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....................