The Calvary Has Arrived

It's hard for me to believe that I've written over 700 titles without repeating any. Seriously. Sometimes they come to me and sometimes they are provided by others as is the one I'm using for today.

 

I kept seeing more of them coming into the backyard and when I expressed surprise at their numbers, one of them said, "the calvary has arrived." Here's the prep:

Observant readers that you are you've probably noticed the pool looks different than when last you saw it. That's because yesterday afternoon Darren put on the bond coat while I was out doing errands.

By now you're probably checking the date on this thinking something seems off. Well....yesterday afternoon just as I was arriving with my arms full, my mobile began to ring in my purse. Rummaging through the contents I couldn't come up with it until after the last ring. Next the house phone rang and this time I answered promptly. Sheila, Phil's daughter and office manager was calling with the welcome news that there was a change in plans which suited me just fine. As I type this the truck out front is mixing the Pebble Tec for the installation which according to the man taping the tile, will take about three hours. Oh Happy Day!

Phil and Darren are wiring the equipment and on Friday we should have water! According to Phil, after the acid wash tomorrow, the pool will be ready for filling and by late Friday morning, they will show me how to run things. Just in time for us to leave for Ocala!

On my way to the Polasek, I picked up my order which I'll start working on momentarily. Bruce went to Watertown, NY yesterday and is now heading to Massachusetts. He is still in some pain, although it's not the drop to your knees kind of pain. He was hoping he'd passed the stone but apparently not. I've begged him to take his Ibuprofen ahead of the pain rather than once it's too far gone. He promises to do so.

Just think, it won't be long before I start posting photos of something besides the back yard. Here's a sneak preview taken at the Polasek yesterday. Fortunately a book club visited which allowed me to get some much needed practice on the register!

One of the places I stopped by yesterday was Costco. While there buying a large floral bouquet for Angela, I came across this weird green flower, if you can call it that.

It feels very soft if you're wondering. Yesterday Angela had a hysterectomy at Winnie Palmer Hospital. Amazingly, they did it with a laparoscope! This, of course, makes for a very quick recovery. After 18 surgeries, she's accustomed to hospitals for sure! She related the funniest story about her pre-op experience. The anesthesiologist asked her if she was SURE she'd had a tracheotomy. Three months to be exact. Do you think it's possible not to be sure about something like that? Duh....

Work is going on in earnest out back; I don't want to miss a thing!

The Clock is Ticking

Indeed. Bruce is doing his best to get home by around 4:30 this afternoon to get the party started. I've cleaned, organized, and prayed over everything hoping the show will go well. Seriously, I didn't pray over the prints, that just seems wrong, but it probably wouldn't hurt.  They allow set up from 1:00 this afternoon until 8:30 in the morning. We, however, do not plan to be there overnight! Probably three hours or so if the light holds up, although I'm thinking the park is probably well lit. We shall see.

The weather report is good. There will be a few hours in the afternoon that will undoubtedly still be pretty warm, but no rain is predicted, so that's one hurdle we don't have to jump.

As I type this, there are just two electricians working out back. Phil and Darren installed the filter, pump, salt meter and light this morning. I'm not sure where they went, but one truck is still here, so I've no doubt they'll be back before long. Here's how things are progressing:

The picture above is Phil installing the new deep end steps which are a huge improvement over the old ones. They are actually duplicates of the former ones, just not worn and gold with age.

I took this one this morning as you can probably tell with my shadow in place. Did that on purpose. These little diamonds,which will be flush once the Pebble-Tec is applied, replace the previous tile banding.  Because I'm so crazy about the tile, the more the merrier!

This morning I worked on a little painting with this spiffy new extension pole purchased by my darling husband for his little house painter wife:

Contrary to my regular paint picking techniques I picked nearly the same shade of gray. Horror upon horrors, it is called Passive. Passive--what kind of name is that for paint I ask? Plus, it doesn't suit my personality! I suppose it doesn't hurt to have one room of the house in muted tones. Please note the box Mark installed to hide the AC stuff. Pretty nifty, huh? I can't take credit for cutting in that ceiling however. That goes to Mr. Bruce. I'm good enough when there is crown molding to work off of, but  that's about it. Nancy and I were talking and I told her the secret is to load your brush, place it at an angle and either pull, or push, with confidence. Once you start poking along, or dabbing for that matter, you're sunk.

While cleaning the equipment I got to wondering how Matt cleaned his brushes and rollers while painting his new flat. We have a yard, albeit extremely sparse, which makes clean up somewhat tolerable using the hose. Haven't you always wondered how a roller can hold so much paint when it seemingly has none? I roll and roll the wall until nothing happens, only to have to wash the roller for what seems like forever! One of life's great mysteries I suppose.

Speaking of the lawn, Dobson's is finally almost ready to install new sod to replace what they've killed. For someone who loves a green, healthy lawn, this has been a long spell dating back to April. Probably this falls under the category of everything happening for a reason which becomes apparent with time. By now we would be freaking if our grass were good, what with all the trucks and such running all over it. With any luck, the travertine pavers should be arriving this afternoon on pallets set in the front yard. See what I mean? By this time next month we should not only have an awesome back yard but hopefully a great front one as well. Time will tell.

A necessary evil of this crazy business I've got myself in, is self-promotion. Ugh! In the past sending out a mass email has been laborious to say the least. Responding to my query for a simpler way to do it, Matt sent me detailed instructions which I followed to the letter. I hardly need tell you I didn't mean for that to be a pun, but upon further reflection it's kinda neat. Anyway, off it went to 165 names in my address book. Responses welcome.

Wish me luck--the clock is ticking. :)

Demolition in Earnest

WARNING: Photo intensive blog post ahead!

You undoubtedly know the song by B.B. King, "The Thrill is Gone" don't you? Well, it occurred to me when thinking about the title for today's post. I was going to go with "The Deck is Gone" which you'll soon see. But what really struck me is that we have had loads of thrills on our deck. Great family gatherings and dance parties. It's not just our deck that's gone, a little piece of our history is gone. Pretty soon it will be time to make new thrills!

Okay, here's what's happening. Yesterday morning Paul arrived with a wet saw on wheels. Fortunately I had my Polasek duty for some of the time he was working so I only had to hear it for about four hours. Actually around 5:00 I went over to Angela's house with Baxter for a little quiet time. He left soon thereafter.

 Here's a look at the prep stage:

 Notice the color of the pool water after three days of no filtration.

Off to the sides, around the palms is concrete sludge.

Bright and early this morning two of the workers arrived at 7AM. In the next half hour four more arrived and here's a look at what they did:

Starting on the small side of the deck, they began removing the cuts, putting the pieces in a wheelbarrow and loading it in a trailer for recycling.

 A little break in the action. Fortuitously Bruce had these bags of top soil there for a resting spot.

 Getting there:

 Now on to the large part:

 The deck is gone and time to tackle the tile:

At the same time this was going on a  plaster specialist was patching the inside walls where the nasty air conditioners were:

 He was very careful with using plastic to protect both the floor and the rest of the room when he was spraying the finish. The patches look great!

Finally, around 2:30 they were done. The concrete chunks were so big. I went out several times, thanking them for their hard work. Professional folks get lots of recognition but the world would stop without the building trades. I am so grateful for them.

Here's just one of the four trailer loads. The gentleman on the right has been a mason for more than fifty years. Can you even imagine doing such hard labor at 70 years old? He's the father of the man who did the cutting. He told me some of the chunks were 7" thick!

Here's what the yard looks like after they left:

Pretty ugly huh? One thing that's so interesting is the change in water color; that is the only bright spot in the landscape at the moment. Needless to say, Baxter is dazed and confused. Never fear those speakers are coming off the house. As well, hopefully the refrigeration lines from the air conditioner you see to the right of the speaker will be re-routed through our measly attic.

Coming soon to a blog near you--new windows!

September 1, 2010

This evening I'm meeting with Mr. Roger to plan the order. I'm trying to edit, I'm trying to edit, I'm trying to edit! Maybe if I repeat it often enough it will sink in?

I don't know about you but I miss snail mail. Yep, I do. I know that sounds old fashioned, but it's the truth. I believe it was Monday afternoon, while working at the computer, the little email notifier popped up with a message from DeLand Art Festival. Great news--I got in! That said, to me there's nothing quite like the anticipation of opening a sealed envelope. Reaching into the mailbox, seeing something in print that's intriguing, and for me, while walking back to the front door, ripping it open. Using our senses, you know? As fast as things are changing I'm sure it will be no time before snail mail becomes obsolete, but that's not a good thing in my book. Lisa is dying to show us all the letters she's saved from our father who died in early 1982. Somehow I can't see our children printing old emails to reminisce over when Bruce and I are long gone. Change may be inevitable, but I don't have to like it, now do I? Originally I'd thought to print this on canvas, however, I'm thinking maybe not.

Before I continue, let me just tell you that I was nearly done writing when I hit the wrong key, deleting everything aside from the previous two paragraphs. Trust me when I tell you that I had a good opening.

The week is flying by with renovation meetings. Mark came by Monday night, staying way longer than I'd anticipated. Silly me. He was here late the previous time! We've scaled back much of the work he was going to do for us at the moment. We are however replacing the glass with stronger, insulated, not to mention tempered glass. Although we've lived here nearly 15 years, accidents happen as we all well know. After watching the front door shatter I can only imagine if the same had happened in the back yard. Instead of crackling, large pieces would be the result.

And speaking of the front door, Mr. Bowles, our pool contractor came by last evening to finalize plans. Last week, while visiting the tile store  with Bill, I found the shiniest, prettiest, most awesome glass mosaic tiles for the pool edge. Mr. Bowles reminded me of my tile allowance which this far exceeds. You know that most excellent husband of mine--he said, sure honey! Anyway Mr. B. went through the house to his truck to get a box of Pebble-Tec samples, the material which will be sprayed on the pool interior. Oops! Apparently he must have shut the door just a bit too hard. Returning via the gate he told us the glass had finally given up the ghost! About two thirds of the glass fell in hundreds of pieces, both in the foyer, and on the front stoop. Broken glass is sure pretty. Bruce, of course, was unafraid to tape what remains of the glass, keeping the rest of it in place for when the glaziers arrive. Hopefully tomorrow!

The trees are done for now. Here's what the guys took away with them, although with how low that truck is sagging, I imagine it was a slow ride!

I lost my momentum with that deletion I'll tell you that much! Tomorrow, on the other hand, is another day. In fact, it's September 2, 2010. Can you imagine?

Birds of Prey, Oh My!

I must admit that the going was a little slow this morning, not because I'm ill or anything, just a case of too much fun last night. Eating dinner on the patio is one of the things we love to do when the weather cooperates, and strangely enough, it was pleasant last evening with mild temperatures and low humidity.

Yesterday afternoon a pool builder came by the house to discuss updating our swimming pool.  An excellent general contractor is adding a sun room to the back of Angela's home so I got a name from him. When he showed up, right on time I might add, we were surprised that he was over 60 and had been in the pool business for 40+years, still doing most of the work himself. Bruce has been working from home the last few days which was ideal because he knows all the right questions to ask. Getting out the paperwork from the last overhaul, we discovered it was 12 years ago! The coating they used that time is no longer in use, primarily because it proved to be not so great. So here's our problems--the pool leaks, there are splotches of discoloration in far too many places, the skimmer housing is cracked, as is the deck in many places. Oh yeah--lots of cracked tiles too! Mr. Bowles recommends pretty much starting over aside from the shell. Sounds pretty pricey, but we'll see.

Anyway, after he left we ate dinner, drank more red wine than is prudent (I'm struggling on than/then here), swam in the moonlight, listened to music, and stayed up way too late! Thus, I was moving slow. Rolling over this morning as I awoke, I saw the clock read 8:00. Wow--I jumped up the best I could only to discover in the kitchen while making my tea that it was only 7. No wonder Bruce was still showering to go to the office!

In an effort to get moving, I took Baxter for a walk down our street, which in case you don't already know this, he's not all that crazy about. What kind of dog doesn't like to take a walk?! You pretty much have to tug him along, gently, but tug nonetheless. A few nights earlier a neighbor pointed out a bald eagle way high in the pine tree two doors down. Bruce came along Wednesday night and on our first pass we saw nothing. Heading back to the house we discovered two bald eagles! I did the best I could considering it was dusk, not to mention they are perched in trees that by Bruce's estimation are 80 FEET tall!

Here's a look at the trees in the back yard to give you an idea of their height:

Obviously I took this one today in broad daylight! This morning I discovered no bald eagles, but I was treated to the sight of two other birds of prey, the red tail hawk was out front in the same tree as the eagle the previous evening. This is one HUGE bird! The claws are pretty scary looking.

Those tall trees from the previous image were host to this osprey:

Naturally I knocked on the neighbor's door to gain permission to their back yard and while we were chatting he said the eagles came around quite a bit leaving all sorts of body parts in their wake. It didn't take me long to come across this as I was heading home:

YIKES!

I did manage to wash and hang our laundry on the clothesline, vacuum and there is bananna bread baking as I type, but I'd be less than truthful if I told you the day was very productive. One reason is I've come under the spell of Jane Smiley. Her new novel has me enthralled. Here's her very own website: http://web.mac.com/therealjanesmiley/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html If you've not read her before, you must rectify that situation at your earliest opportunity. Or at least that's what I think you should do.

Bruce has been extolling the virtues of Tom Petty's new album, "MOJO";  I finally got around to listening to this afternoon. Pretty good, but every time I hear Tom Petty I can't get this story out of my mind that one of my patients shared with me years and years ago. Her husband drove the tour bus for the Heartbreakers for more than twenty years. No more build up, here it is. He's weird, mostly taking his meals at a table by himself, AND he puts his face practically down in the plate with his hair in a free fall around said plate. Sorry if this sticks with you as well...