Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind. ~Seneca

So there we were at the airport Tracy and I and some of our closest friends of the time, today we are still sort of in touch with Ellen on the left and Cilla on the far right... I really need to do a google search for Louise with the stunning yellow pants ensemble... She was on her way to be a model way back then - and was a fairly successful one for a while..

Anywho, to carry on the long and sorry/boring tale that is my life.. nah not really everyones life is interesting - at least to them.  So we flew off to London, where we went to the Y hotel and looked for the Icelandic agents that took people to work at fish factories.... Yep, that lasted about the 10 minutes of the interview, the jobs that we could get were in the far reaches of north east Iceland - so far away from anyone I knew.... we then went to Swindon to the arms of friends of the family of Tracy, they were great - we saw Bath, Stonehenge, Somerset, Cheddar, a great heritage village in Wales and the Cotswalds... Absolutely amazing - England really does have green and pleasant lands... 

After deciding that we were not cut out for the life of "normal" itinerant Australians and New Zealanders we decided to try our luck just going to Iceland and see what would happen... Here I need to take time out to thank my big brother and his wife for taking us in and for being so patient... It could not have been easy to take on two semi grown up teenage girls into the house ... what with the big B being on a ship most of the time and Sigga already having to deal with two young sons.  THANK YOU!!!  

But first... the immigration thing.  You see, we were only 17, actually not legally responsible according to Icelandic law... also, Tracy was Australian - had no rights to any sort of work permit - but we had sort of wrangled that - I had written to the head police guy who was then in charge of foreigners - aliens - and he sent me a letter to show to immigration on arrival - giving us special "dispensation", so that Tracy could enter the country and apply for work.  She had to go and get an xray to prove that she didn´t have tb and also to show up at the Office for foreigners to get a stamp in her passport.  We arrived at KEF and the guy in immigration asked as to step aside as he read the letter that I had... he said "this is all very much out of the ordinary.... tell me your story..." so I did, and he smiled and said - "hope it all goes well and really aren't you guys too young to be doing this?"  

(this is another reason why I loved this country so much - the red tape was not as red as it is now)

So, big brother and sister in law took us in and were far too good to us... We ended up working in a fish factory in Reykjavik - again thanks to the family network... Dad's cousin was the manager of a factory near the centre of Reykjavik - it now houses one of our banks.. yep ... it did have a really good location.  It only took a week for us to get the job and we lived in relative bliss, we spent the summer travelling around Iceland by bus, we even went to the westman Islands - where we had another adventure... our tent was destroyed by locals that were still getting over the festivities from the week before.  We again got special dispensation from the police and the local YHA  (we were only 17) to stay there while our tent was being repaired... again, an eye opening experience for us.  We had the opportunity to stay with my Afi in S´Krók - he still lived in the house that mum lives in now... my amma was up in the olds home at the hospital.. had wonderful moments with her and Sína an old friend of the family that was sort of like an amma for my mum, so she was super nice to me as a result.  

My cousins that I had met when I was 13 came to the rescue when Tracy and I needed a place to stay in Rvk.  Again, we had the most amazing time and learnt to live in a "communal" type set up.. how to set up a kitty - how to share the chores around the share house - all of that we learnt in Iceland..  They were the best of times, sometimes they were also the worst of times, we missed home a lot - our parents, our friends, but we also realised how important it was to have each other to depend on - and just how nice people can be when they want to be.  We learnt how to be hosts and how to accept help when you need it - and also - how lucky we were in our experiences.  We came home sometime around my 18th birthday in October....  we were happy to be home - but we were also wondering when we would ever have that same freedom again....

At the airport in Perth on arrival....

Adolescence is a period of rapid changes. Between the ages of 12 and 17, for example, a parent ages as much as 20 years. ~Author Unknown

Ah, the teenage years.  High School, that time of fun, learning, hormones and uncertainty.


I remember well my first day at High School, Tracy and I with our new uniforms and school bag, photos were taken both at my place and at hers.  We were starting on the road towards adulthood - well, we thought so, taking the bus with the other big kids, finding our way around the school, finding each other at lunch time... Our year was the biggest at Thornlie 420 of us - in first year, as a result there had to be two lunch breaks, which meant due to the way that the form classes were set down, Tracy and I did not actually have lunch at the same time.  This meant that we quickly had to find ourselves some new "best" friends...


That's not to say that we did not stay BFF - 'cos we were and we would be.... it just meant we had to find other folk to eat lunch with - for the first year at least.  Because the school had a fairly large catchment area we met lots of knew people with a variety of backgrounds... All good in my opinion.


The teen years are always full of anxt, getting to know new people - finding a place in a bigger social group, meeting people that I had not seen since grade 2 - amazingly enough Jacky remembered me - it was probably the name and ofcourse my face really hasn't changed all that much.


During the first year of high school I got to go on the first of my long holidays to Iceland.  Mum and I went in August and came back in November - I still managed to get ok marks for that first year of school - I think in those days schools and teachers were far more flexible in their approach to time off - especially if it was to see the world - or at least a small part of it.  My holiday in Iceland is subject enough for a post of its own so I won't go into it here, nevertheless, it changed me a lot, not only physically - I put on heaps of weight, but also mentally in knowing how much my dad meant to me (he did not come with us and I missed him sooo much),  and also in getting to know my eldest brother again.  The getting to know one another was limited - but my view of him and our relationship as siblings changed.  I also got the chance to get to know cousins that would become my greatest friends, without that trip I doubt that I would have ended up here today.  It was the first seed of what would become a need to keep coming back and re-building on those friendships and the love that I have for this country.


The next years of high school were fraught with all the anxieties that a young teenage girl has, the first kiss, the first dance - with a boy - the almost boyfriend and then the friendships that were and are such an important part of my life.  All the problems of the girlfriends with their boyfriends - acting as the go-between,  trying to help them sort themselves out, the long long phone calls after school every day - as if we hadn't talked long enough during the day!  I would hate to think what it is like today with sms and mobile phones, facebook and all the rest.  The learning was fine and most of the time fun, apart from English in years 11 and 12, but hey, you couldn't always have the best teachers.  I did a fairly heavy maths, chem, physics combo with English and Geography as the fun stuff.  Needless to say the test results showed that the fun stuff was the stuff that mattered the most...


During our growing up years Tracy and I made a pact that we would go to Iceland together when we finished High School.  Tracy quit after year 10 and went to work in child care.  I continued on and finished - and knew that once the finals were done that Tracy and I would get on that plane and go to Iceland.  Thinking back on it now I realise how much our parents trusted both us and the world.  In February 1980 Tracy and I flew to London......We were 17.....

It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home. ~Author Unknown

Our home in Australia was to be on Banach Street in Maddington, a four bedroom brick home built by Jennings, (or at least I think that is the name of the company), it was one of a standard of 10 variations that were being done at the time, in every street in every new suburb in the late 60's you would find a copy of this house.  It had jarrah wood flooring, a fire place a pink bathroom.  


My parents did their best to make this the best of homes, a place where we all felt safe and secure and happy.


Our first years were probably extremely difficult - but in my naivety I was blissfully unaware.  Unnur secured the smallest room - that way ensuring that she did not have to share with me - my brothers each got a room of their own, so mum and dad had a single bed in the big room where I slept.


Eventually my siblings started to move out one by one.  First was Himmi - he joined the army at the age of 16.  Unnur and Thor moved out together, first I think to his folks home in Marmion and later to a flat in Claremont.  Unnur was doing a teachers degree at Claremont.  Lóa who was to become my brother Jon's wife moved in to Hilmars room so it was a few years before a I got a room of my own.  Once they all left, got married etc.  I had the run of the house - I think that I lived in every room in that house.  Ending with the biggest room.... as one does as the youngest of the house hold.


As you can see this rendition of the past is all about me - I won't go into the love and romantics of my siblings - that's their job to do.  I can only say that from my point of view I was happy with all their choices... I was ofcourse happiest in knowing that the castle that was our home - was becoming in time - all mine..


My first two years of school in Aus were at Gosnells primary school a full 5k walk from our home.  My poor brother Hilmar had to drag me to school in the first year.  In the second year - he had a bike and either I got a dinky or was left to make it on my own.  I can not say that these were the happiest years of my life.  No, I think I can safely say they were the most miserable.  I did make some friends there though - one girl in particular - Jacky was quite nice to me and tried to be a friend... but I never fitted in.  So, when the time came and the boundaries were changed and I was moved to Maddington I was very very happy...   It was a new start - I could start afresh and find my own friends on my own terms... no longer the eskimo from Iceland with the name that no one could pronounce.


My years at Maddington were excellent... I found a friend that would be my friend for ever - Tracy Lee, she lived down the road from me and she also started as a newby in Maddington in that same year.  To her and her family I owe a great deal of debt - they were my door to Australian society - to understand or at least get to know Australian culture - so different from ours.  Through them I got a better understanding of what it was to be a "digger", both of Tracy's grandfathers had served in the War, one in the Pacific the other in Europe, her Gag was taken prisoner in Crete and her Gramps was on the Kokoda Trail. As an Icelander we had no real understanding of the war nor did we understand Anzac Day - through them I sort of got an understanding of why this day was so important to them, the family and Australians as a whole.  I will never pretend that I truely understand it - but I got an idea and I learnt to respect it.


Tracy´s dad had a motor bike shop and he sponsored and helped some up and coming motorcross stars - that was always fun - going away on weekend trips with them in the caravan - to Southern Cross, Manjimup and other places where motorcross rallies were being held - such fun - so different.  I never became a petrol head  - nor did I ever want to ride a motorcycle - but wow what fun and what an experience.


At Maddington I would also meet the people that would remain my friends for life, Jeff, Dom and Guy,  we weren´t the best of friends then, but through the years our friendship would cement into one of those where you know that should you see each other again - it would be just like yesterday.... At Maddington I would also encounter the one person that I would always be disdainful of... a cheat at the age of 12 and would remain so forever.  Funny that he would marry the only girl that I had ever bullied - not a happy memory - am still disgusted in myself for what I did to her and yet...


Ah primary school years - when you really shouldn't have worry in the world... yet I did.  It was then that I first became aware of the raciscm inherent in our society.  I had a number of friends that were Aboriginals, I liked them a lot - but did we stay in touch - nah - did our friendship extend to high school - nah, the system in it's way helped to ensure that we the "white" kids started to look at them as inferior - or trouble makers or something... I still haven't gotten my head around how or what the changes were - they just were.... Not a nice thing to remember..................

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine

To continue from where I left off....


On the 10th of February 1968, a family of six went off on a journey into the unknown.  My parents had decided to try a new life in a country almost as far away as it was possible to get from the small village in the North West of Iceland.


Both my parents had health problems, my mum had been the subject of experimental ear surgery in Denmark when I was two years of age, the result was not good, instead of improving her hearing she was left with a scar that would never heal and would always be infected or having "fungus" growing inside the ear canal.  Not nice and Icelands cold weather was not helping things.  Dad had an allergy for something, that could not be determined, so he would either get swollen lips, tongue or feet.  The doctors had advised (probably quite flippantly) that a change in climate would do them good.  Mum was into that - Canada, Norway, Sweden... whatever... but dad - he thought further afield.  Australia was advertising for semi skilled labour.  If you came they would reimburse the fair.  Mum says she didn't take dads suggestion seriously until it was too late to turn around.  So, being the resourceful woman that she is - she got in touch with an Icelandic woman already living in Australia - in Perth.  This first contact would be extremely important in the future of our family.  The woman that she wrote to became my sister's mother in law, my nieces grandmother - whose name she shares.


So on that fateful day we left Sauðárkrók by plane - it was the milk run so we went to Akureyri first before going to Reykjavík, this meant that we were also able to say goodbye to my father´s oldest sister - who still lives in Akureyri... but that's another story...   It was snowing alot that night (another of the few memories that I have).  We stayed in Reykjavik with mum's youngest sister and I remember my cousin Hrönn taking me down the road to the icecream shop on the corner.. The best icecream I ever had - and this icecream shop was still there in 79 when I worked in a fish factory just around the corner.


Needless to say the family in Iceland was not impressed with what we were doing, my siblings were subjected to all sorts of pressures from the relatives - especially my fraternal grandparents.  This move was particularly hard on my sister - she was at the tender age of 14.  People I meet now still talk about her confirmation - she was confirmed on her own in the church - some likened it to a funeral... her final farewell.


I think I have already mentioned this before - but Australian immigration required that the family be interviewed by the British consul in Reykjavik - everyone went - but me... the consul had to say that he had seen all the kids and as I wasn´t there had to have some proof that I was ok... ie would not be a burden on Australia... the solution - he knew the local vet in the area and trusted him... so I got a vet certificate to say that there was nothing wrong with me....


So, off we went on a plane to London.... where I saw people of colour for the first time in my life - yet another memory - sitting in the window sill at the hotel counting the people below that weren't white.... Not politically correct - but exactly what a young person would do when faced with something that they had never ever seen before.  I remember seeing the queens jewels at the tower of London, I don´t remember the zoo - although I have seen the photos, I remember eating at the YMCA and seeing the Sound of Music at the biggest movie theatre that I have ever ever been in.


We went by train from London to Southampton, where we boarded the Angelina Lauro for our journey to Fremantle in Western Australia... The trip was a nightmare for a 5 year old child, the smell of minestrone still stays with me - it's a soup that reminds me of dread and always always makes me feel ill.  It was for dinner almost every day on the ship (for the kids), we also got spaghetti with meat balls (two meat balls if you were lucky - but usually only one), I remember mothers screaming at their children to make them eat their soup.... I also remember that mum made sure that I never had to eat mine.  As I was under 12 I was not allowed to eat with the family in the main dining area... so usually I sat crying on the steps outside the window until I got smuggled in and hid under the table.  The waiter at our table apparently cried No bambino, no bambino!!! whenever I was spotted.... this became his name...   I made no friends on this trip - far too many clever athletic children that could do cartwheels, I could do an apple turnover... pretty pathetic.  The boat also had a movie theatre and if I remember an empty swimming pool... it wasn´t nice.  However, we were privileged... our family got to stay in a suite rather than in bunk accommodation in the nether regions....


We arrived in Fremantle on the 21st of March, to meet us at the dock were Olga and Kristinn and Tryggvi, Trygg took me and Himmi and bought us a drumstick, Unnur was to meet Thor later.....


We lived our first two weeks in a flat, then moved to our new house at easter.... it was a very cold autumn in Perth, the coldest in a long long time - did we have any of our woollens, eiderdowns or other winter things with us - why no - we were moving to a warmer climate... I don't think any of us have ever felt as cold ever.... I still wonder now what went through my dad's mind those first months in Australia - his job was over 30 kms from where we lived - I walked 5kms to school everyday... my mother had to go out to work.  My brother got a job in a factory and had to talk for the whole family  -  he took on so much responsibility in those early years - including handing over his pay packet to mum every week in order to feed the family... In so many ways I am so happy that I was an ignorant 5 year old, I gave everyone else a hard time - but had the excuse of not knowing any better.... to my parents, my sister and my brothers - I am so so sorry for being the pain that I was in those first difficult months..............................

You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right. ~Maya Angelou

This blogging every day thing is going to be a bit problematic... What to write about when every day is almost exactly the same as the day before... I wake up, think about getting up... for a long time... then finally when mum calls drag myself out of bed, get dressed and head to her place for breakfast and that all important first cup of coffee.


A very short walk to work, turn the computer on - wait for it to heat up - so a little bit of work, break for coffee, lunch at mums between 12 and 1, then back to work and depending on the pressures of the day.. back home again usually before 5pm, go and shop, if nothing has been planned the previous night for dinner, cook dinner, watch the news, watch tv, go on the net and then to bed.. ready for another start to the day.. Some of this is ofcourse interspersed with washing, walking the dog, dishes etc - you know the general dull every day sort of stuff...


So given that this is what life is - I asked Olga for inspiration - after all she hinted on the challenge that I decided to accept.  Apparently the idea for today on that website that is there to inspire daily webloggers is where were you born, how far away is it from where you live today and how did you get there?.  


Well..... I was born on the hospital up on the hill.... It's probably about a kilometre away from my house.  How I got to where I am today is a long long long journey, a fun one, and would take far to much time but maybe, bits of it will be the bits that I use to fill up this coming month of what will no doubt be the most boring blog in the world - all about me me me me me... and maybe a few of the people that I have met along the way.  So perhaps this will be my March theme.  My life in a nutshell... hmmm... yep gonna be dull


So.... on the 13th of October 1962, I was forcefully brought into the world, with the help of induction drugs, forceps and whatever else was available to folk back in those days, in the hospital up on the hill.  Apparently I was 2 weeks over due, mum was fed up and begged to be induced.  They relented and I was born - a very very large baby, with long black hair and long fingernails.  I have a photocopy of the hospital records for my birth - which also show all the drugs that mum was given, but no time of birth - and so all my star charts are always wrong as I am not sure that mum in her drugged out state actually really can remember the time....


I was the tail end of a family that already consisted of three boys and a girl.. the youngest by 6 years... My eldest brother was 12 and probably thought that enough was enough already... 


I have very few memories of my first five years of life and I am not sure if the memories are mine or ones I have created from all the stories that I heard growing up.. I know that I had quite a few accidents that resulted in head injuries of one sort or another - most involving lots of blood, stitches and Bjarni Har (from the shop across the road) driving me and mum up to the hospital on the hill for stitches.   


I think I was a fairly happy child here in the hood, had my friends that I probably bossed around, I had a cousin that was a dog called Snoddas, elder siblings that had to look after me and family (of the human variety) all around me.  I have memories of this house that I live in now, my sister and I shared a room and one distinct memory I have is of her and her best friend eating jarred baby food  - banana - and I so wanted some - but did they share with me - nah.... strange the things that stick in your mind.  I also remember the róló - the playground that is just behind my house, it's still there - and I look forward to taking Henry there when he grows up.  I promise though that when I teach him to swing I won't let go and see him flying off to hit his head on a rock.....(trip number 1 to the hospital)....


I think that this will do for now.... have all of March to bore you with more reminiscing......

Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets. ~Arthur Miller

Ok... so lets see how this goes, I have taken up the gauntlet thrown down by Olga and will try to write something everyday in this month of March..... like most of my diaries and calenders I think that it will last - well maybe a week.


So todays quote is the result of a conversation I had with mum after dinner tonight, it's one we have had on and off for over 25 years... why did my parents move to Australia and was it the wrong decision.


I remember the first time that this came up in conversation.  I was in the back seat of the car on the way home from my sister and brother in laws' place in Padbury, a place that was then on the farthest NW outskirts of Perth, it was over an hours drive from their place to ours so often there were a lot of philosophical discussions about this that and the other.  I used to tune out most of the time - but on this occasion as we were approaching Wanneroo rd I remember dad saying to mum " did I do the wrong thing making us coming here?"  I think I was about 14 years of age, this question from dad came as a bit of a surprise, as we never really discussed this - well I hadn't been aware of this being discussed before.  I think that mum was like dad - maybe missing Iceland and feeling that life might have been different for us if we had never gone to Perth.  One of my brothers was in the army living on the east coast, the other had worked in a factory from the time we arrived and was married, studying and working hard, my sister and her husband were probably struggling to make ends meet... me I was a painful youngest child in the early stages of teenage angst and probably always gave them a hard time with my set ideas about finishing high school and going back to Iceland....  


I remember feeling that this was wrong - they should not be having regrets about the move... life was good, my siblings were all happily married - doing their best to make a life for themselves, yeh sure I was a pain and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life (apart from finishing high school and going to Iceland)... so my basic reaction was to say - Well... had we never left Iceland you know that I would be a single teenage mum. Yep, I was convinced that had we stayed in S'krók I would have had a child before the age of 16, why? no idea, it was just the way that I viewed Icelanders of my age and how I would have fitted in.  I am so grateful for the fact that my parents were as courageous as they were, moving to the other side of the world, not speaking english and basically going out into the unknown.  Mum said that she didn't think it was courage - more stupidity - I don't buy into that.


Tonights conversation ended up revolving around the fact that had they not moved to Australia the beautiful people that are my nieces and nephews may never have existed.. which to me would have been a major tragedy...  Life is what life is - one should never have regrets or if you have to have regrets (which, again, I don't believe anyone should) then hope that they are the right regrets....  Maybe I regret not being a teenage mum - but I reckon I make a better aunt than mother.

A person doesn't know how much he has to be thankful for until he has to pay taxes on it. ~Author Unknown

No photos, no real news... but felt a need to do a post.


The last week or so has been full, workwise, partywise, lifewise....


Work - it's tax time for farmers.  The July to December value added tax returns had to be completed by the 1st of March, now we will be getting into full swing with the tax returns, beginning with individual tax returns, then farmers returns then company returns along with annual reports and other stuff.... Writing this I realise I have become the most boring person in the world - the person that I most dreaded becoming - an accountant... without the degree or the education and with very little interest in the whole thing...  - It's all not bad though - I have the greatest of clients that are doing a wonderful job creating food for our tables.  The others I deal with are also amazing - a fisherman, a block of flats for the elderly, a small film production company, a book, the historical centre for the Icelandic Horse, an equestrian centre and ofcourse the books for the company that I am working for - an advisory centre for the farmers in our district.... I am blessed in the variety of work that I am involved in.


Party - Friday night my cousin's daughters boyfriend finished his masters in Geology, so she had a family get together at their place - yummy food and great company, I always enjoy spending time with them.  His thesis was about the use of volcanic areas as tourism destinations (a rather liberal view of what it was actually about), but I think that his ideas from the thesis are being picked up by our environment minister - heard a quote where she was talking about the potential in geothermal areas for more tourism and eco related activities as well as utilising the energy in the areas.  Saturday was the annual get together of the Environmental centre for North West Iceland (I am a glorified chairman of the board), the local museum and the heritage office.... I have attended these every year as the "partner" of my favourite archeologist attached to the museum - this year as glorified chairman....  Was a good night - I made sushi and tempura for entre, the environmental office head (and his wife) made a goulash soup and dessert was provided by the heritage office - a yummy cheesecake... after which we drank more and sang and sang and sang..... This was then followed by me going out with a third cousin - once removed... was a long long night.


Life - is good.  With all that has been going on at work I have had to depend on Olga heaps to do the cooking or the shopping or both.... I am so blessed in my life - especially having her and Ross here, they are making life that much easier for me and I don't think that I tell them often enough how much I appreciate them stepping in for me - whether it's for walking the dog, doing the shopping, driving mum, cooking the food, providing me with entertainment and company etc etc etc... thanks guys - I really do appreciate it!  Also, to Vicki - the best friend a Freyja could ever have!  


It started snowing again tonight and as its not that cold the snow is really slushy and wet - great for making a snowman - if only I had the energy........


Have a great week people .. it's March already!!  So much to do, so little time... why oh why does time fly so quickly after 40?

A clean house is the sign of a boring person. ~Author Unknown

I think the title says it all.

I have been so slack on the cleaning side of things for quite a while now - probably since before Christmas and I had basically come to the point where I just did not know where to start - particularly in the bathroom.  The floors were absolutely disgusting, the bath being the tub that it is makes it very difficult to clean around, then as the floor is still basically rough cement - still waiting for final "decking" project. the dirt /dust /dog hairs were filling in all the crevices ... so what else was there to do:

I painted the bathroom floor.

I think it is a significant improvement... A bit too much blue at the moment - but hey - the theme is maritime-ish... Hopefully I will be a little bit more diligent in cleaning the floor in the future - I am not holding my breath over this.

In other news, Olga took over from me in the sheep book keeping department - another job I had been procrastinating over... Now it is done and Andrés can figure out which rams are duds.  The ewes were ultra-sounded on saturday to see how many lambs were due each ewe, and it seems that the fertility rates were not up to expectation.

What else, now is the busiest time at work, value added tax returns for farmers followed by general tax returns followed by company tax returns, plus company annual general meetings etc etc etc... so dull and boring - but is what makes the bread and butter of my life.

On a political front the president has sent the Icesave bill to referendum - which is a good thing.  The people of Iceland got to vote on the last agreement and it is only right that they vote on this one.  To me this one is far better than the previous, but each and every person has to decide whether they are willing to risk the European court to decide as to the final outcome - I am pleased to be able to have my say and at this stage I feel inclined to agree to the current agreement - although I do not feel that the general Icelandic public should have to pay for a handful of people who thought that they could "beat the system", I just know that the Brits and Dutch will not remain patient forever.... then again, maybe we should test the legal system and then live with the outcome.  Either way I will be satisfied with the vote result.  This is really what democracy should be about and not a constitutional committee parliament set up to discuss the constitution...  It's the practical here and now not the philosophical maybes and what ifs that count.

So my friends - heres to another wonderful week in your lives.  Whatever happens good or bad - it is sooo good to be alive and to see the sun rise - in my case - earlier and earlier every day!

Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing. ~William James

The wine master at work.  This batch is rather good, possibly a little too good.  A few bottles were consumed last night at a combined family Þorrablót.

 This time my cousins Jóhanna and Herdís combined forces and invited the families to join us in a feast of salted and smoked meat, rotten shark, sheeps heads and dried fish.  Jóhanna is my cousin on my father's side (dads eldest brothers daughter) and Herdís is my cousin on my mum's side (the daughter of one of my mums younger sisters)

 The food table with mum and Jóhanna in deep discussion...

 The Akrar family - somehow managed to cut Sirrí in two... sorry....

 Vicki put on a brave face and came to meet the people rather than eat the food!

 Maggi and Olga.  Maggi is probably the only one in the family that actually really really likes this food!

 And ofcourse once the food was eaten, drinks drunk, songs sung, someone has to tidy up - they did such and amazing job - a great night and I think the start of a new tradition.

Maggi having a good sniff of the rotten shark - as you can see there was quite a bit left....
This week is the last week of Þorri - then the month of Góa starts with Konu dagur - the day of women.... I like Góa.  It also means that winter is on it's way out.


Have a great week everyone!

There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them. ~Vicki Baum

Dancing will be my theme for the month.  


There has been a lot going on here in the fjord - it's rotten food time so we have been to two Þorrablót and another will be happening this weekend.


As you gathered I fell off the bus after the first Þorrablót - where I danced and danced and danced.  Two weeks later we had the town fest and although I was walking like an old lady with a very bad hip problem I still managed to dance and dance and dance - and had a wonderful time... So strange, that I can dance - but I can't walk.  Maybe I should just try to dance to work - then it might not hurt so much.


I am going to let this blog entry be a bit of a ramble...


 I am wondering about how others feel about dancing - I know that Vicki likes to dance at home - but not in public... I know my mum loves to dance - but the opportunities for 83 year olds to go dancing are limited, as are the opportunities for 48 year olds... we need to get a team together to head out into the public arena... Dancing at home is fine - but not the same (well for me anyway).  


When looking for a quote for injury the dance quote came up and with them a number of quotes from Nietzsche - never would I have associated him as a dance man - wasn't he the one that said that God was dead...


I will leave you with what he said:


I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.  ~Friedrich Nietzsche


Dancing in all its forms cannot be excluded from the curriculum of all noble education; dancing with the feet, with ideas, with words, and, need I add that one must also be able to dance with the pen?  ~Friedrich Nietzsche


And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.  ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche


I do not know what the spirit of a philosopher could more wish to be than a good dancer.  For the dance is his ideal.  ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche


I think that I need to read some Nietzsche... a man that knows.....

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. ~Japanese Proverb

Been a busy week, Vicki has gotten herself quite settled in the pósthús, and we all went there for a yummy dinner last Friday.

 Þorrablót last night with Andres and Ásdís - great fun - lots of food and singing and dancing...

 Soooo much food.

 Unnurs plate of yumminess

 Me and Ásdís

 Me and Ásdís again - this time at the emergency room at the hospital - somehow I managed to fall out of the bus instead of using the stairs - figured flying was something I could do - well I was wrong.... No major damage done though - a hole in the head and sore hips and legs.... and damaged pride and ego....

My darling sister left us today for the big trip back to Aus.  This has been the best of times.  Love her so much and will miss her heaps, just as well she's coming back in June.

How do people make it through life without a sister? ~Sara Corpening

Just a few left over photos from Christmas - you see it's all been taken down... BIG sadface...  (I tell a lie - I have left the lights up - they will come down when it is still light outside when I am eating dinner)

 There was a bit of snow here last week (or was it the week before... time is flying far too fast)

 Had a great lazy weekend with my wonderful big sister and my cousin Jóhanna.  We spent it at a chalet in the middle of the fjord (near Varmahlíð - for those with maps and in the know) This was dinner on Saturday night, Jóhanna cooked stuffed chicken breasts with potatoes - the night before I cooked pasta in a pepper cream sauce)

 Unnur and Jóhanna both knit - I have as yet resisted this past time - I know that one day I will pick up the needles - but I am trying very hard not to get hooked into this - every woman around me at the moment does not leave the house without wool and needles..... The other thing that was done on the weekend (apart from eat and sleep) was to do a 1000 piece jigsaw - a past time I have never understood - but guess what I was doing late on Saturday afternoon......

 This is the house we had for the weekend - extremely nice, warm and well decked out - complete with hot pot that none of us could be bothered sorting out - next time..... Oh and it's super cheap too through my local union... Check out the blue sky!

 Tonight, when we got back to S'krók it was time to go to my cousins daughters - Þórdís' place for a family gathering - yummy mexican chicken soup!

 The cousins children's children.  A lovely bunch of kids they are...

This is one super great family.

This time next week my sister will be panicking about her forthcoming trip back to Aus.  She leaves monday week.  I will really really really miss her - we have had the best of times... Still, it won't be long before she is back again - with her lovely husband Thor!  Then Olga will be having the little boy that she and Ross will be the very very proud parents of!  Can't wait.... I get to be a great aunt literally and figuratively (well, I hope they will allow me to spoil the child and make the child wild.... - perhaps I should not be mentioning this at this early stage in its' development... hmm... or perhaps I will be too old to do too much damage....)

Fireworks!!!!

This is from New Years Eve - Enjoy!!

The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches. ~e.e. cummings

Not very legible - but its a snow day in Iceland... all those red roads are closed for business... arrows on their own mean really really bad weather, an arrow above a snow flake = blizzard.....

The roads are still passable in Skagafjordur, but the roads over the mountains to the west and east are both closed... God I love this place!

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits. ~Author Unknown

Ah Christmas... what a wonderful time of year... ma and I having a discussion on something that must be important - afterall I have my hands on my hips....   Twas a good time - notice the new addition to the wine accessories... a wooden Ikea box wine stand - no home is complete without one...

 To alleviate and help take away some of the excess Olga, Ross and I went to Tunga to de-worm some sheep and take note of which sheep were with which ram... Twas good.... As usual Ross did all the hard work whilst Olga and I indulged in sheep book keeping.

 Sister Unnur arrived and with her more presents.  Ross got this amazing hat from Kerry... 

 As a part of Christmas / New Year tradition, Unnur and I (and Olga) went up to the cemetery and lit another candle at Dad's grave.  As you can see it was rather cold...

 Dinner on New Year's eve.  The usual suspect minus mum.... she deserted us for Rvk, my face is totally over exposed or rather - I could be a bit part actor in twilight or tru blood  -  I totally have the skin colour for it now.

 After the fire works.... 

 The latest fashion in footwear in Iceland - in minus temps - my sister wearing thongs with socks.... and she walked through snow!

Guðný and I ended up at my cousin Rúna Birna's with a few other strays.....

The major news in the new Year is that Vicki has finally got her post house!!!! She tells the story best herself so I recommend that you have a look at her blog - Vicki the Viking... on my blogroll.  I wish her all the best in her endeavours and look forward to new developments in 2011.

and then today we experienced proper weather - big blizzard - so the best place to be is indoors looking out!


Wishing everyone a very very happy 2011 and hoping that all our dreams come true - or at least the ones that do us good do!

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

 This one is a tad strange - can't quite figure out what the big light is below the moon... unless it was a flake of snow.. The full moon was amazing here, and to add to it all there was also an eclipse of the moon - we missed it as it was cloudy and snowy here.. Still - full moons are the best.

 In my cousins shop you get the old mixed with the new... the latest thing available is a wallet that allows you to choose which card to use with which occasion with the press of a button - very smart... but I think I like the old fellows to the right more.

 My wonderful niece doing the final touches to her first ever complex knitting project - a jumper for Ross...  Amazingly well done ofcourse..

 Christmas eve and we went up to the cemetery to lay wreaths on the graves.  Twas very busy up there - the weather was ideal.  No wind and not that cold.  It really is a beautiful and peaceful place to be.

 Mum went and visited the "old" people that she reads to up at the hospital, I used the opportunity to walk the dog and take a few snaps.  Such a nice day.

Overly cute couple....

Ross, can I get you to move a little to the left so you can be in the photo..... Sure Sigga....

 So - do I have a neck????

 Well, obviously not in this jumper - but it is soooo nice... Mum knitted me a new lopa peysa.. and I love it !!!!  Must do something about the dress....

 Ross was showing that he was a mans man or something like that (no .... I just caught him with his shirt off - as you do on Christmas eve...)

 We are all relaxed and happy - twas a very pleasant Christmas.

 Tonight on Christmas day night mums cat checking out the action on the main street...

 Freyja wanting to further inspect the new dog in the neighborhood.

Home again.....