Monthly Archives: May 2021

Big plant

I want a plant in my house. That's a very indistinct demand, and there are a lot of possibilities. To be more specific, I want a plant that sits next to my refrigerator. It's kind of a dark spot, and I think it would look great with a big plant.

Compared to the other artificial plants that I've bought, I wanted a bigger plant this time. I found a plant that I really liked, but the company wouldn't ship it to Denmark, so I had to find another plant.

The plant arrived in a very small box, and I was a bit skeptical. The height was right, though. I opened the box and was wondering how the result would look. I have now been folding, straightening, pulling, and forming, and I'm very satisfied with the result. And the plant looks great in that location.

Big artificial plant

Hue project almost finished

It's fascinating how fast I have implemented Hue products in my home. When I started buying Hue products, I didn't imagine that I would end up with all my lamps being Hue products. Furthermore, because it isn't a cheap project, I only buy the products if they are on sale.

At the moment, I have one lamp for the utility room, one lamp for the living room, and one lamp for each bathroom. The lamps will be put up when I get a visitor that wants to help me. It is almost impossible to put up those lamps by yourself. I cannot hold the lamp, push the clamps, and hold on to the wire simultaneously.

The only two lamps I have left that aren't Hue lamps are in the kitchen and the shed. I'm not sure I want to put up a Hue lamp in the shed, but it would be nice with a lamp with a motion sensor. I have experienced the lamp being on when walking into the shed even though I haven't been there the last couple of days.

I would like a big lamp in the living room so that I can provide my guests with some lighting. I prefer indirect lighting, which is not very good when you need a lot of light to see something.

I have started to hunt for a good bargain :-)

Hue lamps

Window stickers

I have some big windows in my living. Regularly, birds are flying into the windows, and sometimes the outcome is fatal. I hate it when it happens. I also don't like it when the result is a small bird sitting on my terrace, trying to get well enough to fly away. When my windows have been cleaned, it happens even more often. The only time it doesn't happen is during winters.

During the summer, it is most often the young birds that fly into the windows. They haven't mastered the skill of flying as well as the older birds. So I wanted to do something that would help the birds. First off, I don't want to use silhouettes on the windows - they are too boring. So I started looking for something else.

I found stickers with flowers, butterflies, and birds, and I bought the stickers I liked. I hope that it results in fewer birds hurting themselves.

Window stickers
Window stickers

New wooden floor

My wooden floor in the living room got some scratches when a repairman was looking at my chair. And now, I've finally gotten it replaced. The craftsmen had announced their arrival on Monday, April 26th, and the timing was lousy since I had to rush to visit my dad at the hospital on Saturday, 24th. I didn't know what to do if I couldn't be home on April 26th.

I called my neighbors and asked if they would let the craftsmen into my house if I couldn't be home myself. Luckily, that was not a problem, as they would be working from home. I also needed to empty the living room before the craftsmen showed up. That turned out not to be a problem after all since I was able to go home Sunday and empty the living room.

The craftsmen were from the same company as the one who put down a new tile floor in my kitchen, and one of the services they provide is that they help to move the heavy furniture. That is very great because then they moved my sofa, bookcase, TV, and so on.

In less than a day, I had a new wooden floor in my living room. Wow, they worked fast. They didn't know when the painter would come, and since I hadn't heard anything by Thursday, I started putting my stereo, TV, speakers, and so on together. The painter called me Friday and asked if he could come Tuesday. I was happy that he was able to come that quickly, but now I had to move everything again. This time I had to move everything myself, and I decided to put the heavy furniture in the middle of the living room. Fortunately, it was good enough so that the painter could do his job.

The job is well done, and I think that the new floor has greater variation than the old one, and I like that. It's nice that the result is great, but I would have wished that it hadn't been necessary. Then I could have avoided doing all that work :-)

My new wooden floor

My dad

My dad isn't around anymore. I have to get used to that. I have spent hours talking to him about every subject between heaven and earth. If I needed help with something, I would ask my dad about his opinion. And even though I was the one who was an IT professional, he would sometimes be the one with new ideas. He didn't know the details or how to make it happen, but as he said, that was my job.

My dad had severe rheumatoid arthritis and had artificial knees, elbows, and hips. He was on his second pair of artificial hips, and he had surgery on one of his hands. At some point, he didn't want any more surgeries. He was tired, and the rehabilitation was putting too much strain on his body.

My dad has been sick as far back as I can remember. He has, of course, been getting sicker and sicker, but he has never been healthy as long as I can remember. Therefore, I helped him at home when things needed to be fixed, which has been very beneficial to me today. A lot of women my age have never hung a picture on the wall when they leave home, but I have always been the practical helper at home. So I'm no stranger to putting nails in the wall, changing faucet gaskets, sanding down wood or painting it, and so on. I'm no DIY person, but I can fix minor everyday things.

There are a lot of things that my dad won't enjoy or experience, and that bothers me. My parents bought a new 4K television Friday and Tuesday he was admitted to the hospital. In addition, they had also signed up for getting an internet connection through a fiber, which was acknowledged Thursday. So my dad never really got to enjoy the new television or the possibility to stream 4K movies. Also, he will never get a ride in my new car even though he had already paid for the first trip - he had bought the parking disc for my car :-)

On the other hand, I have enjoyed his company for many years. And for a lot more years than anybody had predicted or expected. When I moved into my new house in 2008, my dad was in so much pain that he had trouble sitting in a car for the amount of time it took to drive to my house, and so I was happy that he got to see it. Back then he was offered a new treatment which made him better and in less pain, and he has been able to visit me for the last thirteen years.

My dad got to experience me starting to play music again. He has also been to several of the concerts that I've been part of together with one of the bands. But most importantly, I've played a lot of hours of music to him, which he has enjoyed very much. He was the one giving me the final push when I was considering buying a clarinet. And he was the one who got me to buy a wind synthesizer.

My dad got his first iPad in 2011, and it was a huge success. In the beginning, he didn't want a tablet because he couldn't imagine the purpose of the tablet. Quickly, he started to use the tablet to search for information about different products. Then he started buying things and using the tablet to watch instructional videos on YouTube. Because of his disease, he would not have been able to use a laptop, so the tablet gave him a lot of freedom. My dad liked the technological progress, and he was happy that it made a lot of things easier.

My dad was 72 years old when he died.

My dads coffin