WOOHOO! The pool heater is up and running as of yesterday afternoon. The water temperature was around 72 degrees when it started (thanks to hotter weather and not so cool nights over the past two days). We also had one inch of rain on Wednesday, so it did pretty well on its own. The heater only ran for about two hours before we turned it off and it had already taken the water up to 78 degrees (temperature of the water running through the heater at the time). Warming up 30,000 gallons is no joke! This morning the pool stands at 76 degrees on opening with three frogs. I am thinking we are definitely swimming tonight!

Dad … here's one! (Bella helps with frog removal.)

Dad … he's getting away!!

I can't say enough good things about all the people that made it possible for us to have a warm pool for the Labor Day weekend. The propane tanks and all the necessary plumbing was done a week ago Monday and then we had to wait for the inspector who finally came on this past Monday. The electrician came on Monday evening to take note of what materials he would need, vowing to come on Thursday. That only left the delivery of the propane and the final hook-up of the propane to the heater. Wednesday morning at 7:00 a.m. the propane delivery truck was in our driveway. Rick talked to the driver and asked him to please give them a push in our direction so we could get up and running for the weekend.

Not one hour later after the propane delivery, the phone rang and it was Ken, the person responsible for the final hook-up. He said he'd be there in one hour, and he was.

Yesterday the electrician came and did his thing. (Ouch on the price tag, but he had to bring us up to code since everything was so old.) Dennis, our fab pool person, came yesterday afternoon and got the heater running and gave me a lesson in how to work it. It was so exciting to stick my hand in the water next to the jets and feel warm water pouring out!

This morning's read out with starting temp.

We only have two weeks left to enjoy it but we're going to try and take advantage of every minute we get!

Top Photo: Waterfall at Ringwood Manor.

We continue to get frogs every time it rains. If we don't have rain? No frogs! But now it's starting to get scary. I think they've heard that the pool heater will be up and running for the coming holiday weekend. (woohoo!!) They've morphed into a new species and they are bringing their babies with them!

Does anyone have any ideas of what to do next?

The figs are starting to come ripe, finally. They are a little bit late by about one week. Yummy! We are getting maybe three or four per day and at last count there were over 80 figs.

Our tomatoes are coming ripe at a rapid pace too. We have three plants, all heirlooms. They may not be pretty, but they are totally delicious. I don't know why they are cracking on the top. Too much water? Not enough water? They are just in big pots on the deck, so maybe they are root bound. They are producing though!

The other day this little sunflower bloomed in the front yard where I toss bird seed for the birds. Somehow this little sunflower seed managed to escape being eaten and beat the odds by germinating and finally blooming without anyone's help. Pretty amazing.

Well, you know the saying: what goes up, must come down. I'm sorry to say that Alex has relapsed a bit and is no longer in full remission from his lymphoma. One of his lymph nodes has become enlarged again, which isn't horrible considering the other nine nodes are normal. Still, it tells us that the protocol of drugs that he's been getting are not doing the job. So on his Tuesday vet visit we switched gears and will now go down a different path, hoping that we can get him back into remission. At this point, we don't see Alex becoming completely free of his disease, but more like keeping the monster at bay as long as possible with as much quality of life as possible. The original protocol promised the best outcome; this second tier of the protocol not as much.

It's disheartening, I've got to say. But I am trying not to let it get me down. The up side is if this treatment works it only requires one pill every three to four weeks. Since this drug causes anemia at times and can also affect the liver we have to do blood work before each treatment. Right now it's too soon to tell if it's having any effect or not—his lump feels the same to me as it did a couple of days ago. But, he's pretty happy and bringing me "pink bunny," asking to go for rides in the truck and eating pretty well right now. 

We are taking it day by day and doling out lots of love. What else can you do?

I am thinking that I am glad we cancelled our trip to Mexico. The owner of the house that we were going to rent has granted us a grace period in that if we rent the house within six months we can apply the deposit we already paid to the new lease. Same with our airfare, so we still have the chance to go without losing anything. March, maybe?

I have also been giving some thought to this blog. I've been blogging now for seven years and it may be coming to the end of its useful life. I've lost a lot of readers along the way and other than the handful of you that I know read it, I'm not sure it's worth it. I have to think on this some more, but it's not the first time the thought of closing the blog down has come into my head. 

Photo: Up and down awnings in Cartagena.