What a Mess...again

Yesterday I skimmed straw and leaves out of the pool and emptied the skimmer basket a few times, gingerly plunging my hand into the frigid pool water. I figured that it's a normal procedure considering it's Fall and the winter pool cover isn't on yet. (it's on order and we're awaiting it's installation). Then last night the winds kicked up to 50mph gusts blowing the straw,that is on top of the baby grass that's coming up, into the pool. It floated on top of the water forming a blanket-like cover in large areas. After 2 attempts to get the straw and leaves out of the pool, avoiding getting hit in the head by flying objects, and plunging my hand back into the skimmer basket, I gave up, turned off the pool pump and realized it was a loosing battle.
Another windy day is ahead of me and I'm watering the straw at 7:30 a.m. in hopes that if it stays wet, it will stay where it belongs. It's 36 degrees outside now and I thankful the water is at least able to flow through the hose.
Think of me as I'm moving hoses around today!

Some Birthday pics

Happy Birthday dear Reagan...... "Here Pops--I'll share"

Little Reagan turned one on Friday. Can't believe it's been a whole year since she came into our lives. I'm so blessed to be able to see her twice a week. She loves her Grammy and I love her.

She is so smart!!

Good News, Bad News

Good news--The pool filled up to the required depth in exactly 72 hours.
We rented a meter that measured how much water we used and don't have to pay sewage on it.
The Bobcat was back and moved all the ground to where it needed to be so we can landscape and plant grass. The cement around the pool looks great and we were ready to get the pool running and get it cleaned with a lesson from the pool people on Wednesday.
Bad news--after hooking up the pool pump and running it for half an hour, we discovered the pool was loosing water even when adding more with a hose. We lost over 7 inches of water in that time. They found the problem. A pvc water piece must have broken and the water was leaking out from that piece. They are now breaking up a whole section on concrete to get to the broken piece and replace it. That means more cement to be poured and some of the previous steps to open up the pool being repeated.
Good news--we won't have to pay for extra water and will be reimbursed for anything that is the fault of the pool people.
Good news--Our fence is almost finished. We have grass seed down and hay on top of it.
Tom is going out of town today for a few days and is taking part of today off to get more grass seed down so we can cover it with more hay so Glori won't be walking in mud till the grass comes up.
More later.

A Bit of Paradise

Front top half of hotel


lobby fountain that spilled over the top
evening view of a pool

Pretty Strawberries and Bubbly The pool with a glass bottom center. We sat around this pool the most
Pool and hot tub that is underneath the above pool
A little R&R
Wave Runner Tom went on

view from the lobby

bottom pool with top pool spilling over into it
view from our room
morning sunrise from our balcony our last day there

A week ago today we flew into Ft. Lauderdale, FL for a little getaway. Tom was able to keep our destination a secret until we got to the airport and the ticket lady blurted out where we were flying to. We stayed at the Westin Diplomat Spa and Resort Center. What an amazing place. Shortly after check-in Tom had champagne and strawberries delivered. The view from our room was beautiful. It was just like being on a cruise but because we were "docked" the whole time, we had better scenery. We enjoyed palm trees, pools, elegant lounges, great food and plenty of time to read and relax. When it wasn't raining, we were at the pool and when it was raining we enjoyed the beautiful lobby relaxing on a couch next to a baby grand piano listening to live music. Our last day there Tom took a wave runner out for a spin and loved it.


I am so grateful for the time to spend without interruptions with my husband of 28 1/2 years. We're still enjoying each other's company and still in love!

When we arrived home we had a houseful of people we were hosting leading up to Hannah's wedding. We enjoyed getting to know some of her closest friends. Yesterday she and Justin were married in Yellow Springs and it was a beautiful day.