{"id":218,"date":"2013-10-12T18:09:37","date_gmt":"2013-10-12T08:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swimming-ponds.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/?p=218"},"modified":"2017-03-09T11:45:20","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T01:45:20","slug":"boys-and-their-toys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/2013\/10\/12\/boys-and-their-toys\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Natural Swimming Pond Build:  Boys and their Toys"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>OK &#8211; it&#8217;s been a while! But before I could continue with the latest antics of our swimming pond project, I had to take a deep breath. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because although the overwhelming feedback for my first eight blogs was positive (for which I thank you), the last post seemed to raise a few male hackles.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I don&#8217;t have a problem with negative feedback &#8211; I&#8217;m a big girl. But I do have a problem when that feedback attacks me as a person. I&#8217;m a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend and most importantly, the mother of three young girls. \u00a0I&#8217;m a real person and as I said in my very first blog &#8211;<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8221; &#8230; I\u2019m very honest. \u00a0&#8230; there are nearly as many \u201chow not to\u201d points as there are \u201chow to\u201d points. \u00a0There are plenty of tears, tantrums and laughs in our lives, and \u201cThe Swimming Pond Project\u201d is no different.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Comments, questions and feedback are welcome &#8211; positive or negative. But please don&#8217;t feel you have a right to insult me as a person.<\/p>\n<p>So, with the air now cleared, we can get onto the good stuff&#8230;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_225\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-225\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/project.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/files\/2013\/05\/POOL3-005.jpg\" data-lasso-id=\"152\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-225\" src=\"http:\/\/project.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/files\/2013\/05\/POOL3-005.jpg\" alt=\"We are here!\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-225\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">We are here!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We&#8217;ve dug a hole, put a fibreglass shell in it, backfilled the hole and half filled it with water. \u00a0It hasn&#8217;t rained in months so the pond is going to stay that way for a while.<\/p>\n<p>Still on the to do list &#8211; Install water feature; dig another hole for the reed bed, then fill it back in with gravel (why is this such a constant theme); collect reeds; build retaining wall; install pool fencing; and pave.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve spent weeks looking for a water feature that suits our overall design. \u00a0Online options have been exhausted and we can&#8217;t find anything we are happy with. \u00a0On a whim we head down to a landscaper we know who has just gone out of business. \u00a0We check out some obscure things and then spy a huge piece of sandstone. \u00a0It was meant to be a tombstone, but never quite got finished. \u00a0Actually it hardly even got started \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p>We throw some ideas around and for the first time in a while hubby and I agree on something. \u00a0Better still, the price agrees with our non-existent budget.<\/p>\n<p>We go home and dig yet another hole (another constant theme of the project) so that about 30% of our rock will be underground. \u00a0Next\u00a0day hubby hooks up the trailer to collect our bit of sandstone.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_227\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-227\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/project.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/files\/2013\/05\/pool8-024.jpg\" data-lasso-id=\"153\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-227\" src=\"http:\/\/project.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/files\/2013\/05\/pool8-024.jpg\" alt=\"Our piece of Sandstone\" width=\"800\" height=\"415\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-227\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Our piece of Sandstone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I have no idea how this piece of information was obtained, but supposedly our bit of rock weighs 781kg. \u00a0Even if it doesn&#8217;t weight that much, this is going to involve some big boys toys.<\/p>\n<p>So we borrow &#8220;the little tractor&#8221; from a friend down the road on the basis that the small size will help with maneuvering. \u00a0Sounds good in theory, but when we try to lift the bit of sandstone off the trailer, the back wheels of the tractor lift off the ground. \u00a0This calls for Plan B &#8211; a bigger tractor!<\/p>\n<p>Three men, two tractors, one big rock, one fiberglass shell to dodge around and one small hole to put something in. \u00a0I have never been so grateful for the day of appointments and activities I have planned for the kids. \u00a0I load the girls into the car and go. \u00a0I figure if I can&#8217;t see it, I won&#8217;t have to worry about what&#8217;s going on.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_232\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-232\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/project.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/files\/2013\/05\/pool8-026.jpg\" data-lasso-id=\"154\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-232\" src=\"http:\/\/project.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/files\/2013\/05\/pool8-026.jpg\" alt=\"Men at Work\" width=\"800\" height=\"1050\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-232\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stand back! \u00a0Men at Work!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The stories I hear from the boys when I get home are frightening and even now I don&#8217;t know what is fact and what is fiction. \u00a0One tractor holding another tractor; the rock being dropped (repeatedly); things slipping; sensible men doing less than sensible things. \u00a0But at the end of the day, it is done without major injury or mishap.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_234\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-234\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/project.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/files\/2013\/05\/pool8-036.jpg\" data-lasso-id=\"155\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-234\" src=\"http:\/\/project.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/files\/2013\/05\/pool8-036.jpg\" alt=\"Our rock in place\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-234\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Our rock in place<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And guess what? \u00a0Now we get to dig another hole (a.k.a., the reed bed) and fill it back in, but this time with some technical specifications and scientific evidence to help us.<\/p>\n<p>I hope you join me again next week when I share the next chapter of our adventure with you. Don&#8217;t forget to share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments box below!<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Til next week \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca<\/p>\n<p>(If you&#8217;ve missed the first few parts of Rebecca&#8217;s journey, you can start <a href=\"https:\/\/project.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/2013\/03\/16\/in-the-beginning\/\" data-lasso-id=\"156\">here<\/a>&#8230;)<\/p>\n<p>Part 7: \u00a0<a title=\"The day the pond got car jacked\" href=\"https:\/\/project.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/2013\/11\/10\/the-day-the-pond-got-car-jacked\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" data-lasso-id=\"157\">The day the pond got car jacked<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OK &#8211; it&#8217;s been a while! But before I could continue with the latest antics of our swimming pond project, I had to take a deep breath. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because although the overwhelming feedback for my first eight blogs was positive (for which I thank you), the last post seemed to raise a few male hackles. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"The making of a natural swimming pond.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sma_last_campaign_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[467],"tags":[466,468,469],"class_list":["post-218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-natural-swimming-pond","tag-natural-pool-natural-swimming-pond","tag-natural-swimming-pool","tag-swimming-pond"],"modified_by":"DW","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}