It starts to look like a driveway Sunday, 12-Jul-26 21:39:58 CEST

Sunday, 19-Jul-26 21:21:21 CEST

Finished driveway

The driveway was finished this week.

Monday 13 July

Good morning. The weather forecast says it will be 28°C today. I do hope this week will be less exciting. I hope to sit on my sofa, blogging happily about absolutely nothing. You might guess that is not what happened.

I was early, as usual, to make coffee. I even had time to make portrait photos of flowers in the garden.

Pawel came with more sand. He had a convenient trailer with a bed that could be lifted.

Sunday evening, I uploaded last week’s blog. So this evening I decided I could take a day off from blogging. It was so much fun playing a DJ set on Saturday that I decided to play again for the construction team this evening. So my audience was Roman and Sylwester. I think it is Roman, but I don’t know for sure. He was working at this construction site for one day. He knew Polish as well, but he also spoke excellent Dutch, perhaps even better than I do.

Roman suggested I mix in classical music, but I don’t have it on my DJ controller. So, as a compromise, I started at 75 BPM. Then I worked up the tempo until 122 BPM.

I was having a great time and forgot about dinner, and DW was a little frustrated that I didn’t come in for dinner on time. Sylwester and Roman, or whatever he was called, worked until 8:00 PM, and that was when I stopped by the DJ set.

I’m just a beginner DJ, and I saw how you’re supposed to mix tracks, but the proper way doesn't sound good to me. I love the crossfader, but apparently that’s not how you’re supposed to do it. So I tried the proper way during this set, with the crossfader in the middle and crossfading manually. There’s so much more to juggle when doing it that way, and it doesn't sound good to me. I will practice that more.

When the DJ set was over, and we had finished our dinner, I went out to the driveway to solve a puzzle. 2 bricks had found their way into the driveway, and while the other 100,000 stones were natural, the two bricks looked odd.

While I was busy with this, neighbors came by asking what I was doing. And from here on, more neighbors arrived, and they formed a village gathering. The progress of the driveway project was inspected, our ideas about using thyme in the driveway were validated, and I answered all sorts of questions. There was a unanimous conclusion that this driveway was really beautiful and unique. It was suggested that there had to be an official opening of the driveway, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, snacks, and a DJ. We will arrange that.

I really think many neighbors missed the opportunity to make their driveways a beautiful and functional part of their properties. When planning the house, they often put the parking lot beside the road; many use plastic carpets with anthracite gravel on top, which is just an annoying material, and the plastic carpets are spreading invisible microplastics. A cheap driveway with weeds, and the plastic carpet mesh shows up below the gravel, which is just misery. It is not beautiful, durable, or environmentally friendly.

Tuesday 14 July

The goal for the driveway construction team today was to eliminate the gap between the front and the rear of the driveway. I wished them good luck and biked to work. It was a beautiful morning.

It is afternoon, and I’m biking home. My blog voice isn’t that talkative, but the bike is ticking, so it's not silent here. This morning, I filled up the bike with motor oil, so now I’ve used just about every oil product I have in my barn.

Near the new water canal, I hear something that sounds like a gunshot. Peculiar. It could be a mole trap, of course.

On the way home, I checked out the commander carrots from the farmer. Earlier in spring, it did not look like it would grow at all. Look now, there are proud rows of carrots! The photo is taken from the side of the field, and I find it fascinating how the carrot rows draw the viewer to a point far into the horizon.

The driveway progress fell short by just a couple of stones. It had been a hard day at the driveway construction site.

Wednesday 15 July

Early in the morning, we received a new load of stones from VSB. This concluded several deliberations about big stones versus small stones. This was the final test of how well VSB works with complaints, and they came out excellently!

The gap between the rear and front of the driveway, the missed daily progress goal from yesterday, was filled. I had the idea that the work pressure was on.

With the gap eliminated, Sylvester started working on the parking lot. Pawel cleaned up leftover stone shrapnel and evened out the soil. He created support for the driveway sides towards the southeast field. The new stretch of driveway had more sand mixed with cement, and the mixture was vibrated into the cracks.

Pawel and I discussed various topsoil alternatives. I’m a bit suspicious about bringing in soil from an unknown source. I had hoped it would be sufficient with the soil we already had. If used sparingly, we can make do with what we have. I suggested we would top off with compost from a local producer. That compost producer did not have sufficient stock at the moment, so we only had one option left: to bring in certified garden soil. That was slightly more expensive, and delivery schedules were strained.

Then came the question of what to do with the pile of larger stones. DW wanted to keep them. Until now, I have thought of them as garbage. Useless stones. I had to turn around on that feeling. If we are thinking creatively, we can use the stones for various projects. When we turned the creative knob, we realized we could have a lot of fun with these stones. We can have a stone wall along the road. We can have a water feature with stones along the sides. We can have plants combined with stones. So yes, we are not throwing away the stones.

In the evening, we got crates for our zucchinis. I will deliver zucchinis to a vegetable market in Amsterdam. So tomorrow evening I will harvest the zucchinis, put them in the crates, and send them off. Then on Friday, the zucchinis will be sold at the vegetable market in Amsterdam. This is so much fun. Before the harvest, I will take photos. Please remind me.

I have a time at the dentist. I have some bad feelings in a tooth. The dentist could not determine precisely what the reason could be. I had a filling made while I still lived in Sweden, and it could be the problem, but he couldn't promise a successful treatment if he replaced it. I asked him to replace that filling anyway. It’s more than 26 years old, so let's do it. The more we replace, the less complicated it will be to find the real problem.

In the evening, we had a walk in the area. We came to talk to good friends, and they knew someone who wanted to get rid of her ceramic oven. To me, that sounded excellent for the atelier. The ceramic oven was broken, but I am sure it can be fixed. But Jens, are you not hoarding stuff now? No, I would like a ceramic oven.

Thursday 16 July

I was in such a good mood this morning. I had stopped biking to set up Microsoft Word and the transcribing microphone. Then I was just about to start biking when I flipped up the bike stand against my leg. I’ve never managed to hurt myself with the bike stand before, so that’s a new experience. There is even a little blood.

I had a fine day at work. The new place in the room fits me much better.

On my commute home, I found a square island in the high-farting canal. On that island, there were two big trees. I took a photo with the island slightly to the side to make it more interesting. Also, I switched to full-mode aspect ratio. I found a slight opening in the vegetation so that I could show the front of the island. I tried to hold the camera as high as possible to get more of the water around the island. You might think I stop and take a photo, but it’s not that simple. I take a photo, then I scrutinize the composition and the overall look. If I’m not satisfied, I delete the photo and start over.

The construction team had finished the stonework today. They removed the piles of leftover stones and placed them on the north side of the tiny house next to the water pond. This was all according to my instructions.

When I came home, the plans had changed. The local compost producer had managed to produce a load of compost. Pawel canceled the garden soil order and had Tycho deliver the compost. It was a large trailer behind a large tractor.

 

I harvested the first load of zucchinis for this season. I got 30.8 kg of zucchini! When I delivered the crates, I was so proud of the harvest.

The driveway construction team started spreading the compost and mixing it into the soil. It got really late. After dinner, I helped as well. Pawel knew I had back problems when I worked on fencing last week. I did not want to hurt my back again. It went fine. At some point, I was worried that neighbors would be annoyed. We stopped working at 10 PM.

Friday 17 July

Today I made coffee for the driveway construction team for the last time. It felt good, but I also wondered if I would miss them. It was a great team to work with; I really liked having them do this work. It will be great to have the finished driveway as well.

I drove to the dentist by car at 8:30 PM. The car's dashboard read 20°C. The driveway construction team is doing the final adjustments to the soil around the driveway.

They evened out the soil towards the southeast field, and that looks really nice. It was challenging for me to explain my desired slope shape in words, but Pawel nailed it! The soil around the tiny house has a more abrupt edge, and I will see if I can adjust that a little.

Sylvester cleaned the driveway with the high-pressure washer, but the handle broke. He could borrow ours. It was not that powerful, but it was working fine as well.

Indeed, I got the tooth fixed. Yesterday, during the investigation, the doctor asked me when and where I feel pain, and I could not answer. This morning, when I drove to the dentist, I realized I have problems with that tooth when I’m biking or driving. In other words, at moments when things are vibrating or shaking. The dentist held something cold against my various teeth, and he could pinpoint exactly which tooth the pain came from. That was great because I have been wondering where the pain is coming from. Pain can be so indecisive. When the exact tooth was identified, the doctor suggested a treatment. That’s what he did. He replaced a filling that I must have gotten in Sweden when I still lived there. I moved to the Netherlands in 1995, so it was old.

Sometimes it feels like things are crumbling around me. Things are breaking at the same pace as I am repairing them. It would be so nice to feel that things around me are working. I want robust stuff around me. That gnawing feeling of a tooth issue or appliances that don't work, I hate it. I suppose that’s one of the reasons we are deciding on such a ridiculously robust driveway, for example.

When I came home from the dentist, the finishing touches were done on the driveway. Pawel filmed the result with his drone. He will send me some material when he has time, and I will see if I can publish the film on this blog.

Sometimes it is a strange, mind-boggling feeling when so much is going on in my private life, but at work, everything is the usual.

After work, I moved the sheep outside the dyke along the west and north sides of the property. We got a short visit from Superman, Mr Radi, who borrowed a wheelbarrow and a shovel. He admired the driveway. DS talked to him about the prospects of helping him install a dishwasher in the tiny house. We will look into that when the time is right. First things first, buying a dishwasher. When it arrives, we can make an appointment with Mr Radi.

The driveway was finished. We were super excited. There is one thing, though: I found one brick. We just laughed about it. It will stay there. It is good that things are not absolutely perfect.

Saturday 18 July

I had a good night's sleep, 86 points, for the first time in something that feels like eternity. It was actually lovely not to be obliged to make coffee and stuff for the driveway workers.

DW went to the grocery store while I cut the grass at the southwest field. When I was finished, I decided to clean the lawn mower's cutting bed with the pressure washer. I’ve been pondering how to build a ramp for the lawnmower to make this easier, but this time I had the big stones I could use. So I cleaned the cutting bed with the pressure washer, and with the ramp, I had good access to one side of it. Then I got clever and reversed up on the ramp, and now I could wash the other side of the cutting bed. I was really feeling like a pro when I figured that one out.

Since the pressure washer was already out, I could as well rinse off the car. I don’t want to use any washing products on our driveway, so I used only water. To my surprise, it did not help. Then I was thinking perhaps the use of mixing concrete into the sand during the driveway construction; this dust is perhaps stickier.

After lunch, I went to the car wash. And it was mayhem. Long queues. I sat there waiting for my turn when a RAM 1500 came driving from the petrol pump, dragging the hose behind it. I have never seen that before. It happened so quickly, no time to film the incident.

After a while, it was my turn to drive into the cleaning factory. They make clever use of lamps. It looked like pink fluid dripping along the windows.

But did it work? Was the concrete dust cleaned off the car? I think it did! Perhaps there came scratches from the cleaning brushes. Oh well.

With the car clean, we were ready to receive BIL and SIL for a visit. They were mighty impressed by the new driveway. They know a lot about gardening, so they also took a look at our garden, which was in good shape.

When BIL and SIL left, I worked on the blog. For the first part of the week, I only transcribed the blog, so now, for a couple of days, I have been editing it as much as I can.

After dinner, I went to practice with the DJ controller. I’ve been collecting new songs, and I had to try them on the controller and the sound system. To my surprise, many of the songs were at 125 BPM and higher. It looks like my music tastes are shifting to higher BPMs, which is interesting.

Sunday 19 July

We had a slow morning. At last, I got the blog back on track for publication this evening. Today we had a special, long-awaited task for this morning: Mount curtain rods.

As you can see in the photo, the window above the stairs is a little special, with a wall next to the window. To solve this, we decided to let the curtain rod hang more to the left side on this window.

The curtain project has been complicated because when we designed the house, we did not really account for voluminous curtains. For me, solving this challenge has required a combination of creative thinking and coming to terms with it all. It was like a mourning process. I think we found a good compromise here. We also had to find each other in this process.

From here, we will continue mounting the subsequent rods symmetrically on the first-floor windows. DW tried the curtain with a tablecloth, and that already looked lovely.

Then we went to MIL, but on the way, we stopped by a garden center near the motorway. Here I bought pots for the grape vine cuttings I made on 19 April. The pots were surprisingly expensive. I want to try selling the cuttings along the road in front of the barn, at the new driveway. We will see how that goes.

DW brought her sewing machine to MIL. She adjusted a couple of shirts from FIL so that MIL could use them. MIL is smaller than the late FIL. MIL is doing fine. She is now taking part in social activities arranged at the apartment complex. MIL had found out about an art exhibition in a nearby town she would like to visit. She suggested this, and now the excursion committee will arrange that excursion!

The Madonna Lily is still flowering outside the apartment. What a wonderful plant this is!

MIL started attending a drawing club. She specializes in drawing birds and recently got a bird magazine from a bird lover. She is doing really well now with social activities.

This evening, I got the news that the resident of the White House was booed during the soccer World Cup.

This week I wrote 3084 words. The driveway is finished! We got a curtain rod mounted. We might also get a ceramic oven, and if that is the case, finishing the atelier becomes a top priority from here on. Welcome back next week!