Good Times

Jarabacoa

For the first time in almost two years, we have taken a vacation on the island.  Last weekend, we travelled to Jarabacoa which is in the mountains of the center of the island.  Crazy roads driving through the mountains…hair pin curves climbing uphill and downhill. 

I almost thought I was in British Columbia.  Tall pine trees, cooler mountain air, white water rapids on the river…and then, a copse of pine trees with mango trees and palm trees!

We went with our good friends, Bruce and Mary.  We spent quality time enjoying beverages and golfing.  What an absolutely gorgeous golf course hidden in a really beautiful setting.  Very lush and green.  The quench wench drove around the golf course following us with a cooler on his scooter selling us ice cold, frosty Presidente.  The guy had everything for sale:  hats, beer, and food.  It really didn’t matter what we wanted, he would run and get it for us.

Let’s just say that I really, really suck at golfing.  And, that’s all I have to say about that.

We stayed at the Hotel Gran Jimenoa which was a very nice hotel right on the river.  So, if you have ever read my blog, you know I complain about the heat.  Well, we were in a hotel with air conditioning.  Yes, we turned the air conditioning on.  We left the air conditioning running at 18C.  We woke up at 4 am absolutely freezing.  My nose was cold.  I loved every minute of it.  Two heavenly nights of being cold and sleeping under blankets.  I think that was almost the best part of the vacation!

The hotel restaurant served good food.  Breakfast was the only meal that was so so.  The Dominicans really, really like mashed things for breakfast.  Mashed potatoes, mashed plantains, and mashed plaintains with mango and onions.  The plaintains with mango and onions was a lumpy grey/brown looking mass.  Ross was brave and tried it.  Can you say, “wall paper paste?”

This area of the island rarely sees gringo tourists and as a result, everyone speaks Spanish and very little or no English.  Good thing Bruce and Mary were with us as they both speak pretty good Spanish.  I didn’t realize how much Spanish I have learned as when we went for breakfast Monday am (no buffet), I had to order breakfast in Spanish.  I did pretty darn good because everything I ordered, we actually got what we thought we were going to get.  Can you say queso frito?  (Fried cheese is to die for!)

Ross ate beef both nights and enjoyed it.  I had chicken one night (very, very good cordon blue which they call “Gordon Blue”) and pork medallions in passion fruit the next night.  Both were fantastic.

The trip home was rather uneventful until we were approaching Moca.  The area around Moca and La Vega is a rich, agricultural area.  Large potato farms, corn farms and of course banana and plantain plantations.  We were almost at Moca when we came upon a truck hauling what we think was corn feed.  Now, when transport companies in Canada haul loads of feed, there are height restrictions, weight restrictions, proper ways of securing a load. 

 

Well, not in the Dominican Republic.  This guys load was very slowly slipping sideways.  He would hit a bump and the load would shift some more.  This was an accident waiting to happen.  We knew this was rather unusual because as the guy drove through town, even the locals were watching, pointing and laughing.  We were scared to pass the guy because we knew that if that load finally went, the truck would roll and the highway would be blocked for hours.  We finally managed to get past him.  If there ever was a time for a cold beer, that was it so we found a Colmado on the side of the road, pulled up and the dear fellow working there sold us cold beer and we carried on our way.  (No cold beverages for the driver though!)

Ticks

I hate ticks.  We have been enduring an unbearable outbreak of ticks.  The hot, dry summer has been the perfect combination for these little pests to breed.  Our dogs have been banished to outside..tough life for a dog!  They have been sleeping in our basement bedroom which isn’t so bad because they have their own ensuite.  We are going through weekly baths and tick treatments.  Try bathing a 80 lb dog that hates water.  Jack and Shelby have cooperated extremely well but Boss has his own thoughts about having a bath.  Ross has to hold him with every ounce of strength he has while I give him the bath and treatment.

For the better part of three weeks, we have been fumigating and vacuuming up hundreds of these little blood suckers.  I am so sick of tick patrol but we think we have things finally under control.

For the first treatment (we didn’t really know what to do), we packed up all three dogs in the car.  Oh, how the boys love to go for a car ride.  I think they thought they were going to the beach for a run….Oh, I don’t think so…not on my watch anyway…horses, runners….not a friggin chance.  Anyway, we head off to Judy’s Pet Lodge for a bath and tick treatment.  Upon arrival, I take Jack first to the bath area only because he is quite cooperative.  In the tub Jack goes…Ross is still in the car with Boss and Shelby.  By the time I have started back to get the next dog, Ross is being dragged across the parking lot by Boss.  Now, when we arrived at Judy’s, I had left the back window open about a third of the way so they wouldn’t bake. 

Boss can climb out of partially opened car window.

There is a Dominican family living next to Judy’s who has a number of free range chickens. 

Boss really likes to chase chickens.

Ross almost had heart failure trying to catch Boss as he chased the chickens and scared the life out of the family that lives there.  Boss is a big baby but looks pretty intimidating.  Ross is yelling at the family to catch Boss’s leash (we learned from the beach experience that it is a good idea to leave the leashes on the dogs) and they are backing up from Boss not really giving a rat’s ass that he is scaring the chickens half to death. 

I think Ross was angry…..

Our dogs should have movies made about them…..

Skateboard Park

Dead grass.

Holes dug for landmines.

What do we need?  A patio!

Two Dominican labourers (one is a golf caddy and one is an accountant) + sand + 14 bags of cement = one paved driveway pad and a patio aka skateboard park.  (Not really priceless but it is good entertainment to watch the process!)

Okay, there needs to be some explanation here.  We had a patch of lawn in the front of our house (great afternoon shade) where Boss had dug several holes and the grass would no longer grow.  We decided that it would be nice to have a small, slightly raised patio to enjoy the wind and the shade in the afternoons.  We talked to friends who suggested we use a Dominian friend of theirs who "knows concrete and is a hard worker".  So, we get a price for the patio and we decided that we would get the job done.

We decided in this process it would be a good idea to cement in the pad on our car port. 

The job is beginning to take on a life of its own now.

With the language barrier, we describe in great detail what we want the patio to look like.  The guys start the project (remember we have a golf caddy and an accountant).  Cement is not brought in by cement mixer truck nor is it mixed in a small portable mixer.  Cement is mixed by hand on the ground with a couple of shovels and a garden hose for water.  They mixed the dry sand, cement mix, kitty poop (Saleen decided the pile of sand was her new royal kitty box) and whatever else happened to be on the ground.  So, once all the cement was "poured", the remains also helped cement our street in front of the house.  Kinda like a gift with purchase.

The guys are using all the required safety equipment...flip flops, dress shoes (the accountant), one glove (a golf glove for the accountant), ball cap (caddy dude)...and Ross got the building permit (6 jumbo bottles of beer). 

The ground prep included breaking up the soil with a pick.  We only lost our propane line into the house which needed a small fitting to repair so I can use my stove again.  The guy who cut through it announced that it was "a good thing I wasn't smoking at the time".....YA THINK???

They poured cement in the dark until 9 pm last night with the light from the front of the house and a 100 watt bulb in a small lamp.  This morning we have a look at the "patio" and Ross is slightly sarcastic when he declared that he will need a 4 x 4 to walk up the patio as we insisted that the patio have a light slope for water drainage.  I think a rope on a post would be fine...he's so fussy...LOL  Believe me when I write that the patio has a good slope to it.  I think that a few additional modifications will be necessary so we aren't running downhill or climbing uphill.

The job should be complete next week...sometime...

Today, we had this brilliant idea that it would be a good thing to take the dogs to the beach for a run.  I now remember why I don't like to do this sort of activity.

The drive to the beach was uneventful.  Beautiful sunny day, nice breeze blowing, waves from the ocean not life threatening....all is good.

We get the dogs down to the water and decide it is probably a good idea to leave their leashes on.  The dogs start tearing around having a blast.  Boss decided he wasn't scared of the water after a half hour or so and once he decided it was a good idea to go in, he really didn't want to get out.

Until the guy running along the shore came along.

Do you know how fast a Belgium Malinois and a Lhaso Apso/Maltese can run and bark?  They chased down the poor guy who was now running for his life...remember how I said it was a good idea to keep their leashes on?  Yup, we managed to catch them and get control.  So, off the guy ran and he was forgotten.

Back to playing on the sand (Shelby is digging holes and rolling in it) and running in the water......

Until the Dominican riding his horse came trotting along the shore.....

Horse + Boss + Shelby + Jack = mass hysteria...I'm yelling at Ross...Ross is yelling at me and Shelby is chasing the horse down the beach with absolutely NO intentions of letting that horse get away from him.  He is a mighty horse hunter/chaser!

So, Ross hangs onto Jack and Boss...I'm now also a runner, running along the shore by the ocean, except I'm really not dressed to be an athlete...I'm wearing flip flops...and Shelby isn't listening...about a km later, the guy on the horse FINALLY realized that Shelby is chasing him...I seriously can't believe he didn't hear him barking...OMG...I'm gonna have a heart attack by the time the guy on the horse comes riding back toward me so I can catch that leash I left on Shelby.  By this time, Jack has broken away from Ross (the one km back) and he has joined me so now I have two dogs to take back.

We get back to our little piece of paradise...I drop Shelby's leash by the water bowl...the little ****** decided he is not done chasing that horse AND RUNS BACK DOWN THE BEACH TO WHERE THE HORSE IS.  I am on another run down the beach...Boss is trying to get away from Ross to run with me...Jack has made a break for it again too.....

My legs feel like jello....

Ross needs physiotherapy for his shoulders from hanging onto Boss.....

So, this time after my jog, I announce that it is time to go home.  We make our way to the car where Ross is waiting with Boss who is tied to the hitch on the car.

The ****ing horse and rider decide to make one final pass...

Boss breaks his choke chain when he leaps for the horse and rider....20 minutes later, we finally have all three dogs in the car...we are covered with sand...hot...cranky.

Time for a beer and a nap!

Water and more water

Well, it’s been an interesting couple of weeks.

Happy 65th Ross!

We had a fabulous birthday celebration at our local watering hole (Jolly Roger) on the 21st. Lots of laughs and dancing...and of course, Red Solo cups! All was good until the Bird Dance...the Dominican's were looking at us like we were on crack...all the Canadians knew the Bird Dance and jumped up and were all over that one...better response than the YMCA! And our British friends picked it really quickly and are still talking about it! We went out for dinner with good friends and then headed for one or two celebratory beverages…okay, maybe more than one or two. Actually I know that it was more than one or two...I had the hangover to prove it!

Note to self: upon arriving home at 2:30 am and fumbling for your house keys, it is very important to NOT leave your interior dome light on.

Note to self: a new replacement battery for the one with a dead cell from leaving the interior dome light on for three days is a mere $3500 RD.

Actually, there is a little more to the story…Ross…generator…booster cables…installing new battery and having the door locks pop shut when car keys are laying on the front seat…but it’s all good now…the car starts! I wasn’t here for the final battery event but I am sure that a small amount of profanity took place.

We’ve had a really rotten winter/spring, well at least by tropical standards. I know I have reported that it has been cold and rainy. We had absolutely NO idea how much rain can fall in the tropics.

Last week (Tuesday the 24th), our area got slammed with the worst rainfall and flooding in 50 years. We received 8” of rain in two hours. Some of the downtown areas were under waist deep water. People living in low lying areas lost their homes and everything in them. Unfortunately, these were some of the poorest people in the area. We can count our blessings that we live on a hill. While our yard was like a river flowing, we were dry inside. We had a very small amount of water in our basement that dried up quickly.

I learned something about gravity. Gravity effects the flow of water. So, during the torrential downpour, I had to go out and close our basement bedroom windows. Ok, so I am soaked through in less than a minute. Our pool (yes, the damned swimming pool again…) is over flowing. Upon conferring with Ross (who is in the house…warm and DRY and watching me)…we decide that it would be a good idea to pump off a few inches of water. I start the pool pump and remove the water. I yell to Ross over the din of the rainfall that I have “shut off the pump and unplugged it and when you start the pump up again you need to remember to turn the filter back to ‘filter” as I left it on waste”. He says “OK”. I come in the house, put on dry clothes. Not another thought is given to the pool or the fact the filter is set to waste.

When we get up in the morning, I look out the window. I look at the pool that is missing about 10” of water. My first thought is…we have a leak. I say to Ross…oh, oh…we have a problem. It is like he had the 100 watt light bulb go on…he says to me…oh…you left the filter on waste…the weight of the water and gravity sucked out the water overnight…so, now…yes…after 8” of rainfall…we have to ADD WATER TO THE DAMN SWIMMING POOL. Ross puts in about 5” of water and yes, you guessed it…it started to rain again and brought the level up to almost overflowing…again. No, I didn’t drain any water…we just let the wind and evaporation take over.

On Monday the 23rd, we had a lightning strike on the hill we live on. All we lost in the electrical charge was our internet antenna. Others lost computers, televisions, internet modems and so on. So by the time we figured out what was going on, it was Saturday before we were back on-line and connected with the world!

Jack and Shelby do not like thunder and the thunder crack at the same time our kitchen lit up was deafening. Scared the poop right outta me…well, not literally but it did get my heart racing!

We got word on the weekend that an elderly lady friend who lives close by fell and broke her hip. Good friends found her and got her to the hospital. She had hip replacement surgery on Monday and by all reports she is doing well and up and walking already! It’s really good to know that there is an excellent support group of expats here. We wish Irene a very speedy recovery! Our good friends Patty and Kelly who own the Jolly Roger had a bingo fund raiser to help Irene with her medical costs. Just another example of the great people who live here!

A dog with equestrian skills: Boss can now jump a four foot fence with no effort. Ross was cleaning the neighbour’s pool on Wednesday. Our good friend Stu stopped by with said battery (see above). He left Boss in the neighbour’s yard to speak with Stu. Within seconds, Boss was greeting Stu. This is the same dog that weighed about 3 lbs and was about half the size of a small grown cat when we got him. He’s now six months old and weighs about 70 lbs.

Everyone has seen a stretch limo right? Right. I have seen a stretch motorcycle (aka moto). I had to look twice. Some local dude has extended the frame, mufflers etc and the seat on this thing has got to be five feet long. I am certain that at least seven or eight people could sit on this bike along with a half dozen chickens, a couple of dead pigs and at least four 40 lb propane bottles. Ingenuity at its finest!

In closing, I have some sad news to report. In an earlier blog, I reported that the father of my oldest two children had suffered a brain aneurysm. On May 1, Dale (age 50) passed away from complications with his wife by his side. We are all heartbroken that such a young man was struck down way too early. He had made some small progress in his recovery but I guess God had bigger and better plans for him.

Besides my daughters Krista and her boyfriend Darcy and Kaylen, he leaves to mourn his wife Stephanie, his mother, Hedy, his sister Linda and her husband Larry, his brother Jim and his wife Eileen and two nieces along with many aunts, uncles, cousins and dear friends.

God speed Dale and may you rest in peace.

I am Stressed!!!!

I am stressed.

The last few days haven’t been exactly good ones.

I have decided that I am not friends with our SUV. It has seriously pissed me off. I hate fuel filters and I hate water.

So, we have been having torrential rain storms. Saturday, last week, I had to drive through about two feet of water to get out of downtown. I guess our fuel lines and fuel filter didn’t care for water much. So, the car started to run quite poorly. (Doesn’t that sound proper…guess I’m hanging with too many Brits…starting to call toilet paper “loo rolls”…..ANYWAY….Ross makes a “mechanic” call and announces that we need a new fuel filter after he has taken the old one off. This is Tuesday. So, off I scoot on the quad as now we no longer have a running vehicle. I take the old fuel filter and go to the “automotive store” and I use this term quite loosely. I have the “automotive service dude” sell me a new fuel filter of pretty, shiny, clear plastic with evidence of a paper (?) filter inside…what can possibly go wrong?

Well, let me tell you what can go wrong……….

Wednesday, Ross and I head to the Jolly Roger Bar to do our Wednesday opening. After we are done our morning, we hop into the car to go home and get stuff done before we head out to our friends for a BBQ and pyrogy dinner.

Car doesn’t start.

Gas is ALL OVER the road and running down the gutters. Dominicans are standing and pointing at the running gas…bending over to smell it….ALL WHILE SMOKING. I kindly point out the fresh gasoline and am politely told that it is “no problemo”. Okay, just blow us all up…..that’s ok.

Ross is becoming very “Dominicanized”. He pulls the blue tarp out of the car, crawls under the car (remember we are still parked on the side of the road in front of the bar) and pulls off the newly installed fuel filter which has come apart. Note: pretty, shiny plastic does not make a good fuel filter especially the ones made in the People’s Republic of China.

Off I go back to the “automotive store – God I miss Canadian Tire” to show the “automotive service dude” the defective fuel filter. I don’t speak enough Spanish so after some guy hopping on his moto and going to find someone down the road who does speak English, I finally can communicate that I need another one.

Ross installs the new fuel filter and we are good to go! Well, not really but we did drive away from the bar.

Today is Black Thursday. I drove the pissy car to work this morning because it appeared that it was going to rain again except it didn’t. I got almost all the way home and the frickin car died. I had a ten minute walk up hill (no there isn’t any snow and I wasn’t barefoot). I get home and my loving husband is looking at me panting like I was going to have a heart attack and gently asks me, “where is the car?” I wasn’t all that polite when I responded to his inquiry.

So, he determines that we probably have ANOTHER ****ing broken fuel filter. Gee…….really???????

We lock up the house and get the quad out for a trip into town to get another fuel filter. We decided that perhaps we should try another “automotive supply store”. We found a metal fuel filter!!!!!!!! YES! Our problems are solved…….

The car is running much better now….except…..

Well, we had a small issue with the quad when Ross drove it home from where the car broke down. He blew a tire…not repairable but we knew the tires were on their last bit of tread.

So, off to David Tire Store and we are now the proud owners of two new front tires for our quad….Happy Birthday Ross….lol

I am drinking beer now….and starting to unwind.

It's Winter I Think

Okay, so it's winter. It's cold. I have to wear pants. I have to wear a jacket in the mornings when I drive the quad to work. I have to sleep under a blanket. I guess on the upside, it's not raining anymore and the sun has come out. I know it's been cold because Ross has put pants on too.

Well, as of today, the swimming pool is sort of fixed. The leaks are fixed we think and the painting repairs have been done. Ross started refilling the pool at 10 am this morning and after eight hours, it is about half full. By tomorrow, it should be full, chemicals can be added and we are good to go. The only work left is some exterior cement repairs which Ross and I decided we would do ourselves instead of waiting for warranty work. For something that should have taken a couple of weeks at most, it's now been two and a half months.

Doggies
Not many new developments with the dogs. Boss is growing like a bad weed. He is now 18 weeks old and weighs about 50 lbs. I can't pick him up anymore and if he decides to be stubborn and not move, Ross has to intervene. He really is a good natured dog and hasn't been very destructive. His only real claim to fame is up-rooting a few trees, stripping leaves of the banana trees, chewing up one of Ross's shoes and picking green tomatoes off the tomato plants. He loves to go for walks and is behaving nicely on the leash. His ears are now standing up completely which this picture from about two weeks ago shows his ears still flopping down. He's getting a really big bark too!

We're planning a Chinese potluck night at our home next month with some friends. Ross and I are going to be doing all the cooking (Ross makes a mean chow mein). Should be a good time..last get together we had at our friends house had several people taking a midnight dip...I was extremely well behaved and didn't get into any trouble!! Ross would probably say that was a first but I have to admit it was only because I've been sick with a bad chest cold. Tourists are bringing so many cold and flu bugs to the island that everyone is getting sick.

The doors are in! Ross has got our fabulous mahogany doors installed. They look great! He's got some finishing touches left to do but they are functional. They have really changed the atmosphere of the house...really nice finishing touch. He's got a few talents I didn't know he had!

A couple of weekends ago, a family friend named Allison Sade Rivera performed her singing along with her band at the Jolly Roger to a full house. What a talented young lady. I think she has some of her music up on You Tube so if you are interested and have the time, search her music and enjoy! We wish her success!

Ross had a run-in with a wasp last weekend. Fortunately for Ross, the wasp lost this round. Thankfully, we had an Epi-pen handy and there were no ill effects. We are working on getting a new supply of Epi-pens from Canada as they are not available in the DR. Strange because I am sure that people have severe allergies in this country too.

We got some bad news about a week and a half ago. My ex-husband, Dale, has suffered a brain aneurysm and had to have emergency surgery. He hasn't yet woken up from the coma he has been in. Krista and Kaylen have made a couple of trips to Saskatoon to see him. Dale's wife, Stephanie, and the rest of his family have been with him and remain hopeful that he will begin the long road to recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of them at this difficult time.

We are awaiting the arrival of spring and some fantastic thunderstorms. I love a good thunderstorm! The weather should starting getting much hotter soon too. Gotta get that suntan back!

OMG....again

We have had alot of experiences since we have moved to the DR...however, I can honestly say that after experiencing a hurricane, my next least favorite experience is an earthquake..

Earthquakes make you feel like you have had a cervesa or two too many...a floating feeling...your stomach isn't quite right...I have a friend who described the feeling as being on a gently rocking boat...that's a very good description. The first one we experienced made me think that the dogs were running under my lawnchair and moving it around...but....no dogs...

The strongest tremor we felt was 5.1, we have also had several aftershocks which gave our windows a good rattle.

I don't like earthquakes.

The pool isn't fixed yet...and that's all I'm going to say about that.

Ross has a new project. Friends gave us some fabulous mahogany doors. He is going to install them into one of the door arches in our house.

I am going to move away until the work is complete (won't be any arguing that way...safer for everyone...lol)

Oh...and Ross can keep the dogs while I am away! LMAO

The sun has finally been shining again...poop is drying so now I have a project too....

Life is moving at a frantically, leisurely pace...wow...an oxymoron if you ever had one!

Work is good...life is good...who give a rat's *$$ is my pool isn't fixed!

Cheers!

OMG

I have four dogs and I'm retarded.

Dog #1 - Jack
Jack desparately needs a nail trim. Jack won't let me touch his feet because when he was young, I cut one of his nails too short and I hurt him. He tried to bite me. Ever tried to hold onto a 45 lb washing machine agitator that is trying to bite you? Ok, I decided it just isn't worth it so I have a special treat for Jack that I picked up at the animal shelter.......no, it's not "THE" shot, I picked up a nice little pre-op sedative for him...hehehe...I'm gonna knock him out and cut his nails!

Dog #2 - Shelby
Shelby thinks he is a cat and a racoon. He hunts small crawling things and sometimes eats them too. He chases the cat over the furniture and makes everything like his own personal jungle gym. He also excels on gathering up all of the dog toys and makes a pile of them on the couch so the other dogs can't get at them. He also has an obession with NOT getting his feet wet...now, this is a bit of a problem right now because it has been raining so much.

Dog #3 - Chip aka Devil Dog
Okay, so Chip isn't really that bad of a dog anymore now that he spends quality time in his own sin bin when we go out. No more chewed furniture, dishes, towels, pillows etc. However, I did learn a difficult lesson...don't place the sin bin under clothes hanging to dry because Chip can pull clothes through the tiny little spaces on the side of the kennel and chew them up. Lesson learned: place the kennel in the middle of the room where he can't reach ANYTHING!!

Dog #4 - Boss...the baby
So, we have had Boss for about five weeks now. When we got him, he was smaller than the cat..maybe four lbs. Boss is now 10 weeks old and weighs about 25 lbs. He is a mean, lean, pooping machine who has discovered the joys of tormenting the cat and the older dogs. He is developing this huge deep bark which he loves to use constantly when playing, and even more so when he is being ignored.

Okay, so when you have FOUR dogs barking, you simply want to hide in a dark space and suck your thumb in the fetal position. Now, I don't mind when the dogs are barking outside at something they are supposed to bark at, but seriously, it just isn't necessary to bark just because you can. We are working at this terrible behaviour, but dogs are like kids...they just won't listen.

Ever played Balls??

What a riot. Ross and I played Balls at our friends, Bruce and Mary's house. Now, playing balls outside can be somewhat dangerous expecially if you aren't looking at what you are doing. Teams of two work best. Balls is a game of skill and mostly luck when there is a small quantity of alcohol involved.

Now, GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER!!!!!

Balls is two drilled out golf balls tied on a length of rope ( O-------O ). You hang onto one ball and carefully swing the two balls towards a plastic frame about four feet high that looks kinda like a ladder that has three rungs. If you are skilled, but more lucky than anything, and managed to get your balls hanging on the rung, you score points. Distracting the other team is allowed.

Swimming Pool Repairs
Well, the time finally arrived to have the warranty work done on our swimming pool.

This work started in the middle of December.

Step 1 involved a Dominican pool expert (LMAO) plumber type guy showing up to assess the situation.

FYI - he speaks almost no English and saying hello doesn't count.

Step 2 involved a jack hammer and our shovel. This guy proceeded to break a hole in our concrete/rock patio and dig a hole down to the pipe work. THERE WAS NO LEAK THERE.

Keep in mind we tried to tell him where the leak was.

Step 3 involved digging up the grass in each location of the water circulation jets around our pool. THERE WAS NO LEAK THERE either. Now my yard looks like land mines have gone off and the dogs (remember the thing about me being retarded) are really loving the piles of dirt (and remember it has been raining quite a bit) and they love the muddy dirt. The cat is loving climbing into the bottoms of these holes which are about two feet deep.

Step 4 involved digging up the lawn checking the line that run from the pool into the pool house. Guess what? He found a small, insignificant leak but to look on the positive side, he finally found something!

Step 5 involved smashing another hole in our patio. No jack hammer this time, just a hammer and a chisel and friggin conrete flying EVERYWHERE! Finally....SUCCESS! He found a major leak where the pipe ran through the pool wall right where we tried to tell him it was leaking. Just like one of your kids...they just don't listen to you.

Safety equipment?? You have got to be kidding me.

Step 6 involved this big hole being broken into the side of the pool. What a soggy slopping wet mess of mushy concrete. So, now all this wet sloppy mess has to be broken out and guess where the bulk of it is landing? In the three feet of water still in the pool. We decided it would probably be a good idea to drain the pool at this point.

Step 7 involved repairing all the holes the land mines made.

Don't get too excited, we were far from done. One major leak found, one yet to be discovered. Only, the non-english speaking dude doesn't understand. So, we have to talk to his boss who is an a**hole to the nth degree.

Step 8 involved digging a trench around the outside of our pool to install a brand new suction line. Now my yard really looks rough. I have rocks, concrete and more crap laying around my yard (now this isn't only the crap from the lean, mean, pooping machines). We went out for a few hours and when we arrived home, the lawn was put back...well sort of. The dude had a few extra pieces of sod, chunks of concrete and rocks left over but he was nice enough to save them for me.....all over the yard!

Step 9 - dude comes back to finish filling the hole in the pool and pick up one or two rocks but not the sod.

Step 10 - I spend approximately two hours crawling on my hands and knees and picking up the mess he left behind.

So, the painting isn't done yet, partly because of the rain, partly because the guy will show up when he is ready to and we have no idea when that will be. We really don't know if the pool leaks are fixed yet.

So, there might be a part 2 to the swimming pool saga. On Christmas Eve, we were invited to a friend's home close to where we live. They have a really pretty water fall beside their pool that runs back to the pool.

I'm getting a water fall.....Ross is going to build me one....he dug up my lawn AGAIN.....lol and I have this great two foot hole at the end of the pool and a pile of dirt! He's assessing the job...I'll report back as it progresses.

We had a very quiet New Years this year. Ross had been fighting a terrible cold for a couple of weeks so we decided it was probably best to stay in. We were treated to the most awesome fireworks display from our deck at midnight.

(Remember the barking dog thing....dog's don't like fireworks)

We couldn't hear ourselves ohhhing and awwwwing over the barking but the fireworks really were spectacular.

That's enough of our continuing saga for now....stay tuned!

OH....OH.....OH!!!!!!!!!!!!! My passion fruit (chinola) finally began to have flowers and fruit....the fruit is ripe when it falls off the vine and lands on the ground. I gathered them up as they ripen, cut them open and was draining out all the juice and freezing it. Once I had enough...I made Passion Fruit Jelly. OMG what a spectacular tasting jelly!

I have to be quick...the lean, mean, pooping machines like passion fruit and the little ********** are pulling the passion fruit off the vines and using them for chew toys!