10/13 - Closing the Pool

I'm still trying to catch up on some older posts, but because I also use my blog as a form of memory keeper, I want to get these in.

Columbus Day weekend found us closing up our pool for the season. We usually do this earlier, but Brian's schedule has been very busy this fall.

Brian cleaned up the leaves from the bottom and began dumping water to lower the level for winterizing. Lower the water level can take a few hours.

We got out the tarp and spread it out. We used to have a spring loaded safety cover which is nice in that it lets all the water go through, but it was more work to put on. We may get another one eventually, but with replacing the pool liner this summer, there was no money left for this expense, so a pool tarp works fine.

Bess helped us fill the jugs. These are old chlorine jugs that we use to hold the tarp in place.

It has been a family tradition that Bessie is the first one in the pool in the spring and she has to take a swim before we close it up. I wasn't going to hold her to this as it was quite late in the year and the water was very cold. She was determined to take a swim.

The look on her face says it all...that water is cold. We had many nights in the low 40s, high 30s.

She said that once you were in, it was actually pleasant. I'm quite sure I won't be giving it a try.

Gabe would not be left behind. By the looks of him here, he also is not sure about the logic in all this, but tradition is a very important thing.

He's still smiling, but hasn't quite gotten all the way in yet.

Well, I guess once you take that leap, there is no turning back.

After that, they had a great time. They stayed in the water for about 30 minutes.

Bessie is our resident frog catcher. She can swim right up to them and snag them out of the water. They don't have a change with her in there. We wanted to make sure we didn't have any frogs wintering over. They can not get out of the water with the cover on and would not survive. This little guy was put in our garden pond which is much more suited to his needs.

Gracie was not to be outdone and took her last swim also.

The Littles were not sure about this whole swimming in October idea, but Hannah soon joined in the fun.

This is Dan taking his very quick dunk. He wanted to be included, but was not thrilled with the cold water. Rachel declined to join the others. I can't say I really blame her. She gets cold in July.

Back to the task at hand. We cleaned up the pool enclosure, picked up all the pool toys, mowed the grass and secured the solar cover.

We blow out the water lines with the air compressor, added RV winterizer and plug the lines. The pump and filter will be put down cellar for cleaning and will be ready for spring.

The tarp is brought in along side the pool and stretched across. We have been doing this for many years and it takes no time to finish the job.

Laying out the jugs and the job is just about done.

It is always nice to have this accomplished, but also makes us a bit sad . The summer goes by so quickly in the north. May will bring the reverse of the operation and the children will once again make that plunge into very cold water. Our pool, one of the many cycles of our family life.

Me vs. The Clothes

I spent several hours sorting children's clothing this afternoon. I have decided that this is my most dreaded job. I would rather muck out the chicken coop, stack firewood, mow the lawn or shovel the snow filled driveway (not that we have snow yet to shovel). Right off the top of my head, I can not think of a job that I dislike more than sorting through clothes.

I'm sure I sound very ungrateful when we have enough clothes to actually have to sort. I'm sure there are many, many people who would love the clothes that I am viewing with dismay and discouragement. I really am grateful. We do not have to buy many clothes for our family. So many people are generous with their things and willingly share with us. It saves us so much that we have this abundance, but I came to the conclusion today that we are not passing the blessing on as well as we should but keeping so many of the clothes we are given.

I mean, realistically, how many clothes does a child need and multiply that by five children, throw in two adults and that is a lot of clothes. So, my question, how many clothes is too much? I don't know about your family, but we tend to wear the same favorites over and over. I do wash everyday, we don't need two weeks worth of clothing. We have a small house for a family of seven and there is not a lot of storage.

I'm sure this mild-aversion to having so many clothes comes from the fact that I really don't care so much for fashion or what kind of clothes I wear. It needs to be comfortable and functional. I like a bit of color and pattern, but I'm no fashion diva. I couldn't care less what folks are wearing and what is the hottest trend. I hate to shop for clothes and what clothes we have has to be very durable. No delicate cycles or cool dryers around this house.

As of today, I'm on a mission, to eliminate a huge portion of the clothing we have. I would love any advice on how you handle the clothing monster in your households.

More Tree Fort

Brian took the old wooden swingset apart and used pieces to add onto the new tree fort. The monkey bars where still in good shape. He tightened the bolts and attached it to the back of fort.

Gabe gives it a test runRight now the fort is being used as a pirate ship the most, complete with sword fights. Brian is working on attaching a prow to one side.

Pool Installation

I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures of pool liner replacement. What a project.

We originally thought of doing this ourselves, but Brian has been away a lot this summer and we didn't feel we could get it done in a timely manner. As it turned out, the pool company didn't do it in a very timely manner either and that was a huge test in patience for me, but it is done and we are so thrilled to have it finished.

Old liner waiting to be removed

Removing old linerThen the real fun began. We have a lot of ground water...a lot. The water poured in as fast as they could pump it out. Two pumps could barely manage to keep ahead of water. They continued to work on the walls and set up, but were unsure of how to proceed with all this water.


They decided to drill a bigger sump well that would allow more time for them to work. I had to chuckle a bit as people try and try to get a good water source and here we are trying to get this really nice, clear water out of the bottom of the pool. Brian is thinking of putting a well spike behind the pool and using this wonderful water source on the garden next summer.


Getting ready to cut in the stairs

Stairs cut in and liner attached to shallow end
The pool people did not want the kids in the pool enclosure, much to Gabe's dismay. They had a hard time staying out.


Dan enjoys the cardboard box
They were finally ready to do the last bit. This was a race with the water. There was a water truck ready (9,000 gallons) to start pumping. They got the liner all attached. The two ladies stayed under the liner until the last minute. Ready to pull the pump, put down stone and throw down a "fast patch" to cover up the stones. It was pretty interesting watching them. They were not happy with all the water coming in and had to work very, very fast. At this point, they had three pumps working.

They began to vacuum the air out between the liner and the solid pool walls. The women stayed under the liner. One of them in particularly did not enjoy this at all and I can't say I blame her. It must have been very hot, humid and dark under there. The other workers had to pull them out as the water flowed in.


They start pumping the water
Everyone out from under the pool and securing the main drain Finishing up securing the sides of the linerWe used two water trucks, 18,000 gallons and the pool still wasn't full. We do not have the original documentation for the pool, but the man with the water truck estimated the pool at holding 24,000 gallons of water. It took about a week of running a hose from the house for an hour at a time, a few times a day, to finish filling it.

Full and job done!
This was a very big project, mostly because of the ground water issues. It was expensive. God is so good and provided the money to pay for the job, but I always question the use of our funds. We love the pool. It is such an enjoyable pastime for us and is used almost daily all summer for our own pleasure and for entertaining.

Hopefully this liner will serve us well for many years.

Phase 2 of Kids Play Structure-Tree Fort

Brian continued to work on the kids play structure this weekend. This step was the main tree fort. He put it somewhere between six and seven feet off the ground, high enough to be exciting for the kids, but not too high. He used four pines that were next to the swing beam. The trees of course weren't set in a square, so the fort is a bit longer on one side, but it came out very nice.

Gabe says the next feature needs to be a dog ramp. Can you see poor Gracie watching all the fun from below. I'm sure Brian will oblige and put the ramp up so Gracie can join the kids.

Below, you can see that Lily does not have any trouble maneuvering the new structure.

Our kids think they have the greatest dad and I have to agree. Even though there are plenty of projects around the house, Brian will take time to do these things for the kids. Great job, Bri!