So the first step was to empty the pool. We just put a hose in, and sent it down the hill into the woods to add to our neighbors stream. I think it took a good 3 days to completely empty. This really was the point of no return already as once you empty a vinyl pool, you have to replace the whole liner. As part of our decision to get rid of the pool, we thought we'd make it easier on ourselves to offer the pool for free to anyone willing to take it out themselves. With it they'd get the filter, heater and pump. It turned out to be easier to remove than we expected and the gentleman who got it, while he didn't end up with a pool (the supports were all rusted through), he ended up with some nice equipment for minimal effort.

So there it is. The pool is gone. Now how in the world are we going to fill in this crater!! I swear it looks bigger with the pool out. Daunting job ahead of us...what have we done....

Destruction

The destruction phase had to be done carefully as we are cheap and are trying to restore and reuse all of the wood that we can. That means lots of careful pulling up of boards (of which Keith's parents were a HUGE help) and lots of nail pulling. Do you know what muscles you use to pull nails out of boards? I do, because they were all sore! All right, so I'm a bit out of shape as well....

Filling the Hole

We thought we were going to have to bring in fill dirt to level out the area, but it turned out we had enough on the banks to level it all out. One of Keith's co-workers was generous enough to come drive his tractor around and flatten things out for us. He did a great job! And Keith was quite impressed with the rig....do you call tractors 'rigs'??

Reconstructing

So now we're caught up to today. This weekend we spent cleaning and painting the supports, and starting to frame the underneath of the deck. We made good progress yesterday as we had good weather. Today however, we got nailed with thunderstorms and cold. So we did what we could this AM, adding the cross beams to what you see above. Now the area is a clay-mud-ladden mess, so we headed indoors.

Pretty Dog!!

Each year as summer approaches, Gracie is looking her finest with her long, golden soft hair. However, it does start to get a little "clumpy" at this time as we are not diligent dog groomers. More importantly, however, is the excessive panting that begins to take place as the mercury rises, and Gracie (brilliant dog that she is) plops herself on the hot pavement or the hot deck and bakes away in misery. Last year, she had her own personal 20' x40' pool to cool herself off in periodically. This year, much to her chagrin, she must find relief in the cheap, blue plastic pool that leaks and that she can barely even fit in (she's big boned, OK?), as we have successfully torn out our pool (and deck for that matter). So what do we do to help her out, (and to get out of having to brush her regularly)? Well, see below, and you shall be enlightened.....

Pretty Dog??