Another funky island house

Marcia was watching a TV show the other day about "odd or dream houses" in Sweden. She saw one by a Dutch architect, Boris Zeisser, that she was compelled to tell me about. One of the most interesting elements of the house (besides its being built by a Dutchman) is an extendable room which can be winched out over a stream, in the style of Fallingwater, and then pulled back in for the winter months.

Because of this extendable room, the architects call it the Dragspelhuset, or "Accordion House". Details can be seen on this blog entry. Good catch!!!

Another reason I love Sweden

Sweden's big daily newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet, is bucking the trend of major dailies around the world and actually increasing its readership.

I read it online in a futile effort to improve my Swedish, although I admit I dip into Google Translate much more often than I should.

A little sidebar caught my eye recently. Apparently, SvD is holding an introductory course on modern design. I was able to get the gist of this one on my own, but an English translation of the page is here.

For 3000kr ($425), the interested student can attend five lectures on the history and future of modernism and Swedish design. How I would love to attend those. Sadly, I haven't seen any courses like that yet in Texas!

Prefab skyscrapers

 

I've written previously about pre-fab houses, especially as they are so well suited for building in Scandinavian climates. With such a short building season, it's a huge advantage to be able to maximise building time in the summer.

Our own house- and our shed- weren't really pre-fab, but rather kit houses. All of the parts and pieces were supplied, but there was still significant assembly required. A true pre-fab simply requires connecting large pieces to produce a fully finished product. And a pre-fabricated house is by can be quite luxurious, with the Huf House being a well-known example.

The video above shows that idea taken to its extreme. A 30 story hotel was built, start to finish, bare ground to occupancy, in 15 days! An article on treehugger gives details. Each floor is finished, down to the floor tiles, light switches, window shades, etc., and is assembled on a single pallet. A crane lifts it up, the floor is laid, the windows and walls are put up, and the next floor arrives to be installed above it.

It appears there aren't any corners cut, either. Modern energy-saving technologies are built in; its earthquake resistance has been tested, even furnishings and light fixtures are ready to go. This system is said to be accurate to 0.2 of a millimeter, which is about a hundred times more accurate than my own building efforts!

I liked the comment that these kinds of systems mean that even construction can be exported. Today we buy iPads from Chinese factories; perhaps soon, we'll be buying our houses there, too.

Yet another fireplace

This one's a bit different. It's not a wood- burning fireplace, but it runs instead on ethyl alcohol. So there's no need for a flue, or really ventilation of any sort.

It is made by Cocoon Fires, and they have a number of models on their website.

Although it's supposed to give off some heat, it's really cosmetic. I like the looks of it, but our fireplace would need to be more practical. In Sweden, it's quite common to burn one's waste paper in one's fireplace to cut down on trash. (I remember Rutger making a cosy fire out of Christmas wrappings last year!)

And of course, there's quite a wealth of wood for burning right outside our front door. If we do end up spending much time on Aspö in the colder months, we would need a proper fireplace for sure.

The last strike against this funky fireplace is cost. It's about $3500 (or 25,000kr) for the stainless steel model pictured here. That's an awful lot for cosmetics!!

Deck Lights

I've found a company that sells a recessed deck light kit which I find pretty interesting.

The kit is quite simple; the lights are LED, so they're low voltage. They sell a special drill bit which makes installation simple. Extra lamps can be purchased. Up to 20 lamps can be run on one transformer. Remote controls and dimmers are even available.

Best of all, I called the company, and their kit works on 220 volts as well as the 110V common in the USA.

I reconnoitered the deck when I was at the the house in December, and I think installation would be quite straightforward. On the other hand, we're not there very often during the dark months, so maybe such a setup is superfluous. Still, it's fun to think about.

A dispatch from Annika

She and Ole reported they had a wonderful weekend on Aspö, -1°C and sunny. In fact it was so nice, they're taking this Friday off, too, to spend another long weekend. I told Annika I was jealous of their doing that, and she said she was jealous of our warm Texas winters!

They also added that our house and its surroundings looked fine. I appreciate their looking after it like that.

She sent 5 more beautiful photos, which are on her gallery now.

Stairs

One of my projects next year is to build a new set of stairs for the little house. Janne helped me build a landing for its front door, and now I have about a 2-meter wide leading edge. This will be perfect for a broad set of stairs to come off the path, up to the little house.

I want to make these stairs myself, so I have been reading up on the subject. There's a wealth of information out there on the mathematics and mechanics of stair-building. I've bought a book, and also watched videos on You Tube. (I've found you can learn how to do most anything on the internet these days. And I mean anything.)

The most important thing is to calculate the 'rise' and 'run' of the stairs. This simply means how high the stairs have to rise up from the ground to meet the deck. The length (or 'run') of the stairs is calculated from how many steps are needed to complete the rise.

There are lots of variations on how wide and steep each step should be. Standard building codes specify the maximum rise (not too steep) and minimum run (not too shallow). The steps I have now are fiarly broad and shallow; I initially wanted that to make life easier for Ollie. But, as Margaret pointed out, broad steps make a great perch for having a bowl of cereal in the morning and watching the scenery.

When I was at the house in December, I made a bunch of measurements. My local building store in Texas had simple angle finders and other stair-measuring tools for me to bring along, so I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do.

I've made a sketch of what the stairs will look like. I have a bunch of photos and measurements of my current stairs, so I'm confident about what needs to be done. I'll run it all by Janne when I see him next, to make sure I've thought of everything. I'm looking forward to the project!

Stockholm Marathon

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I planned to run the Stockholm Marathon this year. I've run it twice before, in 1990 and 2000. I have the finishers medals in my office even today. I used to run quite a lot a decade ago; in fact, I was running at least one marathon a year. Recently, though, I've just been running half-marathons, and since I came back to Texas, I haven't been running much at all. (I use the heat as my excuse.)

The 2012 Stockholm Marathon is on June 2, and the timing is perfect as we were planning to change our calendar for visiting Aspö this year. We're going to visit in late May and then again in late July. Typically, we visit over my birthday in midsummer, but we're changing for two reasons. First, we'll be able to link up in July with Ann and Dave, as we've always missed them with our earlier visits. Secondly, we can avoid the awful Texas heat.

I start training in earnest next month. I'd like to beat my 1990 time of 4:23, but we'll see how my legs have held up in the intervening 22 years. I'll update on occasion over the coming months, but don't worry, this won't become a running blog!

Gott Nytt Är!

I received an email from Annika and Olle, out on Aspö for the holiday. She gave me a link for an iPhone app that makes it easy (and free) for us to send messages and photos.

I installed it and we've been chatting all morning. Annika sent me 5 new photos, which I've put up on her gallery. There's no snow at all, which is quite a contrast to last year.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Farewell to SAAB

It appears Saab, that quintessential Swedish car company, is no more.

I always thought a SAAB 900 convertible was a great blend of fun & safety. The Shelby, on the other hand, is not practical at all. Just fun. Lots of fun.

But I digress. Farewell, quirky little Saab.

Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul

Even though we're far away from Sweden this Christmas, that won't stop us from enjoying the long-held tradition of watching Donald Duck at 3 in the afternoon.

Through the magic of the internet, and although I know it goes against tradition of watching only live, we'll be revisiting last year's broadcast (which doesn't change all that much year to year).

Margaret sent me a Slate article about the tradition, and all my previous posts over the years are here.

God Jul till alla!

Filmjölk

I thought I had blogged before about my favourite Swedish breakfast treat, but it appears I haven't. So, to rectify my oversight:

Filmjölk is a traditional soured milk, somewhere between regular milk and yogurt in consistency and taste. I think it's delicious with granola and/or fruit in the morning, and it's my big breakfast treat on Aspö.

There are a whole host of similar soured/fermented milk products in dairy-consuming cultures all over the world. I don't mind sour cream on my baked potato, but that's about as far as I go here in the US. No buttermilk or whipped cream for me. But in Sweden, I can't get enough fil in the morning!

As I was looking up info on filmjölk for this post, I stumbled across a website that sells the specific starter cultures to make my own. This, I couldn't resist. I ordered a packet, and now Sooz and I have followed the video instructions and made our very own filmjölk.

I had my first bowl this morning, topped with fresh Swedish granola, courtesy of Marcia. It was damned good! The taste was exactly the same, and I had a tasty, if nostalgic, breakfast. It was funny to enjoy such a Swedish-specific treat here in Texas.

If I manage my culture right, I'll be able to enjoy a Swedish treat all winter long. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm back in Texas

72 hours after I left, I'm back in the Lone Star state. Thanks to the on-time performance of a number of global airlines, the public transportation systems in London and Stockholm, and above all, the cheerful and efficient chauffeur services of my good buddy Rutger, everything worked out fine.

It was nice to visit the house of course, but a little strange, too. Being on the island by myself on such a dark, wet, and cold day gave everything a melancholy, if not slightly threatening, air. I also had the constant reminder of being on the clock. I was there for about 5 hours, about twice as long as the Apollo 11 crew spent walking on the moon, but still.

I took photos for some future projects I'll blog about later. Everything else seemed in great shape, with the exception of our little shed, which is settling a bit. We'll have to jack it up a bit next year.

A batch of photos are up on a new webgallery. It's still hard to believe we won't be back until Easter at the earliest...!

Hello from Aspö

I'm here, in the middle of a breakneck visit to Europe. It is grey and raw here. I'm having a hard time not imagining myself as a character in a Wallander book. I'd much prefer snow. But no matter bleak it is here right now, it's still beautiful in its own way.

The house looks good and the bathroom and water closet are both properly warm. I seem to have misplaced the key for the shed which is an annoyance. I'll find a weatherproof combination lock for my next trip.

I'll have a few photos up when I'm back in the US, which is tomorrow, believe it or not.

St. Lucia's Day

It's Lucia's Day today. I haven't found much of a Swedish community here in Texas yet, as I posted last year. But I will try to get Sooz to make some saffron buns!

Chicago Wolves Hockey

I have mentioned in the past that Wille's son, Eddie Lack, is a goaltender in the hockey minor leagues here in North America. You may recall that Wille hails from Leksand, the hockey-mad region in northern Sweden.

Eddie is now with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL. I've been following his exploits closely.

Recently, Eddie was featured in the Wolves' online magazine, and it's fun to read about him. Wille told me he was planning to come to Chicago this winter, and we'd love to join him in my hometown to watch some hockey.

Another Summer house

Dwell has a slideshow of a very simple and chic house in the Skåne countryside.

It's a bit too precious for me, I think. But it is beautiful and worth a look.

More photos from Annika

I received an email from Annika this past weekend. She reported:

"This weekend we visited Aspö again and it was very windy. However – everything looks great around your houses. No damages or anything unpleasant seen. Not a snowflake in sight and we are glad for that!"

She also attached a few wonderful photos from her iPhone. I've updated the webgallery.

Skatteverket

I received a familiar dark-blue envelope in my Texas mailbox the other day. The nice people at the Swedish tax authorities, Skatteverket, have tracked me down.

Actually, I was at least partially pleased to see the forms, as it proved at least that I correctly sent in my new address. And, reading the documents inside, I was not that upset to see what Sketteverket sent me.

I've posted previously about being a bit uneasy that my tax bill has been zero. Not that I mind, of course, but, knowing the tax regime in Sweden, I know that 'zero' is not a number they use very often. I had a nagging feeling that one day, some unknown bill would come due.

My dark blue envelope contained a förslag småhusenhet fastighetstaxering which is essentially a property tax proposal. It asked me to review their data about our little house and to update it if needed, as changes to the size or fittings of a summer house change its tax value. The homeowner fills out a survey about many elements of the property, and the answers are used to determine the tax base. The form's instructions are available in English on Skatteverket's website for those interested.

The good news for me is that our property and our little house was accurately recorded in Skatteverket's questionnaire. So my concerns about not being on the tax rolls are abated; I obviously did it right the first time. Secondly, since there haven't been any substantive changes to the house, there's no need for me to send anything in. Our new home value will be sent to us in July 2012.

It appears that new home construction has a 5-year tax holiday, so I have a couple more years before I start supporting the social state.

Thanksgiving

It's time for my now-traditional Thanksgiving post. And just as the previous Thanksgivings were very different from each other, so is this one.

For the first time in at least a dozen years, we're enjoying the holiday with our family in the good old USA. In fact, we're in our mother's house in Minnesota. Here's a photo of the whole clan. It really is great to be together.

The only one missing here is Ollie, which is a bit ironic, because for him, Thanksgiving has a special meaning. It's three years since his back was repaired. I am happy to report that he's still doing well, happy and healthy, and very well-loved in his new Texas home. Something to be thankful for, indeed.

Iceman Ötzi

No, not DJ Ötzi, a very cool guy in his own right, but instead a very-well preserved body of a man who lived in the Tyrolean Alps 5300 years ago, and was uncovered in melting ice in 1991.

I watched a National Geographic special about a project to learn from Ötzi's corpse. It's amazing to see how much information can be gleaned from careful study: where he was from and where he lived, what he ate, his health and even his social status. Today, he has his own museum.

However, the most interesting tidbit of news to me was that DNA tests showed that our prehistoric traveler to have also been infected with Lyme disease. Just goes to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Swedish Design slideshow

Yet another slideshow from Dwell. I love the 'Boop' armchair (slide number 5).

The website of the Note Design Studio is fun to look at. I also love their 'Monacle' door with the teeny window above the lock.

A Visit!!

During my long 'away period' between this September and next May, I had hoped I could piggyback a visit to Aspö onto one of my business trips into Europe.

I am happy to report that I've had success in that plan, and I will be making a very brief stop into Stockholm, five weeks from today, just before Christmas. I will fly into London on December 15th for an all day meeting, and then onto Stockholm that evening. Early on Friday, the 16th, I'll head out to Aspö for a day trip, then back to Marcia & Rutger's for the night. And it's out early again on Saturday for the long trip back to Texas, hopefully home in time for dinner.

I'll probably be jetlagged out of my gourd, but I will be able to see our house for a day, and my good friends for a night, all for the cost of a £130 round trip on SAS. I think that's well worth it.

UPDATE: The Waxholms winter boat schedules are out (departing, returning) and I can get to Aspö just fine in the morning, but there's no afternoon boat back on Fridays. I could take the scheduled taxi boat at 5:30, but that's going to be a long day out there, especially since the sun will rise at 8:40 and set at 2:47. I might get my own taxi boat in mid-afternoon.

Photos from Annika

I wrote Annika and Olle the other day, as usual asking for a favour. I was worried that my bathroom radiator was working properly (not too hot, or worse, not hot enough).

Not only did they go over and confirm a nice 8.8° degrees, she sent along a few beautiful photos of a sunny Autumn day. I made a webgallery of her photos. I hope she and Olle will keep sending them through the next few months!

SMiLE

I had planned to write about the Beach Boys' lost album, SMiLE, released today after nearly 45 years. In fact, I had written a thousand words on the subject.

However, this review from Pitchfork said it all far better than I could have done. If you're curious about the "greatest album never made," it's worth a read.

And I highly recommend the CD itself. It is glorious.