I met with another GC (a very good friend who does only large projects) yesterday who agreed with all of you that we need to bite the bullet and rework all but two of the seven steps so that they are of equal height. He liked the longer landings rather than lots of stairs bc of the curve, because this is outdoors and esp since we don't want railings. He advised that lower riser heights of 6 1/4 inches are better for natural gait when you have longer treads in between. So, out of the seven steps we currently have, we will eliminate one in the middle completely, keep the existing 6 1/4" riser at the top and the existing 6 1/4 " at the bottom and install a series of 2 double risers 6 1/4 high by 14" in between with landings. We will have to regrade a little, especially the 10 feet of the final part of this walkway (before the final step onto the firepit patio) to raise it up 3 inches, but it can be done with a shovel. He said he's doing lots of concrete + brick walkways and patios and saw nothing wrong with my original idea (copied from Houzz - in case you guys don't know that web site, it has thousands of photos for everything to do with residential design) of brick borders with concrete in the middle. He did advise me to match the depth of the concrete middles to follow the same lines all the way up, which hadn't occurred to me. I've managed to get $400 back from the first contractor who did the original steps (it really should be more, but my friend told me do NOT try to get these first guys to come back and do a better job. He said they clearly did not know what they were doing) and my OTHER landscaping contractor who built the firepit patio and retaining wall said he will fix it on the weekends for $600 provided I pay for materials. At this point, the only materials I need are bags of concrete and some more crusher run for raising the base of the 10' walkway. If you have suggestions, please feel free to detail them. If you are merely going to be critical or caustic, please don't bother. I could probably stick those solar lights in the ground for now to give us some lights along these steps.

My grandparents were all born in the 1880s and my last grandmother died when I was 12. She'd been in a nursing home for some time by that point so I was very young when I was visiting their homes. Both of my grandfather's passed before I was born. My maternal grandmother lived in an old duplex on Toledo, Ohio's south side--right near the big Haughton Elevator plant where my grandfather worked. Very industrial and I remember the neighborhood being very gray--dark, charcoal gray. There were railroad tracks that basically ran behind the house. During the depression, the homeless men who were traveling as hitchers on the train would stop and my grandmother would feed them--whatever she had--which wasn't much. Mom said that it was a daily occurrence. And there was a bar called The Showboat just a few doors down. Some time during my young adulthood, it morphed into a drag club. I never went there, but it was VERY important to my grandpa. LOL That grandmother had a small, dank kitchen with a freestanding gas (heating) stove, lino countertops with the banded edge, and (I think) green painted cabinets--and not many. It just felt dirty and old to me--much like that neighborhood. My uncle lived in that duplex apartment for more than 60 years. He had cerebral palsy and lived at home and never married. What I remember most about that house was the smell of his cologne, believe it or not. By the time he moved in the early 80s, the apartment had fallen into horrendous disrepair. My paternal grandmother was a charcter--my last remaining grandparent. Some time between 1915 and 1920, they sold their large farm in Tontogany, Ohio and moved to the "big city" of Bowling Green. Their house was a traditional 2 story, white, with a big front porch and two catalpa trees out front. I spent hours playing with the seed pods--"Indian cigars" as she called them. Her kitchen wasn't big, but it wasn't small. There was a wall of cabinetry that faced the country road to the east with a sink and symmetrical white painted cabinets. Certainly no dishwasher. LOL The floors were a speckled lino--all kinds of colors but basically white and the cabinets had black rubber toekicks. There was a typical 1930s wallpaper, red, blue, yellow with forks and spoons motif on all of the walls above white (?) ceramic tile. I want to say that it was banded in black tile, but...I don't know...maybe... There was a breakfast alcove with a wooden table and 4 chairs--always covered with a vinyl tablecloth. I remember a lot of red and white checks...LOL The stove and refrigerator stood by themselves on 2 walls, and there was a door in the back corner that led out onto a breezeway with a dirt floor that housed the old wringer washer and beadboard cabinets full of home canned goods. I grew up eating her quince jelly and peanut butter sandwiches. We had her jelly YEARS after she passed away. I can STILL taste it. And lebkuchen. Always lebkuchen. And on your birthday, she would sit down at the big upright piano in the living room and belt out the most raucous "Happy Birthday" you ever heard. She'd been a piano player in the silent movie houses and was quite good--sitting there in her flowered shirtwaist and gingham apron with her white-white hair pulled into a tight bun.... My mom always told me that I reminded her of that grandmother.... I like that.

If it were two separate patios connected by a pathway, I'd say it might work, but I just can't picture brown aggregate butting up to stamped gray concrete. I'd be afraid it'll look like an afterthought, or add-on, but it all depends on design. Make sure the concrete guy is experienced in stamped patios before signing a contract. Here are 2 pics that may help in your decision. [Eclectic Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2104) by Victoria Interior Designers & Decorators The Sky is the Limit Design [Modern Landscape[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-landscaping-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_728~s_2105) by Encinitas Landscape Architects & Designers debora carl landscape design

oh that's a long list..I'll try to pick my favorites that stayed favorites..or became recently favorites -personal styles: -Sera Hersham-Loftus "seductive Interiors" -Lorraine Kirke "Would You like to See the House?" -"One Man's Folly:The Exceptional Houses of Furlow Gatewood" by Julia Reed -Kit Kemp "A Living space" -"Darryl Carter..I like his "The New Traditional" a bit more -"Vintage Remix" by Kishani Perera "Summers in France" Kathryn Ireland (all wildly different) Books dedicated to regional design and architecture,; -"Scandinavian Design" by Lars Bolander -"Red Tile Style: American Spanish Revival Architecture" -"House Proud-Unique Home Design Louisiana" by Valorie Hart "English Eccentric" Ros Byam Shaw "Cabana Anthology" (interiors of the world) Books showcasing range of interiors..sometimes including interviews with homeowners -"to each His Home" Belyana Dimitrova -Susanna Salk..my favorites are "Be your own decorator" and "Decorate Fearlessly" -Justina Blakeney's "The New Bohemians" -"Novel Interiors: Living in Enchanted Rooms Inspired by Literature" by Lisa Borgnes Giramonti..very intersting concept there..she compares houses to genres, so to say. And illustrates it of course More general, overall guide books, some favoring certain styles or preferences, but not as a rule: -Abigail Ahern. Her second book is my favorite..she has three as far as I know -Celerie Kemble. Both books are on my personal top of the list. I think she's one of the best authors out there. -Lauren Liess's "Habitat" -"Remodelista"-very nice sources to products etc " The Perfectly Imperfect Home" by Debora Needleman (of "Domino" when "Domino" was actually "Domino", in my understanding) and Meagan Morton's "Home Love", and also "Making a House Your Home" by Clare Nolan-all well written and light hearted and mood elevating Books not strickly on design but too awesome not to include; Bill Bryson "At Home" Janice Lindsay "All About Colour" I'm sure I forgot several.. Happy Mother's Day!