Dagbók Hrefnu og Finns

Covid Peak #1 – We Stay Home

2020-04-01Uncategorized Standard

[Photos from 01 – 04 April 2020, posted online 20 September 2020. We’ve just entered Covid wave #3, ugh.]

As April began, the number of daily new cases of Covid finally plateaued, and slowly began decreasing. Meanwhile, we stayed home pretty much all the time (aside from my walks, and Finnur’s runs) and didn’t dare meet up with a single soul, although Emma continued attending school.

Even the music school became remote-only, and the annual spring tests were held through zoom and skype! (35-ish images total)

Wednesday 01 April 2020

The music school moved to online-only, and Emma’s spring exam was conducted via a zoom meeting! She did a great job!

Figuring Out a New Normal

2020-03-22Us Standard

[Photos from 22 – 31 March 2020, posted online 23 August 2020. We finally brought out the wood staining stuff, and got to work during this gorgeous weekend, me at house #1 and Finnur at house #2.]

It was weird not meeting any friends or family, it was just us for weeks on end. Emma met kids at school, but no such luck for Bjarki. We therefore let Bjarki hang out with 1-2 friends after his schoolwork was done, but that was about all the socialization that was on offer.

We ended up doing a fair number for workouts to let off steam, especially to begin with, but interest waned as the weather improved. Anna claimed the kitchen for epic baking sessions, I went on lots of walks to get out of the house, and scooters and bikes were brought out as the snow finally began melting properly. (55-ish images total)

Sunday 22 March 2020

The big kitchen project of the day was to make sopaipillas. We’d last gotten them when we stayed with Sarah and Augusto, and since there were no friends or family to visit, Anna and Finnur took this challenge head on.

Covid-19 Restricts Daily Life

2020-03-14Uncategorized Standard

[Photos taken 14 – 21 March 2020, posted online 22 August 2020. After a rainy August, we have a few sunny days before autumn hits.]

To begin with, Covid-19 got carried into Iceland mostly from people returning from winter-break ski-vacations. (The viruses got sequenced, and this article has a really good overview of how we got viruses from the entire world.)

From covid.is, the timeline in March was as follows

28 February   First case of COVID-19 confirmed in Iceland. DCPEM declare the alert phase.
6 March   First two transmissions within Iceland confirmed, traced to infected individuals who had recently traveled to Northern Italy. Alert level raised to emergency phase.
‍13 March   Screening for the virus that causes COVID-19 starts among the general public. First cases of transmissions that could not be traced. A ban on gatherings of more than 100 people is implemented. Upper secondary schools (high schools) and Universities closed and operations of Kindergartens and Primary schools are limited.
14 March Icelandic authorities advise Icelanders from travelling and encourage Icelanders travelling abroad to consider hasting their return to Iceland.
15 March   Results from screening indicates low rate of infections among the general public.
19 March   All countries defined as having high-risk for infection. All Icelandic citizens and residents in Iceland arriving from abroad must undergo self-quarantine for 14 days.
22 March   Minister of Health announces further restrictions, limiting on gatherings to 20 people or less. Sports clubs, hair salons and similar establishments are closed.

Bjarki and Anna did remote learning only from mid-March, while Emma continued attending school and aftercare throughout the school year (phew!). Finnur and myself also moved to working from home. It was quite the transition. (45-ish images total)

Saturday 14 March 2020

We decided to stock up on books at the library. A week later the libraries were closed down.

Bowling, Skiing & Furniture Building

2020-03-01Us Standard

[Photos taken 01 – 13 March 2020, posted online 13 August 2020. We’re dog-sitting!]

March was a bizarre month. Due to the looming Covid-19 threat my birthday and our 20-year wedding anniversary were relatively quiet affairs.

I somehow managed to take the kids skiing during the 2-day winter school break (Finnur had injured a finger in February, and wasn’t up to hazardous adventures) a couple of weeks before the ski lifts were shut down. Anna also began learning how to drive.

As more and more covid cases were diagnosed as Icelanders returned from ski-and football trips from abroad, my workplace began dividing up areas to reduce the number of people needing to quarantine. The call also went out for people to work from home if they could, so I set up a small home office. (65-ish images total)

Sunday 01 March 2020

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.

Emma Turns 7 Years Old

2020-02-12Birthday, Emma, Finnur's family, Hrefna's family, Us Standard

[Photos taken 12 – 16 February 2020, posted online 31 July 2020. No more lovely weather, as a deep low pressure area will be visiting over the weekend. Most weekend events cancelled anyway as a result of Covid-19 reappearing.]

Our Emma is now 7 years old. She got a mini-celebration on her actual birthday, and a proper party a few days later. Little did we know that would be the last family party for a long while. (35-ish images total)

Wednesday 12 February 2020

Snow Play & Spring Signs

2020-02-01Us Standard

[Photos taken 01 – 11 February 2020, posted online 30 July 2020. Covid-19 is rearing its ugly head again, and authorities have just announced increased restrictions as of tomorrow.]

February began with snow, and then trended towards spring. We did manage to use a sled, go bowling, attend a birthday party, let Emma try taekwondo, get Emma’s hair cut, attend an IT show downtown, and gather gifts for Emma’s upcoming birthday.

Underneath it all, the Covid-19 wardrums began pounding, but they were still far away. (45-ish images total)

Saturday 01 February 2020

The weather was cold but lovely, so I took Emma out sledding for a bit to get her out of the house.

Darkness & Yellow Weather

2020-01-02Us Standard

[Photos taken 02 – 31 January 2020, posted online 20 July 2020. We’re officially on summer vacation, yay!]

This winter was harsh in multiple meanings of the word. The darkness was to be expected, but there seemed to be endless yellow weather warnings, as low pressure area after low pressure area swam by Iceland. We hunkered down and tried to make the best of it. (80-ish images total)

Thursday 02 January 2020

Oh look, it’s windy and snowy outside. What a surprise!

Goodbye 2019, Hello 2020

2019-12-31Uncategorized Standard

[Photos taken 31 December 2019 to 01 January 2020, posted online 05 July 2020. What a difference six months make.]

New Year’s Eve was a traditional one, with us hanging out with Finnur’s family at his parents’ place.

Happy New Year, everybody!? (60-ish images total)

Tuesday 31 December 2019

Celebrating the arrival of 2020. If only we knew then what we knew now!

Games, Gingerbread & Good Times

2019-12-26Friends, Hrefna's family Standard

[Photos from 26 December – 30 December 2019, posted online 04 July 2020. We should have had US visitors for a long weekend stay, but no US residents are being admitted into Iceland due to the botched US Covid-19 response.]

The holiday season was a good one for employees, as in we didn’t have to take many days off from work to get a 10-day-long vacation.

We spent the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve meeting people, playing games, and even made a ginger-bread house while staying at house #2! (50-ish photos total)