Started preparing to plaster the hall Sunday, 18-Dec-22 21:52:21 CET

Last week of 2022 Saturday, 31-Dec-22 22:32:46 CET

Wednesday, 28-Dec-22 15:59:23 CET

Repaired the stove

This week our stove got repaired. We cleared the hall and tidied up the workshop.

Monday 19 December

Today we both worked from our offices. In the evening, I continued to work on tidying up the workshop. I made significant progress over the weekend, so I was stoked to continue the process.

Tuesday 20 December

We worked from home today. It had become warmer weather again. I went to fasten the rain roof in the morning before work because I had not anchored the corners properly. Previously I had fastened the corners on the side, but it had been better to tie the corners to the corners of the scaffold. Now that it is done and the rain roof is finished. The sheep looked much happier so.

In the evening, I continued tidying up the workshop. I found the lamp I had intended to mount above the front door of the north side of the building.

I could try to find a better moment to mount the lamp, like, at daylight, but we were at work while it was daylight. So now I did it in the evening. I just used a battery lamp to guide myself. Almost all the work was done, and the cable was delivered to the right spot.

Moments later, the lamp is hanging. We found this simple lamp at a second-hand shop some years ago. Now we have a lamp above the door on the east and north sides, so when we are out and about, we can turn on these two lamps if needed.

It felt great to do things with tools and grab the right tool quickly from the tidy tool table.

This evening I also moved the scaffold we lent from neighbors from the first floor to the ground floor. There was space for it now when the hall was cleared. They will come and pick it up tomorrow.

Wednesday 21 December

Today I worked half day from home, and then it was time to continue on the workshop tidying project. While we had just finished lunch, the repairman of the stove arrived. He started working on repairing the stove. He had a new clock computer with him.

When he was done, he told us that he was an inventor. He was working on a new invention for cleaning washing machines. He was done with the registration of the patent. He hired a German company to create the chemicals to be used. There are still some details to fix before the product comes to the market.

When the stove repairman left, our ventilation specialist and plumber arrived. He replaced the cranes for the water of the vacant shower in the washing room. This is so that it is possible to connect a hose to these cranes. DW used that to work with hot water when cleaning wool outdoors in the summer.

When the plumber left, the neighbor arrived. She came to pick up the scaffold we had lent from them. She wanted me to reverse the trailer into our driveway. She played classical music in the car. Now when we don't have that scaffold, we got more place for stuff. This opens up for clearing the rest of the hallway and working on the plastering. But first, I want to finish tidying up the workshop a little more.

Thursday 22 December

There was plenty of sunshine in the morning, and it started to rain at about noon. It was a work-from-the-office day. One remarkable thing about this day was that I remembered it was Thursday the entire day; in the previous two weeks, I felt it was Monday on Thursday, given all sorts of awkward situations, but not today.

After work, I continued tidying up the workshop. I think the workshop will look nice when the guests arrive on Monday next week.

I have also been busy experimenting with FLStudio and am blogging about it this time. It was late before we went to bed. I think we tried to use the day to the maximum.

Friday 23 December

This morning I was tired. What you borrow from the day before, you have to pay back the day after. It was work-from-the-office again, and that was fine. It was misty and rainy the entire day.

In the evening, we lit a fire in our wood stove. This is so nice; for many years, this was the carrot that made us going to build the new house. Right now, I got another carrot hanging in front of me for finishing the house, that is, to get everything ready so I can start finishing the workshop. I want to plaster all other rooms first, and then I will finish the workshop.

Saturday 24 December

In Swedish tradition, this is the celebration day. In the rest of Europe, it is tomorrow. I don't feel it is a special day today; we will continue preparing for the guests on Monday. DD will also come to us today. Perhaps the Christmas mood will arrive tonight when we have put up Julgranen, the tree.

First, we went to the Christmas edition of the farmers' market. It was not as cold as last time, so that was great. We could not get all our groceries from the market, so we also went to the regular shop. The thing with the farmers market is that it is possible to reduce the packaging garbage we bring home, and the products are more honest. We like that idea.

After shopping, I went to move the fenced area of the sheep. I wanted the sheep to walk on the border area on the north and west side of the property.

When they were finally let out to the new area, they were delighted and ate grass with mouths full. DW shot a movie of them. Now we can let the ground rest in the previous area.

The tree got out of the box. We bought this tree the first Christmas when we arrived in The Netherlands in 1995. I recall we did not have a car then, so we went to a garden center by bus. We bought the tree and went home by bus. I suppose our son was sitting in a buggy on that trip. That was 27 years ago. Apparently, a regular Christmas tree produces 4 kg of CO2 if disposed of by being chipped and mulched. A fake tree produces some 40 kg of CO₂. I get these numbers from Ian Tiseo. Meaning that the longer you keep the fake tree, at some point, it is the better choice. Some say the turning point is 16 years. This is not to say that if you skipped the tree altogether, you were on a solid zero-emission, but that option is often the option we are missing.

In the evening, we played Dominions for the first time. DD had brought the game with her, and it was great fun. DW won this game.

Sunday 25 December

Today DD and DW took a walk in the rain. I stayed at home, continuing to tidy up the workshop. It is finished so much that when people arrive on Monday, they will be met by a cleared hall and a tidy workshop.

I also mounted two lamps on the kitchen ceiling, completing the kitchen look. For the rest, not much happened today. We had a slow day. In the evening, we played Dominions again, and DD won. This time it was less fun.

Here ends this week. We repaired the stove, I hung up lamps at the front door and in the kitchen, and the workshop and the hall were tidied; that is all there is to this week.