Happy Mid-Summer

To all of our Swedish Relatives,

We wish all of you a happy, safe and festive mid-summer. It's hard to believe that 1 year ago we gathered here in Minnesota for the family reunion. The weather here is just as nice as it was a year ago; however, it is definitely not as hot. So much has happened in a year at our homestead and that is probably why the time has flown by. I've included some pictures from a year ago below:

As for the house, you probably noticed that there hasn't been any posts on the blog since Memorial Day. The reason is that we are not quite settled in our new home as originally expected. There were some complications that we have been working through in terms of the polished concrete floor and that has been a set back that we are dealing with for the next couple of weeks. Even though this is an inconvenience, we have to look at it as short term in order to enjoy the long term benefit knowing that our floor is going to be what we expected. (Glass 1/2 full). On a positive note, the landscaping started this week on Thursday and that is quickly taking shape and we can't wait to see the progress over the course of next week. So, here is 1 year transtion:

This is a permeable paver system that is being installed by Bever Landscaping (http://www.beverlandscaping.com/) and the pavers were donated by Borgert's (http://www.borgertproducts.com/borgert/). The permeable pavers allow water to infiltrate through the gravel and into a underground piping system that will take the water to a rain garden area and control erosion.

This will be the new vegetable garden as it gets a lot sun due to being southern exposure.

The gutters on the back side of the house - high ones will go into rain barrels.



Now an update on the polished floor work that is in progress, this is the polished floor that we expected. The company that is doing it now is Concrete Treatments Inc. out of Plymouth, MN (http://www.concretetreatmentsinc.com/). We will let all of you be in the judge in comparing the work with now and before pictures below.

The picture below shows the transition from the polished floor at 1500 grit compared to the first pass at 100 grit after the acrylic finish (plastic) that was removed.



The picture below shows transition from the office area following the first pass in removing the acrylic to the master bedroom which is the original floor.



Our bedroom and bathroom floor that is considered a polished floor - you make the comparison as you look through the final pictures depicting the floor in May prior to moving in and finally taking you back to the floor as it stands this weekend.

Here is the floor finish in mid-May and only 8 days prior to us moving in following the floor being sealed.

Following the acrylic/plastic finish on the floor.

The final picture is Friday, June 20th with the new sub-contractor:

Overall, for the most part everyone that we have worked with on the house project in the last 2 years has been outstanding. We've developed some great relationships and it is hard for everything to draw to close.

Stay tuned as we finish up over the next several weeks and prepare for the final episode with Channel 11 & Blueprint for Green. In addition, our home has been selected to be a part of the Remodeler's Showcase in mid-October.

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

Everyone is probably wondering about our status on moving into our new home over the Memorial Day weekend. The weekend was rather interesting as Shelly worked every day except for Memorial Day, I on the other hand ran up north to the cabin to get the boat out of storage and help Kris/Scott put the dock in.

On Sunday, the storm that produced tornadoes in Coon Rapids and Hugo rolled through our area with damaging winds and golf ball size hail. The house made it through pretty much unscathed; except for the north side of the screen porch that stretched out the screens. However, all of our vehicles received damage with the Toyota Prius being the worse as it was sitting in the parking lot at Walmart. Abby's car has a broken windshield and Shelly's 4-runner has some markings.

On Monday, Shelly and I along with Judy went to Fort Snelling National Cemetary to visit the gravesites of Shelly's Grandpa & Grandpa Dahlquist along with her Aunt June and Joanne. After going to Fort Snelling, we went over to IKEA and had a good old Swedish lunch of meatballs, potatoes, gravy and lingonberry.



Back to the move, well Abby moved completely back into the house on Thursday night so she is pretty well settled in her new bedroom. Aaron's bedroom is starting to take shape as we prepare to bring him home from college on Tuesday, May 27th. As for us, we gradually starting moving over the weekend and actually slept in the house on Thursday night. However, the concrete floor finish on the main floor is under review and we will not be on the main floor for a period of 1-2 weeks starting around June 9-10th and thus the reason for not moving things other than dishes, kitchen, etc. in over this past weekend. Shelly and I are not planning on living in the garage during this period as the bed that we had set-up is now in Abby's room. So, Aaron will more than likely be in the bunk bed out in the garage and Shelly and I living upstairs with Abby for this timeframe.

Now for the positive, take a look at the pictures taken last Wednesday, May 21st:

Kitchen, Living and Dining Rooms:

Exit from Living Room to Screen Porch:

Dining Room area:

Sliding barn door from laundry room to main part of house:

Master Bedroom, Closet and Bathroom:

Heading Upstairs - this is the sitting area:

Aaron's Bedroom:

Certificate of Occupancy

Happy Mothers Day & Fishing Success

Well, Shelly worked on this Mothers Day, but Abby and I along with Wayne & Judy went out to breakfast at Perkins before Shelly went to work.

After breakfast I came home and lounged for a while, then I decided to go try fishing again on the river seeing it was a blue sky day.

Today, I was successful in catching a nice 17" - 1 1/2# walleye along with a small mouth bass. I spent about 2 hours fishing, but it was great to catch something and to just hang out with the dogs down by the river.

So, for a special treat, I was able to prepare a walleye dinner for Shelly after work and it was very tasty! Here is a picture of the walleye both before and after filleting:

Rainy Day - Minnesota Fishing Opener

It's a rainy Saturday on the opening weekend of fishing in Minnesota or at least this afternoon when I decided to get my license and a dozen minnows to try my luck again in the Mississippi River. Anyhow, I waited for a break in the weather and then headed out, but by the time I walked down to the river it started raining again. So, I cast a couple of times until I lost my jig on a rock snag. Instead, I thought that I would update everyone where we are at in the house project.

There was a lot of activity this week as the porch area outside our bedroom was constructed, appliances arrived on Wednesday and installation occured on Friday, electricians worked most of the week on final terminations for lights, plumbers were here on Friday to install toilets, faucets, shower heads, etc. while the well gang finally got out to the house upon road restrictions being lifted on Thursday to convert the water over to the house and then backfeed to the garage. Anyhow, things were going great on Friday and Shelly was looking forward to taking a bath in her new tub finally after work. However, after everyone left, I continued to check as the plumbers asked for leaks as lines filled up and hot water came on and unfortunately I had to isolate the water to the main house due to several leaks in the mechanical room. So, to say the least Shelly wasn't a happy camper when she arrived home at 9 p.m. She will just have to wait until Monday now.

Here are some pictures from the week:

Porch area off the master bedroom:

Kitchen Area - Appliances and Lights

Screen Porch off the Living room:

This coming week, the plans are to finish up the concrete floor, interior painting touch-up, installation of the fireplace, continued electrical and the master bedroom closet will be installed by California Closets on Friday, May 16th. Then next week they plan to start cleaning the interior of the house with final preparations for us to start moving things in over the Memorial Day weekend. It's getting very, very close!!!!!

Road Trip

The whole group went to Gustavus Saturday for a honors lunch and convocation. Aaron was recognized for receiving the presidential scholarship and being on the Dean's list.