We added a pool to our backyard in Fall 2009 and landscaped around it in Spring 2011.  We planted crepe myrtle bushes around the deep end of the pool and they grew very nicely.  I loved looking at the pink and white flowers.  You can see the tall, thick crepe myrtle privacy hedge behind these amazing syncronized cannonballers.

L->R: Zaque, Alex, Kyra, Jeff

In 2013, we had a very cold winter and every single crepe myrtle bush died down to the roots.  They started growing again at the ground level, but died off a second time the following winter.  The nursery experts told us we are on the northern edge of the crepe myrtle habitat so, in 2015, we gave up on the crepe myrtle and planted hardier red-leafed plum bushes.  As Ted and I sat poolside in the afternoon sunshine today, we couldn’t help noticing that our neighbor’s tomato plant is fuller and taller in one season than our plum bushes are after three seasons.  We could get more privacy from a row of tomato plants!  Not to mention lots of tomatoes.

The tomato plant is the tall green thing right behind the shorter red plum bush.

In 2012, Ted and I fixed up the basement to better accommodate our growing family.  We added a bathroom with a shower and decorated the “big room” to serve as a seating area and a play space.  The seating area easily converts to sleeping space when the kids and their families are here.  Since we did that, we haven’t needed to use the third upstairs bedroom when the kids come home for a weekend.  Now it’s five years later, and it’s time to make another change.  We decided to re-arrange the upstairs bedrooms.

First step:  We removed the double bed from the blue bedroom and put it at the curb.  It was picked up almost immediately by a lady who wanted it for her granddaughter.  We replaced the bed with the futon from the small bedroom.  This gave us seating and space for a project table in the blue bedroom.

Second step:  Shopping at the Swedish Embassy.

Almost immediately, we found a table we liked.  It’s big enough for projects, it has storage for two 15-inch leaves inside the table, and it can be extended from 55 to 85 inches for really big projects.  Of course, IKEA furniture requires an Allen wrench, but it was an easy job.

If you build it, . . .

. . . you’ll get what you want.  Table closed on left.  Visible leaf storage and table fully extended on right.

We also found a chair we liked.

Allen wrench, then completed chair with leather cushions.

Finally, we decided that after 30+ years, we could spring for a new futon cover.  We re-arranged all three upstairs bedrooms to accommodate the remaining furniture and our needs, and voilà!  We have a project room that can be converted back to a bedroom by opening the futon as needed.  It just makes me want to work on a project!

Sewing machine, serger, table, chair, and futon–everything ready to be used.

I couldn’t believe it when I saw it–a calendar picture that actually complements our kitchen wall!  It’s a photo of buffalo at sunset in Yellowstone National Park.  Every time I look at it, I first admire how good the picture looks against the wall, and then I remember something Dean Martin once said:  “Show me a home where the buffalo roam, and I’ll show you a house with a dirty living room.”

Note:  It’s a sign of the times that the calendar page is blank.  All of our reminders are on our Google calendar, which is accessible anywhere, not only in the kitchen.

Ted and I have been very busy during the last six weeks, but we’ve got all of our tasks checked off the list.  Whew!

Indoor jobs:

Fix squeaky kitchen floor.

The squeaky boards are above the ductwork, so they expand and contract a lot.  The floor guy told us to sprinkle talcum powder over the cracks between boards, then walk on them for a week to work it in.  Success!

Replace kitchen blinds.

The dual-light blinds have translucent fabric (top photo) and opaque fabric (lower part in bottom photo) and can be adjusted to control light.

Re-upholster kitchen chairs.  To be picked up in three days and returned to us with new fabric.

Update master bathroom and powder room.  Contract signed.  Work scheduled for September.

Outdoor jobs:

Buy new solar lights.

New lights.  Check!

Clean and stabilize pool.

Buy new pool umbrellas.

Wash lawn furniture.

Come on in!  Everything is clean and ready to swim or to sit in the shade of the new umbrellas.

Wash house and windows.

The siding is power washed and the windows are shiny clean.

Trim trees, hedge, and shrubs.

No more overgrown shrubs.

Chip brush pile.

Ted ran the shrub trimmings through his chipper and changed the brush pile into mulch.

Buy, plant, and mulch some shrubs and annuals.

New shrubs, perennials, and annuals are growing in the back yard.

Wash and seal concrete.

This was the hardest job to schedule and to complete.  In this rainy spring, it took six weeks to get three dry, calm days in a row to power wash and apply two coats of seal to our 2000+ sq. ft. of concrete.

Relax.

Aaaahhhh.   Ready for summer fun.

For several years, Ted and I have talked about getting a cantilevered umbrella to shade the “house corner” of the pool area.  This year, we decided to go for it.

First, we went to the umbrella store.

The guys at the loading dock were doubtful, but we got a regular umbrella, the cantilevered umbrella, its stand, 200 lb. of sand, and both of us in the Prius.

The car was full, leaving just enough room for Ted to operate the gearshift.

“Assemble it where you want it” we were told, so we did.  This is what 200 lb. of sand looks like in the umbrella base.

The next step was to attach the base cover.  The directions wisely advised having two people to assemble the umbrella, so we worked on it together.  Then Ted posed while I took pictures.

Here’s the post that will anchor the umbrella.

The most awkward job:  getting the entire umbrella unit onto the anchor post.  Oof!  Eighty-eight pounds!

The last step:  relax under the shade thrown by the new umbrella.  The green umbrella on the right is the cantilevered one; the red one on the left is the other new one we bought.We put our two old umbrellas and an umbrella stand at the curb.  In less than ten minutes, they all had new owners.

In Key West, people celebrate the sunset overlooking the Gulf of Mexico on Sunset Pier.  In St. Peters, Ted and I celebrate the sunset overlooking our pool while we watch our new solar lights come on.

I had a carpenter friend modify my old sewing cabinet for my new sewing machine and I was thrilled with the results.  Unfortunately, the first time I tried to use the sewing machine in the cabinet, I immediately realized I had forgotten that the power cords connect to the sewing machine below the cabinet surface.  I measured and checked and decided that it would not compromise the integrity of the cabinet to cut a hole in the vertical side of it.  If more room is needed, the top drawer could be cut down.  None of this would show with the sewing machine in place.  Dean said he thought he could do this for me.

Here’s Dean working on the inside pass-through for the power cords.

With the sewing machine in place, the power cords and switch are accessible through the top drawer space.

With some modification, the drawer slides right past the power cords.

Dean did such a good job, I decided it made the raw wood of the platform worthy of some stain and varnish.

The stained platform looks much nicer than raw wood.

The top drawer in action. I reach inside the drawer to turn on the power switch and everything works the way I want it to.

We needed new solar lights for the pool and patio area.  It’s hard to find solar lights brighter than 5 lumens (a pinprick of light), but we finally found some with 30 lumens and installed them.

Lights around the pool, . . .

. . . and more lights around the patio.

It’s April, so we opened our swimming pool.  When I mentioned to several people that we would be opening the pool on April 25, they asked how I knew exactly which day we’d do that.  I explained that a crew comes out in the fall to shut down the water system and the pumps, blow out the pipes, and winterize everything; then they come back in the spring and reverse the process.  As a result, we need to schedule the day they come.

We take the winter cover off the pool the day before the crew comes and the concrete is always dirty around the edges where dust, dirt, leaves, etc. collect over the winter months.  Ted set up the power washer and I got busy cleaning the concrete.

The concrete to the left of the red brick trim is clean; the concrete I’m standing on is still dirty. Can you see the difference?

After the crew leaves and all the mechanical stuff is running again, we need to kill off algae that’s grown over the winter, re-stabilize the chemicals in the water, and vacuum the dirt off the bottom of the pool.  It usually takes about 4-7 days to finish the cleaning, stabilize the chemicals, and heat up the water.  This year we learned that some of the pool-opening work can be greatly reduced and/or avoided.

Vacuuming the bottom of the pool.

We usually open the pool when the air temperatures are warm enough to consider swimming, and we close it when the air temperatures are too cool to have fun in the water.  While they were here this week, the pool crew (the same guys who come every fall and spring) told us that algae cannot grow if the water temperature is in the low 60s or below, so if we close the pool after the water cools down to about 60 degrees and open it before the water gets above 60 degrees, it won’t be nearly as dirty.  (Our water was 68 degrees when we removed the winter cover.)

The obvious question:  Why didn’t they tell us this the first year we had the pool???  We’ll definitely try that idea next fall!

My new sewing machine is too large to fit in the cabinet that came with the 53-year-old sewing machine I replaced in December.  I don’t like working with the new machine on a table because the sewing machine surface is about 2.5 inches higher than the table surface.  I know.  People everywhere do this every day, but I don’t want to if I don’t have to.  I also like the convenience of my sewing supply drawers in the cabinet.

I shopped online and in stores for a new sewing cabinet, but didn’t like anything I saw.  Most of the so-called “sewing tables” simply had an opening in the surface with a sunken platform on which to set the sewing machine.  I couldn’t even find a decent “sewing cabinet.”  What I saw, however, gave me ideas for converting my old cabinet.

I measured my new sewing machine and my old cabinet and decided that there was just enough space to enlarge the surface opening to fit my new machine.  Then I could install a sunken platform, set my new machine on it, and sew with a flat table surface, my large leaf for the fabric, and my supply drawers.  I’m handy with tools, but I don’t pretend to be a finish carpenter.  Luckily, my network includes a cabinet maker, so I invited him to take a look at my idea.  He said it could be done and voilá!  Problem solved.

Here’s my old sewing machine as it fit in the cabinet top.  It could be dropped below the cabinet surface for storage.

To fit the new machine, my friend had to cut the opening wider on the left and on the right, and shorten the hinged piece at the front.  The width of the opening is now equal to the distance between the two upright side panels of the cabinet.  Whew!  It fit!  The machine is sitting on a platform, just as I planned.

Cutting the opening wider on the left eliminated the space used by the mechanism for the retractable arm that supported the leaf.  To compensate for this, my friend added a hinged support that folds flat when the leaf is closed.

I can’t drop the new sewing machine down into the cabinet for storage like I did the old one, but that’s a small inconvenience compared to the ease of working with all this level surface and having my nice, large supply drawers within easy reach.  The solid maple cabinet lives on after more than a half-century of use:  two sewing machines for its original owner and now, many years later, a new sewing machine for me.  Sew on!

Remember the stuff in your grandma’s house?  It was old and yellowed and you just thought “old,” “yellow,” and “Grandma’s house” went together.  I don’t want that to be me!

Ted and I have noticed that the plastic parts on our microwave are yellowing and the unit looks like the one in Grandma’s house.  It has only a 1.1 cu. ft. capacity and 850 watts of power, and still works after 24+ years without a repair.  The new one has a 2.0 cu. ft. capacity and 1000 watts of power.  We’ll see if they still make them to last more than 20 years.  It has a stainless steel finish, so at least it won’t turn “Grandma yellow” with age.

Here’s the old, yellowing “grandma” microwave.  The sticker shows that it was made in November 1993.

Ted and I opted to install the microwave ourselves.  To someone who is handy, this is probably a no-brainer, but we don’t get excited about doing stuff like this and are usually happy to ensure job security for the installation guy.  Still, a couple of screws and bolts didn’t sound too hard or worth the installation price.  Except for having to buy some appropriately-sized drill bits, we had everything we needed.  Lining up the template for the bracket on the wall took the most time, and everything actually went pretty smoothly.  We were pleasantly surprised with our success and opted out of microwaving something for dinner in favor of celebrating with pizza and a beer at Dewey’s instead.

New stainless steel finish microwave.  Perfectly and (almost) easily installed by Ted and Diane, Inc., LLC.

Really neat settings.  Choose a food, enter the quantity of food, and the sensor cooks it to perfection.  You can even soften ice cream without melting it.  Wow!

This is the day I gave up my old desk chair for a new one.  Not only is the cushion of the old chair getting harder each year, but the chair’s creaks and squeaks are getting louder.  Ted can hear the chair squeaking at the other end of the house when I move, and his hearing isn’t that good!  It’s getting annoying and uncomfortable, so Ted and I went shopping today and picked out something softer and quieter.

Pay $12 for the store to assemble the chair??!!  No way!!  I love to put things together (maybe inherited from my dad), so when we got the chair home, I immediately went to work.

“This can’t be too hard,” said Diane, Allen wrench at hand.

Ted helped hold the back and seat together while I bolted them, then he fixed dinner while I worked to save the $12 assembly charge.  I also told the cashier I’d pass on the $36 two-year buyer protection plan and just be very careful when I use the chair.  Now I’m set for a (careful) day at the computer tomorrow while it snows.

Question:  What shall I do with the $48 I saved?

All finished.  Mmm, comfy!  (And no squeaks.)

Our new mattress arrived today.  The good news:  the top surface is level, rather than worn into hollows and hills.  It might have been a bit of hyperbole to say the center of the old mattress had a mountain range-like ridge between two valleys, but it was like a tiny flaw on a tooth that’s magnified by the tongue.  The bad news:  the new mattress is, of course, thicker than the old one, so our sheets didn’t fit.  In spite of my vow to go nowhere near a retail establishment this Black Friday weekend, we had to go shopping for sheets with one-inch deeper corner pockets to make the bed.  Nothing is ever easy, is it?

The old mattress.  It’s not too bad to look at, but you can see the “valley” on the left and the hump in the middle.

The new mattress.  The top surface is comfortably level.

Our mattress is nine-and-a-half years old.  As Ted and I lay in bed this morning, we noticed (again) that there are hollows just our sizes on each side of the mattress with a high point between and the length of the hollows.  When the bed is made and the weight of the mattress pad, the down comforter, and the quilted bedspread fall into place, the bed surface looks like two valleys with a mountain range between them.

We’ve been saying that it’s time to buy a new mattress, but this morning was different.  We asked what we’re waiting for, and we went out shopping.  The new mattress will be delivered Friday afternoon.  Suddenly, two more nights on the old mattress seem like a hardship, when just last night, it wasn’t bad at all.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any wine box mattresses for sale.

A number of years ago, Ted and I bought a power washer.  It’s been a sturdy little machine and we’ve spent many hours using it.  In fact, its initial run involved 8-10 hour days seven days a week for about three weeks while we used it to strip a bad seal from our 2,000+ square feet of concrete.  (Long story.)  Not once did the power washer falter.  Our current project is washing the vinyl siding on our house and, unfortunately, our trusty power washer just couldn’t finish the job.  It died with the back side of the house still dirty.

We liked the model we had, so we went to Sears on Friday night and bought the new version of the same model.  Saturday’s forecast promised sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80s–a good day to finish washing the siding.  Ted started up the engine and water gushed out from the soap connection.  After trying everything we could think of to solve the problem, we went to Sears to ask for help.

Oh goody!  The salesman went online to look up the user’s manual for a solution.  I’d already told him that the user’s manual says “connect soap dispenser” and that’s it.  Now he believes me.  Because we’d put gasoline into the tank, we could not return the unit to Sears; instead, we were directed to take it to their nearby authorized repair shop.  We did, and we had to leave the power washer there for evaluation, etc.  Result:  the back of the house is still dirty.

Today, the service person informed us that the pump is defective.  It is missing a regulator, so the water doesn’t enter and leave the unit properly.  Simply replacing the pump would be much too easy.  First, the service shop has to report the problem to Sears.  Then Sears has to approve the repair as a warranty issue.  After the approval, the repair shop can order the part and, when it arrives, they can install it.  I guess we’re going to miss the window of beautiful weather this week for finishing up the house washing.

They just don’t make them like they used to, do they?

You were a good little machine and you worked hard.  R.I.P.

Today was Ted’s and my annual Applesauce Day.  We started with a bushel of golden delicious apples and made this.

Cooked applesauce cooling

While the applesauce cooled, I made our annual Applesauce Day reward:  an apple pie.  By the time it came out of the oven, we had the applesauce packed in freezer containers and the countertop looked like this.

Applesauce headed for the freezer and a pie for later today

The only things left to do are to have a piece of pie in a little while and to enjoy homemade chunky-style applesauce for another year.

The sun is shining, the air temperature is in the upper 80s, and the water temperature is heated to the low 80s.  Ladies and gentlemen, we are “go” for swimming!

Kari officially opens the 2016 swimming season

The daytime high temperatures are finally in the upper 70s and low 80s, but the pool water temperature is only 64 degrees, so it’s time to turn on the pool heater.  We did that today.

After waiting for several days of spring thundershowers to pass, we vacuumed the winter debris out of the pool.  It looks very sparkly now.

The pool guys were here to open the pool and to reactivate the pump and filter system.

We removed the pool cover today, cleaned it, and hosed off the deck.

For some time, the drywall tape on the garage ceiling has been coming loose.  In October, we hired a contractor to re-tape the ceiling to improve the trashy look of the garage.  That, of course, led to re-painting the garage ceiling and walls, which we just painted circa 1980.  (I’d be lying if I said it seems like yesterday.)  To complete the fresh, new look, we bought new blinds for the windows.

The garage windows are six feet tall, and the window tops are eight feet from the floor.  The six-foot long blinds we bought came with whopping 20-inch wands to open and close them.

We have our bikes in front of the windows, and I couldn’t reach the wands, so it was Home Depot to the rescue.  I bought two 42-inch dowels, some cup hooks, and a mini can of glossy white paint, then headed for the basement.

Now the paint is dry, the dowels are hung, and I can adjust the blinds whenever I want to.  It doesn’t take much to make me happy.  Does anyone need a 20-inch wand?