Brick path saga

So I thought it might be nice to build a little brick pathway off the side of my front porch.  Lord knows, I have enough spare bricks around here, and just a reminder, this is the "path" before:

Not pretty. And constantly muddy and gross. I hated this area.
So I had a dream... a dream of a cottage-y brick walkway. 

Countless hours of back-breaking work later, my dream is almost a reality!!
First step: excavate the pounds and pounds of clay mud, rock and tree roots in the area:

Good lord this took longer than expected.  Good lord my back has ached for 2 weeks.

That is definitely the hardest part. Then you put in landscape edging, and add the first bag of gravel! So satisfying!

Here it is with all the gravel in place:

Next I poured lots of sand on top of that gravel, and smoothed it out. Perfect levels are for sissies. I like a more organic (lazier) look.
Then the painstaking brick-laying:

So pretty!!  Now I am taking my time brushing sand into all those nooks and crannies.  Could do with a light rain, but looks like we are cursed with perfectly gorgeous weather for the nest week.  Oh Houston spring.
That did not stop me from planting some edging plants though!
Check the Dwarf Mondo Grass:

Should fill out that area nicely. 
Look for "final" pics in the days to come!