The First Ride!

Hopefully here you can see our first boat ride back into the town area. It may be small but it has some go in it. We like it a lot.........

The lounge in the main house

Showing here is a picture of the lounge in the main house.

Maria gets stuck in!

In preparation for our stay in the main house whilst we under go our project it was time to get out the cleaning materials. This house is the main house on the island where Maria grew up, sadly not being used in around 20 years. Maria's Father however stays in this house for several days in the summer each year.

The boat arrives

Today saw the arrival of our boat. It may not look much but we are truly greatful that we have something to use this summer.

Yellow house on the right by the bus stop!!

An early start to Thursday made me understand just how living in that bubble Sweden could be. We set off down to Oland which is a large island off Kalmar. I was driving and Maria had spoken to the lady which we had bought this fabulous Stove. As we crossed the brige into Oland I asked Maria where to go now, to which she replied, " Its the Yellow house on the right, there should be a bus stop just after it???"

What followed was a 20km drive passing yellow house after red house after yellow house.........you can guess the picture. It like saying we live next to the tree on the right......anyone who has been to Sweden knows how apparant Trees, Red Houses and Yellow houses are here.

Anyway the 2 hour journey was well worth it once we got our hands on this baby £300 new instead of paying over £600 from the store..... Next IKEA, an intence shopping afternoon followed by Meatballs! Nice

Time to Cook

Wednesday saw a great transformation day. I bought this oven back in the UK for £45. It was a little beaten up and the ceramic was scratch, pretty much used. However, after a full day of stripping this down, cleaning out the jets and touching up areas which needed attention this looked almost new once again. All ready and prepared for cooking on.

The Bed Sides

Finally completed here are the sides of the bed with the initals of the people who will be working on this project.......lets hope it all fits together.

The Finished Posts

The posts are completed and ready to put together but sadly we will have to wait a few weeks until the bedroom is prepared.

Bed cont....

This is the layout of the bed which should when complete accomodate 4 people.......get ready! Lou!

The Double Bunk Bed

Plans started 2 weeks ago on the bunk bed. I thought that rather than waisting time now it would be a good project to start building this bed.

The Launch of the Wind Turbine

Here is a picture taken back in the 1980's of Bengt and Nils (Maria's Grandfather) on the day of the launch of the wind turbine. Although this was sucessful in powering the main house, Vattenfall sadly ran out of budget for this project resulting in the turbine being removed. However back then it would have cost far too much money for the Machine house to be removed.

A blast from the past, in more ways than one!

Today we decided that we needed to clear out Maria's Mums basement to make sure we had all the things for the island. Remarkably we came accross Maria's first skis......my god times have changed. Surely Hugh Scully could put a decent price on these..........or just maybe Alisdair could sell them!!

Meet the other family member

Maximus is the first of our two cats. This one is a fond lover of the great outdoors. However, he must take it a little easy as he only has 4 of his lives left. He cant wait to get out there and get stuck in, a little like his dad!!

Meet the Family

Crazy I know but this is a sorry excuse for a Norwegian Forest Cat. Introducing Mufasa! The fluffy cat who think he's a dog. Sadly this one has to get use to the great outdoors!

Some History...........

Maria was born on the island in 1979 and spent most of her childhood out there. Once a thriving family fishing community, 1987 Askeskar became only a summer retreat when the last memeber of the family moved into town.

In the 1980's a company called Vattenfall trialed windturbine power. However, having run out of budget some time later the windturbine was removed leaving the maching house with all its contents. Some 25 years later it is our plan to transfor this building into a small summer retreat, and so history continues.

The Old Window

Here you can see the old window. Hopefully once we have removed this we can see how this was fitted originally. Guess its hard to put a window in a tin can!

The Baltic

Welcome to the Baltic, or our view from what should be the decking. Infront of us you can see a nearby island which also belongs to Maria's Island. These smaller islands are even more protected as they are the home of migrating birds which spend a large part of the year breeding on. Further in the distance you can see a small tower which is located in the Vastervik area. This gives you an idea of the distance between us and the town.

The toilet

Not forgetting the Toilet..........As we are "Au Natural" here on Askeskar the toilet is situated way back behind the house in the forest. Maybe if I have time I can come up with something comfortable.

The Stove

This should be the stove that will provide some nice heat on those cold evenings....... Located on the top front is a hot plate. I can smell that pea and ham soup already........

3D - Wow! Its amazing what you can do!

What can I say.......oh forgot, just between the kitchen and the sofa area I am hoping to install a small cast iron fire which should double as a hot stove also.

The Plan

From this program you can see some of what the building should look like once finished.

Starting at the tope you will see the door which will house half window to enable a beautiful view of the sea and other islands which belong to Askeskar. Two other windows will ensure a panaramic view. This lounge area will house a koksoffa which is a long sofa which can be used as a seat or single/double bed. This area will also house two small chill out chairs which will be used to consume lots of wine. The table next to the sofa can be used as a breakfast singel leaf table or if we have guest it can be placed in the lounge as a 6 person table.

In the middle you can see the small kitchen area which will house 3 units, oven, fridge, 2 bar stools and the double leaf table. A window over the oven can be used also as an extractor.......

At the end will be the bedroom. I am currently in the process of building the double bunk bed which I was inspired by Gabby's hut in the mountains of St Anton Austria.

Fingers Crossed!

The Bedroom

Our bedroom once was used as the battery storage room. Here you will see the old racking that was used to store the batteries. The wall infront of you will be removed and brought back 50cm to ensure the room is the correct size.

The Kitchen

Introducing the Kitchen area and much more technology.
It seems ironic that this house will be built and the end result will contain no electricity what so ever. Askeskar is an island that dates back hundreds of years. Today we have the pleasure of having no running water or electricity.......what fun!

The Contractor

Introducing Bengt Mattsson, Maria's Father. Generation after generation have spent time in building a community on Askeskar. As Bengt spent time with his father building parts of the main house together with other out buildings I am hoping that Bengt can spend some time with Maria and I in building this house so that in time to come we can look back with fond memories.

Bob the builder

Introducing Me! Here I am in the house which in currently stuffed with every electrical unit you can think of. All of this has to be taken apart piece by piece to enable us to have a clear shell to work in.

The building consists of 3 rooms all of which contains a different pieces which once ran a wind turbine on the island. As this device was disused in the later part of 1980's this building has been left alone on the island ever since.

Our Island Princess

Pictured here, Maria's daily life was spent helping her father who would be out daily catching the fish to then sell in the local town. However, at times Maria would get in the way which resulted in her being tied to a nearby log or tree trunk to ensure that she didnt go too close to the water....

The project leader!

Introducing Miss Maria Mattsson, as you may not know she is qualified in all types of building work together with interior design. Hopefull within 2 months Maria will be sitting on a beautiful decking enjoying a cool glass of wine and reading her book. If only she knew how much hard work will be involved before then. But, its all part of Island life which Maria has first hand knowledge in.......

Dont be fooled by the window

This gives you a better view of the size of this project. The origional door will be removed and replaced with a much smaller door. Currently this is a heavy metal door which weighs a tonn. Getting excited yet? Sadly the window you see here is false. The roof space is just an open area as the main bulding is a box construction. However, Im sure we can make this a little more interesting as the project unfolds.