CatastroTree

While we were gone delivering our oldest child into the hands of higher learning, catastrophe struck our property. Or, more accurately, catastrotree. Our last remaining peach tree was completely loaded with fruit and fell victim to a driving rain and high winds.

Fortunately, after I got all of the limbs, leaves and tiny peaches cleaned up, I found that a spriglet growing out of the main trunk. It is about 3 foot tall now and obviously shares the same root system. We are hoping to take out the large trunk and seal the stump with out killing the new baby tree. Time will tell if this plan is sound. Or possibly the internet will tell if  can get my husband to Google it before firing up the chainsaw!

Going to Kansas City...Kansas City here I come!

From the KU website.

You can see KU for miles around, its crimson roof lines accenting the wide blue sky. We admit getting to the top of Mount Oread is physically daunting at first. Stairs, sidewalks, streets - they're all a workout. But nothing worth achieving is ever easy, and from the top the vista is endless.

Our older son Michael was accepted into the Duke TIP summer studies program but wasn't old enough to go to the Duke campus in North Carolina. They offer the program at various other colleges across America, all sponsored by Duke University. The closest one with the classes Mike wanted to take was the University of Kansas.

Colin, Mike, and Jon in the dorm.

The boys and I headed North and Colin left work in Illinois headed East. We all got to the hotel at the same time. We had some much needed family rest time at the hotel. The boys had a swim and watched cartoons while we parents took naps. Later we met with some family at a shopping center for dinner and visiting.                                                               Mike will be at the Duke TIP summer camp for three weeks of intense study on Programming for the Web. He was excited to be there and hoping to make friends and learn a lot during his stay.

View from Mike's dorm. 

 

 

 

Pond or Pool?

Back before the broiling heat of summer was upon us, DH and I decided to open the pool. The pool is 70x6x4. Mostly. Roughly 33,000 gallons of water. That looked like this...

I'm scared, Daddy!
So we proceeded to add double the amount of Super Shock than recommended by the good folks at hth and run the pump for 24 hours. The result was thus... Still horrifying!
Let's throw more chlorine at that beast!Thanks, Honey!

And break out the scrub brushes and vacuum attachment.Hubby and brother scrubbing the scum.

This is four or five days after the initial shock. That would be both the shock of how gross the pool was and the actual chlorine shock.Me, vacuuming for the thousandth time!

By the sixth day I was beginning to think the pool was a lost cause this year. The water was still quite cloudy and you could only quasi sorta see the bottom in the shallow end. The deep end was still a murky abyss. I decided to go ahead and put in the ph balancing chemical at double the recommended amount and give it one last shock session.Almost there!

All together we scrubbed, shocked, vacuumed and flocked the pool for nine days to get it even remotely safe for human activity. But it sure was fun on Memorial Day!