Staycation 2019

On short notice, Lisa went to Arizona to help her mom, leaving me at home alone for Staycation 2019. It's not fair to say she left me with a list, but let's say there were goals.

First up was the deck drain. I've been fooling with this for years, and my attempts to muscle it into place mainly resulted in breaking the plastic. Glenn's Pools had a 10' replacement piece, and with some table saw creativity, we have something that looks decent.

Next up, the leaking hot tub. I suppose at 16 years of age, things are bound to start going wrong with the hot tub. The store from which we purchased the tub is out of business, and Glenn's couldn't look at it for a month. So I consulted Dr. Google, and lo and behold, not only can you get a replacement for the leaking heating element for $160, but there are helpful videos online showing how to replace it. The only glitch was that the hole for the thermometer/thermistor was 1/32" too small. One trip to Lacrosse later, it was carefully drilled out and the fit was perfect.

I started work on the cart which will be the island counter in the poolhouse. You can't find 4x4 pine in Fulton, so I glued up 2x4 for the legs.

Lacrosse did have a pocket hole jig so that the screws will be hidden.

I tried a couple of different configurations for the shelves and wound up using a single shelf with one extra run of bracing. Hopefully it won't be in the way.

Stained the frame grey and the shelf a mix of black and grey (I thought black was too dark).

It still needs a couple of coats of poly, then we'll get it out to the poolhouse.

We've a beautiful crop of jabos on the younger tree. I'm hoping for a decent crop from the older tree as well, one which will finally yield a gallon of Pierce Estate Jaboticaba wine.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Over the past week we received over 3 inches of rain. This is unfortunate for us because last weekend the mower broke down. We managed to get the backyard done but the largest part of the yard has not been cut for two weeks. The good news is that the skies cleared for the weekend, bringing sun and some temporary drying out of the yard for mowing today - just in time for another 3 inches in the coming week.

The gutter drain from the front of the house.

The concrete sink/countertops are installed in the poolhouse. Plumbing works. Softener installed. Bring on summer!

Last weekend we bottled about 5 cases of wine. The Grenache rosé looks good. The Frontenac rosé lost some color. Lack of tannins is suspected.  But it smells and tastes terrific. We benched trialed some blends of the Frontenac with Chardonel, and in the end we liked the different character of each wine, so they got bottled separately.

Frontenac rosé, Chardonel, Grenache rosé

Two weeks ago we replanted about 20 vines, mostly Vidal. Replanting wasn't has hard as digging out the old roots. Cooler temps seem to have slowed growth up to some degree, but we now have shoots 5-12" long.

Two weeks ago, after mowing and before all the rain

Shawn and Suzanne came over for some wine. We had an outstanding Arneis, a white grape from Piedmont. This bottle came from California, but it was delicious. We lit a fire and had S'mores. Shawn achieved the perfect toast. As it darkened we spotted the Space Station and, as a bonus, a beautiful blue-green meteor to the south.

We have a short 3 day work week next week, as we were previously scheduled to be off for a couple of days to work at home. I'll be watching the forecast.

Bonus Day

The forecast for the second Saturday in April was for cool temperatures, so our expectations were low. We worked inside late morning, but when the sun came out, we took advantage of the unexpectedly favorable weather to get some things done outside.

The pool lounge chairs may be the death of me. Pedro in Coral Springs, FL insists they are properly sized but I have yet to get them installed. They seem to be 3/4" too narrow. I attempted for 2 hours to MacGyver a spreader out of one of my clamps with no success. Lisa put an end to my futility by just ordering one from Amazon.

We turned to the poolhouse, where we have yet to hook up the plumbing for the new sinks. Unfortunately the concrete is too thick for easy installation of the faucets. I trimmed down one of the plastic screws and with one more trip to Westlakes, we should finally have it done. In a last ditch effort to actually accomplish something - anything - I got the water on in the poolhouse. The welded water wrench performed flawlessly.

Dinner was a highlight. Lime jasmine rice, pan-seared garlic asparagus, and salmon with dill and apple chutney.

Rain (maybe snow) is forecast for the morning hours. More progress on the poolhouse seems unlikely until next weekend. Grapes ship Monday and the pool opens Wednesday, so we'll be very busy. 

Concrete Countertops

Indecision about countertops in the new poolhouse turned into inspiration and we decided to build them on our own out of concrete.

I researched the many ways to do this and eventually decided on the Buddy Rhodes "press technique." We got concrete from Lowe's and pigment and other ingredients online and set to work.

The forms were fashioned out of 2" hard foam. Prior to pressing the concrete we coated everything with Pam as a form release.

I have to say it worked better than expected.

Shawn and Jake both helped with the skim coats of contrasting colors, the sealant, and the wax.

I cut out a space for the drain flange and they are awaiting final hookup in the poolhouse. I'll have to grind a bit out of the bathroom counter as the front of the sink extends a bit too far. The 24" x 48" piece will get special treatment as a custom island.

Very satisfying project. I may have found a new medium.