Ta-da! The glass in the shower is in place! And all in one piece! Thank goodness!
It took 6 guys to walk it through the bedroom to the bathroom, and lift it upon the short wall in front of the shower.

It went smoothly into the u-rails James had installed on the wall and the ceiling, with probably only 1/4 inch to spare (height-wise). Talking about a close fit!
To say I'm relieved that that sucker is safely in is an understatement!

Onward and forward! Up to the next project, which was already well underway of course, because that is the infamous wine 'room'/'cellar'/'closet'.
All the drywall is in and the holes patched, and the only thing to do (for James) is to put the texture on.

Easier said than done though, since he will need all his skill and experience to match the existing texture. At least for the wall that's facing the dining room that is, inside the cellar he can pretty much create his own. Nobody will notice that it might be slightly different.

The most exciting thing this week had to be the digging for the pool though!
It has been delayed several times now, first there was no permit, than some changes were made in the plans, than there were the holidays, than it rained and than they (the sub-contractor for the dig) were crazy-busy!
Apparently due to Covid they have 3x the normal orders for pools! (people have to spend their money somewhere, I guess)

But finally, on Thursday, as in yesterday, they started :

Unfortunately, it turned out that the meter on the side of the house was in the way of the bobcat, so although they went with a smaller one, they still had to remove the meter!
Which means .. no hot water. Which means .. no shower. And no heat. Thank goodness it was a warm week!

See? Not much room there!

So, we've been without gas since Tuesday morning! And although they should have finished today (Friday. I know, I'm ahead of myself here) but they just quit, and aren't quite done yet.

 

Oh well, my hope for a shower tonight went (literary) just out of the door!
If everything goes well tomorrow, the pool people will show up on Monday to start forming the pool. We'll see!

What's next? Oh, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and predicts 6 more weeks of winter! Yes, I'm happy, bring it on! (minor detail of course; he's in Pennsylvania, I'm in the Arizona desert ) 

                 

 

It's in fact extremely warm here at the moment, even for February and I've shed a layer for my walks in the morning. With the sun out and no wind, I'm actually sweating!

 

Here's my 'close encounters' of the animal kind of this week .. some cute turtles:

And surprisingly a few new birds, like this Loggerhead Shrike:

                                   

                           That's one tough little bird!

He certainly looks like the innocent songbird he's classified under, however, he has a hook-tipped bill, exhibits hawk-like behavior and has earned the nickname of “butcher bird” because it sometimes impales its prey on thorns and barbed wire fences.

This next one is a 'real' hawk, a Sharp-shinned Hawk to be precise. My first one!

 

Apparently, according to my guide, it's one of the most common (and smallest) backyard hawks, and a daring, acrobatic flier that feeds on small birds such as finches and sparrows.

Talking about birds .. it's a bird, it's a plane, it's ..

.. a Paramotor!

 

I had to look it up, but apparently a paramotor is a powered paraglider ("PPG"). No way you could get me in one of those things! Yikes!
OK. That's it. Another week gone. I'm not going to talk politics or vaccines this time, I bet it's still going on next week.
Let's have another sunset instead. This was yesterday's ..

Absolutely stunning!