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.