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.

A

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...