Changing the look

Anyone who has been in our pool or at least seen it will see from the picture that something is missing. I'll give you a minute to see if you can notice. OK, time is up, the slide and diving board are missing. Do you want to know why? Alright I'll tell you. After about thirty years of dealing with the same insurance company, State Farm, they decided they will no longer insure homes in Florida. This means that for the first time in thirty years I need to start looking for another insurance company. This is a subject for a whole different blog but suffice it to say that things have changed in the insurance world.

The new companies I have been checking with will not insure my home with the pool if it has a slide or diving board. Some will insure it for double the cost but since my kids won't pay the additional cost the pool now appears as you see it in the picture. What to do with the slide and board area is the subject of this blog. Updated pictures will follow.

Last weekend I started the transformation, which you should have read in my last blog. If you didn't read it yet stop here and go back and get caught up, I'll wait. OK, so now you know I moved two large ferns, tore up some wood and moved some stones. What to do from here.

Today I went to Lowes and purchased a bunch of plants for around the yard including the aforementioned area. We are looking at adding more low maintenance plants and maybe a bird bath or something to this area, along with a table or tanning bed in place of the diving board. Trying to figure out what to put there and make it all come together is half the fun.

This is going to be a short blog because I am getting tired and need to get my rest. I will continue to work on the changes and post updates as they are getting done. Remember that as a sixty something, full time working, motorcycle riding, when will I find time for that kind of guy this could take a while. I will do my best to update regularly and if not my loving wife who's other full time job is to keep me on the straight and narrow will make sure I do.

My Weekend

Just to be consistent I need to start out by saying that it has been a while since my last blog. I decided that only having Saturdays to get things done around the house just wasn't cutting it, so I took off Friday to do a little extra work around here. I got up early, read the paper and enjoyed my morning coffee unhurried while I waited for Kim to get up. We went out for breakfast, which is what we do when it is my turn to do breakfast, at a place we hadn't yet tried. It was very good and we will be returning again when it is my turn to do breakfast again.

After breakfast we went to K-Mart to pick up a few things we needed for the projects around the house. While there I got a call on my cell phone, some people seem to ignore the memo about me being off, and to make a long story short I had to go to work. Now in case you think this is a bad thing, I need to mention that the weather was beautiful and I do have a motorcycle that I love to ride. After returning home from K-Mart I fired up the Roadie and headed to work. After a great forty minute ride to work, I spent twenty minutes taking care of the work problem, and then enjoyed a relaxing forty minute ride home. Just think, if it wasn't for work I would not have gone for a ride at all. I love my job!!

When I returned home I started work with a vengeance. Well maybe not a vengeance, but figured I had better get something accomplished. Since the Roadie was all warmed up from the ride I figured I might as well do the oil change she was due for. I thought about doing some of the other work I wanted to do on her, but remembered that I didn't take the day off to work on the Roadie. Maybe another day.

Well back to the yard work which is why I was home and not at work. There are two fan palms that I knew had to be moved because they were getting to big and were crowding out my sago palm. Last week I had to remove my pool slide so there was a big open space that needed some attention. After removing the stones that were around the slide I dug up the fan palms and replanted them where the slide use to be. The wood walkway that went around the slide was deteriorating so that had to be removed also.

The wood is gone, the palms are in place, the stones are mostly forming a walkway and I am starting to feel my age. It is about time to start gathering up my tools and getting everything put away. The job is not complete but tomorrow is another day. It is getting near dinner time and since I didn't bother having any lunch my energy level was getting a little low.

Saturday was my turn to do breakfast again so we went to another place because the one we went to on Friday was not open Saturday and we liked this place also. After breakfast we went home and did a couple things around the house. We had an appointment with an optometrist for our regular eye exam at 1100. We figured in and out in an hour or so, but as things happen we were still there at 1400. By the time we went shopping and returned home it was to late to do to much with the yard projects. OK, so maybe we need to try this again another weekend. Between the rain and the unforeseen circumstances of the weekend I didn't accomplish as much as I had intended but it was a wonderful weekend nonetheless.

Sunday was just a great day of enjoying time with our church family and relaxing at home. After church Kim and I had a nice lunch on the patio and enjoyed reading the Sunday paper. Kim went and took a little nap and I paid the bills on line and spent some time working on the computer. After finishing this blog I am going to get ready for bed so I can get some sleep and prepare for another fun week at work.