Resting Up

It has been nice to get the woodworking project and the sawdust bricks out of the way. Now that the sunshine and warmth have left us, we need to use some of them in the fireplace! Good to have a bit of time to relax, and continue making plans for the future and researching possibilities.

I have been looking into hempcrete as a building material. Seems really cool. Simplifies all those layers that are typically used and much more natural - just a mix of hemp stalks and lime. Good insulator, airtight, moisture and temperature regulating, carbon negative. Just build a typical wooden frame and pack the stuff around it with a plywood mold. I have some designs in my head. It would be cool to get them into sketchup if I get around to it...

We had parent/teacher conferences for the girls via a video chat that didn't really work, so they invited us to school to talk about Amélie as Abigail is doing fine. Amélie has not been happy with school the past month. Lots of crying, not wanting to go, angry attitude, etc. Seems to be going a bit better this week though. Covid cases are skyrocketing though, so schools probably won't be open for much longer anyway.

Potatoes from our garden.

Outdoor lesson at school.

Sawdust Bricks

This week Naomi got tested for Covid, but she doesn't have it. The test sounded rather unpleasant though. Some of my classes at school are missing close to one third of the students as they have symptoms so they need to stay home. It will be interesting to see how that all plays out.

I wrapped up the woodworking project for a client this week. Nice to have that done. Too bad he put two ugly screws right through the top of this beautiful maple desktop I made for him though. Hmmm.

I was able to do what usually takes at least three weeks in just this past week though. Made all of the sawdust bricks for the season. It has been so warm and sunny that they are drying beautifully, which is why I crammed all the work into this week. My back hurts. Great to have it done though!

Lots of bricks.

The runoff made for some interesting patterns.

A rolling desk and a cover for the hot water heater.

Runny Noses

It is that time of year that we all get a bit of a cold. Strange that the weather will clear up and be back into the 80s again this week. Naomi will get tested today just to make sure it isn't Covid, but that means she won't be able to go anywhere until her results come back. She read a week or two ago that all of us would need to stay home until the results are back, but yesterday she was told a different story. Hard to keep track of all these rules as they change so quickly.

They have shut down at least one school already, we shall see how fast it goes here. I am expecting quite a few more to close this week, but who knows. It looks like the school won't let me teach from home, so I guess I will need to keep going in until things shut down again.

We can't go to the Bosrand this week so we will do some skating in the forest instead. Disappointing. Tennis with the girls has been a lot of fun! I made the first batch of sawdust bricks yesterday. Trying to get as many done as possible so the hot weather can dry them out in record time.

Finished up the project I started four years ago.

We took a nice walk last weekend. 

Finishing

I finally wrapped up the sink cabinet upstairs. Started that project when we first moved in over four years ago! Nice to have it finally finished. I also completed the first part of a job from one of my repeating customers, two more parts to go.

Getting back into school was strange. Business as usual around there. I think it is not right to go back 100%. Better to do some kind of hybrid approach, but that takes too much thinking and planning for those in charge. I don't think it will be too long before they shut down completely again. Even though teaching in person is much better and it was really nice to be back at school this past week, I am trying to get permission to teach remotely again as I don't feel comfortable with their lack of precautions. They have added some hand sanitizer and cleaning solutions to the classrooms, given the teachers face shields, and told us to keep the doors and windows open. Thats about it.

The girls are getting used to group three (first grade). Sitting at a desk practicing writing letters seems pretty boring. They sent three videos to us as parents...all of the same thing. Hopefully they do some other stuff too! One poor boy had fallen asleep on his desk.

Dance lessons started again, and because the timing didn't work out with acrogym, Amélie decided to do another year of dance. They are in the older group now though, and the teacher wasn't happy with Amélie in the first lesson. She was crying and not really up to the level she is meant to be. Makes sense as she just turned six and there are lots of new faces...hopefully she adjusts quickly and the teacher is able to help her get used to the new group.

The first day of school.

At least they have a little bit of fun!

We found a baby snake in the forest.

Small project - maple desktop.

Best tomato of the year!

Becoming Habitats

We finally discovered why Naomi has been complaining about an itchy neck for the past few weeks. They checked her for it at the doctor's office, but couldn't find anything. She has lice. So do the two girls. Probably brought them back from Italy. Did the whole shampoo/combing routine yesterday, and Naomi is washing everything today. Definitely didn't need an extra pile of work before starting school, but okay.

I got a bit more work for by business this week. A returning client wants me to put together a few more small things. Nice to have another job to do! I would also like to wrap up the sink cabinet for upstairs. Just needs to be finished and put together.

Amazing how many iterations were necessary to come up with a reliable depth gauge for our pond cistern in the garden, but I think this latest rendition is the one that will last. The system seems to be working well now and the fish, frogs and plants are all happy. Now to put in a compost pile. I made a cage for it, but I don't know if it will need to be more enclosed or not.

The girls had their birthday party with friends on Friday. They had a lot of fun. After presents and cake, they played games at the school and then made their own pizzas. They each invited four friends and the groups didn't get along the best. Amélie's group was a lot younger and quieter. Abigail invited two really great friends (one of them the only boy at the party), but the other two hopefully won't continue to be friends for much longer. We shall see how this school year goes.

Our first Sunday morning tennis session at the Bosrand.

Final(?) versions of the logo. I am happy with it. Got some new software and started from scratch.

Party fun!

Fall is Here

Amazing how fast the weather can change. All of the sudden it is chilly, windy, rainy, and leaves are dropping already. The days are getting shorter and it will be a race with the frost to see how many tomatoes we can get ripened up.

The girls had a really fun birthday. They had some friends over along with Opa and Auntie Edith. We had lots of good food and presents at home, then went to the castle for a nice dinner. Naomi wants to give them another birthday party, with just friends, so we will do that on Friday. Seems a bit silly to me to have two parties, but okay.

I was able to get back into the wood shop as the weather cooled off. Nice to make some progress on the cabinet for upstairs. Maybe I can finish it up this week, but there are a lot of other things to do as well. Definitely not ready to go back to work.

Birthday outfits.

Great presents!

They got to play at the castle while we ordered and waited for food.

Heat Wave

This week has been really uncomfortable. The heat has sapped our energy to to just about anything. Good thing we have a little air conditioner, but it doesn't do much beyond a bit of help getting to sleep at night. Another record breaker. Palm trees are popping up all over the place in people's gardens these days.

Speaking of gardens, we nearly ran out of water because people won't stop watering them. Our philosophy is to water the vegetables, and if the flowers and bushes don't make it, plant different varieties. Grass in August shouldn't look like it did in June.

The girls have been getting into their swimming lessons. Three per week. Amélie just passed onto the next level but Abigail still has some work to do. They are really counting down the days until their birthday.

Our tomatoes are delicious, even though we missed the peak! The people who took care of our house while we were gone saved some for us.