Well, the day is soon at hand! I will be enbarking on a motorcycle trip to Norway in the morning. Seems a bit surreal to be honest! I wonder how everyone will cope?! Wonder if the house will fall apart?! Wonder if ... I guess this is what they call seperation anxiety. I have full confidence that my kids have been well trained and will take every oppertunity to bug the living daylights out of each other at every oppertunity! Seriously, I know they can handle it. I will miss them, but not the dishes, laundry, vacuuming, dusting, mowing the grass, ...
Evelina and I will be heading off at 7 am. The first day will be a grueling 8 hours of driving, but then the most of it will be done. After that there will only be a few hours a day until we decide to go home. Then we will drive the whole way home in one day! Of course, I will have to put up some pix when I get home. So, pray for nice weather and safety, and I will tell the tale when I return. As far as when I return, we have no specific plans as to which day we will return, but at the latest, we will be back by next Sunday. Have a great week everyone, and check back in a week for some pix and tales! Love, hugs and exhaust from Sweden!
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
I'm so blue... and grey and green....
It was inevidable, it was going to happen sooner or later. So we decided to do it and get it over with. It was a huge task to undergo, but it needed to be done, no ifs, ands, or buts. So we bit the bullet and started. We had never done it by ourselves before and maybe we were a bit nieve. But after three weeks, it is actually almost over!
So, what's the big deal? Curious? You really wanna know? I guess I can tell you. We repainted the outside of the house! It was a light grey base with a darker grey around the windows and doors. We kept the lighter grey and put a smokey blue around the windows instead. I am thinking about painting the front door a sea green instead of the boring old dark brown it is now. We'll see.
That is what has been consuming my time the past 3 weeks- besides the normal washing, dishes, meals, taking kids here and there, and our weekly adventures planned by the kids.
This weeks adventure took us on a picnic to the local damm. We ate blts and fresh fruit at a picnic table and then went rock climbing. We even dipped our feet into the water for a while. Jackie was with us and really enjoyed climbing all over the place, but didn't want to get wet.We had a relaxing time. I admit it was nice to get away from the paint buckets for a while!!
Today Kris and I visited our former neighbors in Umeå. They seem to really be enjoying living in town. I am happy for them and wish them the best.
Kris had 2 weeks vacation, but spent most of the time scraping, cleaning , primering and painting the house. He has another week of vacation, but planned on working in O-vik (a town south of Umeå) to earn a little extra cash. He has been very dilligent in working out lately, and is (as I write) watching CSI and pumping out on the stair master! He has become a really beefy guy. No vegetarians here!
Katrina turns 13 tomorrow, so I guess the whole day will go by doing things for her. She wants me to make her cake, and do "special things" with her. I have no clue what I will do yet, but the creative juices usually don't let me down. We had already bought her an expensive pair of sneakers at the beginning of the year, so that is already taken care of. Bjorn bought a gift for her that she will get tomorrow.
Tonight I will finish planning my Norway trip. The Youth leader (Evelina) and I are riding motorcycle to Norway on Sunday and will stay there till wednesday. Exactly what we will do is not decided. We will see what is going on when we get there.
I will have to sign off for now. Have a good one everyone!
So, what's the big deal? Curious? You really wanna know? I guess I can tell you. We repainted the outside of the house! It was a light grey base with a darker grey around the windows and doors. We kept the lighter grey and put a smokey blue around the windows instead. I am thinking about painting the front door a sea green instead of the boring old dark brown it is now. We'll see.
That is what has been consuming my time the past 3 weeks- besides the normal washing, dishes, meals, taking kids here and there, and our weekly adventures planned by the kids.
This weeks adventure took us on a picnic to the local damm. We ate blts and fresh fruit at a picnic table and then went rock climbing. We even dipped our feet into the water for a while. Jackie was with us and really enjoyed climbing all over the place, but didn't want to get wet.We had a relaxing time. I admit it was nice to get away from the paint buckets for a while!!
Today Kris and I visited our former neighbors in Umeå. They seem to really be enjoying living in town. I am happy for them and wish them the best.
Kris had 2 weeks vacation, but spent most of the time scraping, cleaning , primering and painting the house. He has another week of vacation, but planned on working in O-vik (a town south of Umeå) to earn a little extra cash. He has been very dilligent in working out lately, and is (as I write) watching CSI and pumping out on the stair master! He has become a really beefy guy. No vegetarians here!
Katrina turns 13 tomorrow, so I guess the whole day will go by doing things for her. She wants me to make her cake, and do "special things" with her. I have no clue what I will do yet, but the creative juices usually don't let me down. We had already bought her an expensive pair of sneakers at the beginning of the year, so that is already taken care of. Bjorn bought a gift for her that she will get tomorrow.
Tonight I will finish planning my Norway trip. The Youth leader (Evelina) and I are riding motorcycle to Norway on Sunday and will stay there till wednesday. Exactly what we will do is not decided. We will see what is going on when we get there.
I will have to sign off for now. Have a good one everyone!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Chocolate and primer
Katrina has been cooking up some really awsome stuff! The other day she made a white chocolate moose with a fresh pineapple base, a dried pineapple chip and a dried banana chip. It was like eating a bit of heaven! It took her 4 hours, but it sure was worth the wait!
Yesterday was work on the house day. Kris scraped the whole house, I washed it off and we started to paint on the primer. We didn't get it all done, and today it looks like it might rain. Kris needs a break anyways, and I need to get ready for the local market which starts tomorrow. I am going to be doing temporary tattoos all 3 days. Last year I made quite a bit, and am hoping for a repeat this year.
Last night when we finally gave up (at around 11:30 pm) Katrina had made us some hot chocolate. It wasn't the kind that you mix a powder with milk and warm it either! She melted real chocolate, mixed it with cream and added the sugar. We got Bjorn out of bed to join us for an evening mug of chocolate! We sat around the table talking for a while, then I went to bed. Kris stayed up a while, but I have no clue when he came to bed. It was nice to sleep on a nice, very yummy cup of chocolate!
It's starting to thunder a bit outside, and the clouds are rolling in. Looks like the rest of the painting will have to wait till after the weekend. (;)
I need to go out and clean up in the yard before it dumps water on us. Have a good day everyone!
Yesterday was work on the house day. Kris scraped the whole house, I washed it off and we started to paint on the primer. We didn't get it all done, and today it looks like it might rain. Kris needs a break anyways, and I need to get ready for the local market which starts tomorrow. I am going to be doing temporary tattoos all 3 days. Last year I made quite a bit, and am hoping for a repeat this year.
Last night when we finally gave up (at around 11:30 pm) Katrina had made us some hot chocolate. It wasn't the kind that you mix a powder with milk and warm it either! She melted real chocolate, mixed it with cream and added the sugar. We got Bjorn out of bed to join us for an evening mug of chocolate! We sat around the table talking for a while, then I went to bed. Kris stayed up a while, but I have no clue when he came to bed. It was nice to sleep on a nice, very yummy cup of chocolate!
It's starting to thunder a bit outside, and the clouds are rolling in. Looks like the rest of the painting will have to wait till after the weekend. (;)
I need to go out and clean up in the yard before it dumps water on us. Have a good day everyone!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Mountian heat
Our days have been filled up lately with getting a new heating system installed. It works like this (if I understand it correctly):
A hole is dug into the ground, past the top layer of earth and into the mountian. They continue to dig down. A pipe is installed the first bit, through the crust, till they hit rock. Then it is just a hole. After the hole is dug, 2 pipes are put into the hole. They have been connected at the bottom, and at first, there are only 2 pipes sticking up out of the hole. Then they dig a ditch about 1 meter deep from the house to the pipes, drill 2 holes in the house wall, and put the pipes into the house to a circulation pump. The pump makes the fluid in the pipes (a cool looking green goop) circulate, pushing the cooled fluid down the one pipe, and pulling the warmed fluid up through the other.
Inside the circulation pump is another set of pipes that are filled with regular water. The water gets heated up, and pumped either to the radiators that warm the house or to the hot water tank. Thus, we have warm water and a warm house, and only have to pay electricity for the circulation pump.
Confusing? hope not! What is nice is that we will cut our electricity bill almost in half! We did take out a loan to get it all installed, but it will pay for itsself within 7 years! Then it is just an asset.
In the garage I have been working on a moped. I thought I just put on the last coat of clear, but I found a few runs, so I will have to scrape them flat and re-clear tomorrow.
Bjorn has a soccer tournament today and tomorrow. They tied their first match and won the second one. They did lose their last game today. They have one more match tomorrow. If they win their match tomorrow, they are in the finals. If they are in the finals, that match will be at 2 tomorrow afternoon.
This time I was smart enough to wear a hat and shades so I didn't get a sunburn! We (Kris and I) went to Sonja and Ingemar to play a swedish lawn game called kubb. We enjoyed a rubarb crumb pie and vanilla sauce. We made it a short visit, as Kris and I are both really tired.
Kris has been on call 5 nights this week, so he is pretty tired from staying up late so often. Last night I went to an art exibit in a neighboring village and stayed out till 2am. This is really rare for me to first of all, be out without hubby or kids, and second to be out after 9pm! But I had a wonderful time. We had a sing off, a slight incident with a candle out of control, and even did the American national anthem! (One of the artists is an american- Andrea) We really had a blast!
Katrina has been in a cooking mood. Today she made cream bullé, and did a fine job. It was DDDDDDlicious!
Well, I feel a nap coming on, so I will sign off for now. Love and sunshine to all!
A hole is dug into the ground, past the top layer of earth and into the mountian. They continue to dig down. A pipe is installed the first bit, through the crust, till they hit rock. Then it is just a hole. After the hole is dug, 2 pipes are put into the hole. They have been connected at the bottom, and at first, there are only 2 pipes sticking up out of the hole. Then they dig a ditch about 1 meter deep from the house to the pipes, drill 2 holes in the house wall, and put the pipes into the house to a circulation pump. The pump makes the fluid in the pipes (a cool looking green goop) circulate, pushing the cooled fluid down the one pipe, and pulling the warmed fluid up through the other.
Inside the circulation pump is another set of pipes that are filled with regular water. The water gets heated up, and pumped either to the radiators that warm the house or to the hot water tank. Thus, we have warm water and a warm house, and only have to pay electricity for the circulation pump.
Confusing? hope not! What is nice is that we will cut our electricity bill almost in half! We did take out a loan to get it all installed, but it will pay for itsself within 7 years! Then it is just an asset.
In the garage I have been working on a moped. I thought I just put on the last coat of clear, but I found a few runs, so I will have to scrape them flat and re-clear tomorrow.
Bjorn has a soccer tournament today and tomorrow. They tied their first match and won the second one. They did lose their last game today. They have one more match tomorrow. If they win their match tomorrow, they are in the finals. If they are in the finals, that match will be at 2 tomorrow afternoon.
This time I was smart enough to wear a hat and shades so I didn't get a sunburn! We (Kris and I) went to Sonja and Ingemar to play a swedish lawn game called kubb. We enjoyed a rubarb crumb pie and vanilla sauce. We made it a short visit, as Kris and I are both really tired.
Kris has been on call 5 nights this week, so he is pretty tired from staying up late so often. Last night I went to an art exibit in a neighboring village and stayed out till 2am. This is really rare for me to first of all, be out without hubby or kids, and second to be out after 9pm! But I had a wonderful time. We had a sing off, a slight incident with a candle out of control, and even did the American national anthem! (One of the artists is an american- Andrea) We really had a blast!
Katrina has been in a cooking mood. Today she made cream bullé, and did a fine job. It was DDDDDDlicious!
Well, I feel a nap coming on, so I will sign off for now. Love and sunshine to all!
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