Colorful Art & Costumes on the Eve of Covid-19

2020-02-21Friends, Us Standard

[Photos taken 21 – 29 February 2020, posted online 04 August 2020. Currently in Borgarnes, over half-way through our vacation.]

The last few days of total freedom before the first Icelandic case of Covid-19 was diagnosed on 28 February.

We visited the library, dropped in on a couple of museums, visited house #2 with friends, made cream puffs, enjoyed Ash Wednesday/Halloween #2, and even joined more friends for dinner! (60-ish images total)

Friday 21 February 2020

Bjarki and Anna inside the Chromo Sapiens show.
According to the newest union agreement, we were to take one afternoon off every month. I think I managed to do that in an organized manner once or twice and then Covid hit, and all organization went up in smoke. But this Friday afternoon I left work early, and had a long list of things to to, such as updating the date-stamp on my free 90 minutes of parking in Reykjavik (available to electric vehicles).
Anna was possibly still between semesters. She was in a baking mood!
Drool…
Next stop: the library downtown.
The Cowboy’s triplets? I’ll pass 🙂
Siblings outside the library, the art museum is behind them.
I popped in there to take a look at the Chromo Sapiens show, which had been flooding my instagram feed for a few days.
The installation is comprised of three rooms, this is the first room, rather small and dark.
Punching plastic hair. There was ambient music around.
Next up was the super-colorful and largest room. We hung out there for quite a while.
Lying down seemed like the logical thing to do.
Very relaxing.
Color-vomit, but the good kind.
Mild insanity.
On the move again, on to the last and final room.
It was very light, and quite small also.
Happy times.
A new kind of boxing pillow.
Out of the Chromo Sapiens, and looking around the building itself.
More traditional art on the walls.
Next on the to-do list was taking Emma toy shopping. She’d gotten some money for her birthday, and was determined to buy more dopamine-dispensing LOL balls.
She also bought one of those “pops-out-of-cup” dolls.
Meanwhile, in the backyard, a crow easily scared off a cat (animated gif, wait for it to load).
Emma modeling the peacock outfit she picked out at the store for the upcoming Ash Wednesday.
There were slim costume pickings for Bjarki, so he got to be a ninja, yet again.

Saturday 22 February 2020

Afternoon drive up to house #2.
Under Hafnarfjall mountain.
The poor lid on the hot tub at house #2, all swollen up with water. Ooops.
Salad.
Meat.
Guests!

Sunday 23 February 2020

Getting a bit chilly in the garage. Keeping the heating system up and running takes a lot of vigilance.
At lunchtime, us ladies were instructed to pack up and head to Borgarnes, where the gents had booked us for a spa and massage to celebrate women’s day. The gents also kindly offered to pack up house #2, and drive the kids back to town. It was sweet!
I didn’t manage to take any photos of the spa, but it was all fairly new and modern, and I had the hot/cold tubs and saunas all to myself for a long while. It was lovely.
Back in town, later that night, it was time to make the annual creme puffs for creme puff day. This is in between stirring in yet another egg into the cooled mixture. It’s a pretty tough job!
Success, they were stiff enough to stand up on the pan before baking!
Pudding about ready, and the chocolate already put on top.
Mouthwatering.
Anna doing the pudding honors.
Finnur stealing some pudding! We then packed a few for the kids to take to school the next day.

Monday 24 February 2020

The colorful unicorn about to go to gymnastics practice in the snow.

Tuesday 25 February 2020

Squeezing in a trip to the gym kept being a challenge. This was at 18:00.
Finnur asked for coconut milk. This one, or the other one?
Emma happy with her new gymnastics outfit, as she’d outgrown her previous one.
The unusually tidy master bedroom. Yes, Finnur had recruited a cleaning professional to help with getting the dust from the bathroom renovations in check.

Wednesday 26 February 2020

Happy Ash-Day! The original meaning of the day is entirely lost on Iceland’s youth, and today it’s just the Second Halloween. People are encouraged to label their houses and give out candy to singing children.
I decided to use the opportunity and take the yule-lights down.
Success!
Inside Anna was video chatting to a girl in Holland, that she was to stay with on a school trip in late April. As Covid reared it’s ugly head, the trip got postponed.
Siblings about to go trick or treating! (Grikkur eða gott?)

Thursday 27 February 2020

The view from my office, of yet another storm.

Friday 28 February 2020

Selfie in my yellow west, as I joined a few parents in walking around the neighborhood to send any wayward children and teens home, as it was late-o-clock. This was the day the first Covid-19 case was diagnosed in Iceland.

Saturday 29 February 2020

With Anna at the Photography Museum on the top floor of the library.
Anna upside-down in the camera.
Taken while waiting on a red light. It’s The Sun Voyager (Sólfar), always popular with tourists.
Picking Emma up from a friend’s house. It was time to drive to Ragnar and Agnes, for dinner.
Happy times in the hot tub.
Happy times in the kitchen! That was scrumptious! And thus endeth February.