Sunday, 14-Aug-22 20:58:25 CEST

The heat recovery ventilation system got installed

Last week we had an actual holiday in Sweden. This week is normal in the Netherlands, except it is so warm. I cannot consider that normal.

Monday 8 august

Do you ever have the feeling that you need another holiday to rest from the holiday? For me, it was a regular work-from-home day. The car still had the tiller machine in the trunk.

Our ventilation specialist came to us today to install the ventilation system. It is a heat recovery system. We think it is not only a heat recovery but more like a temperature preservation system. The air outside is brought to the temperature of the air inside. I had not thought of that possibility before, so I am enthusiastic. If it is colder inside, then the temperature preservation system brings the incoming fresh air to the temperature of the outgoing air. In the winter, it works the other way around.

The system is tranquil as well. It is only audible when put on the highest level. It was already warm on Monday, but it was a blessing to have the system installed before the heatwave that only started on Monday.

Tuesday 9 August

Today I worked from the office. The air system has broken down at the office; it works at 50%. It was not bad, though. It is darn cold when it is working, so now it is bearable. In our new house, it was good.

Wednesday 10 August

Jens, is it possible to have warm water in the garden? Well, it would be possible if we connected a hose to warm tap water. So I did that. Now DW could work on washing wool from our sheep. She did that near our sheep. They were a bit suspicious of what she was doing with that stuff.

This afternoon's main task was assembling the hobby room's brown cupboard. Actually, it is four cupboards. Two lower cupboards with solid doors and a row with drawers. Two upper cupboards with glass doors and shelves. We bought this set a long time ago when we were still not knowledgeable about hardwood challenges. We had no idea about the illegal trading of rainforest wood from Africa. We bought this furniture in the Netherlands, and we could only believe the material came from a legitimate source. Since then, we learned more about how illegally harvested hardwood is transferred from Africa so that it looks like it comes from Indonesia with proper FSC certificates. It is all fake, so much so that if it was today, we had not have bought this furniture. Last time the company where we bought it came and set up the cupboard at our home. It was not correctly aligned so that the doors on the left side flung open. On the right side, the doors refused to stay open. This time I aligned it, and I continued until it was correct.

I also mounted frames around the power outlets in the hobby room. It was too hot to do anything meaningful outside. In that way, it was good to make indoor progress.

Thursday 11 August

This was a regular work-from-home day. Not much to say about that except that it was scorching outside. We let the ventilation system run at a higher capacity during the night to bring in cool air. That works very well. High temperatures are just another indication of a climate crisis, which is not making me feel joyful at all.

Friday 12 August

Today we worked from home; we harvested our corn in the evening. I sowed the corn seeds on 24 April this year. Next time I am sowing corn, I will make a larger cluster of corn plants and put the plants closer to each other. This is better for the germination of corn. I am learning more about the things we are growing, and I take the lessons with me into the next season.

Saturday 13 August

Today got up early to work on the sowing beds behind the house. I made the first bed on 14 April 2022. Then I built the second bed on 16 July. Today I wanted to remove the stuff from the first bed that was finished. Put on more compost and sow another round. Also, the second bed was prepared with more compost.

I figured out I had to have many wheelbarrows of compost; instead of doing that, I decided to use our tiny trailer. The compost heap is along the road, and the beds are along the driveway, so I got full access with the small trailer. I could fill the beds with two and a half trailers of compost. Then I filled the path between the beds with wood chips the same way with two trailers. It was hot.

We had visitors in the evening, so I had to stop working on the beds. That did not matter because my back was hurting after all this work.

Sunday 14 August

In the morning we had other visitors! Uncle-in-law with wife. He is good at machines, and he knew what oil to put in the Briggs and Stratton motor of the tiller machine. It was a little too hot in the sun, so we sat outside in the garden on the north side. When the visitors had left, I continued to work on the sowing beds.

The first bed has rows every 20 centimeters numbered from 1 to 18. I noticed it is more convenient to sow 10 centimeters before the numbered row in the first section. That is fine; I just half the numbers.

For the second bed, I let the numbers start at 20, and the distance is also 20 centimeters between the rows.

Here is what I sowed in the two beds:

This is purely experimental from my side. I have no idea how this will work. I gave the beds a plastic sheet so the soil would have an optimal germination climate. It was supposed to stay warm for another couple of days, and I think that is good for germination.

This concludes this week's blog. I was lousy at writing the blog this week, and I can come up with excuses, but it is obviously my fault. I love to read my own blog, but someone has to write it as well, and I suppose it is my task to write it. So, I will continue to do that next week.