Life according to Mona

Guest room, a media centre - Gästrummet, ett mediacenter

2011-03-22T16:39:00.001+01:00

This particular interior design detail is highly appreciated by the kids who can crawl up on the guest-bed and enjoy a disney film.

Just den här inredningsdetaljen uppskattas väldigt mycket av barnen som kan krypa upp på gästsängen och avnjuta ett stycke disneyfilm.

Best thing ever - Den bästa grejen någonsin

2011-03-08T16:33:00.001+01:00

A full sized freezer, in an organized storage room. Does life get any better than this?

En fullstor frys i ett organiserat förråd. Blir livet någonsin bättre än så?

Our new hangout area - Vårt nya mysrum

2011-02-22T16:28:00.002+01:00

You've already seen our gigantic couch, this is what's in front of it...

Ni har redan sett vår enorma soffa, detta är vad som finns framför den...

Long time no see - Det var länge sen sist

2011-02-08T16:28:00.000+01:00

Since we all of a sudden had a living room upstairs, we could turn our multi-combined room into simply; dining room.

Eftersom vi plötsligt hade ett vardagsrum på övervåningen så kunde vi förvandla vårt mångfaldiga rum intill endast matsal.

Second snow - andra snön

2010-10-29T21:23:00.000+02:00

Gone now though - borta nu dock

Lights in the bathroom - Lampor i badrummet

2010-10-09T20:00:00.000+02:00

The journey of a staircase - Trappans resa

2010-10-02T20:00:00.000+02:00

1. On the floor - på golvet

2. Up - uppe

3. Handrail - räcke

IKEA

2010-09-25T17:00:00.000+02:00

Love at first sight, we had to get it. Thank you Samir for bringing it.

Kärlek vid första ögonkastet, vi var tvungen att köpa det. Tack Samir för att du körde hem det.

Coming up - Stairs!!

Kommer snart - Trapp!!

Mirror mirror on the wall - spegel spegel på väggen där

2010-09-20T13:44:00.003+02:00

I can finally use only the one bathroom in the morning since it is a wee bit difficult to put on mascara without a mirror...

Äntligen kan jag använda mig av endast ett badrum på morgnarna eftersom det är lite svårt att kleta mascara utan spegel...

House now - Huset nu

2010-09-15T17:00:00.002+02:00

Compare with before we started - Jämför med före vi började

And with only beams - Och bara med bjälkar

New car, new yard - ny bil, ny gård

2010-09-01T19:31:00.001+02:00

Step - Trappsteg

2010-08-24T19:14:00.003+02:00

A step between old and new part. NICE

Ett trappsteg mellan den gamla och nya delen. HÄRLIGT

Sometimes, people are just plain lucky - Ibland har folk helt enkelt bara tur

2010-08-14T08:17:00.001+02:00

While we were on our short vacation, my brother borrowed this bedroom on a Saturday. The following Thursday, Mattias parents were to sleep in the room. On the Tuesday in between, the shelf tipped and all the stuff on it ended up in bed. The above shelf is only resting on the books on the bottom shelf.

Medan vi var på vår korta semester så lånade min bror detta sovrum på en lördag. Torsdagen efter skulle Mattias föräldrar sova över i rummet. Tisdagen däremellan tippade hyllan och allt som stod på den hamnade i sängen. Den övre hyllan vilar bara på böckerna som ligger på undre hyllan.

Pinwheel - Vindsnurra

2010-08-11T20:04:00.003+02:00

We built it just to damn good, so we had to make holes in the roof and put in a pinwheel so that some of the damp can get out...

Vi byggde bara alldeles för bra, så vi blev tvungna att göra hål i taket och stoppa dit vindsnurror så att fukten tar sig ut...

Sofa! and study - Soffa och arbetsrum

2010-07-05T22:04:00.003+02:00

Sat at home working, fancy that view! Gave some brilliant ideas (at least I thought so)

Satt hemma och jobbade, tänk er den utsikten! Gav mig några briljanta idéer (om jag får säga det själv)

New sofa! They guys who helped us get it from the warehouse storage didn't quit believe us when we told them where we were going to put it, one flight of stairs without the actuals stairs...

Ny soffa! Killarna som hjälpte oss få ut den från EM lagret trodde inte riktigt på oss när vi berättade var vi skulle ha soffan, en trappa upp utan att ha en trappa...

Laundry - tvätt

2010-06-21T21:32:00.001+02:00

The old bathroom is slowly turning into a laundry room. This is our next project, making this look alright.

Det gamla badrummet börjar sakta förvandlas till en tvättstuga. Det här är vårt nästa projekt, att göra så att det ser okej ut.

Only the one problem, the new bathroom isn't finished, so today we walked to my mom's house to take a shower. And she (and her man) was kind enough to feed us as well. Thank you!

Det är bara ett problem, det nya badrummet är inte klart, så idag fick vi gå till mamma och duscha. Mamma (och hennes karl) var snälla nog att ge oss mat också. Tack!

New bedroom - Nytt sovrum

2010-06-17T21:05:00.003+02:00

I have been neglecting you. We moved in to our new bedroom about a month ago.

Jag har försummat er. Vi flyttade in i vårt nya sovrum för ungefär en månad sen.

Finally have room for grandma's old sewing-bureau.

Har äntligen fått plats för mormors gamla sybyrå (eller vad det kallas)

Getting there - Nu är det nära

2010-05-16T10:55:00.002+02:00

Finally, we can start counting what is left without getting depressed.

Äntligen kan vi börja rada upp vad som är kvar utan att bli deprimerade.

Check out the hallway, bright and shiny

Kolla in hallen, ljus och fin

This work, dressing the windows was done last weekend.

Det här, klä in fönstren gjorde vi förra helgen.

This we did yesterday morning (15th of May) while it was 22 plus degrees out! Fantastic day, the rest of it we spent outdoors filling up the lawn, laundry, bringing out the outdoor furniture, replanting flowers and so on.

Det här gjorde vi igår morse, (15 maj) medan det var 22 grader varmt ute! Fantastisk dag, resten av dagen spenderade vi utomhus med att fylla upp gräsmattan, tvätta, ta fram utemöbler, plantera om blommor m.m.

Behold, our new office - Beskåda, vårt nya kontor!

Electricity and wallpapers - el och tapeter

2010-05-09T10:06:00.002+02:00

Dear Henke helped with our lovely wallpaper that sits upstairs and on the wall around the frontdoor. I believe my darling Mattias was a bit skeptical towards my choice of wallpaper, but came around and was pretty exited over them as they put them up.

Goa Henke hjälpte oss att sätta upp denna fantastiska tapet som är på övervåningen samt på väggen runt ytterdörren. Jag tror att min kära Mattias var aningens skeptiskt till mitt val av tapet, men fäste sig vid den och blev rätt exalterad över den när de satte upp den.

Electricity, we have electricity - El, vi har el!

Wallpaper - tapeter

2010-01-30T20:50:00.001+01:00

Holiday work

2010-01-04T21:10:00.004+01:00

I have been off work, but Mattias has not. As usual by this time, I got a christmas cold. It made start up with the twilight saga, and boy did it keep me occupied! Anyway, we got some work done. See below.

Jag har varit ledig men inte Mattias. Som vanligt vid det här laget så fick jag min julförkylning. Det gjorde att jag började läsa twilight sagan, och jisses, den höll mig i järngrepp. Hursomhaver, vi har fått lite gjort på bygget. Se nedan

Snowy white winterwonderland

2010-01-04T21:00:00.003+01:00

Just wanna thank god/gods for the fabulous winter that has been given!!

Below you can see how much it snowed in about 4 hours. The car was parked, snow free about 4 hours before this picture was taken.

Stefan the savior

2010-01-04T20:50:00.002+01:00

Mattias parents came to visit and work, perhaps not with lights in their hair, but nearly as glorious as the Lucia during her weekend and helped us with doors, floors and bathroom furniture assembling.

Mattias föräldrar kom ner och hälsade på samt arbeta. De kanske inte hade ljus i håret, men de var nästan lika praktfulla som Lucia under luciahelgen och hjälpte oss med dörrar, golv och sätta samman badrumsmöbler.

Tiles, floor and ceiling

2009-12-03T15:37:00.004+01:00

Last week and this week we had a fantastic lad in our house, he put in floor in three rooms and put up the glazed tiles in the bathroom.

Förra veckan och denna vecka har vi haft en fantastisk grabb hos oss, han har lagt golv (klinker) i tre rum och kaklat badrummet.

Storage room - förråd
Hallway - hallen
Bathroom - badrum

Above picture shows what we've spent most of the day doing...putting up ceiling.

Bilden ovan visar vad vi spenderat större delen av dagen med...satt upp tak.

With a little help from our friends 2

2009-11-23T21:33:00.003+01:00

This weekend we made some daring moves... We tied a latter onto the roof so that we could put up some details that was missing. Still some missing, but considering that there was ice on the roof, thoose details will have to wait...

Den här helgen levde vi lite farligt....Vi knöt fast en stege på taket så att vi kunde fästa några plåtdetaljer som saknades (avluftning och gavelplåt). Saknas fortfarande vissa delar, men med tanke på att det var is på taket så får det vänta...

On Monday morning, Mattias got a semi funny phonecall. The company that's going to fix the bathroom and most of the floors downstairs called and asked if they could start today. Mattias, half studdering says, nononononono, - you guys was suppose to call me so we could prepare (not a chance that we would prepare weeks before they can fix the floor, that would stop us). But Mattias took half the day off, sped home, I called my lovely brother, asked him for help, and fixed us a ride home.

På måndag morgon fick Mattias ett halvt om halvt roligt samtal. Företaget som ska sätta kakel i badrummet och klinker i större delen av nedervåningen ringde och frågade om de kunde börja idag. Mattias, halvt stammar fram, nejnejnejnej - ni skulle ringa mig så vi hade tid att förbereda (aldrig i livet att vi förbereder veckor i före de kan lägga in golvet, det skulle ha stoppat oss). Men Mattias kunde ta halva dagen ledigt, åkte snabbt hem, jag ringde min underbare bror, bad honom att hjälpa oss och sen fixade jag skjuts till oss hem.

Friends Anita and Daniel also came over and helped us. This means that our bathroom will start to take form tomorrow morning...

Vännerna Anita och Daniel kom även de förbi och hjälpte oss. Allt detta innebär att vårt badrum börjar ta form i morgon bitti...

Working weekend - Jobbhelg

2009-10-18T21:32:00.003+02:00

This day has been about putting up ceiling. A mistake in the initial calculation gave us a hassle since we had to add boards.

Den här dagen har handlat om att sätta upp tak. Ett litet misstag i de första beräkningarna har dock gjort att vi blivit tvugna att sätta upp fler brädor.

Yesterday we finished all the walls upstairs. And look at the lovely ceiling! (Was finished by Mattias and his dad last weekend.) Just waiting for some insulation...

Igår gjorde vi färdigt alla väggar på övervåningen (gipsväggarna som saknades). Och se på det fantastiska taket! (Gjordes klart av Mattias och hans far förra helgen.) Nu väntar taket bara på lite isolering...

A facade to be proud of!

En fasad att vara stolt över!
A picture from this sunny, crispy morning that made us hum X-mas songs.

En bild från denna soliga, kyliga morgon som gjorde att vi började nynna på julsånger.

Father in law - Svärfar

2009-10-10T19:23:00.004+02:00

On Friday, my father in law came down from Kalix to help us for 3-4 days. And as you can se below, things happen when he is here....

På fredag kom svärfar ner från Kalix för att hjälpa oss i 3-4 dagar. Och som ni kan se nedan så händer det grejer när han är här...

View from upstairs - utsikten från övervåningen

Bedroom view - Sovrums utsikt

Just want to say, my sister shot this moose today, so proud of her! - Vill bara säga, min syster sköt den här 10 taggaren idag, är så stolt över henne!

Ceiling and windows

2009-09-26T20:25:00.002+02:00

As you can see, we have the windows on the top floor, and none of them are broken. Fancy that. Mattias is busy putting up parts of the ceiling.

Door

2009-09-06T10:28:00.003+02:00

The floor upstairs is there! We can now walk around freely. Our only fear is that we will get to fearless and fall down the hole where the staircase will be. Yesterday we insulated some more, so my hands is still itching. But we have at least one layer of wall everywhere except on one wall in the bathroom. And here, a picture of our door!

Otippade krämpor

2009-08-31T20:49:00.002+02:00

Nog är man medveten om att bygga hus gör ont. Men en del saker är lite otippade:

Skavsår på knäna
Blåsor på tummen (från skruvdragare)
Blodvite på axeln

De saker jag hade räknat med och som även kom var:

Nedslitna handleder (kan inte vrida min högra hand inte heller lyfta något med den, fast det bryr man sig ju inte om när man jobbar)
Blåmärken på bokstavligen hela kroppen
En o annan tåskada

Sen har man en fantastisk träningsvärk, konstant. Allt detta till trots, DET ÄR RIKTIGT ROLIGT!

Floor upstairs and storage room

2009-08-30T21:04:00.004+02:00

We have a floor, well at least half a floor. I can't put words to the joy of not having to balance on the beams all the time.

After a little bit of nagging, I got to paint the storage room the way i wanted to. And if you look closely, you can see a little bit of...overspray.

Close up.

Painting and cleaning

2009-08-26T22:28:00.003+02:00

White walls, now we just have to figure out what color to out put up next. And what wallpapers.

We had to empty out a storage room we've had for about 3 years. So we cleaned out the storage room we have here...

Spackling paste

2009-08-13T19:30:00.003+02:00

We've come sort of a long way since I last wrote. However, now that we are back at work (half time back at work) things won't move as fast. But we must thank Mattias family for all the help, dad Stefan, mom Barbro, uncle Lasse and aunt Gunnel.

Bathroom, only one layer of wall...

Storage room (förråd). The red buckets in the ceiling is where the spotlights will go.
Spackling paste coming up...
Bedroom, with the second layer wall and first layer spackling paste. If we're lucky, we can start painting this next week.
Hallway.

Insulation, and walls...

2009-07-22T16:50:00.000+02:00

Yesterday

Today

Yesterday

Today

Finally, a picture...

2009-07-18T18:56:00.000+02:00

By lunchtime today, they told me that there was no need for any more painted boards. I stopped functioning right there and then, and haven't come around since. The others are still out doing something, but me, I'm inside with my computer, fighting to stay awake.

Yes, we have a roof

2009-07-15T20:54:00.000+02:00

We now have a roof. I will try to take a picture 2morrow. However I am bound to my painting the house.

Rain, not my cup of tea

2009-07-09T19:10:00.001+02:00

Coming home yet again to a shattered yard. This time the tent under which I am to paint the panel had flipped and now looks like a white turtle with severel legs lying on his back trying to get up. And the plastic covering the isolation had yet again tried its wings. I am trying to comfort myself with; at least the kitchen is dry....

Funny story....

2009-07-07T22:18:00.000+02:00

See, when the rain comes pouring down, and by that I mean raining cats and dogs, small cracks in the construction becomes three extra taps in the kitchen. When I came home I found puddles of water by the stove, window and fridge. Mattias came rushing home from work, my own excellent mother and her wonderful man also came to the rescue and we have padded, filled, tore down and fixed. So, the thing one can hear now is not dribbling were it should not dribble but a warm fan, heating the wet panels.

This sunny week

2009-06-26T18:39:00.000+02:00

This week, summer came to town for REAL. We've been coming home around 5 and 6 pm this week and it has still been hot as .... so work wise, not much has happened. The electric company has been here and they dug up a bit of the cable that I spent all of Sunday putting down (do not like Umeå Energi). Apparently they've (Umeå Energi) got this new fabulous idea, cause they have realized that it is not humane to have us dig up the yard, that the cable doesn't have to be dug down at all! just dig it as far down as we like for our own benefit. Just one question after this moment of enlightenment from their side: HOW THE H**L CAN WE TRUST THEM THIS TIME???

It can't be said enough times, if you have a choice, do never EVER use Umeå Energi!!!!!!!

Half a plastic roof

2009-06-22T20:27:00.000+02:00

My brother came around today, and together we put half a plastic roof. And I can tell you that it was a lot more fun than the 6 hours I spent to the electric company's job, digging to put down a cable.

Midsommar in Sweden

2009-06-20T13:43:00.000+02:00

That time of the year, Midsummer. Dancing around the midsummer pole

However, not for every one.

After a nice barbeque, and a quick visit amongst some really crazy people. We sat by the ocean and a fire and had hot dogs.

And finally, the midsummer idiots, children, do not try this at home:

Takstolar!

2009-06-18T21:25:00.000+02:00

Midsommar närmar sig med stormsteg (imorgon). Men förra helgen så fick vi upp takstolarna. Med MYCKET hjälp från vänner.

Takstolar skedde lördag. Söndagen och de få stunder denna vecka som det inte har SPÖ regnat så har vi fått gräva nya gropar i denna rullstensås. De som kan bör undvika att någonsin lita på någonting Umeå Energi säger, för de bara ljuger! Sen vägrar de att rätta sina misstag utan låter sina, ja inte kan vi kalla det kunder, utan undersåtar lösa deras misstag med blod svett och nästintill tårar. UMEÅ ENERGI är värdelösa!

Speedy

2009-06-11T21:06:00.000+02:00

Things have been going in a rather quick pace for a while.

This is how we spent the 6th of June.

And here is where we loose some of the wall and roof.

Believe it or not, but more work has been done after this weekend, I'll update you when it has stopped raining....

With a little help from our friends

2009-06-03T21:28:00.000+02:00

Dig, dig, digging, dig. That's what life is all about. My brother is digging like mad...

Mattias however, is taking it easy... ;-)
while my brother in law gets the really dirty job, fixing a line to the sewer.
This is the true path to the underworld...
A yard full of...stuff.

We love Niklas

2009-05-25T21:11:00.001+02:00

This is about what happened before we went to Stockholm.

Not so far away lived an angel, Niklas, we all loved Niklas. And he had a bright green stallion, that was a powerful creature. But on our land it met a worthy component, Mr rock. However with a little help from friends and a hero like pine-tree, they conquered the enemy.

Old town and vegetarian dinner

2009-05-24T00:18:00.000+02:00

Old town and old friends, very good combination. However, even though we are tourists, we do not care much for tourists which made the trip to old town into a fight against crowded streets more than a nice stroll. But then, along came Anna and Lea and made the world a much better place! After this ordeal, we headed to a vegetarian restaurant with a gorgeous view over slussen and gröna lund. And thank you Lotta for taking us there!!

Sara has entertained us a lot these days and I hope, that despite our northern origin, that she might have found that we aren't too much of ignorant farmers as some might think.

Love you all

Small pool and tapas

2009-05-23T11:22:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we walked around a rainy Söder. It was nice, however it was hard to find somewhere to sit and enjoy Söder. After a cold walk, a couple of fika breaks we came back to the hotel and decided to try out the "pool". It was about 9 square meters big and freezing. But the evening turned out really nice with tapas and drinks.

Fantastic evening

2009-05-22T00:27:00.000+02:00

To get to and from the hotel, we have to take the lowest tube...
Wine and...
a nice view including a lovely Shakespeare play with fine actors. Right now, life is good!

Weekend off

2009-05-21T17:43:00.000+02:00

So we skipped town and went on a weekend trip to Stockholm and GOD I love this town. We been strolling all day, or what was left of the day after a sleep in and long breakfast. Now we're getting ready to go to the theatre (Dramaten) and watch a Shakespeare play, the merry wives of Windsor (muntra fruarna från Windsor).

Size really doesn't matter...

2009-05-17T20:20:00.001+02:00

This little thing called "Skoppy" owned by the "Ditch Witch" company will dig and prepare for the foundation to our extension...And size does not matter. At least not in this case.
This is what will be the foundation, this and some concrete of course.

Mattias is measuring how deep we have to dig. Turns out, it isn't more than 20 centimeters.

Armeringsjärn och Änglar och Demoner

2009-05-13T21:32:00.000+02:00

Tonight we were spontaneous and went to the cinema. We saw Angels and Demons. The film is okay, watchable, but it did awake my secret love for the city of Rome, which I have yet to see. But a fascinating fact I learnt was that the cinema here in Umeå are FINALLY going to show operas from La Scala! Thank you for at last extending this service to us poor northerners.

Now see, the next part, about the construction site that our yard more and more looks like, I'm not even going to try to do in English...it is the technical terms that I am just learning in Swedish.

Idag när vi kommer hem i min nya bil (mer om den när jag har bild) så ligger förutom massorna av frigolit och kantelement nu även armeringsjärn på backen. Den vilda jakten på en grävare fortgår dock. Mer om den hoppas jag också kommer snart....

Small road, big truck....

2009-05-12T22:33:00.001+02:00

The back porch, used to be a lot longer, but see, here is where the extension is supposed to be, and if you look further down, you'll understand why it had to go.

The electric company has been here and drawn lines where the electricity enters the house...nice looking ain't it??

Deliveries has begun.... While in Bullmark (50 km) away from where we live, Mattias phone rings, a driver is asking where to drop off the stuff for the foundation...ehm... Turns out, of course after I've phoned Kjell-Åke (my moms fellow) asking him to more or less run to our place to help the guy unload, that the driver had just started and wouldn't show up for another 3 or 4 hours. So above picture is what it looked like when that huge truck (a lot bigger than our house) drove up and started unloading.

More loans and grass paint

2009-05-09T13:54:00.000+02:00

This week we called the electric company to come over and paint the lawn so the people making the foundation will know where NOT to dig. And, we went to the bank, we know have a loan for the extension. And of course, the bank made sure that they were taking money out of that account straight away so that the interest would be live and kicking.

Bättre bilder

2009-05-07T22:04:00.001+02:00

Eftersom bilden jag la upp sist är sisådär bra, så försöker vi med ett par nya...

And so it begins

2009-05-06T21:33:00.000+02:00

Darling readers, (at this point that is only me)

This is the month that all spare time flies out the window. I am hoping that by Christmas, I might move in to my new bedroom.

Let us just watch this picture above and agree that this will be called "the before picture". Cause next week, we start the biggest test people and relationships can put themselves through, RENOVATION.