[Photos taken 13 – 20 September 2024, posted online 13 December 2024. Warm weather has washed all ice and snow away, so today it’s just cold and dark. Only 8 days until the days start getting longer...]
One of the sewing club members kindly invited us all for a sleep-over at her estate, a hop and a skip outside the capital area. The afternoon-weather was gorgeous (it turned miserable the following day) and we had a lovely time, managing to celebrate a birthday.
Two days later day I joined another group of ladies to hike up a mini-mount (Skálafell á Hellisheiði). That week Emma got a plan to align her teeth, I met old coworkers for dinner, checked out the massive construction going on by the music school, and the small scale fiber-optic-laying-stuff by our house.
Friday 13 September 2024
Arriving at the house after work on a Friday, in amazing weather.
Our hostess had created a fabulous spread!
Borrowed a hat to avoid sun-stroke!
The sun was high in the sky still at 17:30.
Paddle boarders paddled a bit.
Checking out the wild-flowers that were planted in a muddy area in the spring. They were mostly done, but there were still specks of color left.
Blue, purple and yellow flowers.
A fallen blue one.
The sun setting in the west, this was at 19:20.
Testing the hammock.
Meat being browned.
Scrumptious dinner!!
Close to 23 we got messages to check out the northern lights outside… they were pretty!
It was hard to spot the purple with bare eyes, but the camera caught it on the “night-sight” setting.
Saturday 14 September 2024
The next day began well, but soon the clouds started rolling in.
Brunch plus birthday celebration!
We all left around noon, except for the home-owner, as the remainder of her family were incoming.
That dinner-time only myself and Bjarki were home, so we went out for a lazy hamburger and fries.
Our driveway was slowing collapsing, but no sign of workers.
Sunday 15 September 2024
About to go hike up a mini-mount on the heath between the capital area and Hvergerði town, looking for a place to park. The signage was very much “stay out”!
We found a place to park that seemed legit. Later on we saw somebody park on a lot much closer to the mini-mount, and were a bit jealous over the lack of sign-obedience.
Off we went. This hike was flat -> 2 short inclines -> flat -> longer incline to the top.
The Strava recording (click to enlarge).
Going up the first short incline. It’s like “as far as the lava went that time”.
Stopping to tape my feet. I don’t hike often enough to remember where I need to tape beforehand to prevent chafing.
On the second flatness, with the mini-mount, Skálafell on Hellisheiði, visible in the distance.
Starting our ascent. The weather was nice when sheltered from the chilly northern wind.
We didn’t find an official path up the hill, so we ended up trudging on very thick moss, and trying not to disturb it too much. Turns out walking on thick moss is about as tiring as walking on thick snow!
We found the peak!
Holding my hat so it wouldn’t fly off in the high wind!
We all huddled on the sheltered side of this cairn to eat our snacks.
Not the most exciting of snacks but good enough.
A short way away we watched an older gentleman erect an radio-amateur antenna, and hook it up to his gear.
Visibility was great, we saw both Eyjafjallajökull (on the left) and the Westman Islands further right on the ocean.
Heading down again…
There was a trail leading down from the peak, but it disappeared after a bit. We decided to go down the gully on the left, as opposed to traversing the moss again on the right.
A lot easier than traversing moss, that’s for sure!
Where we came from.
Skálafell on Hellisheiði-heath.
We found our way back, making sure to stay away from the active geothermal holes outside the image on the left.
Due to the summer being abysmal, there were very few wild berries (crow and blue) to be found. But we did find a handful where there was a bit of shelter.
Walking along roads is not my favorite.
The steam from the geothermal drill-holes visible behind me.
All smiles, after a successful hike, and swimming-pool-chill.
At home, I kept knitting…
Anna arrived back from staying with her friends at our summer house, and I located my “missing” hiking poles in the sub-trunk of the car she’d borrowed. It was one of my insightful hiking-friends who solved the puzzle of my missing hiking poles, after I’d scoured our garage looking for them that morning…
Monday 16 September 2024
The hot tub at the gym was packed in the nice weather.
Anna making a salad with her home-grown broccoli.
Knitting dangerously, not moving the markers each row (because I didn’t know that was what I should do…).
Tuesday 17 September 2024
My view most mornings, at the cafe.
Wednesday 18 September 2024
Downtown at 9 am, for Emma’s visit with the orthodontist.
Going over some measurements. Emma’s inherited my wayward tooth, that emerges way too high up.
Mandatory info-meeting at the unemployment agency.
Picking up the fancy fruit box straight afterwards!
Feeling industrious, I trimmed the tree that borders the parking lot, so we could get out of the car without hugging branches.
Epic autumn colors in the back-yard.
Emma had a music theory lesson, so I walked around a bit. There is a lot of construction going on in the valley on the other side of the big road.
A big new intersection, complete with bridge, is under construction.
There’s always a big puddle somewhere close to construction!
Turn right! That right path used to be gravel only, but it’s been paved now.
A new muddy hill to carry cars taking a 180 turn to/from the bridge-to-be-built.
A new pedestrian bridge under active construction further along.
Signage. The church is behind me to the left.
The pedestrian/bike-path plan.
Nature bathing.
The new pedestrian bridge.
Approaching the other upcoming pedestrian bridge.
Bridge foundation.
The very sad old bridge.
Bjarki had schoolwork to do with some school-buddies, so he drove me to the gym before driving himself to his buddy. So nice to have more kids with a driver’s license.
Thursday 19 September 2024
I took Bjarki to see a physical therapist in my old office building, and they’d finally removed the Controlant logo from the screens. Sadly, the company had laid off 150 employees at the end of August, and I was glad to have left when I did.
Getting some crocheting-needles for Emma.
Parking-lot action, rendering the lots inaccessible!
Arrived in downtown Hafnarfjörður to meet up with some old colleagues for dinner, some of whom had just gotten fired.
