The White House

The White House

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

We Have Water!

I got out of bed at 6:00 AM. THAT'S INSANELY CRAZY FOR SUMMER!!  I was actually awake a little after 5:00. Why was I up, you ask? One word: Mosquito.  It's been a long time since I remember them being this bad and they've NEVER been in our house like this. No one slept last night. Well, except Nick because he will sleep through anything. Today I have to figure out where they are swarming in at. I cannot get up like this again....I'm so not a morning person so summer is my time to be in my comfort zone.
Yesterday about 10:30 AM I was back in the hole. Stiff and sore, but determined. 
I finally got all the muck out and the liner clean by 1:30 PM so Homer could start hauling water.
(I am so busy swatting mosquitoes I can't even type! Arrg!).

While Homer drove up and down the hill in his dump truck I had to start work on another project. The center bed needed painted and couldn't wait. The back of his truck was full of dirt and it had to be empty for work today. My arms were already aching from hours of pressure washing, but I'm pretty good at sucking it up. (This bed is 20.5 ft long, 4 ft wide and 20 inches deep).
The first bit of water.  He'll haul the entire pool....all 30,000 gallons of it....in the that 2000 gallon tank in the back of the truck. It takes about 45 minutes per load if he doesn't stop.
That water is right out of the well. It can't be much above freezing and those two played in it for almost two hours. They are tough!
The wood I so neatly stacked next to the fire pit was in the way of the truck so I had to move it. I swear I waste a lot of energy on stupid stuff.  It will be nice when one day everything is done and has a place so we aren't shuffling things from one place to the next as we work.
Here comes my hero!!
The first few loads show lots of progress. This is 14,000 gallons....seven trips. Now it's all about surface area and the next eight loads will take it to the bottom of the rocks.  The rocks that I now hate. Just impossible to clean and dangerous for me to walk on. We are going to work on replacing the rocks with a wood boardwalk/dock around the outside. Cleaning will be a snap then. The rocks you see will go over to fill in by the waterfall where we ran out and have none. Wish I could snap my fingers and have it done because there isn't a single one of use who ever want to pick up another rock after building the beds and pool. They aren't really rocks as much as they are boulders and heavy and it won't be fun.
The grass grew...kind of. It looks a lot better in the photo than in person.  It is kind of thin and there is quite a big bald patch on the right. I started to clean up the straw, but the had to tend to kids.  I'll finish that up today and fertilize the area. That should help a lot.
I used some left over paint we had and love it. It makes the greenhouse so bright and cheery.  I have lots left so I plan to do the other two beds to match when we have our first rainy day and I can't do anything else. It takes 5 yards of dirt to fill that bed. Thankfully, Nick helped. I shovelled it into 5-gallon buckets and he packed it in. Elijah showed up to help with the last little bit. I have a little dirt left over from two other piles and then may use compost to finish it off. This bed is actually deeper than the other two so if it isn't quite to the top this year I'm okay with that. When I add compost in the fall that will top it off for next year.
Not looking forward to shovelling today. I have 3 misshaped vertebrae between my shoulder blades and when I do a lot with my shoulders (and have to look down for long periods) nerves get pinched and my arms go numb or tingle (like right now as I try to type). But any time I get whiny (like this) I just tell myself that so many more have it so much worse. Then I suck it up and get busy.

My first battle this morning (besides the swarm of mosquitoes about my head) has been house work (the thing I detest more than anything). A bomb has been dropped inside while I was working outside. I haven't been doing laundry, waiting to put up a line outside, but we literally have nothing to wear so I have to. I don't even want to know how many loads there are!  And dishes! Ug...I'm drinking out of a chipped coffee cup right now as the washer runs. And toys. And, well, just mess. I'd like to go back to a groovy simpler time....as in get rid of it all....empty rooms with just a mattress; living room with just pillows on the floor. And one outfit per kid. Do you think it will fly? Me either.

Okay...I've been here for 25 minutes and the last time I checked the laundry does not jump out of the washer into the dryer so I'd better fly. (I could so just go back to bed with all the snoozing kids).

6 comments:

D said...

I'm exhausted just hearing what you have been doing. :) Gayle, you must be having summer already while we are struggling to get over 60 degrees, and rain, rain, and more rain. It has to end sometime I guess.
PS: love that orange bed in the center.

Corey~living and loving said...

It really blows my mind that you are having such amazing weather. WE haven't seen temps above 60 here yet. :( and so much rain. I"m getting really sick of it.

Gail said...

This is going to be so beautiful!

One year my sister had mosquitos hatching from the saucer under the flower pots.

Janie said...

The kids look excited to get water, and you got the new bed painted, too.
Hope you figure out where the mosquitoes are getting in. Sleeping with them is not fun.

Queen-Size funny bone said...

Believe it or not I have a great tip for you. I've tried it andit works. Buy some cheap mouth wash and put it in a spray bottle. they hate the smell. spray it around and they stay away.

B said...

You inspire and motivate me!

Love your pool. We are very lucky to swim at my inlaws pool but they plan on selling the house soon.

You are amazing.