bye bye swimming pool

[jenni_blog]

Oh yes, of course, at the beginning of the hottest period of the summer, we decided to close our swimming pool and have it filled in and the backyard resodded. Not really, we had decided to do it a couple of months ago but it took that long until the guys we hired could start work on our place. Ryan, the man in charge, told us he had done 32 pool closings so far this season!!!

They did a wonderful job. I have put before and after photos below the cut. Fact was that since our kids had grown and moved away we weren't using the pool anymore and we deduced that the cost of keeping it open for nobody to use outweighed the expense of having it filled in ($7,000 paid in cash so we got a bit of a discount). We do have a hot tub and lowered the temperature to 87 degrees F so it's quite comfortable to sit in and cool off. The pool would have been nice and for Sean too but we quite like having a lawn now.

Comments

[zimena]

Whenever I hear about someone who has (or in your case, "had") a pool, I feel like they must be living in a movie rather than in the real world. To me it's just such an unrealistic and dream-like thing to have at home. I know people who have a sauna at home, but a proper (non-inflatable) pool? No way! For me, a pool is the main attraction in something like an aquaplex; it's public and something you pay to use. Having one at home is.... what people have in movies, not realistically possible in real life :)

Having one at home used to be my dream as a kid though, and I still joke that when I win the lottery, I'm gonna either buy a house with a pool or have one in the back yard here. The latter is of course even more unrealistic than anything, as there isn't really space for that.

That said, I'm not blaming you for having yours filled in. If you weren't using it anyway, a lawn must be more useful. And judging from your pictures, a lawn is also much more beautiful. I hope you'll enjoy the extra space.... and tell Eddie he has to mow the lawn, ok? ;)

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

First of all, I am SO SORRY to be so late with my reply to your comment. Like you I used to think that having a swimming pool must be the best thing in the world. But the reality is quite different, that and the fact that we are older now and can't be bothered anymore with all the work involved! And since I've just retired, we don't have the expense anymore either.

Pools are very difficult (and expensive) to maintain. When we first moved here my daughter was 19 and my son 15. So the first several years of having it were great. We all used it a lot. However, since they both moved out of the house (Olivia is almost 32 now and Jamie 29) no one has been using it the past few years. One year about 5 years ago, Eddie (my husband) cleaned out that damn pool every single day after work, adding the proper chemicals, etc. and nobody used it that entire summer! What a waste...and the expense of cleaning it, buying and using the chemicals and the cost of heating and water (because during droughts you have to add water to it, a LOT of water) just got to be too much.

I love having the lawn. It makes the back yard look better, especially the garden. We have been going through a drought the past couple of weeks, and have had to water the grass daily because the sod is newly laid, but it does look lovely. Eddie actually mowed the lawn this morning! Last night we had rain and I swear the grass grew overnight!

To tell the truth, I'd much prefer to be able to use a public pool. My friends and I used to go to one when we were young. Actually, we had the choice of two different ones. It was a lot of fun. :)

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Your garden looks lovely. I'd boil at 87F!

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

Thank you (and sorry for the late reply). Yes, it has been horribly hot here for the past few weeks. I can't stand it and I am frustrated to not be able to go out and work in the garden. I can just bear to water it in the early morning and in the evening.