Dagbók Hrefnu og Finns

Covid-19 Wave #3 Begins

2020-09-16Confirmation, Friends, Us Standard

[Photos taken 16 – 30 September 2020, posted online 06 March 2021. Spring weather in February, as a volcanic eruption is possible/imminent. Zero active Covid-19 cases found outside of quarantine since 01 February 2021. ]

Mid-September, the percolating Covid-19 infection rate suddenly exploded on the heels of a few super-spreader events in bars, and at least one combat-gym. When it became clear we were heading into exponential-growth territory, restrictions began tightening.

In retrospect, they probably tightened too slow, as wave #3 ended up being long and vicious.

We participated in a few people-meetings (confirmation party! out to lunch! visiting cafes!), but mostly we began hunkering down, observing the autumn colors taking over the world. I painted yet another wall, the last of the veggie harvest was brought indoors, and we began prepping for winter. (55-ish images total)

Wednesday 16 September 2020

Screenshot from https://www.covid.is/data of the active diagnosed domestic Covid-19 cases per day in Iceland until 03 March 2021.

Green Walls, Doggy-School & Kitchen Time

2020-09-01Us Standard

[Photos taken 01 – 15 September 2020, posted online 28 February 2021. A little bit of snow on the ground today, but it won’t last. No new local Covid-19 cases diagnosed outside of quarantine since 01 Feb 2021. Currently living through an earthquake-o-rama, more quakes felt in the past week than in many years prior.]

September is always a month of adjustments back to regular schedule.

Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts and poor health meant that Finnur ended up taking the puppy to doggy school instead of the primary caretakers, and Anna tagged along a lot.

My usual September-redecoration-madness returned on schedule, and I spent a fair bit of time painting walls. Anna was finally freed of her braces, and she did a fair amount of baking to celebrate. Covid-19 cases kept coming at steady pace and authorities began pushing mildly on the societal brakes, and we remained cautiously optimistic. Some jogging happened, as the weather was mostly amazing. (80-ish images)

Tuesday 01 September 2020

Finnur and Anna with Spori the puppy on the lawn outside the puppy school.

Vacation End, Regular Life Resumes

2020-08-15Uncategorized Standard

[Photos taken 15 – 31 August 2020, posted online 07 February 2021. Starting to notice daylight is stretching longer. Still no precipitation.]

We met up with friends at house #2 for the last weekend of the summer vacation, and then “returned” to work. Well Finnur did, but my desk got shut down due as it was closer than 2 m to the next person, so back to the front room I went, and tried to turn my brain back on…

Besides trying to boot up the brain, we finally caved in and got some wood staining done. Sport practices also began in earnest, while Covid simmered. (90-ish images total)

Saturday 15 August 2020

Back by house #2. There was a most impressive cloud bank sitting on top of the mountains.

Dog-Sitting-Days

2020-08-06Us Standard

[Photos taken 06 – 14 August 2020, posted online 06 February 2021. Still no snow in the capital area, the weather has been weirdly calm all 2021, and very few covid cases detected.]

My mother had some health issues which did not mesh well with a super-hyper-excited-sometimes-biting puppy so we agreed to host said puppy for 10 or so days while she recovered.

It coincided with the start of Covid-19 wave #2 in Iceland, so any plans to visit touristy sites during our vacation went out the window anyway, and our lives shrunk back to home-base. (50-ish images total)

Thursday 06 August 2020

Emma with Spori on one of our many walks. He was still young enough to frantically go after random mushrooms, and even poops left by other doggies.

Hiding at House #2

2020-08-01Friends, Us Standard

[Photos taken 01 – 05 August 2020, posted online 31 January 2021. It’s been a snowless cold month on our side of the country, the other side is drowning in snow. Very few Covid-19 cases found these past few days.]

We visited house #2 with Adda and Halli and spent a few calms days there. Right about that time, Covid-19 wave #2 began, which meant we mostly stayed put to avoid crowds, which was restful in and of itself (80-ish images total)

Saturday 01 August 2020

Geysir, Horses, Sun & Birthday

2020-07-26Finnur's family, Friends, Us Standard

[Photos taken 26 – 31 July 2020, posted online 17 January 2021. Zero domestic covid-19 cases found yesterday for the first time in four months, the border is seeing an increase in cases though. It’s a bit scary.]

Anna kept reminding me of my promise of more than one horse riding tour, so we found an operator close to the Geysir area, and booked a tour. Afterwards we took a peak at the bubbling waters, while the car charged.

Finnur joined us, and we frolicked in the sun and even visited Fontana, the spa on the edge of Laugarvatn lake. Then we drove back into town, and celebrated Finnur’s 46th (!) birthday. (65-ish images total)

Sunday 26 July 2020

Myself and Emma on horse back at Geysir Horses.

Horse Riding & House #2

2020-07-21Finnur's family, Us Standard

[Photos taken 21 – 25 July 2020, posted online 16 January 2021. I went out to dinner last night, gasp!]

High on Anna’s list of things to do was going horse riding. As a result we visited a horse rental in neighboring Mosfellsbær (Finnur’s old town). The day after that we drove to house #2, where a number of tasks awaited.

The following weekend, Finnur drove back to town where he had planned some fun with his friends, while Anna (!!) drove the rest of us eastwards to Finnur’s parents’ summer house. (65-ish images)

Tuesday 21 July 2020

Vacation Begins & Perlan Visit

2020-07-17Friends, Us Standard

[Photos taken 17 – 20 July 2020, posted online 14 January 2021. Covid-19 restrictions were loosened a bit yesterday, so Finnur went to his actual office to work, and I was all of a sudden all alone at home! ]

At long last, our 4-week-long summer vacation began. Unlike other vacations, it began entirely unplanned. With no trips or activities planned, we made an idea board, and a calendar and tried to piece something together as we went along. Our first activities were more dog-sitting, and checking out Perlan.

Covid kept a fairly low profile throughout July, but by the very end, the news turned more ominous as it was confirmed that cases had leaked through the border. Bah-humbug! (50-ish images)

Friday 17 July 2020

As often before, we took Spori on a walk, this time all the way downtown.

Doggy-Time, Football-Meet & Vacation-Awaiting

2020-07-02Hrefna's family, Us Standard

[Photos taken 02 – 16 July 2020, posted online ~~31 December 2020~~ 09 January 2021. ~~Here’s hoping for a less bonkers 2021…!~~ Hahahaha! 2021 clearly isn’t going down in the which-year-was-most-crazy competition without a fight! (See US news) But local covid-19 restrictions are being loosened next week, yay!]

We timed our summer vacation to coincide with Anna’s vacation, as she only had a summer job for 6 weeks. In practice, this meant the first half of July was spent waiting for a vacation.

The biggest event of the fortnight was Emma’s big football tournament, a yearly 4-day-long event hosted by her club for about 2400 girls from all over the country. Restrictions had loosened enough to host it, but it essentially turned into three near-co-located but separate, simultaneous tournaments.

We repeatedly visited the puppy in the west end of town, and the mostly lovely weather made spending time outdoors a joy. (65-ish images total)

Thursday 02 July 2020

Emma at the end of her horse-camp day, next to a resting foal that was born that morning to the mother standing on guard.

Bjarki Turns Thir-TEEN Years Old

2020-06-28Birthday, Bjarki, Finnur's family, Hrefna's family, Us Standard

[Photos taken 28 – 30 June 2020, posted online 28 December 2020. I’m on vacation until the new year, with no plans. First Covid-19 vaccine boxes landed in Iceland this morning. ]

Bjarki is now officially a teenager. We celebrated by hosting two parties, one for each family, a day apart. Thankfully the weather cooperated. (30-ish images total)