did acid today!

Today they acid washed the pebbletec. Before they did that though, they pulled the wires for the light. They connected the wires to the light but set it up on the Kool-deck. That is so - when they pour the acid on the pool it does not get into the light. Then they put the acid into a water can with a little bit of water - then poured it around the edge of the pool. The other worker had the water hose and sprayed it down. They did the whole pool that way.

Then one worker took a power washer and sprayed the pool again. The other put in the jets.

When that was done they put in my light :) !

The last thing they put in was the new drain. My pool is now filling. I'm not excited to see my water bill. The pool will fill today and tomorrow. Friday they put in the chemicals and start up the pump. Yesterday it was 102 here in Phoenix. The record was 103. Good Golly ... I can't wait until we can use the pool. Thanks for following along on the pool remodel.

Pebble-tec Day

At 5:30am this morning they started working on my pool. This big truck in the alley mixed the cement and the pebbletec. While he was mixing up the pebbletec, the others got the pool ready. They covered my tile, the Kool-decking, the pool jets, the light and the drain. Then they put up a network of cables above the pool to hold the sprayers.

They each wore these shoes - see the spikes?

There was a crew of 7. One held the hose that was coming from the truck in the alley. The other men troweled the mixture making it smooth. As they troweled they sprayed it with water. They sprayed this mixture 4 times. After the last time they sprayed the mixture, they did their final trowel. They sprayed away the top of the cement to exposure the pebbles underneath. I wondered how they got the pebbles in there! It's in mixture from the start. It was fun to watch!

At the end they leave one man behind to do the finish work. He was there an hour after everyone else had left. He takes off his spiked shoes and walks out of the pool to leave. The mixture was semi-dry by then. The whole process took five hours. I LOVE the color! Tomorrow they put in the light, the jets, the drain and then acid wash the pebbles. When they leave the water goes in the pool. woohoo

Fountain

My husband won at the auction the wishing well fountain and this one. We put this one in the backyard in the planter over by the barn. (Remember it's not really a barn - I just call it that) I wasn't expecting to put anything else in this planter but... this seemed to fit. The wishing well will go in front of the house. We'll have a do a bit of rearranging to get it in there. The pool gets Pebbletec tomorrow morning at 5:30 am - woohoo! I won't have time to put the wishing well fountain in until the weekend. The "dog" fountain went for too much $$$ :( the plants you see in the picture are: sweet potato vines on the block fence, rosemary is the plant on the left, a pencil tree and a hibiscus in the pot on the right side of the picture.

Fountains

We use to go to the auctions all the time. There was one in Mesa (Country Club/Southern) on Saturdays that was our favorite. It closed and the other one in Mesa (Country Club/Brown) on Monday closed too. There is one in Phoenix (7th Street/Indian School Road) on Wednesday mornings and then again in the evening. They are ummmmm...... not too honest :( The only really good auction house left is wayyyyyyy out in Sun City (10109 NW Grand Ave). We don't go out there unless there are somethings we really want. This weekend they have these cute fountains. (and other really cool stuff) If we win the wishing well fountain, I'd put that in the front of the house under the tree. The dog fountain I'd put over on the side of the house where we put the new pavers and planters. Might be posting pictures of fountains in the yard soon :)

Almost!

Wednesday the new tile was put around the pool. Today they came out and repaired the rebar. Then they got the pool cleaned up and ready for the Pebbletec to be done on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday they acid wash the pool - and put in the light. By Thursday of next week they start filling the pool. Then Friday - one week from today - the chemicals go in and they start up the pump. I'll show it off when the pool is finally done.

I really like the tile. They used gray grout because the Pebbletec color is dove grey. The steps that are in the side of the pool (that are by the slide) were done in grey too. In the picture he is repairing the rebar just under the hole for the light. Woohoo

LOL

Today Deb in Texas posted about a gun-toting grandma in Florida - you HAVE to read this http://www.ladybugfromtexas.blogspot.com/

Got dirt?

Yesterday, I went over to the town of Guadalupe, Arizona. This is one of those towns that is scary even to drive in during the day time. But .... we needed a load of dirt and this place has the best prices. My husband didn't get his day off this week so I got the load of dirt.

When he got off work yesterday, he shoveled the dirt. It took one truck load to fill both planters. (Remember, he made these two weeks ago)

Today, I went to 6 different nurseries. The nursery that is a block from my house had the best selection and the best prices. Doesn't hurt to check them all out - plus it was a fun day. I'll be going back there to get more plants for these planters.

I picked out these four roses trees in different colors (yellow, red, lavender, orange). I'll put two in each planter. I haven't decided what else to put in there. It will have to be something that "likes" hot Arizona sun every day - all day long.

The pool tile is being installed tomorrow morning - woohoo!

Scorpions, Snakes, Coyotes.... and Alligators?

Here in Arizona we have some unique "critters" that the other states don't have. You expect to find scorpions, snakes, tarantulas, wild boars, coyotes, geckos, ...... but the other day I found an alligator. So of course, I took a picture of it. This worries me, though, because it seems to like houses with grass in the front yard. And my house is the NEXT house from this house that has grass.

Rainy Day in Phoenix

It's a rainy day in Phoenix. I love rain! That white spot on the picture is a rain drop on my lens.

I hope it rains all day.

I go out to check the plants in my new planters every morning. We put two tomato plants in some buckets. There's a little tomato already!

And there is a little tomato on this plant too. See it? I might be able to make ONE salad by summer time - woohoo :)

Pool Day 2

They brought in a big truck. It was back in the alley. It took two truck load to empty all the plaster from my pool. They put the plaster in wheelbarrows - then up the ramp - and into the truck

They shoveled all the plaster into buckets. Then they lifted up the buckets to the edge of the pool. Someone then put the plaster from the buckets in the wheelbarrows. Golly, if their backs didn't hurt when they got to my house, I'm sure they hurt now.

This guy jackhammered for 4 1/2 hours.

This guy chipped off all the tile. There were 6 of them working on my pool today. The pool contractor told me it would take at least 6 hours. These guys had it done - cleaned up - and gone in 5 hours. Woohoo!

Just Stimulating

I scanned the picture out of the book of the new pool tile. It's the 6 inch Marble Series in Indigo Blue (top left).
These are the nasty looking tile that the pool cleaner sucked off the side.
Yesterday the pool contractor came out and did an inventory of our existing pool. He told me that the pool skimmer was cracked. He said it would cost $900 to fix that. Ahhhh no!
I told my husband that - you don't want to hear the words he used!
Today the pool is being drained. It is draining really fast. *** might be because it's had recent experience - shhhh!
Thursday, the crew comes to chip out the plaster. I know it has to be done but..... I am really not looking forward to the noise and mess. We'll I gotta go do some more "stimulating" around Phoenix. Be good :)

San Francisco, California

Thank you for all your requests and/or ideas. This will be my official 300th post! I am posting about my favorite house to live in - requested by Mildred of Nalley Valley
I have no pictures of my childhood :( I had to look this house up on Google Street Maps. Isn't it amazing that we can walk down memory lane on the computer! I typed in 267 Miramar Ave. San Francisco, California and there it is!
I was 4 and 5 (and maybe 6?) when we lived in this house. My Dad owned a grocery store at the end of this block on Ocean Ave. We use to ride our tricycles with Mom down the street to visit Dad and do our grocery shopping. At the opposite end of Miramar was the elementary school I started kindergarten.
I remember one night my parent woke us up in the middle of the night. They wanted to show us what earthquake damage looked like. The ceiling had fallen in on the first floor. In the backyard we had a "mud" garden to play in. I made many mud pies. Yum! We had a boat. My Dad use to take us out in the bay to go fishing. He use to tell us NOT to put our hands in the water - that fish might think it's bait. ummmmm
See the front steps? My grandmother on my Dad's side lived in Palo Alto, California. She use to give us her old clothes, furs and jewerly to play with. My sisters and I use to have many fashion shows on those steps with Grandmother's "goodies". See the room off from the garage? We had a piano in that room. I took lessons..... I can't play a thing now.
This house has wonderful memories - so it is my favorite.

"the bf"

One day when my husband was coming home from work, he saw this young man walking a rottweiler. He stopped and talked to the young man and found out he and his rottweiler live two blocks from our house. My husband told him our address and said to stop by sometime so Bandit could "meet" his rotty. John (the young man) did one day. We had him take Adonus (his rotty) in the backyard. Adonus went straight for the pool. John told us that Adonus practically lives in his pool. Bandit (being a puppy) wanted to play but NOT in the pool. Bandit and Adonus seemed to make good playmates.
John came over yesterday with his mother who was visiting from Las Vegas. He told her that she needed to meet Bandit (Adonus's new bff).
Adonus was running and playing in our sprinklers. By the time I rememered to get the camera :( they were ready to leave. Adonus is 3 years old and weighs 130 pounds.
I think Bandit has a boyfriend!

Peaceful Sunday

I got a surprise in the backyard. One little daisy growing out by the "barn." It is truly amazing that it is there considering.......
The little daisy is out there with Bandit (my now 80 pound, 7 month old Rottweiler). As you know from other posts, Bandit is the dog from ****. She has destroyed - one antique pillowcase, four blankets, 6 throw rugs, 1 dining room chair, all her toys, the bathroom wall.... I guess you get the idea.

This is Bandit's frisbee. My little daisy is still there for right now :)

End of Day Two

It is the end of day two ::: wiping brow::: The pavers are down - the planter stones are in - sprinkler system is working - cleaned up driveway! When my husband gets another day off, he'll get a truck load of dirt. Then we'll take a visit to the nursery. My neighbor (who has his whole yard in roses) walked down the street to see what we were doing this time. I was thinking roses in these planters but..... the neighbor said it was too late. I need to have roses planted by October. We'll see what the nursery has.

All In A Day :)

My husband bought this gadget to do the other side of the driveway. By the time he finally got it (very slow shipping) the other driveway addition was done. He tried using it for this project and found out you can't see the "line" in hot Arizona sun. Oh well!
I was the "gopher" today. I picked up a load of sand at Home Depot.

While waiting for the forklift driver to load my truck, I saw the Cookies From Home" van. I've posted about them before. I've shipped cookies from them many times. Look at their back bumper.... Cute!

Then I had to go up to very North Scottsdale. They had some planter stone on sale. :::shaking head::: Boy, was that a waste of time. The stone they had on sale were marked down because they were either broken or mismatched :( I left!

One of the unusual plants/tree at that nursery in Scottsdale. When I got back home, my husband had used all the sand and needed me to go get more......

He bet me that he could have this project done today (one day). I said: No way! I think I'm going to win this one!

Pool starts today

My husband and I went to the pool company this morning. In this picture (kinda) shows some of the upgrades we could pick - silver or/and gold nuggets or/and blue pebbles in the pebble tec. Also the picture shows the lights (also an upgrade). We could pick one upgrade at no additional cost :) My husband picked the light - that was fine with me!
These are the choices of colors - some colors were upgrades (of course).

Another view of the colors - there were only three or four of the colors I didn't like out of the 24 choices. So I picked four that I liked - my husband narrowed it down to one of my choices.

This is the color we chose. We narrowed the choice of tile down the same way. I picked three that I could "live" with - he narrowed it down to the "one." I forgot to take a picture of it. The tile is the same shade of blue in the tile in above picture. You'll see it as I take pictures of the pool remodel process.

This afternoon, my husband is picking up the pavers for the driveway addition on the other side. I know you're thinking..... don't they ever quit.

I bought this house 3 1/2 years ago. I bought it because I didn't think we would have to do that much to it. Also, this house was big enough for: game room, 12X24 workshop addition and big diving pool. Those were the things my husband had as his priorities - my priority was basic: the neighborhood. This house had it plus more. Soooo.... my husband said if I was out with the realtor and found the perfect house - buy it. "I" (me, in my name) bought this house. I guess that's a story for another post.

Today only!

Do you see it? Look real close.... just below the "Shell" I had to go back home and get my camera - then drive really slow (try doing that in Phoenix traffic... chuckle, chuckle) - and then snap a picture.
Gas today at the Shell for only 89 cent a gallon in Phoenix, Arizona!