Even with the extended warm weather this fall, the pool in the backyard of A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville must be closed.

Still looking fresh.

My dear wife Karen busted her butt keeping that thing clean, full and ready for fun.

Knowing that I’m not a pool guy, she promised when we picked this place as our next stop from The Little Bitty in the Syracuse neighborhood of Galeville that the whole care thing would be her responsibility.

Black over the blue.

The man who opened it last spring told us that the security cover had seen better days. However, a new custom replacement is expensive. Very. So for this fall, Karen went online and found a vinyl cover that would keep the water out of the elements, and we decided the old security cover could go on top of that. I found it hard to believe that the closing stuff could arrive in such small packages.

Black over the blue.

Let the adventure begin …

We pulled out the cover and stretched it over the pool. The water level is still dropping. Despite going through all the steps outlined online, we haven’t found the source of the falling waterline. I wouldn’t be surprised if we open the thing up in the spring and find it empty. Maybe it’s the plug at the bottom? What do I know? As I said, I’m not a pool guy, certainly not the man to go poking at the bottom-most point of the deep end.

The next step is to get the old security cover onto the fastener-holding bolts around the deck. I’ve raised them with an Allen wrench. The next step is to figure out how to work the spring-loaded handles on the cover that go over the bolts. We had no luck on the first try with the big tool the pool supply company sold us.

Now somebody has to go out back with Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle every time she has the need. Yup, our cherished rescue mutt investigated too closely the very first day and fell in. We figured her reluctance to go in this summer would extend to staying away from the new cover. Nope. Fortunately, the black cover held her weight, a bordering neighbor heard her crying and knocked on our door, and I pulled her out from her top paws holding onto the edge of the deep end. Yikes!

We don’t want to pay the pool guy again, preferring to save for that new security cover. So another try comes after Karen combs YouTube again.