September 2005 Archives

Blackbird wanted to see what we are wearing for Friday Show and Tell. I am wearing maternity clothes. When you have seen those you have seen them all. Instead I am showing you more of the pool construction. The photos in today's post of the work in progress on the pool took place over several weeks. Each step in the work was completed by a different crew. Once the hole was dug two guys came out early one morning sometime between six and six thirty and started putting in the iron frame work that would help support the plumbing and give the blow gunite something to hang on to. Also the ironwork keeps the gunite from cracking due to changes in temperature. This pool comes with a lifetime gaurantee to hold water forever or they fix it for free. They worked quickly for a two man team. I went out just at lunch time to offer them drinks and sandwiches and they were packing it in to go. In less than 5 hours they had run this entire network of iron. On another day a crew of men came out and started the rough in of the plumbing so that the crew contracted to sculp the pool with gunite could work. This is the gunite crew. It was fascinating to watch these guys work. The gunite comes out of this hose with such a force the man holding the hose had to brace himself and then workers on either side support him until he gets a good grip and grasp of the power coming out of the end of that hose. As the gunnite is blown to a depth of at least 14 iches thick the rest of the crew, except the guys controling all the machinery on the trucks, use a wide variety of tool and begin to hand shape and smooth every inch of the pool walls. This guy hand cut the steps. He did not use a template. Homemade scaffolding as you can see. Nearly finished. Look how smooth it all is. This is the crew that did the gunite work minus two other big trucks that came in with more water and gunite about half way through. We have been very please with the work crews who have been here working on the pool. They have been very polite and kind men, mostly immigrant workers. The crews that were here before 7am and worked until 4 or 5pm really put out a lot of effort. I cooked a noon meal for each of these crews. Several reasons behind the logic: 1. We live so far out it would take them about 2 hours to go get lunch and come back therefore either extending the day or requiring them to come back again 2. Show your appreciation to those who do work for you and they do an extra nice job in the end to say thank you. The next crew that came out was the plumbers. It took them two days to complete their part. They ran all of the water and drain lines. They installed the pump and filter. They also dug and put a 500 gallon LP tank into the ground and set up the heater. Yes, this pool will be heated to extend the swimming season. With the price of gas these days who knows if we will actually use it but we have it if we want to. The next crew that came out were the tile and coping installers. I chose smooth red brick for the coping. I love the smooth bull nose. There will be no snagged bathing suits! I chose the tile from the Island Breeze collection. The tiles are 3x3 and are called Carribean Blue. I think the blue looks really nice with the red brick. Because of the curves of the pool this man had to cut nearly every single brick to a custom fit. This is what the tile and brick look like at the end of the day. This is not even near being finished. We still have to wait for the men to come and plaster the rest of the pool (I chose a white plaster with blue sparkles); the crew that sets up and pours the concrete patio and the walkway around the pool; an electrician who has to come run all the wiring, the people with the start up pool water; the people who install the safety cover -Who know how many steps are left. I am a very impatient person lately. Everything is in the "hurry up and wait" mode. With the weather down in the forties at night now I know we won't get to use the pool until next season. Nonetheless the kids are all excited about it. Ready to plan a pool party for next summer? Put your name on the guest list.

Firstly, I knew you all where going to give me grief about the kitten. I should have placed a bet. LOL - That is the best part about friendships -even on the net- you can speak your peace with a smile. In my own defense the cat must stay outdoors. When Gracie plays with the kitten for say 15 minutes or so her eyes turn red and begin to swell. Inside we go and have to wash her face and hands, put in some itchy eye drop stuff and then blow the nose for a while. If the kitten came inside full time I would have serious problems with Gracie. When Gracie was younger, between 18 months and 3 years, periodically she would need to be rushed to the ER because she could not breath. She has never been diagnosed with asthma and hasn't had an episode in a couple of years but seeing her struggling for every breathe makes me super cautious now. I can still see the heaving of her tiny chest trying to draw in air and hear the aweful rasp of air trying to be pulled into her lungs. If you have never seen such an attack be thankful. It is one of the most frightening experiences to face with a child. Secondly, the kitten is eating the canned food because it really wasn't ready for kibble. This kitten is tiny and I don't think yet weaned when found. The kitten still tries to suckle when it is held. It sucks at Steven's neck and the kids arms so we got good Friskies canned food and add a little extra liquid (milk) and warm it in the microwave for a few seconds. If we offer dry food the kitten just licks at it and can't eat it.

So that you can get an idea of its size the dish the kitten is eating from is my antique Johnson Brothers saucer and dessert bowl. The dessert bowl is about half the size of a common dessert bowl available today. The food on the dish is about 1 tablespoon. We feed the kitten 3 times a day and extra saucers of warm milk.

Thirdly, the kitten is too young to be fixed but Steven has checked into it. We just have to wait awhile yet. Oh and Steven did go out and get some kitty things and snacks, too. But the kitty can't chew the snacks. It just licks them. I am not being mean to the kitten. It is being spoiled. I am just being nicer to Gracie. It is for her own good to stay outside otherwise I would have to make all the kids cry and take it to the humane society or the animal shelter. See? We are doing right by this kitten. What else am I supposed to do in this situaton? Moving along this morning - This is what my fireplace looked like back in March. The big black hole of soot and ash that kept us warm while the snow had piled up outside for most of January, February and early March. It is also the same black hole that left a lingering stench of ash ever since. But I have remedied that with the insert you will see in the next photo. This is what my fireplace looks like this week after several (oh I could cry) thousand dollars were paid to fix the chimney that was damaged in a chimney fire that could have been caused by a lightening strike that also killed one of my 80+ year old damson trees this summer (I could cry even harder but I won't because I joined the National Arbor Day Foundation and they are sending me new trees to replace it). This is what the chimney looks like today from the outside. A 23 foot stainless steel liner was put into the chimney and a slurry of cement was poured around it to seal the damaged firebrick and mortar. Then another stainless steel tubing was run up into the chimney and connected to the cast iron wood burning fireplace insert I chose back in the summer. Then a chimney cap was put on because the chimney is a double chimney. It vents the fireplace as well as the fuel oil burning furnace. Why am I showing you these photo? I do not like the look of this fireplace. The mantel is barely six inches wide and there is very little room to display anything. I just have not found my place in dressing a fireplace yet -as far as decorating goes. But!!!!!! I have found a way to fix the look of that ugly brick and small mantel. I am going to whisper this so listen closely -A handyman is coming to my house friday and we are going to talk about stuff! I feel like I am hiring a gigilo! (Shhhhhh) I mean my goodness, nothing gets me more excited than painting and building and planting stuff - and this guy can and will - if I pay him. So see, I will have hired a gigilo -of sorts! (Shhhhhh) I know this man's wife has never considered her homely husband to be a gigilo -seriously, short, skinny, wild blonde hair turning grey, and missing several teeth -but he comes highly recommended -is not a picture of a gigilo. Can you hear my hands clapping in glee like some tiny toddler with an eye on a bright shiney object? Can you even imagine my excitement if I actually found a housekeeper? Neither can I.

This is what has taken up residence at the back door. The kids found it a week or so ago down by the road hiding in the bushes meowing. I am not a cat person. Neither is Steven. Therefore very strict rules. No cats in the house. The cat may live in the barn. As long as it learns to be a mouser we will take care of it -well, the kids will. At Costco we picked up a case of canned food. I guess it will be around long enough to eat 48 cans. The kitten needs to learn the rules. The minute we open the back door it makes a mad dash to get in. It often succeeds. :-/ The kids named it. I don't know for sure which name has stuck. It could be Rose McGillicutty. It could be Mrs. Darcy. I have no idea which they decided on. I now stand corrected. The kitten's name is Tinkerbell -Tinky for short.

I signed the contract for our pool to be built in July. I was quoted an estimate of 6 weeks in good weather for completion. It was 4 weeks later with perfect weather and there was no construction. I called the company and told them to cancel the contract. There is no way we would get to use the pool this season at the rate they were going. At the prospect of loosing that kind of money the company owner jumped on the phone and begged me not to cancel. She would get work started ASAP. On Colby's first day of classes the excavation crew showed up. This was one month ago. We still are not near completion and unless the weather stays warm until Thanksgiving we will not be enjoying our pool. The design layout for the pool is my own design. I have never designed anything like this before. It is very exciting to see it unfold. First they skin all the grass from the building site. They drive stakes cut of rebar to outline and measure each twist and turn of the design. Next they use this smaller version of a backhoe to dig out the hole. I was surprised by the amount of earth that was moved. By the time they finished it was nine (9) dump truck loads of dirt. As the backhoe digs deeper the men have to manually cut the smooth shape of the pool with spades and shovels. These guys really worked hard in the heat of the day. I made many pitchers of iced tea and water. It is also nice to feed a work crew. They do really nice finish work when they are appreciated. The depth of the pool is seven feet. I have chosen not to have a diving board so there was no need to dig eight foot or beyond. I mean every foot of water costs money! At this point the hole is nearing six foot deep and they have been working almost 7 hours. By four o'clock they had finally finished. I sent Gracie into to the hole to get a better idea of the depth in the photos. The pool is sort of kidney shaped -wider on one end than the other. The general dimensions are 15ft x 30ft. It begins at a depth of 3ft and goes down to 7ft. It will be heated. I also opted for the automatic sweeper/cleaner. It is also fully lighted. It has a staircase in the shallow end and a bench seat. On the opposite side of the pool are two more bench seats. I designed it this way so the kids can swim out to the deeper end and have a place to rest a minute. I do not like to see young swimmers struggle and begin to panic when they think they can't reach the opposite end of the pool. We are at week 8 since construction contract began. I am thinking I should demand some type of discount or refund considering they are far beyond the time frame quoted.

I thought I would post some answers to reader inquiries of late. 25. Is an award winning author - Over a decade ago I published a book on local history chronicling the lives of 1500 men from my native county in Georgia who served in the Confederate Army. It is a compilation of their military records and their genealogy. Most genealogy includes grandparents, parents, spouse and children. Also there is a full description of the burial site (marked and unmarked) and pertinent documents from the state and national archives to the battles and Sherman's March through my home lands. I recieved two awards for my work: Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal and Ladies Medal of the Army of Northern Virginia. It was an honor. Each one of those men became nestled in my heart as if they were my own children. I fell in love with many and carry them with me like a whisper of a ghost to this day. Delving that deeply into a person's life has an effect on me. They may have perished over a century ago but inside my mind they are living and breathing every single day. MistressMary - Gracie loves second grade. In the school she is in second grade is the highest level so she is enjoyig being one of the 'big kids'. MistressMary - Colby is enjoying her college studies. She has the minimum full time load this term to ease her back into the classroom style education. She is currently taking English, Math, Psychology, Biology and a Bio lab. She has a great schedule! Tuesday and Thursday 9 - 5. She has caught the eye of a young man and has her first 'study' date with him this week. I have a lot to say on this subject because when I say young man I do mean man. Age 27, although he looks 19 or 20. She has been given the rules and she follows them. I am so glad she is here and not off at school far away where we would not know much of her college life or friends. I have met him in passing on two occassions and he seems respectable, clean cut and descent. However, she is not allowed to accept a ride from him for any reason and there will be no going out dates until he has come to the house, meets Steven and expectations are voiced. Colby is very mature but far too innocent to be left to the whims of a 27 year old man. Tammy - Yes, there is a coffee beer. I have never tried it. It did get great reviews. Perhaps you will try it and give us a heads up. Hoss - It was common when I was growing up to find very old, poor, black women walking along the road edges gathering up the greens of dandelions in a bag. The young greens were a staple in their diet from spring through fall. Dandelions are a bitter green not a bad bitter but still bitter. They can make a lovely mix in a salad or can be cooked in the way one would prepare turnips or collards or mustard greens. The small tender young leaves are the best. Some prefer the more mature greens late in fall after the first frost has settled upon them. It is the same as with collards. Collard loose that strong almost bitter flavor after the first frost has settle` on their leaves. Some of the 'european' mixes for salads that you buy or maybe served in an upper scale restaurant will often have baby dandelion greens mixed in. The root is best when eaten from late fall through spring. The roots require a long slow boiling and a change of water to get them to a milder taste. Just remember if you like a sweeter taste to mix them with potatoes, carrots and parsnips. The yellow flower is also used to make homemade wine. There are many recipes available. I have never tried to make nor have I partaken of dandelion wine. It was common to hear of the old women who made it and drank it as a tonic for good health. If you don't want to be hunter-gatherer you can buy them canned. Many Readers - Over in the sidebar are two references to my email address. You can email me at bigredcouch at gmail dot com. My fingers are beginning to tingle which is a warning I should stop typing. If you have any other questions that I have missed send them to me and we'll do this again one day soon.

This past week Steven was able to feel our baby move for the first time. Normally when he tries to feel the movement either his hand is in the wrong place or the baby refuses to move again. Monday night we lay in bed talking in the dark -dreaming out loud. The baby was really rolling and tumbling alot. I lay flat on my back and held his hand against my tummy. The baby moved above his hand then below his hand. I think he was resigned to not feeling the baby move when it thumbed very hard right in the center of his palm. For him that was the absolute most awesome moment to date. Feeling the baby move like that makes it more real for him. I have reached the half way mark in this pregnancy. I hate to complain and make it seem as if I am not enjoying this pregnancy because I am. I relish every moment. I am so excited over this baby and the future I can barely contain myself. This is the last time I plan to be pregnant. This is the last child I will birth. This is the last time I will spend months and months dreaming of the little being growing inside my body. However, at almost 40, this pregnancy is hard on my body. In all of my previous pregnancies I felt great, better than ever before. I am not going to lie to you. Physically this is the yuckiest pregnancy I have ever had. Never have I felt this badly when pregnant. Here is a run down to date: -3 months of morning sickness that lasted all day long -severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome (which is improving the pain is not so bad today) -ear infection -car sickness if I am a passenger -if I am in the car for more than 30 or 40 minutes my feet begin to swell and it takes several days to go down and it hurts to stand on my feet (I walk like a cripple when my feet swell so I am staying very close to home) -I am restless -I am always tired -I do not sleep more than 2 hours at a time -I am up and down all night long -My body hurts like I have been doing alot of physical labor -My joints ache all the time -The morning sickness has returned in the mid-afternoon and hangs on for a couple of hours -Every morning I wake up and feel like I am starting the day with a massive hangover I could understand if I wasn't trying to take care of myself. I am walking nearly 2 miles. I have cut out salt, chemical sweetners, coffee, refined and processed sugars and flour. I am eating a wide variety of vegetables and fruits and eating lean meats. As soon as I found out I was pregnant I quit smoking. I have only gained 2 pounds and I am now nearly the 5th month mark. I mean seriously if I did all of this before I got pregnant I would be a living picture of great health. Please, listen to me. If you are planning to have more children and are in your early to mid thirties HAVE THAT BABY NOW. Don't wait. Not that your pregnancy will be anything like mine (and mine could be so much worse and thank God this child is healthy and thriving) but it could happen. I cannot imagine having small children and being like this for 9 months and having little to no help all day. If it were not Colby there are many many days during this pregnancy we would not have had a meal or clean clothes. Steven spent the last month working 16 - 18 hours a day and wasn't here to help much at all. I even looked for a housekeeper -with no success. There is a reason we have children when we are younger and I am learning that now. This is going to sound so bad, please don't think less of me, but I can't help but count down the days until it is all over and I can have my body back and begin to feel like myself. I have even told Steven I can't wait until one week after I have had this baby because I know I will begin to feel so much better. Steven has asked me many times if it is worth being pregnant to feel this bad all the time and I say yes it is worth every ache and pain. He has asked me if I knew it would be like this or worse would I do it anyway. You bet your life I would. This baby is worth it all and more. No one told me it would be this hard physically and I just wish I had some warning as to what to expect. So I am telling you all have your babies before you reach this point in life if it is at all possible otherwise plan to hire a housekeeper and a cook and maybe a part time babysitter to help you cope. On another note - to those would like to give assvice via email. Look over in the side bar and read some of the about me links before you start telling me what I should or should not be doing. Just a quick FYI rundown for the assvice giver: I am 39. This is my fourth pregnancy. I have also been a surrogate mother. My oldest child is 18 and in college. This is my second marriage. I was married the first time for 14 years. I don't need advice from someone who has less experience than I in this department. Thank you very much. To all my dear internet friends - I read you daily. I miss you dearly. I think my hands are healing enough that I can post a bit now. Thank you for the sweet emails. I will answer them all but I will be slow in doing so -this post has taken me all day long. MommaK as soon as I am recovered from this pregnancy I will have you out here and we will eat, eat, eat. I won't even make you work in my gardens. I promise. :-)

I have severe carpal tunnel syndrome brought on by this pregnancy. I have numbness in the fingers on my right hand. Typing is painful and extremely difficult. I am wearing hand braces which I hope will cure some of the constant pain. Thank you for all of your concern. I have so much to share with you as soon as I am able to type more than a couple lines.

I heard my baby's heartbeat for the first time today. 148 beats per minute.