the first place.”
“Finally done.” (And yes, the dog abandoned me after the milkshake break).
“All this work for a composter? I think I need a shower.”
“But hmmm… what about the patio on the other side of the house?”
“I need to stop thinking so hard.”
Who else has ever over-complicated a simple project? Do you have a composter at your house? Do you have a weedy patio? Any tips on how to do battle with ivy?
Home on 129 Acres 
Wow, I would have probably stopped after thinking my wrist would break, and I DEFINITELY would have stopped at the milkshake break. Way to go!
The milkshakes are pretty hard to resist. 🙂
WOW!!! I’m very impressed. Job well done.
Thanks, Laurie. It’s a good transformation, but the patio is actually not that hard (aside from the ivy part).
That is usually how my thought process goes however, I have a habit of not finishing as I go along!
What a huge difference you made! Great picture, Baxter!
The satisfaction of having it finished is totally worth the extra effort. Just keep that in mind and keep going!
You didn’t only do it for a composter, you did it for two patios and a lovely set of steps! Now comes the fun part. Decorating!!
P.S. Have you considered pouring vinegar in between the patio stones now? It’s effective at killing the remaining weed roots, as long as you don’t intend to grow anything else there.
Thanks for the perspective and the tip. I’ve heard about the vinegar solution, but I’ve never tried it myself.
The patio and steps look great, Julia! What a difference!
If the mosquitoes weren’t so bad we could eat outside on Friday night!
Looks great! I got in the middle of one of those types of projects at the first of the week. 🙂
I can see how that would happen at your place!
That look awesome! Great work! And that milkshake sounds so good. You could share the recipe sometime? Maybe? 🙂
And of course, nice to see handsome Baxter.
I will ask Matt to share his secret. I don’t think they’re too difficult.
Okay. Here’s the recipe:
Matt uses the magic bullet, so the individual serving size cups that come with it are the reference for all of these measures.
Fill the cup most of the way with chocolate ice cream.
Add a giant (seriously, don’t be stingy) scoop of peanut butter.
Pour milk over everything until all the cracks are filled in.
Blend.
This makes a pretty thick, extremely rich milkshake.
If forced to quantify, Matt estimates that the ratio is three scoops of ice cream to one scoop of peanut butter.
We have a composter, but it’s a homemade one. We took an old water heater and scraped off all of the insulation on the outside, removed the inside parts so basically it was just a big tin can. We then cut a door on the side and screwed a hinge to it for easy opening. Next we stuck a metal rod through it from top to bottom and made a simple frame to hold it on it’s side so it would spin on the frame in order to mix up the debris. We use it during the spring, summer and fall. It works very well and gives up excellent fertilizer every summer for our pots and flower beds around the yard. During the winter we just scatter our compost on the vegetable garden in the snow and in the spring it gets worked in.
Ingenious! I’ve seen those ones that turn. This one is a little more effort to mix.