Another Chore..........

.......for Poppa.  Most pools down here use a solar blanket during their winter, when temperatures fall into the thirties for a short while.  These blankets are like a layer of insulation and help maintain the water temperature in the pool so the pool heater doesn't have to work so hard.  Unfortunately, due to the intense sun and the water below, the blankets don't last very long and are subject to wear and tear.  This year....

...... our pool cover had quite a tear!  Usually we would leave this for David (the owner), but since the tear was quite extensive, and since this caused us to have to be very careful when we were taking it off and putting in on - so that it wouldn't get any worse - with David's permission, we went and got a new solar blanket.  The blanket arrives as a rectangle folded into a box and when it comes out of the box it has many fold lines.  Then it has to be cut to the shape of our pool before it can replace the old one.  Poppa, with his usual brilliance, decided to lay it out on the paving bricks in the driveway while the sun was out so the folds would lay flatter.  So he put it out as soon as the sun came up.  Then we pulled the old blanket off the pool and left it flat on the floor of the screen room (where the pool is) to dry.  Later that day, when the old blanket was fairly dry we carried it around to the front and .....

.......... carefully placed it on top of the new one, so Poppa could use it as a pattern to cut the new one.  You can see the old one - it is a lighter blue from the sunlight.  Once it was spread to Poppa's satisfaction.....

.......... he started carefully cutting his way around and.....

.......... and around, until he had the perfect shape.  He inspected all the edges carefully, and finally.....

.............. we put the new blanket on the pool, where it floated nicely and looks like a great fit!  Shortly afterward, I found............

............ a rather adorable pool creature in the pool enjoying the beautiful, hot, sunny Florida weather.  Then, since I had recently got..............

...... a brand new, easy-to-care-for hair cut, I joined him!  And, we continue to wait for Aunt Grumpy to choose her socks.  Since it is the weekend it may not be until tomorrow when we hear from her.  Meanwhile, I will start working on socks for the men.  It seems I need five pairs for men: Taz ( a co-worker from Japan who is super nice), Ali (another Japanese guy who always makes me think of pictures of little Japanese boys - too cute), Mr. Yamamoto ( the Vice-President of Finance - important man!), Frank (our new cost accountant - comes from Hungary, smart guy), and finally (of course) Kev-Inn!  I think Taffy is working on one of those right now - I'd better go help her!