It Ain't Done

Anyone sitting on the edge of her seat, waiting to hear about the pool: It ain't done. We suffered the crushing blow of having a huge, hot weather party with a hole in the ground, but no water to splash in. Sigh. Today PoolSafe came and installed track for the cover. "Oops, " was overheard when one of the guys drilled through the brick coping. Minor setback. The real hold up may be that we haven't finished our requisite 5' fence around the house. We're working on it. And Nacho and Victor have been building the forms for the concrete decking around the pool. By Friday Mission Pools will be able to bring in equipment, but of course they will schedule this at their convenience. Curse and despair; the trials of the middle class in the modern age. Oh, woe. I'm giggling.

This whole process has been recorded not only in writing, but also, sporadically, on film. Victor was glad that I have been taking pictures and filming. He would like to have copies to use as references for future work. Today's footage will require sophisticated editing. Nacho spewed some of his more colorful vocabulary, just as I began to tape him and Rolando leveling the forms for concrete. I laughed and he grinned sheepishly at me when he noticed the camera in my hands. "I'll have to rate this PG13 now," I admonished. Victor chimed in, "PG; for 'Pend#@$ Guay!'" Then, just when I though it was safe to roll film again; the PoolSafe guy gets in the shot, bends over and gives me full crack! Now we are clearly R rated.

The chickens are settling in to their new confinement. We have them in lock up in the corner of the yard that includes their coop. We wrapped the coop and rabbit hutch, Toyon and oak trees with a 6' ranch fence with wire screen. Their yard has shade and interesting terrain, and a bench and boulder. And, yes, Sunshine is still struttin' his stuff. The local feedstore would take him, but they have no vacancies, so he's on the waiting list. Sometimes he's good, other times not; he bit Alex, his most loyal fan. Alex conceded, "We are going to trade him for 2 chicks, but make sure they're not runts. Beware the runt!"

And it's been a while since I've mentioned our tractor. The Chica Roja has more than proven her worth. Actually she is over due for her 50 hour tune up. The landscapers, who scoffed and snickered at her size, have used her almost daily. She grades, hauls, digs and drags. I am indignant about the verbal abuse she endured. Victor and Nacho owe her a debt of diesel, a clean rag and an affectionate pat on her bucket.