Progress

Here is the progress from today. They will be back Monday, on course to finish Tuesday. This weekend we will be getting the fence in order.

Moving Along

Ok we are moving along. Today they secured the coping (the top pieces surronding the pool), and then began installing all the ledger stone!

End of Day 1 Coping.

Here is a picture of the end of day 1 on the coping. The guys were here at 7am to get going again. The coping, stone work and tile should be done by Monday or Tuesday!!

Coping is here!

Progress is being made on the pool. After several weeks of no real noticeable progress things are moving along today. Yesterday the coping was delivered. The guys were here today to start installing at 7am. This is what was done in the first couple of hours....I will post pictures at the end of the day to let you see how far they get.

Fixing the Fence

So today Don worked on the sections of fence that need to be re-furbished. First we were going to re-furbish; it would be a little cheaper, eco-friendly etc. Than we thought we have alot of projects going I wonder how much it would be to buy pre-fab panels. This type of fencing is everywhere in our community surely Home Depot or Lowe's would carry what seems to be a standard panel, but for what cost? Well, it didn't matter, neither "box" store had the exact fencing we needed so we are back to time consuming, eco-friendly...but hey we are probably saving some $$$$. I am off to get some paint today. Once we re-paint those couple of sections I am sure we will want to paint the whole thing. It has been 10 years since that fence went up it is probably time. This just isn't the fun part.

Pool Update - we have had a "little" rain this week!

Well we have had just a little rain this week. Actually we have lived in San Diego for 15 years and I think this has got to be the most rain I have seen in one week in San Diego. The news said we did have this much rain in January 2000...and I do remember that because that is when we moved in and our yard was equally muddy.





We did have a few rain showers this morning but the sun is out now. Don hooked up the pump to pump the water out of the open trenches, next we will pump out the pool.


Unfortunately we had some fairly strong winds which did not bode well for our fence.

There is a chance they can start putting the coping on next week, depends on how fast things dry out. It doesn't help that there may be more rain Tuesday.

We have chosen a contractor for the covered patio. The plans have now been submitted to the city. We had to make a few budgetary cuts...but the concrete and main structure of the patio will take approximately 8 weeks to build. I will post the plans of the yard soon.

Apples and Peanutbuttery Caramel Dip

Ok we are going to share another one of our favorite snacks. This recipe is from the Cooking Rocks! Rachel Ray 30-minute Meals for Kids cookbook. This is a great way to start getting the kids involved in the kitchen. If you have kids that are interested in cooking, or if you are trying to get them interested this cookbook is a good place to start. It breaks down recipes by age group, and has kids enlist help from their "GH" or Grown-up Helper. (Not all the recipes are snacks...there are many entrees as well.)

Fuji Apples and Peanutbuttery Caramel Dip

Ingredients:

24 wrapped caramel candies (such as kraft, you can also find these in bulk sometimes at the store.)

2 Apples Sliced (Rachel Ray suggests Fuji, but choose your favorite)

1 T water

2 T creamy peanut butter (although we do prefer crunchy)
pinch of cinnamon (Rachel refers to this as the secret ingredient)

Directions:

Unwrap the candies and place in a microwaveable bowl, than add 1 tablespoon water and the 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. Place bowl in the microwave oven and cook on high for 2 minutes. Stir up the dip with a rubber spatula. If the candy is not melted all the way put it back in the microwave on high for another 20 seconds. Add a pinch of cinnamon to the sauce and stir.

Dip apples in sauce and enjoy. To reheat place it back in the microwave for 30 seconds. Enjoy.

Kettle Corn

Are you looking for a new snack to try while watching a movie at home? Do you love the kettlecorn at the fair, and other sporting events like I do? Well try this recipe from local tv foodshow Sam the Cooking Guy. This is easy, cheap and yummy....a winning combination. We made it last night and it turned out great...sorry no photo. Let me know how you like it!

Coconut Scones w/ Coconut Glaze

So I decided that perhaps I will post some other things that interest me on the blog, seeing as how the pool is in a waiting stage.

One of the things I like to do most is cook. I love to try new recipes. Recently we tried a new recipe from the Food Network Magazine; it was actually an entry from a recipe contest from a gal named Stacy Rae Garwood. The recipe is for Coconut Scones with Coconut Glaze. If you like coconut (I LOVE COCONUT), than you will have to try this recipe, they truly are some of the best scones I have ever eaten. And, they are not hard to make....my 12 year old loves to cook, she and a friend made them for us....and as my two year old says they are delectable!!

Two Project - Ideas

I have two websites I am looking at alot for project ideas one is lilblueboo, she has a great project idea go here for the tutorial. You could tweek this anyway, change colors, words etc. I definitely want to do this project. Over at Joy's Hope blog she made this sign that says Shine. Again this could be changed up anyway, you could do a name, initial, a picture.... I want to try this too probably in one of the girl's rooms. See below for the link to this tutorial.


Very cute, very creative! one word canvas tutorial

More Pics -- Making Decisions

There has not been alot of visible changes to the pool in the last week or so, but we have been making some decisions. We picked out the ledger stone and coping. The small plain taupe brick thing in the top of the picture is the coping, below it the ledger stone. The ledger stone will go along the upper foot of the back wall of the pool, and around the raised jacuzzi wall. I don't know that the picture depicts the colors well. It has tan, taupe, grey, white. This was a tough decision. We had 3 manufacturers to choose from, many were too brown, too yellow, too rust, too white.....hopefully this one will be just right.

This view makes the pool look a little bigger than it is because the back wall behind Don and Ben is raised one foot. That is where the ledger stone will go.