Dagbók Hrefnu og Finns

Tenerife Lady-Trip: Golf Lesson & Resting

2021-12-01Tenerife Standard

[Photos taken 01-02 December 2021, posted online 02 April 2022. Spring is making moves towards dominance, the snow is finally gone, and temperatures have moved upwards a smidgeon. Went to see a comedy show last night in a packed auditorium, was fun!]

Us ladies got tempted by all the golf-bags that tumbled off the luggage conveyor in the airport, and booked a golf lesson at a nearby golf-course. We biked there, and then spent an hour whacking at a small ball with varying degrees of success.

The following day was spent resting and relaxing (except our energizer bunny went out on a jog, because that’s what energizer bunnies do!) (65-ish images total)

Wednesday 01 December 2021

Middle aged woman attempting to hit a small ball in a gorgeous location.

Tenerife Lady-Trip: Lounging & e-Biking

2021-11-29Tenerife Standard

[Photos taken 29 – 30 November 2021, posted online 20 March 2022. Have just returned from a one-night date-stay at a hotel out in the wilderness. Had awful weather yesterday, but very pretty today. Oh well!]

On our third day in Tenerife we mostly just lounged, and planned things to do. On the fourth day we procured bikes, and biked about. As (mixed) luck would have it, one of the bikes had a broken computer, so they bike-renters had to go get a new one, and due to the delay we got the bikes for an extra day for free! (30-ish images total)

Monday 29 November 2021

Masks were required on the hotel premises, except when sunbathing, while in the swimming pool, and while sitting down at tables.

Tenerife Lady-Trip: Arrival & Walk-Abouts

2021-11-27Tenerife Standard

[Photos taken 27 – 28 November 2021, posted online 19 March 2022. There’s been So. Much. Snow. and So. Many. Storms. since February… and it’s still going. Also, covid has now claimed us all, and Bjarki probably spent a week battling the flu.]

In late 2019, my friend Adda asked if I wanted to join her on a ladies-only trip to Tenerife in March 2020. I was all sanctimonious, couldn’t imagine going without the rest of the family, yadda-yadda, and said no.

She then found a more willing travel partner, but as Iceland’s first Covid-19 case was discovered in late February 2020, that travel partner had to cancel, so Adda and her hubby ended up going instead.

Fast-forward to mid-November 2021, and Adda telling me that ooops, she won’t be going to that concert with me in early December as planned, because the original travel partner and her had made a last-minute decision to finally go to Tenerife. Being absolutely fed up with being stuck in Iceland for so long, I immediately asked if I could join them, and thankfully they said yes!

Thus it happened that in late November, three ladies boarded a direct 4.5 hour flight to Tenerife, where we spent an absolutely marvelous week! (60-ish images)

Saturday 27 November 2021

The view from my hotel room balcony in Tenerife.

Long Stóri-Bolli Hike & Haircuts

2021-11-20Us Standard

[Photos taken 20 – 26 November 2021, posted online 05 March 2022. All five of us have now had Covid-19 and are in varying states of recovery. All covid regulations in Iceland have been struck down. Oh, and there’s now a totally unnecessary war going on a little too close to us for comfort.]

My hiking group assembled a short distance away from the capital area to hike up to The Big Cup (Stóri-Bolli). The hike was a little weird because a road closure meant we had to begin walking on the road for 4 km before stepping off into the wilderness. The weather was cold but gorgeous, and it was a great day overall!

Then life kept chugging onwards, with the added wrinkle that I was preparing for a week-long trip to Tenerife with two friends (I basically invited myself to join them, as I was in desperate need to leave our rock in the ocean for a different rock in the ocean!). The preparations mostly entailed pre-yule haircuts, and scouting for yule-presents, along with buying a few items of clothing. (55-ish images total)

Saturday 20 November 2021

Gathering on a parking lot at 8:40 am before heading off.

Bits & Bobs in November

2021-11-01Us Standard

[Photos taken 01 – 19 November 2021, posted online 13 February 2022. Quite a bit of snow on the ground, and restrictions being lifted as covid blazes through.]

November saw more home-improvements, trips to the gym and into nature, a vaccination booster, living room re-arrangements, some social outings, a moon-eclipse, and a sadly dysfunctional car. (45-ish images total)

Monday 01 November 2021

I had a doctor’s appointment, had a tiny cold, and decided it would be prudent to take (my first ever) speedy-test. Was negative, yay!

Longest Hike Yet, Concert & Quiet Halloween

2021-10-17Us Standard

[Photos taken 17-31 October 2021, posted online 30 January 2022. Snow on the ground, it keeps coming and going, just a little here and there.]

The latter part of October was dominated by the first the thought of, then the doing of, and then the recovery from, the longest hike (16 km) of the hiking group yet, which just happened to end up quite close to house #2. Rarely has a hot tub soak been more welcomed!

There was bowling, Anna and I went to an actual concert, Emma went in for dental surgery, our internet was upgraded to fiber, shopping happened, farm animals were visited, we went ice-skating, and Anna discovered the power of driving her sister around to collect candy for Halloween (85-ish images total)

Sunday 17 October 2021

We awoke to snow! Probably a good thing the plants had already begun preparing for winter!

An Autumn Wedding & Outdoors-ing

2021-10-01Us Standard

[Photos taken 01 – 16 October 2021, posted online 29 January 2022. Covid is in the house, but the timing of human interactions was such that it made sense for Finnur & Emma to move and hide from the rest of us in our old apartment at Finnur’s parents’ place, while I held down the covid home-fort with Bjarki & Anna who by this point have both contracted it.]

October’s social highlight was without a doubt a long-planned wedding in Finnur’s family (photographed by yours truly), which happily fit snugly in between covid-waves, and nobody got infected!

There was also a birthday party on my side of the family, autumn colors became all the rage, the sun got less and less inclined to shine on us, work hosted a clean-up day, some gardening happened, the gym was visited repeatedly, I went on an evening hike which I really need to repeat in brighter times, and then we hung out with some friends in the country. (35-ish images total)

Friday 01 October 2021

Work hosted a ‘plucking’ session, where if you went out and plucked garbage from the surrounding area (could also be your home area if you were working from home) you could come get a goodie bag. I clambered up on to the old lava field that separates my office from a big road and Ikea, as most of the low lying areas had already been combed clean.

Hikes, Hail & Housework

2021-09-15Us Standard

[Photos taken 15 – 30 September 2021, posted online 16 January 2022. A little bit of snow outside, brightening up the sullenly dark sky. About a month to go until daylight really gets going.]

My organized walking group met up twice in the latter part of September. First was an evening walk out in Hvalfjörður, and the second was a whole-day excursion up and down Kvígindisfell.

Meanwhile, daily life plodded ahead. House #2 got visits, school hobbled along (I can’t even remember if and what kind of restrictions were in place), the first hail came and went, I tried aqua-zumba, kept visiting the gym now and again, and even went to the theater! (85-ish images total)

Wednesday 15 September 2021

Are you kidding me? Such a gorgeous view from the start of our walk/hike on Þyrilsnes in Hvalfjörður.

New Roof, Swimming & Socializing

2021-09-01Us Standard

[Photos taken 01 – 14 September 2021, posted online 15 January 2022. The screen of my personal laptop has died, and is too crazy expensive to fix. Covid-19 regulations have been tightened yet again (now at 10 people max gatherings, but with numerous exceptions) as daily cases hover in the 1200 range, and the hospital system is slowly but surely being submerged.]

The month of September began with our roof being replaced, as the roof on the other side of our duplex kept leaking.

I began visiting the local swimming pool again to try and release the tension from my back and shoulders after sometimes working at the actual office (the two different work-setups seemed too much to handle). I met with both sewing clubs, and made it out for a couple of jogs. Bjarki got his second shot, the garden started sleeping, and the weather became less fun. (50-ish images total)

Wednesday 01 September 2021

Regular Life Rhythm Restart

2021-08-16Finnur's family, Hrefna's family, Us Standard

[Photos taken 16 – 31 August 2021, posted online 23 December 2021. Record number of Covid-19 infections yesterday, restrictions have been moved down to 20 persons per room, 200 max and masked at organized seated events with official negative rapid-test, and 2 m distancing instead of 1 m. Zero snow on the ground, and the officially-no-longer-erupting volcano is shaking again. Never a dull moment!]

With summer vacation from work officially over, life began resuming some sort of a rhythm.

In the spring, Emma had managed to squeeze out of me a week of half-days at a “petting-zoo” in Mosfellsbær (a 20 minute drive from our house) so this first week back at work involved a lot of driving. Thankfully, Anna now has a driving license, so we split up driving duties.

With covid-19 levels running rather high, but waning, Finnur and I worked mostly from home. Walks were taken, the garden was harvested, parties were attended (!), we filled house #2 to the rafters with people one night, Bjarki got vaccinated, schools restarted, and I caught some cold or other that was not covid. (45-ish images total)