Well Well Well.....

  Things are changing have changed! I won't soften the blow so here it is -the tearing off of the Band-Aid from a really hairy arm- FilliQuist is now in Sweden!
How about that!
  Once FilliQuist found out that it was moving I stopped posting (since work more or less stopped in the shop) and we began preparing for our move. With much work and a significant amount of streamlining we readied for the move. Pretty much all tools that ran on 120V electricity found new "forever homes" and the rest are on a boat in the Baltic headed to port as I type. Yea! Can't wait to get all of our goodies!!
   Since it has been about three months since the last post I figure that it is time to get back to work on the blog and in the shop.
  Since being here I have already made/put together a table, scrounged up some old school chairs, and am working on some benches for the time being....

  Oh and taking wallpaper off of our bedroom walls, patching holes, stacking firewood, clearing saplings and dead trees in the yard, meeting the neighbors.....well keeping busy, anyway.
  I will keep you informed of all the new changes...I promise. And there will be some great new content as FilliQuist gets used to a new country and continent.
  So for now... Hej då!!

Chicago Town

  

Taking some time to travel and see what the middle part (ish) of the country is doing and thinking; Chicago was a welcome change of scene.
    Seeing the difference in buildings and attitude pulls one out of the everyday and gets you to see and interact with the destination. Maybe it was just the stupid grin on my face as I wandered between the hotel, art museum and the Miracle Mile but I never get Hey's, Hi's, or Hello there's in other cities, just C-town. Impressive. What was also impressive was the city: there are so many other pictures; so please, click though to see them with details and comments.

Moving: Lessons From a Vancouver, B.C. Bookstore

  This post is for anyone that is moving and gets to the point that they think they just have too much "stuff". Well after reading this you might realize- you don't.

   As I mentioned in the "Getting On With It" post, Filliquist Studio is moving! So while the sun is setting on our place by the Tacoma Narrows Airport; it is rising on Pine Knoll, the farm that we are moving to. As we begin to move the question of what is necessary and what is just "stuff" becomes glaringly apparent. I also can't help but think about a book store that we visited recently to make myself feel better about the whole process.

   Now I don't feel so bad.....  Every nook, cranny, shelf, floor spot, crevice, fireplace (yes even the unused fireplace had books in it), closet, stair tread or other potentially unused spot had a stack of books in it. 

A little more after the jump.....

The Best Of: A Different Take On Floors

    One of the greatest things a trip to Sweden offers is quaint little reminders. The pace and social attitude of Sweden is a refreshing take on how life IS and not how it marketed to be. Being that this statement relies on experience from having visited of living in Sweden let me offer an example.
   While driving on Swedish highways it frequently happened that a motorist would be merging, but only doing so extremely s l o w l y. Large trucks, and occasionally cars, would have to brake heavily in order to avoid a collision or an incident. As this happened there were no flashing of lights, honking horns, dramatic swerving and violent acceleration finalized by the giving of "the look" (at least) or "the bird" followed by yelling and cursing (at most).
   So why the anecdote? Besides the fact that I was stunned by the civility and seemingly passe' attitude toward driving there were other standards that were not questioned, if only for the sake that logically, intelligently, and simply-they couldn't be. And this is where pine floors come in.....
Click on the Jump for more-

Geez has it been a month??

My sincere apologies to those that read this blog, or at least try to. I haven't really written anything in almost a month and as the last post says I have been super busy. Anyho.... 

Alfa Gazpacho-photo by Veronica Fermskog

 

       ....in that time I've built a wine celler, two artists' studios, designed an office space, refinished some chairs, striped and varnished a boat, put two  five (damn rain) coats of varnish on a beautiful sailboat, started varnish work on a 65' (20 meter) motor yacht and I've been travelling in Sweden for two weeks! Oh yes- and named a horse! Alfa Gazpacho - ha!  See him on the June 18th post or under Vora Fol (Our Foals). We are on the train to Stockholm as I type for the last few days and then there should be a wave of posts covering said work. So Hej Da (heya-doo-a) for now!!

Are (Aur-a)
and there should be a little o over the A