Finished the stair case hall Sunday, 28-Apr-24 22:03:23 CEST

Sunday, 05-May-24 21:48:22 CEST

Visit to a building company

This week, I started blogging on Thursday. I have not been so inactive on blogging for weeks. I found I named last week's blog the day of this week's blog. Future Jens will be utterly confused by this. This week, we went to the future builder of our shed.

Monday 29 April

Today, I worked from home, and DW went to the office. After work, I started creating a new area for the sheep. I made it around the whole northeast part of the property. It even included a part of the driveway.

Started working on a new song about Merida. I did no blogging this evening.

Tuesday 30 April

Today, both DW and I went to the office. I noticed that the car was feeling wobbly. I was displeased by this. After dropping off DW at the train station, I went to a garage and asked them if they had time to check my wheels. They had time on Wednesday, but we are off on a trip, so that would not be handy.

At work, I talked about my issue with my colleagues, and one of them is particularly interested in cars. He informed me that there is information to get for this specific car on how many Newton meters are required for the wheel bolts. It turned out that my wheels needed 120 Nm because they are light metal wheels. Steel wheels need 140 Nm. Since the value is much lower than the maximum 680 Nm that my new pneumatic impact wrench can produce in theory, I figured I needed to unscrew the wheels again and fasten them with the halfway setting on the wrench. I know that operating a wrench with a foot is way above the halfway setting of the pneumatic wrench. But first, I worked the entire day.

It was fantastic weather today. I had a lunch walk with three of my colleagues. We went to another building where the company might move. We will see.

There was not much progress at the puzzle table. I put one piece into place, though.

In the evening, after work, I carried out my wheel plan. I unscrewed all bolts and then put them back with the half setting. Ready to be tested tomorrow.

In the evening, I worked on a new song about Merida. Again, no blogging.

Wednesday 1 May

Today, I worked from home in the morning. After lunch, we headed off to a builder of sheds: Geldersche Houtbouw in Kootwijkerbroek. It was sunny and lovely weather. I drove a picturesque route to the builder along fields of cows, rows of trees, and many barns. The road was so narrow often that I had to stop to let others pass our car. We could have used the freeway/motorway, but we had plenty of time, and the weather was nice, so we took the country roads.

We talked with a salesperson who would make our shed idea a real plan. We were at the company for well over two hours.

At this company, they often deliver the roof with hinges that they unfold when the roof is mounted. Interesting.

It will take two weeks to have a more detailed pricing for our plan. We will see when it arrives.

In the evening, I did not blog again and again. Instead, I finished most of the song about Merida. The song was a little short, but it was excellent.

Here is the song text of "Merida, Merida!":

[Intro]
She came to us as a kitten.
Our hearts were soon smitten.

[Chorus]
Merida, Merida, ooh Merida!
What is on your mind, incognita?
Orange, cute little kitten.
A cat history to be written.

[Verse]
We had hoped you were brave.
Every sound makes you afraid (insane).
You got spayed.
Numerous vet bills were paid.

[Chorus]
Merida, Merida, ooh Merida!
What is on your mind, incognita?
Orange, cute little kitten.
A cat history to be written.

[Bridge]
She had epileptic seizures.
Tested in fruitless procedures.
Now, medicine two times per day.
How long will she be okay?

[Chorus]
Merida, Merida, ooh Merida!
What is on your mind, incognita?
Orange, cute little kitten.
A cat history to be written.

[Verse]
The spring has arrived.
Until now, her freedom was denied.
Now she is playing in the garden.
For the wind, she needs to be hardened.

[Chorus]
Merida, Merida, ooh Merida!
What is on your mind, incognita?
Orange, cute little kitten.
A cat history to be written.

(How long will she be okay?)

Thursday 2 May

Today, we both went to the office. Our respective offices. DW brought a cake because she is starting her sabbatical at the end of next week.

It was summer weather today. I went out to eat with two colleagues. It was marvelous weather. We had a Dutch classic: Kapsalon. It has french fries, chicken, cheese, and salad. The cheese is molten under the grill. It was the first time I had that dish. After the Kapsalon, we had ice cream. We cannot have lunches like these every week. That would not work.

In the evening, I blogged for the first time this week! I also made the album art for the song "Merida, Merida!". It is simply a foto of Merida.

Then, I remastered the song before uploading it to DistroKid for distribution to iTunes, Spotify, and all other 30 places. This is great fun!

Friday 3 May

Today, DW worked from home. I went to the office. The project I am working on is going well. Today, it was back to rain again. It was much less jolly without the summer feeling, but I had a lovely day at the office.

At the puzzle table, a few more pieces found their home. I had no time to help, unfortunately.

In the evening, I did no music or blog. I was just tired. I sat scrolling through feeds. Rather useless, but sometimes the brain needs time off.

Saturday 4 May

Where is all the time going? I have not prepared a single plant for the garden. I am afraid it is a little late. That really needs to happen today.

We moved the table we bought on 9 August 2020 to our living room. I still cherish the memory of finding a Swedish flag at a second-hand shop. That is cool.

I planted all the seeds I needed in various pots. I used the compost from the recycling center I got on 20 April. Now, we have a forest of sticks with various plant names written on them. I will not do any beans in the garden near the sea container this year. It is lovely to plant beans, but DW will take care of them this year.

DW weeded the front garden, and I went out with the brush cutter to cut off thistles. I plan on using the same thistle regime as last year; it was a great success. In that regime, it is essential to cut off the thistles before they get so sturdy I can use the wire head of the brush cutter. I also got a metal triangle head, which cuts through everything, including trees. There will not be much left if I use that head. I brushed until the battery was flat. I managed to brush along the road.

I also cut grass near the house in our vegetable garden. We plan to move the two beds from the north side to the south vegetable garden. This is to keep things more organized.

We went to the alternative grocery store, Odin. We bought two sorts of potatoes there: Alouette, a potato with red skin already with shoots. We also bought a waxy potato. You call those firm versus mealy potatoes in Dutch and Swedish. The waxy firm sort had the name Twister. I placed the potatoes in the forest with the sprouting seed name sticks when we came home. They will lie there and grow shoots. Now, I will need to prepare the garden along the driveway. It is entirely overgrown with weeds.

Another new decision this year is that I will not work on the flower garden besides brush cutting. I will put flowers there occasionally, but I will not have the ambition of creating an open soil garden. The flowers need to be more significant to fit in that garden. There will be grass beside the shrubs, and I will cut it with a brush cutter. That is it.

With all that hard work, I had to rest. After the rest, we went for a cup of tea with neighbors. They showed their garden, which was magnificent. It shows that we have full-time jobs.

In the evening, we watched the 4 May ceremonies on the TV. We have not set up a TV yet, but can watch it on a laptop. This is the remembrance of the dead ceremony.

Today, the new song Merida, Merida, was fully released!

• iTunes
• Apple Music
• Spotify
• YouTube Music

Click on the link and listen on your own platform. Then I earn one dollar cent!

Sunday 5 May

This morning, we ordered the guide plate for the chopping machine. No idea when the spare part is supposed to arrive. It was not expensive, for 40 euros the part will be delivered to us, the only question is when.

We continued with the tasks we started yesterday. DW pulled weeds from the front garden. My first task was to give the sheep access to the area along the driveway. I want to work on this next week, such as removing grass. It would be nice if the sheep had grazed it before that.

I removed the thistles with the brush cutter. I did everything but the northeast part of the property. I have more to do behind the container and around the water area.

While working on removing thistles, I made a macabre discovery. A dead mallard was lying in the grass, and the nest with eggs was one meter away.

I buried the mallard and the eggs.

We took a walk in the neighborhood. I had a little secret plan. We went around the area to look at new houses. There was one new building that we were curious about. It had a beige color, and it was long stretched. It turned out to be a kindergarten in the future when it was finished. We went to our neighbors as well. I had a chat to catch up on the latest developments. I got them to listen to my new song, and this was my secret plan: Merida, Merida! I got 3 people to listen to the song. That was great!

We have had the door to the garden open for long periods. Merida has been walking in and out of the living room all weekend. She has been enjoying being outside, but she is still not feeling safe. We hope that the vegetable garden will be a safe place for her. The next milestone will be closing the door with Merida in the garden. It will take some time before this happens.

The visit to the builder was an essential part of this week.

Here ends this blog. See you next week!