I purchased a Radon meter for the basement. I was planning on using the basement more and figured that similar to a CO meter and a smoke alarm, a Radon meter was sensible to have, if a bit expensive. As soon as I installed it, it gave a reading of 900Bq/m3 in the basement. The […]
This winter, I’ve been clearing the snow off the solar panels. I wanted to see it clearing the snow had any significant effect on the snow build-up and energy output. Garage System We had panels put in during autumn last year. The system is a 5.8Kw array, grid-connected without local storage. The panels are on […]
The main problems this month have been planning for building the first wood-workshop bench. The unexpected surprise was discovering a radon issue in the basement. Outdoors was pretty good. This week has been generally sunny with lots of snow and temperatures from -2 Celsius to -18. The Workshop Plan The background is that the 1940s […]
Because there had been a bit of a dual-taxation nightmare the previous month, this month I was saving money and looking around to use whatever we already had. Snowshoes I went out on the snowshoes up the local hill. I worked out a loop that was only a few miles but was a good amount […]
This month was stressful due to it being the crunch time for sorting out dual taxation, but we did get to enjoy the snow. This post will have random photographs from the month throughout because there is no such thing as interesting photographs of tax returns. Kick Sleigh (Spark) This month I budgeted for a […]
November was cold but this was our second Swedish winter and we were a lot more prepared this year. The clear skies in the winter are awesome for looking at the night sky. Greenhouse Build I’d promised myself I’d get a greenhouse built for my girlfriend and was rushing to get it into the group […]
I dropped my camera from a height onto gravel this month. It was pretty damaged. As a result, there aren’t many photos for a couple of months until I managed to carefully repair it. Plumbing Repairs The water in the house tasted a bit grim to drink. When I shaved in the mornings the water […]
Winter was approaching so I worked hard to finish the gravel path/French drain around the garage. Garage Path People say sand is good for drainage but it seems to hold damp for a long time. The garage foundation was sat on a large sand base. Vegetation was growing right up to the garage wooden facade, […]
The month was a lot of external repair work which is a lot easier in summer. It’s too tricky to do this between November and April due to the snow and the paint won’t set properly in the colder months. Privacy Wall Repairs The woodwork on the garden divider wall was rotting near the bottom […]
Summertime was here but I was out of action, recovering from a back injury. We did however get a trip to the city to the north, Umeå. This was necessary for the final stages of receiving a permanent residence permit. We had been processed for this as a result of Brexit, since the EU self-sufficient […]
June in Sweden was amazing. My girlfriend was exploring on her new bike in the summer sun and taking videos and pictures like the one below. It stays light like an evening sunset, throughout the night. So we have blinds on the windows. Garage Door Repair The garage side door had been falling apart over […]
As the seasons changed, so the was a massive difference between the start and the end of April. April started with ongoing snow and frozen ground, but by the end, all the snow in the garden was gone and the ground was soft and diggable.I had a winter project to finish, which was the laying […]
In March the days were getting brighter and we were coming out of our first Swedish Winter. I was completing a lot of work inthe basement. The days were still dark but we got to see foxes, and to go out exploring on snowshoes. Foxes We got to see lots of foxes in the field. […]
Late January and early February had been significantly cold with routine temperatures of -20C which was a first for us. We had never seen a winter this cold before moving to Sweden. The lowest we recorded this first year was -24C on the outside temperature sensor for the heating system. Basement Side Doors There was […]
