House#2 Progress, Endless Walks & Finally RAIN

2019-06-16Hrefna's family, Us Standard

[Photos taken 16 – 26 June 2019, posted online 20 January 2020. The weather is unstable. Very unstable.]

June was such a strange month. The sun would not stop blaring, and the weather was continually awesome, which seemed to render me unable to sleep, which made me anxious.

Nice progress was nonetheless made at House #2, particularly in getting the guest-house operational, and Finnur volunteered to drive up there to start staining the huge deck (which can only happen with zero children around).

I took a ridiculous amount of walks, as it felt impossible to just sit around at home in the evenings with all that sunlight going on. We bought a new car (!!!) after waiting patiently for a sturdy enough electric car, the kids went to their camps, and practices, and life just sort of stumbled along. (65 images total)

Sunday 16 June 2019

The kids at their favorite cafe in Borgarnes, Kaffi Kyrrð. We’d driven up that way in the morning to meet up with Finnur who’d stayed overnight at house #2. My brother Pétur, and his family then joined us a bit later in the day.
The cafe is decorated literally from floor onto the ceiling, and the kids love it. That day the sun was shining brightly and hit some crystals turning in the window and made rainbows. Also, the view from that window is magnificent.
Make-up by Nature.
Fun in the sun!
Emma doing a jigsaw puzzle.
The flowers I’d planted last time we were there were somehow still alive in spite of zero rain for weeks on end. I guess my hard work thoroughly moistening the ground upon planting paid off.
It didn’t take the kids a long time to discover the watering out front.
Finnur hard at work putting down flooring in the guest house, with a little help from Anna.
Hot-tubbing is always a must!

Monday 17 June 2019

Family photo as we were saying farewell to our guests.
View from the car as I drove off home with the kids, as Finnur wanted to finish as much of the flooring as he could before the end of the day.
Stationary car selfie before we set off.
As this was Iceland’s Independence Day, we stopped by Borgarnes to check out the local celebrations just as they were winding down.
Not the most impressive slide ever, but the younger kids went a few rounds.
We found a few flags!
Sibling hug!
We found a flag made out of flowers!

Tuesday 18 June 2019

Back home. Post-dinner walk in the blaring sunshine at 9 pm.
Sun elevation at 9:15 pm. I’m totally blaming the sun for all the trouble I had sleeping this summer!!!
Pretty view. A brand new water fountain on the left, and the Buddha stupa a little further on from it.
The sunlight in our bedroom at 10:15 pm. Anybody feeling sleepy? 🙂
Sun still comfortably high over the horizon. This is greeeaaaaat!

Thursday 20 June 2019

I’ve never understood why Icelandic farmer wrap their peppers in plastic, creating excellent conditions for mildew to grow.
More post-dinner walking, this time to the golf course on the other side of our hill.
The walking route passes a fancy-houses neighborhood, with large trees (on an Icelandic scale).
I met up with Guðrún who was golfing with her youngest.
We grabbed a bite to eat at the Clubhouse (!), and then Guðrún was kind enough to let me try hitting a ball a few times. It went … ok! (Wait for animated gif to load)
Walking back at 10 pm.
I found the “old” path, which is no longer used much because the new road cuts it in half.
Stupidly gorgeous view.
The end of the old road up the hill. Beyond that sign is a significant vertical drop, where the rock got exploded away to make way for the new road.
I had to walk the long way around, but this is the vertical drop from the other side, a little behind the white van. One day they’ll build a road up there, as there are plans to build more houses up that way.

Saturday 22 June 2019

The sun was high in the sky yet again, so I took Emma to the farm animal and family park. Right next door, the Secret Solstice music festival was in full swing, and at that particular time the BDSM-clad Hatari was performing their Eurovision song.
Back in the watered sandpit after taking our usual circle around the other attractions.
Up to her ankles in wet sand.
I’m almost certain I took the three kids to see a move, and then we ate dinner at a Subway. Here they are playing around with a summer ad campaign where Subway is.
Meanwhile, Finnur had “eloped” to house #2 to get a bit of staining done on the mountain of wood that’s there.
He even mowed the lawn, which is rare, as he’s allergic to the grass seeds. He survived though, and the lawn looked a lot better.
That day Anna began her macaroon journey… I’m not sure what the text means any more!

Sunday 23 June 2019

The big news of the day was the arrival of Nianic’s newest GPS game, this time based on the Harry Potter world. It encouraged even more walking, this time to open “portkeys”, and not “eggs” like in Pokemon Go (by the same company).
Thus, to nobody’s surprise, I was out walking soon thereafter.
We live by Lupine-land.
The kids and I made a library run, and stopped by the parliament square for a bit of playing.
At 10 pm, I was outside again.
The grass of a large field close to our house had dried out completely, as there had been zero rain for six weeks at that point. But… for the first time in a long time there were clouds…

Monday 24 June 2019

A new day, and time for Bjarki to start his week(s) at horse camp.
Meanwhile, Emma’s soccer practice moved outside once in a while, instead of being indoors. She was not a big fan of the “bumpy” grass…
More sad grass.

Tuesday 25 June 2019

That day we took deliver of a brand new electric car, a “big” one that could tow light loads and easily make it to house #2 and back, even in lots of snow.
Excitement personified!
The teenage version of excitement personified.
Finnur in his new ride, as I’ll keep driving the old electric car, as per an agreement made years ago, when I commandeered what was then the new car. 🙂
The car came with chocolate!
We’re pretty stoked about our EVs. So much fun to drive!
That evening found me on yet another 10 pm walk around the neighborhood.
An Icelandic forest.
Approaching an underpass.
Deliberately rusty art.

Wednesday 26 June 2019

That’s a PUDDLE!!! YEEEEESSSSS!!! Finally, it RAAAAINED!!!!
Enjoying my hooded rain-coat at 10 pm. Sleep is for people at lower latitudes!
Fake-fancy-lens phone-photo.
The new and improved walking path around the cemetery now has benches and 100-meter markers.
Partial close ups of the art on the Buddha stupa.