[Photos taken 01 – 11 July 2025, posted online 27 June 2026. Yes, pretty much a year behind my own self. Anna arrived in Iceland from Denmark last night for a summer break from the extreme heat in mainland Europe.]
July always turns into a summer-vacation count-down. Emma went to an all day scout-“camp” (her last year of eligibility, she was denied access the following year). I started jogging a bit after caving into my new Garmin watch’s insistence to make a running plan for me. We made it to the summer house with friends and played frisbee disc golf (folf) in nearby Hvanneyri.
Tuesday 01 July 2025
Emma walking toward the scout-home for her all-day camp that week.
I’d just bought my first Garmin watch ever, and after the Garmin app badgered me non-stop about setting up a running plan, I caved and said yes. It surely helped that the weather was so nice. That hill now has half-built houses crowning it.
Proof it was me! This “baseline” outing was a whopping 1.86 km, and consisted of 2 min walking, 5 min jogging, 2 min walking, and some mixture thereof until I got home again.
Summer shrubbery blooms.
All. The. Building. Cranes. You can see the Buddha stupa if you know where to look mid-upper-right on the picture.
I made some nice progress in the Blue Prince puzzle game, but getting to/solving the more elaborate puzzles was starting to feel impossible.
Wednesday 02 July 2025
Scents are all the rage among the tweens these days. Emma somehow managed to amass quite a collection!
The electrician returned and installed the correct switch needed for the new charging station. It was a tight fit, but he managed to get it in there without needing to install a whole new cabinet, phew!
How time flies. All of a sudden it was time for Norah Jones‘ concert at Harpa I’d gotten tickets to a few months prior.
My reliable concert-loving-partner-in-crime agreed to have dinner in the restaurant on the ground floor in Harpa.
I was there!
Yummy dessert!
I nipped down to the parking basement to get rid of my jacket, and got a photo of the confusing payment areas. Cross that line and you park 660 kr per hour during daytime hours, but…
… stay on this side of the line, and you pay 510 kr per hour. And it’s not entirely obvious (if you’re not a local) which zone is which!
We walked about five steps into the auditorium and bumped into the familiar faces of my cousins! Surprise!!
The show was lovely, and so colorful!
Norah Jones moved between instruments a lot, she’s very much a pro!
Now sporting a guitar!
The crowd exiting at 21:45.
The remnants of a house in Hafnarfjörður. We used to go there for sushi…
Thursday 03 July 2025
Big brother went on summer vacation, but left a program for us to follow! These gym-junkies were there at 07:30 in the morning!
The Garmin running plan had me going out before dinner for a jog/walk session. This time I went 2.5 km via 5 min walking, 10 jogging, and 5 min walking.
Summer sewing club, yay!
Friday 04 July 2025
Friday morning gymmists.
The cafeteria at work always has desserts for lunch on Friday, and every time the ingredients list is terrifyingly long. Do I still eat them? Yes, yes I do, because by Friday I’m an idiot.
It just was just girls for dinner, so I took the ridiculously easy way out and got us smoothies and sandwiches.
Putting brown-soap onto the berry-shrubs to kill the bugs eating all the leaves.
Every time a “day” ends in Blue Prince, you get a summary of the “house” you built from the types of rooms invoked. This description cracked me up: Garden Shopping Center of Prayers!
Around midnight we drove to the summer house (we waited for Anna’s significant other’s evening-shift to end). When we exited the long tunnel on the way, the police was there stopping cars to have drivers blow in to a alcohol-detection meter. Anna got to drive on through, she apparently looked innocent enough.
Saturday 05 July 2025
The following day was perfectly suited for some frisbee disc golf.
The gang heading to hole #2.
The views are always so gorgeous.
How big is it?!?
Disc-fishing-success!
But wait, there’s another!
Finnur mid-throw.
The basket is that way!
Emma turns out to be weirdly good at throwing frisbees. She thanks her tennis-practice!
The big black tractor was out!
People getting silly on the 9th hole.
Near-obligatory ice-cream stop in Borgarnes afterwards.
Juicy dinner back at the house.
We now have a practice basket at the summer house, yay!
Sunday 06 July 2025
The grass got mowed, but just barely. I complained so much that Finnur went ahead the following year and bought a mowing-robot!
Sad looking grass.
Flowers looking lively.
Time for goodbyes!
Heading back to town in the blazing sun.
The Garmin running plans have a minimum of 3 jogs per week. For this “long run” of 3.1 km there were 5 mins of walking, 15 minutes of jogging and 5 minutes of walking. The weather was stupidly awesome.
Monday 07 July 2025
A salty-fish-dish with olives for lunch!
Occasionally we play pool on the top floor. This setup was probably my fault. (If you put the black 8 down too soon, you loose.)
Tuesday 08 July 2025
Wind arrived and shredded roses.
Garmin week 2, for 5 min walking, 15 min jogging, 5 min walking…
Wednesday 09 July 2025
We met a specialist who believed Emma when she said that asthma medication made her feel better, and prescribed a second one to use as well. A formal lung test request was entered into the system (spoiler warning; Emma has asthma!)
Another Garmin week 2 outing: 5 min walk, 15 min jog, 5 min walk. I practiced holding head high/not looking down.
The stupa had flags on it. It does appear that somebody is actually minding it.
Thursday 10 July 2025
A photo of three people at the gym at 8 in the morning.
Friday 11 July 2025
Oh goodness, the days were so unremarkable that the gym was “it”. This was the following morning.
My work had a “clean up the back of the house” day. It had gotten quite nasty, with lots of stubs and junk. The nice weather helped!
Bjarki decorating an envelope with a birthday present to a friend of his.
