guaranteed to crack

Winter before last, when we first talked to the pool company about putting in our new pool, I asked the representative if there would be any guarantee on the surrounding concrete.

"Yes", he said, ".... It's guaranteed to crack"

Well, he was true to his word and we have a few small cracks.

We wanted to get some filler in them before winter to prevent water from freezing in the cracks and making them bigger.
Lonnie picked up a bottle of cement crack filler at Lowes and on a warm sunny day, we went through a trial and error system of figuring out how to apply it.

The words "self leveling" on the bottle are a bit misleading. You might think you could just squeeze it over the crack and it would settle down in there.

No, you have to mash it in there with a small trowel (or a large screwdriver if you are too lazy to go look for your small trowel).

After that I lightly swept a towel over the filler to sort of feather the edges into the concrete.

It might lighten up and blend in more as it dries. Even if it doesn't, it's still better than a huge crack.

But really, if concrete people don't have to guarantee their work, then what motivates them to do their best job?

It seems like I talk about concrete a lot, doesn't it?

last day to get in the pool

October 2 and and it was in the upper 80's.

One last chance to hop in the pool. Probably the last hot day and also the pool company is coming next week to winterize it and put the cover on.

It was cold at first but okay after you get used to it.

Lonnie had his legs in for a while, but decided just to enjoy sitting in the sun instead of swimming. He doesn't have nearly as much built in insulation as I have.

 It's a good thing it will be covered up soon. We are already having a lot of leaves falling.

But I am glad I took this opportunity for one last pool day this year.

my energetic brother

My younger brother must have been first in line when they passed out the energy. He has an unbelievable amount of it.

He doesn't waste it either! He is always doing something productive! And doing it quickly! And doing it well!

Look at the way he has this board rigged up between the ladder and a window sill so he can sit on it to scrape peeling paint off of our uncle's house.  Clever thinking, wouldn't you say?

He probably went hiking or biking when he got finished scraping!

I have ideas of getting lots of things accomplished like he does...but those ideas seem to stay in the planning stage for a long time. I need to remember that "when you do stuff - stuff gets done".

antique optometrist's set

It seems that my paternal grandfather really enjoyed going to auctions. He was looking for bargains and I am guessing that he liked finding unusual items.

This old optometry set is one of them.

 As children, my brother and I would examine it sometimes when visiting my grandparents...looking through the different lenses until we would have to put it away before we "ruined our eyes".

It's in a suitcase-like leather covered box with a lift out velvet lined tray filled with lenses to correct nearsightedness and farsightedness.

Some things may not be original to the kit...they have been added to the box over the years.

There is this black gadget with a hole to look through, some spare parts for glasses, and the frame that the lenses are inserted into during the vision testing.

The frame has numbers and measurements for making individual adjustments.

A little sample case of sealed glass ampoules. 

A few family member's eyeglasses have ended up being stored in here too.

These are my great grandmother's glasses. They are tiny little things with very thick lenses.

We had the case out last month after the fish fry...doing the same old thing...looking through different lenses and marveling at the unusual things inside.

My dad is thinking this set would be better off on display in a museum and is checking into maybe putting it out "on loan" to a small local museum.

deviled eggs

Deviled eggs are my favorite thing to take to a pot luck meal...and I nearly always serve them when we are having a larger number of guests at our house and the food is buffet style.

Deviled Eggs
12 hard boiled eggs, peeled and cooled
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
2 tsp. yellow mustard
1 Tblsp. liquid from dill pickle jar
salt
pepper
paprika
dill (optional)

Slice eggs in half, gently removing yolks.  

Mash yolks and add Miracle Whip, mustard, pickle juice, salt and pepper. Blend until creamy.

Spoon yolk mixture into egg halves. Sprinkle with paprika and dill. 

Keep chilled until serving time.

Things I have learned about making deviled eggs:

   Fresher eggs are harder (but not impossible) to peel. It's best to buy  the eggs about a week in advance if you know you'll be making these.

   Make sure the cooked eggs are completely cool. If they are even slightly warm when you put the finished eggs in a closed container in the fridge, condensation will happen and it will rain down on your eggs, turning them into small white boats floating on a sea of watery yellow goo.  I know this.

quilt blocks all sewn

I had a chance to do a lot of sewing and I got all 12 blocks completed for the baby quilt.

The colors are not showing true here. The darker blocks are not that dark.

I was thinking of using that stripe fabric at the bottom there as sashing and borders...but I kind of like it without sashing too.

I'll keep thinking it over. Meanwhile, I've got some batting trimmings I'm going to piece together for it and also I can get the backing and binding ready. 

I will have more sewing time in the next couple of days so this will be a quick finish.

finished up my mum bed

I have been thinking I wanted to re-do this birdbath area for quite awhile. When we moved here, that spindly looking bush was there - but healthier looking then. I put the bird bath there a few years later and planted some flowers around it.
That's when I was working and my boys were young...so I didn't have time to keep it trimmed and weeded. I eventually gave up on the flowers and piled a mound of rocks there.

a couple of deer back in the shadows in this photo

The rocks were a problem too. leaves get stuck in them. Creeping Charlie climbs over them.

This week I moved the rocks away from there and took the bird bath apart. Then I had this stump to deal with. It's from a Redbud tree that came up there and I was letting it grow for a while.

With some digging and the Sawzall I got rid of that!

I got my Mums planted. They are small now but hopefully they will come back next year and grow bigger.

In between them I planted some Dwarf Iris that came from my younger son's house.

The Iris should bloom in early summer...then as the mums grow and bud out they will hide the yellowing leaves of the Iris.  That's the plan, anyway. I've planted grass seed in that bare dirt area.

I changed out the birdbaths too, and put a smaller one on the pedestal.

The one with the cherub went over to my large flower bed (which needs weeded).

I had taken a few pictures of the backyard from an upstairs window and my photo sharing app turned a couple of them into this panorama without me telling it to.

It's all weird angles because, in reality, the front of the Jeep is actually in line with the edge of the porch...not pointing at the pool at all. 

Kind of neat, though.