Johnika in Sweden

I can tell my blog catch up day is on Fridays, my day off from school. I'm thinking as life picks up pace on this end I'd still like to keep folks back home more up to date with what's going on. The blog reflects a lot of the big things we do but my not reflect the day to day tasks and hurdles - normal life - that goes on. Some of that stuff is interesting, some of it is not. Not sure if it is 'worth writing home about' but hey, if you think the reading is boring, feel free to scan through.

-Last week the boys(John included) had the week off from our schools and Mon took the week off from work. Got to do some fun stuff as a family but the main goal of the week was to do some upgrades to the house.
-Some of the big things we did:
-I took out a glass cabinet that has been in the house since the seventies. It was a 12' long by 3' high by 1' deep rot iron rectangular cube with glass on all sides. It was a room divider and pretty big hazard for kids. Mormor had considered taking it out years ago. Once we found out we were on the same page with it, mormor emptied it and wala!
-I replaced the upstairs and downstairs toilets and permanently pulled out a bidet. We put an new cabinet from IKEA in its place.
-Mon painted the bathroom on the first floor.
-I retiled the backsplash in the first floor bathroom and installed a new light fixture.
-I installed new light fixtures in the dining room and in our bedroom. Moved the ceiling fixture that was above the dining room table to above the tv sitting area.
-I tried to free up or replace the valve on the old shower but had no luck. Instead I rigged up a shower wand for the time being and hung a shower curtain from the ceiling around the bathtub on the first floor. It has made showering a whole different experience. Previously we showered out in the unheated poolhouse. Not bad in summer but brrrr! in winter. Mormor says it's not too cold.
-We had a company come and flush out the well on Friday. If you have a well they recommend it be done every five years or so. We were going on 20+ since the last time. It really helps flush out the iron and other minerals and your pump, plumbing fixtures and water appliances will be grateful you did. Not to mention your laundry. A month or so ago we finally had the water filter system installed(an on going project since we arrived) and it has made a huge difference. The water before was safe but had really high iron content. Big, big difference now.
-On Thursday I rented a trailer and nephew Fredrik and I ran all the debris from the projects up to the recycling center: old toilets, bidet, old well pump and line, old water filter system, and the disassembled glass case.
-Monday I rested with another day off from school and studied Swedish. Ahh...

Phew.... Did I move off Lawndale yet?(uber project house)

I list this stuff not so much to pat ourselves on the back but more as a phew... we've been busy. It's been good and the day to day payoff as far as quality of living here in the house goes has been immediate. We have always run ideas past mormor before we start any upgrades. We've also assured her she has ultimate veto power. We didn't come to rebuild or take over the house, but there have also been physical things that have inhibited a sense of normalcy for us. We're coming to a happy medium I think.

Over all I think both we and mormor are pleased with the results of this past week's projects. I don't see any other projects in the near future but we may consider doing something with the kitchen next year. What, I don't know. I don't want to think about that right now. Mormor has assured me she will take a long vacation if we do, which is something she does every summer anyway. That project would be a big cost to count and a big oyster to shuck but we will see. I will say this - if anybody is considering dropping by next year, give us a heads up and we'll make sure we can cook while you're here. :-)

All for now.