Introduce yourself to the community

[Jason]

Welcome to your Workshop. It is great to have you as a member of the community. We encourage you to say hello and introduce yourself.

Please reply to this post and tell us a bit about yourself. Whatever information you feel comfortable sharing is fine.

You might like to tell us about your current D.I.Y. and garden projects, your work, your passions, your hobbies, your dreams, what you struggle with, what you hope to learn from this community, and/or your favourite ice cream flavour.

And for something truly revealing about yourself - tell us what you call a barbecued sausage served on a single piece of bread.

We look forward to your post and getting to know you. Thanks for joining the discussion.

Jason

Community Manager

[Baretta11]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for your comments.

I guess hubby and I are totally at the other end of the age bracket being well past our 50's. We're farmers and decided some 10 years ago now, that the little relocatable home we're living in simply wasn't adequate, so we put plans underfoot to build our dream home or what I affectionately call the "mansion", considering that the little home we're living in at present is only 7sq, a glorified caravan without wheels I say ha-ha

We're building entirely with our own money, so a terribly slow process and we're at the 9 year mark so far and estimate a further 2 years before we're hopefully in!!

We both decided a pool would be great for our health but of course living where we do, we would hardly get to use an outdoor pool for about 6 months of the year at best so it was a no brainer to go for an indoor pool.

We of course decided to do absolutely everything ourselves, so hubby borrowed a friends excavator to dig the hole, we had a truck to remove the soil, we also had a front end loader and a forklift, so we were able to install the pool, so the money saved I guess would be quite allot!!

An indoor pool meant no mess for one thing, not to mention all the other negatives of an outdoor pool  like pool fencing etc...

By the way, there is a sanitiser that can be used in place of chlorine that has no smell, costs about $7 per week if I remember correctly for our sized pool which again to memory is supposed to hold about 27,000 ltrs of water. There is a company called Crystal Waters that specialises in spas in Bayswater and supplies this sanitiser for use in pools too, so we will be very lucky not having to use any sort of chlorine or salt and that means, no showering just because you've had a swim!!

Cheers,

Barbara

[Andy_Mann]

@Baretta11, I'm lov'n you & hubby even more after hearing that you've been nestled in a 7sq dwelling, & busted your butts for the last 9 years.

We all need to pressure @Jason to arrange an annual "Gold Workie Award", so you guys'll need to work on your acceptance speeches. ; )

Indeed your pool with be therapeutic in the latter years, it's non-loading on joints, & with the very effective heat transfer properties of the water mass, there's a lower risk of elevated body core temperature while exercising.

Good thing that you're looking to limit the use of Chlorine, as inhaling the vapours/dust is dangerous, akin to breathing in Hydrochloric Acid. I imported a UV Pool Sanitastion System, as I've experienced breathing problems while dosing the pool in recent years. Problem being, that between arriving at Customs & landing here, a UV tube went missing & the other arrived damaged. Please, please, please don't ask how long the customs & duty processing took, or how incompetent the system is, all I can say is that whoever was in control, needs to be given a brown paper bag separation package.

Cheers

John

[Baretta11]

Hi John,

Gosh there must be plenty of people worthy of such an award of just being enthusiastic, hard working and dedicated!!

Sorry but I'm laughing at your customs experience, I know it's not funny what happened but your story telling was funny.

So is the sanitation system going?

Were you able to replace the damaged parts?

Hope so otherwise I hazzard a guess, it was an expensive overseas order!!

Cheers,

Barbara

[Andy_Mann]

@Baretta11, sure us Workshoppers are enthusiastic, but you & hubby are producing the goods.

Thanks for getting a laugh from our Customs experience, I pride myself on spinning the funny side of things, there's nothing gained from negativity.

The UV system's on hold at the moment, as it won't be needed for quite a few months, & I've more pressing things to iron out. ; )

[Baretta11]

Welcome Natasha,

I'm also no genius but like you, willing to give anything a go.

So what part of Australia do you call home?

Cheers,

Barbara

[Natasha]

Hi @Baretta11 I call NSW home. Couldnt be happier with where we are at this point in our lives!

Where do you call home?

[Baretta11]

Hi Natasha,

I live in Victoria in a small town called Birregurra and I too love living here and often mention to people who might ask "where do I go for a holiday" I say I'm already there!!

Cheers,

Barbara

[Andy_Mann]

@Natasha & @Baretta11, though we live in different states, I'm with you both in that we're happy with where we are in life, & our home is our holiday destination of choice.

Oh, & welcome to the Workshop family Natasha. : )

[Dola]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Donna. I'm saving to buy my very first home and have some projects I'm about to start, some bits I'd love to tackle and some projects I will never attempt but love reading about.

My first attempt is pretty basic - I'm stripping old paint from a dining set and repainting. I've sanded one chair but it took forever. Any tips on how to remove old paint faster is very much welcomed.

I'm hoping to go from novice to knocking down walls over the next year (eek). Already love seeing your transformations on this site and can't wait to have my very first to show.

Donna.

[Jason]

Hi Donna (@Dola),

Let me extend a very warm welcome to Workshop. Many thanks for joining us and for introducing yourself to the community. It's great to have you as a member. I'm looking forward to reading more about your projects and plans. 

I would encourage you to start a new discussion in the Interiors board asking for advice on stripping back the paint from the dining set. Specific questions on this epic welcome thread can get a little bit lost, but we have some resident paint experts who I'm sure would be happy to assist if you posted your question prominently as a new discussion. If you've got some photos of the dining set, that might help too.    

All the very best with saving for your first home - that's certainly a fantastic goal. 

Jason