It is warm and very sunny, so we are getting closer. The water temp was 62 degrees today. The solar cover will come out as soon as we get the solar panels running to help conserve heat and/or, the water temp makes 75 degrees.
Cherie, the solar cover made a big difference this fall in the temperature swings between night and day, and cut down on water loss as well. With it, the temp diff between morning and afternoon in October was only 5 degrees and our average water temp was 10 degrees higher than our neighbors- we were still swimming, they were done. When we took it off for the fall, our average temp dropped 10 degrees in 24 hours, and our temp swings were much more severe. Solar covers are a pain, but it is worth it to me for spring and fall swimming. No need for it in mid summer. We cut ours into 3 pieces to make more manageable for me, and used a solar saddle.
The skunks moved on- Mom and Babette (female kit) left in the late Fall. Pepe (male kit) stuck around until about January, and we think has moved out to wilder and less busy pastures around us. Hopefully he won't come back. Several of our neighbors also had young skunks visiting them this fall, so it was an area wide problem this year.