We thought the bluetongue crisis was over Sunday, 15-Oct-23 16:57:37 CEST

Holidays in Sweden Monday, 30-Oct-23 20:35:49 CET

Monday, 23-Oct-23 17:36:56 CEST

Next phase of the bluetongue crisis

This week we first thought that the bluetongue crisis was over. On Wednesday the veterinarian came to assess the sitation.

Monday 16 October

Today, I worked from home, and DW went to the office. She went by public transport, which is fine. Merida the Sheep and I worked from home. It was not that warm in our house. I have been pondering how the heating/cooling system works and learning more about it. It is not only the system itself but also the house. I figured out that our windows give us considerable energy from the sun. Until this week, the sunlight provides a considerable surplus of excess heat. We have more problems getting rid of that energy rather than preserving it. That is what our ventilation system is doing; it is set to bypass, meaning that no heat is preserved. We programmed it to run harder in the evening and night. This was for the warmth up until this week. Now, I turned off the bypass. There is no bypass and the same ventilation intensity throughout the day and night. The sun barely heated the house, and the outdoor temperature was low enough to chill everything.

I have been concerned about chilling temperatures. Some nights, we have been 5 degrees above freezing temperatures and still have not gotten around to making the tiny house's waterpipe ready for winter. This evening, we ordered a heating cable. It has a thermometer on one end regulating when the cable will start heading. At 5 degrees, it starts heating, and at 7 degrees, it stops heating. Now it is interesting to see how long the package will take.

I also programmed the microphone project. I have so much fun working on that project.

Tuesday 17 October

Today, I went to the office, and DW worked from home. We increased the heating system's minimum indoor temperature to twenty degrees in the morning. Then we went to work, I went to the office, and DW worked from home. It was nice, clear, windstill, sunny autumn weather.

Wednesday 18 October

Today, I worked from home in the morning. At least, that was the intention. I had just logged in when our Internet connection died. It was supposed to be out until noon, so I went to the office. When I logged in at work, I got a message that the connection was restored. There were none in the office. It was completely empty. It was a little spooky, actually, but pleasant as well. I did what I had to do and went home again at noon.

After lunch came the veterinarian. DW was worried about our blue tongue patients. The immediate infection around the mouths has subsided, and they look healthier, but the joints seem sore. The veterinarian came to us and explained that the virus infection leaves small blood vessels damaged around the hooves. She inspected the legs and the hooves and concluded that the sheep were okay for now. She suggested injecting the sheep daily with the painkiller because it kills the pain and reduces infections. We discussed where to give the injection, and she showed it again. Then, I gave a jab to Hannah. This time, I pressed her against the fence; she had nowhere to go, and it was one of the more successful shots I had ever done. The veterinarian was happy with how I did it.

When the veterinarian and her helper left, I started preparing the next allotment of scaffolding to lend to neighbors. To begin with, I put up a net so that we could work without the sheep getting loose or in the way.

I had some parts in the sea container that I had tucked away particularly annoyingly. I might have bruised a rib while getting the metal beams out of the sea container, but that realization emerged later.

Our neighbors arrived with the trailer, and they loaded the stuff. I helped them a little with this task. While we did this, the package arrived with the heating cable.

We could not just let them go, so we had a cup of coffee and thee. I could show the latest developments of the microphone project. My neighbor was impressed; he said something that gave me an idea: It looked like fireworks. Well, I might be able to do something with that idea. We decided that the neighbor would come and learn how to give injections so that he could do that while we were on vacation. That is supposed to happen later in the week, but we still have some crucial things to do, so we cannot just leave on Saturday.

When our neighbors left, I started applying the heating cable to the pipes below the tiny house. No matter how much aluminum I applied, I would not use all four roles. I used some of the two roles. We bought two too many, but it did not matter. It was cold, and getting under the tiny house was awkward. I had just room for my chest. At some point, I could use help to be dragged out from under the house, so I called DW, but she did not answer. Oh well, I had to get out myself. While doing this, I might have bruised a rib, but that is difficult to say. The cable was applied, so the cold may arrive, and the house will not have any problems. I also need to put isolation around the pipes, but that is for another day.

It was an extraordinarily active day, but that did not keep me from programming the microphone project. I now have several scenes in the program. Each scene displays a graphical pattern with movement according to the music. Great fun.

Thursday 19 October

Today, we both went to the office. Not the same office. DW continued to her office by train. At work, I had a light aching feeling in my back. Spoke to a colleague about it, and as it happened, we both did some abdominal muscle exercises. We did sit-ups. I call it curl up because I never get into a sitting position. We also did diagonal curl-ups. At the time, it was feeling great.

In the evening, we came home not too late, and our neighbor came and gave a jab to one of our sheep. I gave the other. It rained a little, and it was also a little sun. He said it is called a chicken carnival in some regions of the Netherlands. It has to do with that the worms are crawling out of the ground, and then the chickens have a feast.

DW and I stood at the control panel of the heating/cooling system. This is in the utility room that we have not finished yet. It is possible to see a tiny triangle of the stairs and Merida went there to see what we were doing. That was sweet!

I had a patch of humps on my back for a few days. It isn't enjoyable, but I am okay with it as long as it is not spreading.

I worked on the effects program. Until now, I called it the microphone project, but it is turning more into a music visual effects program. The official term is VFX. There exist programs for this, but I am making my own. I am creating moving art with formulas and program code. It is something new for me but I like it a lot.

Friday 20 October

This morning, the ache in the back was not improving. I got a few more bumps. Is it perhaps herpes zoster. I have no idea. I went for the bruised rib hypothesis and went to work. DW worked from home. Before I left, I adjusted the heating system.

In the evening, I was not that timely. Neither was our neighbor, actually. It was raining, and it was dark. He came walking with an umbrella the sheep did not appreciate; they got scared. I am so glad we have the lamps above the door on the north side of the house. It works as a light for the area where the sheep have the rain roof.

Saturday 21 October

It will happen, we are going on holiday tomorrow, to our farm in Sweden. DS stays and takes care of the sheep together with our neighbor. But first, we wanted to give the sheep a new large area to graze from while we were away. We opened up so they could stay under the rain roof all the way to the area in front of the house.

But we also wanted to give them a couple of willow branches. The willows are still populated by wasps. I don't see why, but this is how it has been since late summer. It is plenty of wasps, so they found something to eat. Are the wasps living near the willows? We don't know. I put on a mosquito hat so that I would not get stung. This worked very well.

After the willows, we went to our neighbors to answer questions about the scaffold. It looked like they had mastered the art of building scaffolds. They had a package of isolation material that we could get. That is nice; I can use that for the pipes of the tiny house.

Then we got on with moving the nets. Each net is 50 meters long. There is a pole every two meters, and then there are 26 poles. I found the complete package of the nets heavier than usual. I think it had to do with my bruised rib. The sheep were happy, but they did not go on an excursion right away to discover all the new area's parts. That is a sign they were happy.

In the afternoon, our neighbors came. This was to practice injecting our sheep, Hannah, and Bea. DS will not do the injections while we are on holiday, but our neighbor will do that. DS will collect the sheep and get them into the closure. We practiced this, too. We had the feeling that the sheep were much better now. Hannah had scratched her back, so the wounds from the crisis this summer were open again. I do think they will heal again.

It is much better to give injections when it is not raining and dark. The neighbor arrived, and he brought the package of leftover isolation material. I will use that for the pipes, but it will be after the holidays. Injecting the sheep went very well.

When the sheep were done, we went on with another preparation for the holiday: Putting on winter tires. There is no guarantee that the roads are ice-free in Scandinavia, and since we got the tires, it is just a question of putting them on. DW helped me, which was nice because my rib was a bit sore at that moment of the day. After the tires, I could rest a little.

In the evening, we packed bags with the things we wanted to bring.

Sunday 22 October

We packed the car with the last things, said goodbye to Merida, and then DW started driving towards Sweden. It was raining heavily. I actually blogged a little while she was driving. I like that feeling of writing while on the move. I have Microsoft Word on my telephone and a Bluetooth external keyboard, which works well. I had pain from my bruised rib, though. I wondered how nice this journey was going to be.

So, it was time for the first nap while DW was driving.

I had problems with the bruised rib at the beginning of my nap, but the pain calmed down. We switched drivers at the usual P with WC, and I took a picture of the house but did not use it. This time of the morning it looked special with the light. It has been in such bad condition after Corona that we gave up on it. Instead, we continued to the next gas station. There, we even had a cup of coffee and a croissant.

In Germany, it dried up, and we could enjoy the sun. It was still windy, and we think it had to do with the storm's tail, Babette. Half past eleven, we joined the end of the queue to the ferry. Lately, it has not been clear if we get on the boat straight away or if we get on the next boat.

We drove off the ferry at half past two. I really do wonder if it is worth it to go on the ferry. This took three hours of our time. We would have been much quicker if we had taken the longer route. It is easy to say afterward because we would not know beforehand that a ferry had technical problems.

This way, we had some rest, which is good. We ate a vegetarian hamburger with french fries in the ferry restaurant. Getting in the restaurant's line and having them kook the meal for us was a tedious process. I had doubts that we would have time to eat before we had to go off the boat. It was not that bad, actually. After 20 minutes, we got our meal. Somehow, we managed to eat and go to the bathroom well on time before we reached the harbor. People at a table beside us were less lucky; they had not finished their meals entirely. I think they were happy anyway. Let's hope so.

Then, it was time for DW to drive, and I could rest. I can rest very well after a good meal. I slept while DW drove through Denmark. I woke up when we left the tunnel of the Öresundsbridge on time to take a photo of the towers holding up the bridge. It is an impressive construction.

After the bridge, we stopped right after the customs control. I started driving. I drove up through Sweden along the coast. At Glumslöv, we filled up more gas and bought snacks. The snacks were not good at all.

The last stretch of the jurney we noticed roedeers along the road. A fox walked over the road. I stopped the car and waited for it to pass the road. I even noticed elks along the road. We arrived in the house and loaded our things.

Here ends this weeks blog! I do think that the message from the veterinarian was the most significant part of this week, namely that the bluetongue crisis was not over, that we had to inject the sheep for another week.