Christmas

The table is set and we are waiting for Christmas!

Entré - humar halar - langoustine tails done in garlic and butter.

Winter wonderland outside the house.

Snowmen making a snowman.

Coconuts on the beach 66° North

How bizarre is this..... Coconuts on the beach in Sauðárkrókur, there must be a story behind this...

Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles. ~Author Unknown

Hanging around waiting for Christmas I decided to post a few photos from yesterdays trip up to the cemetary. It was mighty cold up there - but absolutely beautiful.

Vicki got a bit of a taste of how bitingly cold Iceland can sometimes be!

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas.

no quote just some videos from Tunga - we were counting sheep today

I was at the farm today counting sheep and taking down their numbers with my uncles Andrés and Þóri - am posting a couple of videos from my crappy digital camera, but the sheep are so cute and I thought my brothers would like to see our uncles today.

and one more of the little sheepies that won´t be raped by a ram this year...

Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things. ~Author Unknown

Another trip down memory lane and this time to give thanks to the friends that we have made on the way... however, this trip will be devoted to my first ever bestest friend Tracy. She doesn't read this blog, but that doesn't matter...

We first met in 1971, she had move from Fremantle to Maddington, I was moving between schools. Having been in Aus for 2 years they changed the lines between the schools "pooling" areas so the district line changed by one street and I move schools from Gosnells to Maddington, where I met my best friend Tracy.

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This is a photo of us and her younger sister Greer. I was twice Tracy's size even back then...

This was taken on my eigth birthday, There is only one person I am not sure of and that is the girl second from the left in the front, otherwise, its from left and back is Jenny, Rósa, Tracy, Jannette, me. front ???? Julie and Paul... Of the people in this photo I know what has happened to Tracy, me, Julie and Paul... that's 50% - I would think that isn't bad after 40 years.

Tracy, Janette and I had decided at an early age that we would travel to the countries of our forefathers, Janette was from New Guinea, Tracy's forefathers were from Scotland and Germany, and hey I was obviously from Iceland. As things turned out Janette moved back to Darwin so when the time came for us to go on our great expedition it was just me and Tracy. I still am amazed by our parents belief in us... we were only 17 hardly capable of looking after ourselves, but we had each other and were going to a fairly known environment - there would be family and friends to make sure that we didn´t end up on the street. So here we are at the airport about to depart - to see us off are friends from High School of which only one is now a friend on facebook...

Our stay in Iceland was an amazing adventure - there I was trying to show Tracy the best of what I had imagined my heritage was... Sometimes it met expectations often it fell short. However, I must say that this first trip forged the beginnings of friendships that would stand me in good stead for the rest of my life. I don' t think that neither Tracy nor I regret this "gap" year. We grew up, learnt to be semi independent, learnt things about family dynamics that we had never before encountered. We realised how different we were, but despite that - that we could still get on. For a while we didn´t need to speak... a look in the eye was enough to say what needed to be said.

We worked in a fish factory, Tracy on the packing - refined side. me in the machine room - not so refined.... We travelled with a tent on a bus... we were trekkers... My family loved her. All my uncles and aunts were trying to match her up with one cousin or another, my Grandfather couldn't understand her wanting to get married - afterall he said... women can now be artificially inseminated - no need for a man. (it was the most difficult translation of a conversation that I have ever had to do... and yet at the same time the most enlightening... who would have thought that my staid grandfather had been thinking about these things). I think that both Tracy and I look back at those 10 months with very fond memories.

This photo was taken on our arrival back in Perth, 10 months older, 18 years old thinking that we had been there and done that! Happy to be at home but at the same time thinking, oh my god... we are moving back home to mum and dad....

but as you can see - we were happy back in Aus.. This was taken at a 1st of december Christmas get together with Icelanders in Perth.

After our return we first moved home with the folks, I went to Uni and then later we share the best ever house in the world in Cottesloe, only 1 minute from one of the nicest beaches in Perth. We share there for 3 years before I moved back to Iceland for a 2 year break from reality. Our days in Cott were the best of years, Jeff our other share renter was a friend from primary school and our bestest friends were constant visitors. While there we grew up even more, some of our friends married, some of us began our first significant relationships whilst others just had fun. It was a magical time.

After my time in Iceland I returned and Tracy and I renewed our friendship... she then met the man that she would marry. She honoured me by asking me to be her bridesmaid (God knows what would have happened had she not asked me!!). Her wedding reception was a hoot - we had such a good time... all the old friends together again...

The photo is of the "group" the core friends that have been there from way back. I am happy to say that of the 19 people in this photo I am still in touch with 16 of them.. either directly or through their spouse....

Since then I have been extremely blessed (that is an understatement) with meeting people during my life that have become extremely important to me, true friends, that have made me the person that I am. I think I realised at a very early age that I have a need to have people around me that are my significant others, through them I see myself and define myself. With Tracy I had a friend that accepted me always as who I was, we never had anything in particular in common apart from the most important fact that we respected each other and each others point of view - we didn't always agree on things and never had the same life goals but we always knew that those goals were relevant and should never be ridiculed. Through her I understood what wanting to be a mother was - not knowing it from my own needs. From her I learnt about Australian values, Anzac Day and other things alien to an Icelander. We may only be in touch once a year... but with her I know that the next time we meet - God help anyone else who wants to get a word in edgewise...................

History is a cyclic poem written by Time upon the memories of man. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

This is gonna take a while.. ie a few posts... as I get my act together, write Christmas cards and paint the kitchen...

The above photo is taken of Sauðárkrók where I now live, and hence closing the circle. The family left here in 1968, I came back in 2004 and now work in the same building that my grandfather worked in for over 50 years. The photo was taken sometime at the beginning of the 20th century, the black very roughly drawn circle shows my house, built in 1898. Again, closing another circle this is the house that we lived in before moving to Australia. The kitchen that I am now painting is the same kitchen that was here when we left. Probably the only house in Iceland that hasn't been renovated at least 3 times with various IKEA cabinets.

A few years ago I did a small course at the uni to get a diploma as a staðarvarði, which literally means a place defender. For us here it means that I have the credentials to work in a museum, or place of historical interest. Whether this really means anything or not can be debated. Nevertheless, my little project was a small brochure that would enable english speakers, or folk that can read english, to have a self guided tour of the old part of town and the houses that were built prior to 1925... here's the beginning blurb:

This is a guide to the older part of Sauðárkrókur and is intended to provide you with a narrative description of some of the older houses of Sauðárkrókur, their history and some information about the people who lived in them.

Sauð (Sheep) ár (river) krókur (hook) was initially a seasonal residence of fishermen with a few huts scattered along the shoreline. The oldest house still standing is situated at Lindargata 13 and was built in 1871.

The old town is centred around Aðalgata, Lindargata, Skógargata and Suðurgata. This guide will direct you through this area and return you here to the Minjahús.

I had a lot of fun doing this little thing... it also helped that I had walked this path every night with the dog so I had formed an attachment to the houses that I was walking by each night. Over the past few years quite a few things have happened the oldest house still standing has been renovated to it's "original" state, Kaffi Krók burned down and was rebuilt - better than before I think, also heavily debated. Other houses remain in a bad state, progress having been stopped with the financial crisis.

Sauðárkrókur is not the most beautiful town in Iceland, but it is my town, so I have a major soft spot for it. The town council is also starting to do something about the forshore and the entry into the town - to make it more "appealing" to the passing traveller.

You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea. ~Pablo Picasso

Can anyone give me an idea of what to post about next.... should I continue the reminiscing rambles?

Christmas Christmas everywhere - except we still don´t have snow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTu7yJiNzCs

You see I am useless at this blogging thing so instead am providing a link to youtube. Tonight I took mum to a concert in Varmahlíð - it was the Icelandic Frostroses. They were brilliant, to help were Friðrik Ómar (a pop singer of the gay variety) and Garðar Cortes (a tenor of the operatic variety).. The female singers were Guðrún Gunnarsdóttir, Hera Björk and Margrét Eir.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgiE94DHsxc

is a link to the news report about them taking the show on the road. You see usually this concert is only ever in Reykjavík and then broadcast to the nation on Christmas eve, this year they decided to go live and let the country bumpkins have a chance to hear them live. There were three shows here in the fjord - all sold out - I think that there were over 400 people each night so considering the fact that the population of the fjord is around 3.000 - it means that half the fjord went to see them.... Pretty good turn out I would say.

It was actually quite moving at times, I am such a sook for Christmas..

Had to share.

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love! ~Hamilton Wright Mabie

The Christening of Haraldur Aron at the end of November started what will be a month of feasting and festing with family and friends. I soooo love this time of year.

The Christmas decs went up early ... but hey... it felt right to have the jule tide lads in place before the start of December...

Freyja did not think that this was particularly interesting.

But she does like her hat.. I wonder what she will get for Christmas this year...

Yesterday the lights on the Christmas tree were turned on. I almost slept through it - having taken a nap in the afternoon which ended up being a bit of a long sleep. Luckily mum called and we went to check out the activities in the street. The weather was quite pleasant - no snow and temp above zero - which was a bit sad for the guy doing the Ice scultpures outside ólafshús. Heaps of people everywhere - kids and parents dancing around the tree and madams with their market serving meat soup, all the business on the main street offering christmas tea and piparkökur (ginger snaps). Christmas is here.

These were later taken to Varmahlíð and put outside Miðgarður our "cultural/entertainment" building. Where i happened to be last night with the work colleagues for a Christmas buffet dinner - it was AMAZING, the food was brilliant. The company even better, and the wine.... Rosemount Shiraz. Guðný came as my partner... we make such a lovely couple! Ended the evening at Mælifell. Twas good...

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

Today the 27th of November is the birthday of my grandmother on my mothers side. Easier said - mums mum. Kristín Jakóbína Guðmundsdóttir was born on the 27th of November 1894, her mother was a housemaid/worker at a farm in the next county to where I live now. As great grandmum was not married the child was taken from her shortly after birth to live with her grandmother. This was greatgrans second child to be taken from her. The first Stefania was sent with the man who was said to be her father to Canada, from her we have a heap of Canadian "cousins". Mums fate like so many of her time was one of poverty and movement. I unfortunately have not been dilligent enough to write down what mum has told me about her mothers early life - something I really need to address. All I know is that she had it tough and it made her tough in her own way - but at the same time - she always had a love of life.

This is her at around 16 years of age:

Not a bad looker.

She met and married my grandfather, a hardworking non drinking farmer. While married to him she had seven children, mum was number 4 in the line. Their homes were of the original Icelandic turf variety. They first lived in Laxárdal, if you go there today all you will see is a slight change in the landscape that tells you that a dwelling was once there, being turf it goes back into the landscape, after all it is just dirt and grass. Their second home was at Tunga, where my uncles Andres and Þóri still farm

I would say that this photo was taken in Tunga. Amma now older and more worn.

Amma left Afi after the youngest of their children was confirmed, again, I have been remiss in remembering dates.... As I am writing this I am realising how little there is of her that I know or understand, my feelings of what people have told me is that she was a very social person, loved being with other people, enjoyed poetry - of the Icelandic variety, laughed and was generally a happy go lucky person, whilst from what I gather and know my grandfather was far more serious. There were serious issues in their relationship that need not be recounted here, and probably had a major impact on their relationship - but those issues were before mother was born, they had 3 children after that - so whether it was perseverence, stubborness or god knows what - they stuck it through a lot longer than most folks would these days.

Amma moved to Reykjavík where she met Dóri, I called him dóri afi - he was by all accounts a very eccentric man. He was an inventor - was always finding new ways and new ideas. I really know so little about him, I just remember that as a child I liked him, and I think that he was good to my gran.

Amma wrote a lot of letters to mum and us when we moved to Australia and over the last few years mum and I have been typing them into mums computer, problem was she never put a date on them, neither did mum when she got them, so they are a little mixed up. However, I know that she kept up with what all of us were doing - ie us being all the grandchildren.

As I have touched on before I was fortunate enough to meet her again when I came with mum when I was 12 and again when I was 17. When I came with mum she was still living with Dóri in their small house near rauðavatn (a small lake which was outside of Reykjavik - now it is just outside the window of my aunts apartment block). The house no longer exists but the trees that

she planted are still there.

Amma had a stroke and ended up in hospital for the last years of her life - when I visited with Tracy she was just one big smile, she had grown so small but the shine was still there in her eyes and although the body was weak the mind was still all there.

This is Unnur with Amma. So happy even after all the hardships that she had gone through in life and then end up totally dependent on others in a hospital bed. Where do people find this love of life?

Oh the nerves, the nerves; the mysteries of this machine called man! Oh the little that unhinges it, poor creatures that we are! ~Charles Dickens

As promised the post that is all about ME. Yep now you get to meet the crap side of the person that is Sigga, the one that constantly scowls at the world, thinking that she has somehow been hard done by. It takes so much effort sometimes to get over myself- i often wonder why I am not on medications... The thing is I think I have finally realised we make our own shit and whether we revel in it or drown in it - it is basically up to us....

As you can see from the above I don´t seem like a very pleasant young child, I have no idea if I was a happy young person or not - my brothers and sisters will have to enlighten you on that - my memories from this period of my life consist of head injuries... maybe that is why I am as I am.

Later in life I put a lot of store in family and I always wanted everyone to be happy and to be happy according to my "rules", which I think were often never expressed out loud so my family never knew what internal dramas were taking place - most of these took place at Christmas - where according to my thinking everything was meant to be perfect.

This picture reflects the fact that obviously that Christmas did not go according to plan.

Yet another Christmas shot - you can see by the shoulders I am just about holding it together for the family photo. I don´t know how many years I expected Christmas to be perfect and it never was... At last now that I am in my own home I have no pressure about how Christmas should be - it just is - and I love it.

Now not so whiny shots... me when we arrived in Australia... not happy - but not sad...

Me and my cousin Elín... something I have to come to terms with on my own (It´s called inferiority complex - self created and self fed... before I die I will have worked this one out)

Another complex to overcome... I was the virgin Mary in our Christmas play - had to ride a donkey and all....

And I was an awkward 7 year old

And finally... whiny Sigga at her best - but hey the rest seemed quite happy...

Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. ~Colette

I guess you have all realised that I am a bit of a dog person, well a pet person... The thing is it all began way back when my mum got a foal from her sisters father in law. The foal was called Skjóni, He was a part of the family from before I was born. Mum was still riding him whilst heavily pregnant with moi.

Skjóni lived to a ripe old age - only being felled the year before mum and dad's return to Iceland - which meant that we all had a chance to meet him. I somehow didn´t remember to take a camera up when I visited him ... but my sister did..

Unnur and Skjóni in the early 70's. He was a great horse. I rode him from the sheep round up into town when I was 12. He so knew what he was doing.. ... and he wasn´t happy having me on his back - but he put up with it.

Now let me introduce you to my cousin Snoddass... See my uncle had no kids of his own - but he had a dog, and to me this dog was a relation and was addressed as such.. Snoddass frændi. Isn´t he just the best - you can see he is mensk... he knows.

When we got to Aus we at first were petless... but then we quickly got a cat - Sófus. named after my Unnur ammas cat in Iceland... she was basically Unnurs cat:

A very cat like cat. Knew what he wanted when he wanted it - he knew he was on a good thing at our house.

See that face - it takes no prisoners. Thankfully he accepted the fact that we were dog people so when Píla - the dog that belonged to Olga and Kristinn.... (elder) brought a stray home with her and they brought him to us.. Sófus said OK he can stay

The he was Taffi... the bestest friend a girl of 6 could have... can´t find a photo of us together then - although I do know one exists... so I am giving the pic that summarizes his existence - he ruled!

yep in bed with my sis... such a cutie Big and strong and hey - he was my hero always...

Even tonight mum and I were talking about when he had to be put down and again I cried... strange how we have such deep ties and emotions to our pets, going in knowing that they will live shorter lives than our own.
Now for some cats.... This one.. have no idea what its name was... but he was happy in my bowl in my semi dark forrestry bedroom circa 1977...

There was a very special cat in my brother Jon's life - he was always called Pús (as in pussy). Original yeh. Nevermind. Pús was a siamese and lived a lot longer than most siamese.. Such an independent cat... more cat than any cat I have ever known. When Jon and Loa went to Iceland Unnur looked after the cat... obviously at some stage they had all come to Maddington for a visit... Mum, ( I used discretion and took young naked Olga out of the picture) and Pús...

mum is crocheting with the cat on top of the blanket... Pús did what pús wanted to do.. A great cat..

At some stage Unnur gave us a cat. I think that this was after Taffi was put down. the cat did not take to me or ma... but it did take to dad - Dad called him Vinnur... (friend). he was such a ball of fluff...

More dogs... Unnur and Thor knew that at some stage a dog would have to be a part of their lives.... (hey - we are like that).... I don´t know how this particular animal came into their lives... but let me introduce you to Snoddass - yep #2 named in memory of the original Snoddass from Iceland... Only this one was about a foot and a half off the ground... but the sweetest dog I have ever known. He lived to a ripe old age, and I know he had the best of a dogs life with my sister and Thor. Snoddass and Taffi got on well too which helped matters alot, they sometimes ganged up on the cat which was not so good. (till Snoddass arrived Sofus had been head honcho).

Unnur and Thor have had lots and lots and lots of cats and also a few dogs.. and I think that they deserve a mention. Firstly, Magic - a black cat, Clumsy - a Garfield variety, Chicken licken which lead to Maclicken:

Such a cuty - she was not actually the product of Magic and Clumsy or chicken licken... but i could be wrong..- but she was the inheritor of cat position in the family.

Here is a nice little picture of a young Snoddass and a territorial Clumsy.

Since then Unnur and Thor have had the pleasure of having in their lives a number of rats, cats, dogs and chickens... for me the memorable one is ofcourse Misty a dog they got after their return to Aus in 1990- such a sweety. My brother Jon had pús, whilst my brother Hilmar stood by the sheps, Jedda and Dana (spelling probably soooo wrong.. They were both beautiful german shepherds and I know my nephews loved them dearly)... Now brother Hilmar has a new dog. called Conan yep the barbarian... let me introduce the beast

So cute - I have yet had the pleasure to meet him, but am sure that he is a hoot..

So to proceed to our current companions. Mum got Snodra for Anna when she came to stay in Iceland. She was soooo small and such a cuty.. but also knew what she wanted and what she could get away with.... breakfast for example:

Now she is all grown up and rules the roost at mums... Sort of .. her and Freyja have declared a truce, no friendship but a liveable relationship.

so it comes to my little princess the one that controls my life, and mums to a certain extent... Freyja.. queen of all she sees. Or rather if I cry and look pitiful - the humans will do as I demand.

I think that I need to end this with some bits of personal trivia. In Iceland I called a dog my relative, in Australia my best friend for over 10 years was a dog. He made my first years in Australia bearable, when I was being bullied at school I came home to him and knew that I had a friend. When he was put down it left a big hole in my life and I promised myself that one day I would have a dog again, but only when I was sure that I had a home to call my own. So the first thing I did when I came to Iceland was declare that I was going to get myself a dog. I had imagined a golden retriever or a lab or a german shepherd - ie a big dog.... but fate does what fate does.. mum met a bloke who had a dog that had just had a pup that he needed to find a home for. I said yes before setting eyes on her... and hey.. sometimes fate just does what it needs to do.

I think the next instalment needs to be the whiny sigga... there are so many photos of me with the rankest of faces....................