Tuesday, November 3, 2015

FROM WITCHES TO ANGELS...










A quick thank you again
 to all of you
 for your very wonderful comments
 and for making it so much fun for me
 to take you
 bETWEEN tHE mOONLIGHT aND tHE mAGIC.






Kai loved
 his first time ever Halloween
 at the Cottage. 
 We had fewer trick or treaters this year,
 about 150,
 and Kai waited at the door
 for all of them 
so he could greet each one...






...and at the end of the night
 he was exhausted
 and had to be practically carried to bed!


Now,
 let's talk about angels...
how do we get from witches to angels,
 you ask?

Well, 
it all started a few long years ago
 with some very bad photography
 and a swimming pool...






When the kids were younger
 we signed them up for swimming lessons
 at the high school.
  Since I only knew how to dog-paddle,
 I decided to sign up also.

 The kids took to the water
 like little rubber duckies
 but Mama, not so much,
 and that's another story
 for another day.






Because they were turning into
 really good swimmers and,
 because all of their friends lived
 in our neighborhood,
 we decided to put in a pool.

 We were always all about 
the kids spending time at our house and,
 over the years a lot of them did, 
and a pool turned out to be
 the perfect solution for that.





Many the nights,
 we went to bed,
 with the sounds of "Marco Polo" 
going through our heads 
along with the smell
 of coconut suntan oil.






Our backyard was more long than wide
 so we couldn't have a diving board,
 but that didn't stop anyone
 from doing cannon balls
 off the edge of the pool.

 It was big enough for a lot of fun!

 At the time of the build
 there were no homes behind us
 and the owners of the empty lot
 gave their permission 
for the heavy equipment to come through.

  We took down our back fence 
and that made an easy job of it.

 It was a task 
that never could be accomplished today.






Over the years
 the pool got a lot of use,
 but time marches on
 and our kids and their friends grew up
 and went their separate ways.

  Tami and Tim got married 
and moved into the house
 when we moved to Gold Country Cottage, 
  and before long 
a new generation
 was on the way.






Jake took swimming lessons
 and his friends came to the house
 and the pool was in use once again
 but,
 as in the past,
 circumstances change.

 Kids grow up and away,
 dealing with their own lives
 and what was once an asset to the family,
 and the property values,
 was fast becoming a liability
 so the decision was made
 to demolish the pool.

  The idea was thrown around 
for many months
 but knowing how much physical work 
it would take to get the job done,
 I think that Tami and I 
were the ones
 who stuck our heads in the sand,
 pretending the idea would just go away.





One afternoon
 we got a phone call from Tim
 telling us that 
Jake and his two best buds
 decided to take the bull by the horns
 and get the job done,
 so that Tim and the Captain
 would not have to do it. 
 Also,
 they figured it would save us money.

  When we heard that,
 we just couldn't imagine
 how lucky we are
 to have these
 wonderful and caring young men
 in our lives.






They emptied out the pool,
 using the water
 to wash their cars and soak the lawns
 and Jake got his hands on a jack hammer
 and, after acquiring the legal permit,
 broke up the concrete.

 There will be a lot of
 gravel and dirt needed
 to fill it in.

  Unfortunately,
 there are houses built up all around now,
 so the boys will be carrying
 many loaded wheelbarrows full
 between the front and back yard,
 before the job is done.

Thank you guys so much. 
 We love and appreciate you
 more than you
 will ever know.



Left, Jonathon   Center, Jake   Right, Parker


Now, 
I suppose, 
the technical term
 to describe these young men
 would be heroes or even super heroes,
 but...
I'm the Grandma
 so angels it is!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





I finally finished 
the painting of the Cottage.

 I am so glad that I ordered 
the detailed print
as I think it looks so realistic.






If you will notice,
 because the sun was on the roof,
 it printed out the colors
 as being very light. 
 I didn't even notice that 
when I sent the original in,
 I was just so used to the dark roof.




Original print


I didn't feel
 that it looked right 
so I went over with a darker paint.

  My skills as an artist
 are certainly lacking,
 so I wish I had original colors and numbers
 to pick from,
 but I think 
it looks pretty good.

 It actually went faster that I thought it would.

We had torrential rains yesterday
 but today it is sunny and warm again,
 but we will take all that we can get.


Have a great week...

...Judy...






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13 comments:

  1. Judy, you have such a charming cottage! You know, two things I've always wanted were a swimming pool and a pool table. I don't have either, {no swimming for me, I sink to the bottom}, and I don't shoot pool but I always thought it would be wonderful for the kids to have so they could invite their friends over. Ah well, they have lots of fond memories of growing up and that's the main thing. Thanks for sharing with us and it is a pleasure to have you partying with me again. And don't worry about making tea. :)

    Autumn blessings,
    Sandi

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  2. What a grand story of all the years gone by. And what lovely young angels to take on the project - it looks like an amazing amount of work. I love the finished painting of your house - it sure does look great in its setting - impressive work. We are having a dab of sunshine - more rain coming for 10 days in a row. That's very normal for us.

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  3. Judy, this is the most heartwarming story. Angels is definitely appropriate. Just goes to show how loved and appreciated you are. '-)
    Love the painting. You did a great job!
    Happy November!

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  4. Yes, those young men are certainty angels. Kei looked pooped, so glad that he enjoyed the trick or treaters.
    Waldo barked so I put them in the den, Waldo is such a nose. He thinks he is the man of the house LOL.
    Your painting turned out terrific. Ha ha ha, the rain we got looked like someone took a bucket of muddy water and threw it all over my car, just a few drops. I like the cooler weather though.
    Have a great week.
    Mary

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  5. I grew up with a pool and we put on in when we moved into our current home. The kids were only 2 and 4 at the time, and we live at the beach, so swimming was a necessary skill. I agree, the pool keeps the kids and their friends close to home. I love that. Now that they are older, they suntan more and swim less, but the kids are still here all day and my grandnieces are the perfect age to start learning to swim. SO the cycle starts all over again! I think your angels are wonderful. That is a really huge job and today it cost almost as much to remove a pool as it does to put one in. Yikes!

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  6. These three young men did a great job for you for sure! That is quite a task. Your painting of your cottage came out beautifully. What an accomplishment for you. Have a great day!

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  7. What a big job!!! Our neighbor in our old neighborhood filled her pool in, too. That was quite a job!
    Your yard will sure seem funny to you with that gone but at least you have the memories of all the fun the family had there. Those voices and laughter will ring in your ears for your lifetime.

    Hope you have a great night, Judy. What wonderful young men you have in your life! xo Diana

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  8. Oh, poor Kai. Trick or treaters wore him plum out :)

    My goodness what sweet 'angels' to do such a huge chore!! Wishing them the best of luck and safe work too.

    Yay! You got the picture done!! I think it turned out so cute!

    Hope you have a nice evening.
    ~K.

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  9. Judy, your painting of your cottage is beautiful!!! You did such a lovely job my dear. It looks so pretty hanging over the chest!
    You are blessed to have such good guys help you with the pool (or lack of pool) project. Aren't kids the best?
    sending hugs...

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  10. thank goodness for pool angels! ha ha LOL That painting is gorgeous! Sorry I had your area wrong.......when you mentioned "illumination" I just assumed you were up there and your cottage certainly looks the part!! Please forgive me my mistake. I see photos of their illumination night all the time, and it just looks so pretty!!

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  11. You finished your painting so nicely and in less time than it would have taken me. Beautiful painting for sure!
    Nice young men they are! Blessed to have such wonderful young men getting the job done.

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  12. Very special young men indeed. That's a major task.
    Loved the painting

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Your comments are so special to me...Judy