Hey, we might be siblings!!!! It sounds like we have the same mother. :-)

I don’t think I’d risk organising a surprise for someone who’s that picky. I’d consult her. The surprise would be doing all the administration so she wouldn’t have that stress.

Please post pictures soon. I am having a hard time getting any sort of visual here.

Here are the photos. The first one is of the front flower bed with the concrete sidewalk in the distance. The second one is where the walkway would be (it is currently a grass walkway). The third one is where the pool concrete is. The fence is not up yet but it will be right there at the grass walkway.

To answer your first question (cheap material but easy on wet, bare feet), there is no "cheap" material. The least expensive would be plain concrete. There are cheaper materials but they wouldn't be easy on feet, especially wet feet. There are more expensive materials, so by default, that makes concrete the cheapest. I wouldn't go any narrower thatn 3' for a back yard walk. So you can calculate materials based on the walk dimensions and get a ball park price.

If you're talking about DIY all the way, I wouldn't, unless you have concrete flatwork experience. Learning on a first job for a picky mom is not the way to get it. This would probably be $1,500 to $2K as a starting point. (Price is highly variable, subject to regional and market factors.) Would definitely get the layout mom-approved first.

I would not be quick to make an easy access to the pool and where I live the pool needs to have a fence all around it too. I really do not see the reason to have this access from the pool either . So i guess I need more info.

Many people add an outside access so guests don't need to traipse through the house coming and going.

Just an added thought in reference to your Mom...i would take this offer and share the ideas ...give her some time to think it over and decide if this is what she wants or needs...in general this will be good size project and expense...

At our country home we have pea gravel walkways that we love as they fit in so nicely with our setting....it is definitely cheap to do ...but comes with a maintenance commitment

I would never ever do a pea gravel sidewalk. Especially in an area where persons might have occasion to walk on it barefoot. (Pea gravel travels. A lot. Ask me how I know.)

We dont walk on it barefoot,however

Littlebug...agree on all your points..just saw your post now....think i was just sharing ...not knowing how limited the budget was ...this is really cheap...we never walk barefoot..couldnt name all the bugs...snakes..spiders ...lizards...etc that we have in our organic garden...

What you are looking for is called 'grass'. Unless you think the path is going to get more traffic than lawn can typically handle, it is reasonably pleasant to walk on with bare feet, not particularly slippery when wet, and inexpensive to install.