Looking at the 10 day forecast, we might be out of triple digit heat, but this is Texas, nothing is guaranteed. We could still warm up after this 10 day window which I believe will bring our first cold front to Central Texas. Temperatures by the end of the week should be around the middle 80's, and that sounds perfect for us. I guess now that it wasn't over 100, we could spend more than a few minutes outside and we started cleaning our backyard. My biggest excitement is getting the hottub ready for use. I started last week, actually two weeks ago, when I went to Lowes and got chemicals, but the Hurricane and all its rain slowed me down a bit.
I had only managed to get bromine in the hot tub and chlorine in the pool. This alone had already removed the greenish color that both were starting to have, so that makes the cleaning a lot easier. Yesterday I took out all the big leaves and clumps of material on the bottom of the hottub, not that there's much but a few occasional bugs and some pieces of shingles, I'm guessing from the solar panel install.
Today, I "vacuumed" the bottom and the water looked good enough to get in, so I reluctantly turned on the heater. I was half expecting a problem since I had basically ignored the whole system for a year. But no, everything lit up and worked as supposed to. I then turned my attention to the pool and it didn't look too bad. There was some residue on the bottom, mostly long palm leaves from our palm trees. I spent a good half hour sweeping the bottom with a couple of baskets and nets on long poles. I then also turned on the pool pump and it also fired right up. The water had come up a bunch after the rains last week, but I needed a few more inches to get it to the right height. I threw the hose in there and we went to eat dinner.
Wife had a BOGO for Johnny Carino's and was for two entrees and get two free entrees. The food was good, but I hate waiting for bread. The waiter acts like it comes from his mom's kitchen, not really offering it unless we asked first. The blackberry Italian drink was delicious and I must have had about three, although I about had to yell for the waiter to get the 3rd one. I don't care because it and the food was totally worth it. The BOGO was just a cherry on top as it kept the meal under $40, minus the tip.
We then went home, but instead of me getting sleepy, this time it was Wife. I was excited to check on the progress of my hot tub which was warm and the pool was at about the correct height of water and the water returns were all under water and the pressure seems about right. I understand Wife being tired, but dammit, if we didn't try it tonight, I will have to wait until next weekend.
Oh well, we managed to do a lot today. I'll try to have the rest of the yard looking as good as the areas we fixed up today. There was a lot of over grown grass around the pumps and together we got it all under control, and the best part of it is that our neighbors can't report us to the city again about us having a "mosquito trap". My leg is all healed up and I have waited as the surgeon told me another couple months after the bandages came off, so bring on the cool nights and the warm water.
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