Bearing Gifts

I'm not sure why we thought Phil would be starting the pool a week ago Monday, but we did. As you know, we were disappointed but resigned to the fact that we were mistaken.  Yesterday morning, just after daybreak, he arrived bearing gifts. Turns out his family has a 30 year tradition of meeting in North Carolina to make use of the apple season there. He not only brought a bag of apples, but a jar of the apple butter and sauce that they make together. My English muffin was most delighted to have that heavenly spread applied, as was I to eat it. Delicious!

Getting right to work, he and Darren worked methodically all day long. Here's a shot from an hour or so after they arrived:

The huge trenches are all filled in near the shallow end! I'm not sure what he's doing to the light in this picture, but I am sure by then he'd changed out of his penny loafers. You just don't expect a pool builder to work in penny loafers, do you? Well, he does some of the time which really intrigues me.

That's one of the great things about each day for me--seeing the unexpected. How about you? What keeps you intrigued in your everyday life?

Tuesday, being museum day and all, kept me away from the mess for a few hours. Once again, there were very few visitors although I did manage to sell a set of the note cards we made. As well, first thing, a man arrived, waving a $20 bill, saying he wanted to make a donation. He explained that last Tuesday, pointing at me, she allowed he and his wife to make a quick run-through without paying because he'd forgotten his wallet. That was kinda neat.

Something else I meant to tell you was a sweet little incident at the market on Sunday. Although I'm not showing them on my blog, I told you about the collages I've made for the show this weekend. I decided that having them out for a trial run, gauging public reaction, would make me more confident at the show. Because one of the collages has more than 80 images, I've raised the price by $100, thus actually selling it at the market seemed like a long shot. Anyway, a family with two boys came in to the booth studying it up close. After expressing their appreciation for the piece, we all got to talking. The little boy, who looked to be maybe five, all of a sudden said with great enthusiasm--"This farmer's market is awesome!"He went on to explain how he loved the organic vegetables available. According to him, his grandmother doesn't care if vegetables are organic or not, going so far as to even eat Cheeze Its! Imagine that! Asking me if I cared, I replied, "Do you want me to be honest with you?" "Yes please." I sheepishly admitted that I shared his grandmother's tastes. Oh how I love a precocious boy! It's been such a long time since I had a house full of them.

The post title, "Bearing Gifts" refers of course to the apple goodies, but Phil also left a parting gift. Take a look at how far they got in just one day:

Doesn't it look SO much better? By now I'm sure you're sick of looking at pictures of dirt, but no more so than I am sick of looking at the real thing! Bill came by Monday evening, saying, although he'd seen the photos on my blog, the real thing was most definitely worse! There is a slight possibility that the tile will make an appearance today which thrills me to death! It is some kind of pretty.


Time to get busy finishing up the last of my print order, well, not the last, but close. Having a dreadful mess for a back yard makes having a neat inside all the more important. Or, at least it does to us.

Here's a little something that might interest you: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/opinion/05ackerman.html

Good grief--Baxter is barking away letting me know that, although it is still dark, Phil has arrived.