Yesterday, we used the pool for the first time. I am not sure that I outright stated that we put in a pool last fall, but we did, and you have probably seen evidence of this in photos from time to time. Chad’s desire to cut down on the amount of grass he has to cut morphed into a new swimming pool – go figure.
(Just kidding - it was part of the plan all along.) Anyway, we put it in in October. Last fall was warm and dry, and they got it in pretty quickly. We admired it for about a day, and then we came home to find it covered up and winterized. So much for getting any use out of it in 2009.
After the pool went in, we had another month of warm dry weather, so in November we landscaped the yard. Well ... we had it landscaped. My involvement in the work amounted to driving over to the nursery to approve of plants and select this, not that. The trees went into the ground bare-branched and the plants went in hacked back to dry little stubs. We had to wait through the winter to see the overall effect.
This spring has been a lot of fun as we’ve seen the plants come up/fill in (so
that’s what that looks like!) and then the piece de resistance – last week, the cover came off the pool. We spent a day or two with a murky swamp in the back yard, and then it was cleaned up and restored to a crystal clear thing of beauty.
We still thought that our first swim would be a ways off. We didn’t put in a heater, saying we would try a year without it, but after the cold summer we experienced last year, we kept second-guessing that decision. We do have a solar blanket, but it hasn’t come out of the box yet. The blanket comes with a roller and while that makes perfect sense for a nice symmetrical pool… ours is lagoon-shaped. We anticipate that the blanket application and removal are bound to be a pain, and we’re not sure how often it’s actually going to happen.
We were pleasantly surprised to come home yesterday to find the water around 82F. We have a few things working in our favour: number one, the pool is in full sun all day. And number two, it’s not a diving pool; the deep end is 6 feet. Less water to heat makes it warmer overall. (And the lack of depth means no need for a floor drain – am I the only one who was traumatized a few years ago by the rash of kids drowning from getting suctioned down to the pool bottom?)
Anyway, with the water in the 80s and the air temperature in the 90s, there was no question that we would be going in. Liam had his trunks and life jacket on before I even set my briefcase down, and as soon as we unlocked the gate, he cannonballed right in. He’d been waiting 8 months for the day to come… I can’t say I blame him.
Yesterday, we used the pool for the first time. I am not sure that I outright stated that we put in a pool last fall, but we did, and you have probably seen evidence of this in photos from time to time. Chad’s desire to cut down on the amount of grass he has to cut morphed into a new swimming pool – go figure.
(Just kidding - it was part of the plan all along.) Anyway, we put it in in October. Last fall was warm and dry, and they got it in pretty quickly. We admired it for about a day, and then we came home to find it covered up and winterized. So much for getting any use out of it in 2009.
After the pool went in, we had another month of warm dry weather, so in November we landscaped the yard. Well ... we had it landscaped. My involvement in the work amounted to driving over to the nursery to approve of plants and select this, not that. The trees went into the ground bare-branched and the plants went in hacked back to dry little stubs. We had to wait through the winter to see the overall effect.
This spring has been a lot of fun as we’ve seen the plants come up/fill in (so that’s what that looks like!) and then the piece de resistance – last week, the cover came off the pool. We spent a day or two with a murky swamp in the back yard, and then it was cleaned up and restored to a crystal clear thing of beauty.
We still thought that our first swim would be a ways off. We didn’t put in a heater, saying we would try a year without it, but after the cold summer we experienced last year, we kept second-guessing that decision. We do have a solar blanket, but it hasn’t come out of the box yet. The blanket comes with a roller and while that makes perfect sense for a nice symmetrical pool… ours is lagoon-shaped. We anticipate that the blanket application and removal are bound to be a pain, and we’re not sure how often it’s actually going to happen.
We were pleasantly surprised to come home yesterday to find the water around 82F. We have a few things working in our favour: number one, the pool is in full sun all day. And number two, it’s not a diving pool; the deep end is 6 feet. Less water to heat makes it warmer overall. (And the lack of depth means no need for a floor drain – am I the only one who was traumatized a few years ago by the rash of kids drowning from getting suctioned down to the pool bottom?)
Anyway, with the water in the 80s and the air temperature in the 90s, there was no question that we would be going in. Liam had his trunks and life jacket on before I even set my briefcase down, and as soon as we unlocked the gate, he cannonballed right in. He’d been waiting 8 months for the day to come… I can’t say I blame him.
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