Pool opening 2023

 

This is our third season, 2nd pool opening and first pool opening by ourselves. We got everything power washed (losing battle with the pollen until June but whatever), pool filled, cleaned up, leaves cleaned up from under the deck, everything for the pool plumbing back together and chemical in balance.  It did take a day or two to get the salt levels up enough for the salt water generator to make chlorine but it’s been going on it’s own and now instead of an ugly gray winter cover I can see pretty turquoise water. I’m not wasting money using the heat pump yet.  We will let the sun do it’s job for a bit and then when the nights aren’t in the 40s anymore we will fire that up and swim. 

I can go into pool care over time  I’ve learned a lot about the different levels to keep everything at to have a well maintained salt water pool.  Right now my CSI is at .06 so it’s great.  I am only messing with individual levels when the CSI is in jeopardy.  Alkalinity, PH, CYA or calcium alone is never what you focus on  it’s a combination that matters that makes it corrosive or scale forming.  Neither are good.  If you want to keep your pool balanced I suggest the Pool Math app  it’s fantastic for tracking your numbers and calculating CSI for you  

#poolcare #patiocleanup #springcleaning #poolopening #readyforsummer

Solar cover reel with tow

 May still tweak the straps some because solar covers are not cut square and definitely don’t lay square but this work makes taking it off and on so much easier.  #poolcoverbudget #moneysavingtips #poolstuff

New look

 

I’ll share more in a video of this whole idea but it started with a large round table taking up too much space under our deck and everyone ended up getting separated when we had a gathering. So some research and brainstorming was done to create this and come within the budget we set for this long term solution. 

I LOVE it!

#patiofurniture #patiodecor #patiodesignideas #outdoorgatherings

Versatile Easter gifts for older kids

 

Do you want simple, inexpensive Easter gifts for older kids?  This is what we do.  After the youngest was old enough to understand, so just a few years ago, I bought these cute little tins from Hobby Lobby. I simply get each kid a gift card to their favorite drink or eating place and put a little candy in there. It’s easy and stress free and you can do gift cards for as little or as much and you can afford and reuse the tins every year. And they leave them on the counter until the candy is gone yet they look super cute in them making them not annoy me. Lol. #inexpensiveeastergifts #easterforolderkids #moneysavingtips

Ambience lighting??

 

You are gonna love this combo.  Share this with someone else who might too. 

Combine these awesome USB powered fairly lights in cool white or warm white (mine are warm) with a cute little 2 foot tall indoor palm from @nearlynaturalfloral . Stick the pot of the palm in a woven cover and it’s perfect for livening up my living room and the lights at night are pretty and soothing.  The best part is you add in the @kasasmarthome Kasa smart plug to plug the usb into and you can schedule them to come on whenever you want or you can turn them on from your phone. I have tons of Kasa products and this is ONE of them for sure!  And if you’re anything like me and can’t keep a plant alive these plants are well worth it. 

Check out the links to these items in my Pinterest above ⬆️⬆️⬆️

The Nearly Natural palm I have is no longer there but this one is on sale and a little bigger and probably the same price I paid 3 years sago!  It’s a steal!

Here are the usb fairy lights  I have them in warm for inside and cool white for my Christmas decor outside  

I have tons of Kasa products but here are the smart plug minis so you can create a schedule or just turn things off and on with your phone.  Great for so many things.  And they make outdoor plugs like Wi-Fi outdoor plug which I have a couple of  never worry about leaving lights on again!

#fairylights #pluginfairylights #nearlynaturalfloral  #kasasmartdevices  #kasasmartplugmini #moneysavingtips

Parenting with the goal of self sufficiency

 

This is our goal. Not just self sufficiency from us but to be able to just do so much for themselves and know when to hire if you have to. We teach them household maintenance. I’ve taught my girls how to fix a sink, wire an outlet, switch or plug.  Today the  work was outside work so J was ready. He helped me out with a lot of things and learned how to run a power washer. I think he ended up liking it. Lol. But it was one less thing I had to do and now he knows one more thing. 

Pretty porch furniture fix up

 

These used wicker chairs were some of my favorite the preowned purchases from a few years ago. Just $100 for the set and added some inexpensive black/white Walmart outdoor cushions. They were already a tad worn when we got them and they’ve gotten some sun over the past few years so it was time to spruce them up. I bought black Rust-Oleum automotive semi-gloss acrylic enamel x2. I cleaned both chairs up as well as I could and then started spraying them. On the smoother areas and a couple of wicker areas I wiped shortly after spraying so that the brown would show through but there would still be enamel on the chair to protect it. Now they match each other in color when they didn’t before. I love them and the front porch looks amazing!

Keep an eye out for used but still good outdoor furniture. So worth it. 

#outdoordecoronabudget  #moneysavingtips #usedfurniture ##spruceyourporcb #rustoleumenamel