I find in old age that it's possible to revisit the past, the one requirement being that you come as you are. ~Robert Brault

No pictures this post.  I forgot my camera...

So much has been happening in the last week or so.  Mum and Unnur have gone - are now on their way to Perth WA.  Nicko and Mary are probably getting ready or have already started their dog sledding tour of northern Sweden.  I went to Rvk on a visit with the minister for the environment, visited parliament and waited whilst the signing of the new agreement for flights to Sauðárkrók was taken care of.

This last weekend was a mixture of highs and lows.  Saying goodbye is always hard - even if one knows that we will be seeing one another in just a few months time.  Then there was a Þorrablót á Skaga... twas mighty good fun.  It's also the time when I get to sleep under a 100% eider down duck doona... so so so good. (ah lotto... it has to happen soon...  where we stay is a nesting ground for the eider duck so they collect feathers and create the most amazing doonas)

Going to work today was good, plenty of work to be done and deadlines looming - just how I like it.

Political life is getting into a higher gear - election year for the Parliament, lots happening on the local level as well.  So life will certainly be busy for the next few months.

In other news, I booked my flights to Australia tonight...  Am leaving London on the 17th of March, arriving in Perth on the 18th.  Coming back with mum on the 8th of April.  Who would have thought that it would be twelve years before I went back..  When I left I had thought yeh, maybe ten.... but now due to changes at work and general circumstances in life - the timing is perfect.

Oh and yes, Iceland got a good decision from the European court... we don't have to pay extra for the ICESAVE fiasco.... it seems though that all will get their money - they just won't get the interest that they were demanding.   It will be so nice to know that this won't be news fodder for years to come.

take care folks... and if you are in Perth at the end of March, beginning of April... get in touch!

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. ~Hal Borland

 Yes, I know - it's been a while.... the above photo was taken on New Years Day!  or shortly thereafter.  Happy New Year folks, hope that the start of 2013 has been as good for you as it has been for me.

Árni and I went to Reykjavik to help his daughter move into a small apartment - she is finishing her hairdressing apprenticeship - has a few courses left at school to do.  Ofcourse, we weren't alone in this - her mum and brother were there as well as an aunt and uncle (mother's side) were there to give a helping hand.

We used the opportunity to enjoy what Reykjavik has to offer - ie another choice of restaurant.   We went to Hereford with Árni's sister, brother-in-law and mum.

 Twas very nice.

 After dinner we did what you do in Reykjavik - a pub crawl... at the last bar we caught up with some old friends of Árni's....  it was actually really really informative - the girl/woman/lady (none of those terms is right... what do you call a person of a certain age who is no longer young but more interesting than just "woman"??) anywho... she is an Icelandic/Bahama mix - her Icelandic is so much better than mine - my excuse is that she was here most summers!  Anyway - a lovely person!

 Here is Henry in his lang lang afi's hat (great great grandad Jón owned the hat - Henry really likes it)

 And then he told his mum all about how big something was... or how much he loves his amma!

 The highlight in the last couple of weeks is that Nicholas arrived with his lovely girlfriend / partner Mary....  So nice... more photos (from Unnur at the end of this post).  My brother Hilmar ... no actually all my siblings have the most wonderful children... they were great as kids but even more stupendous as adults.   I feel privileged to be a part of their lives - a maiden aunt is a good thing to be.

 Henry and the hat..... So good!

 Last weekend was spent in Akureyri with the cousins - the daughters of Bjössi, Olga, Unnur, me and Eyrún - Bjössi's daughter in law.  Talk about a relaxing and enjoyable time - if you consider shopping relaxing - no seriously - shopping with these guys is FUN.... (again more photos to follow - or on Flickr or fb)

 We spent some time on skype the other night with my brother Hilmar - he is no longer on fb... so he depends on this blog for updates - silly him!  Still twas good to catch up with him - face to face via the interwebs

 The "summer" house that we had in Akureyri had a hot tub... a must!  My cousin Gugga and Unnur - enjoying the warmth after the shopping expedition.

 The "summer" house. and Olga

 Me and sis - ready for our night out in Akureyri.

 Unnur and Olga - the bestests of folk!

 We went to our Aunt Auður's place - she turns 92 in April.... I think all of us are in agreement that we want to be just like her in our old age!  (she is amazing... totally not 92 in mind or spirit!)

 Going home... such great weather... but hey folks it's not over... Unnur's photos to come:

 A family photo... from the back left... Þórunn (Aunt Auður's daughter), Jóhanna, Gugga, Sigga, Olga, Unnur, Guðný and front Auður and mum

 Don't know what was going on here...

 Nicholas and Mary went up to Tunga to visit my uncles..  Andres was in Reykjavik but Þóri was home.

 Had to have a Henry photo.... this one shows just how much he loves his amma Unnur.

 The riding trip... all on board and ready to go... see fb for the video.. (sorry himmi - you will have to ask Jacqui to show it to you!)

 All out of order... but here we are about ready to leave the house in Akureyri.

and here they are returning from their riding expedition.

So that's it folks the last three weeks in a nutshell.  Fun, hectic, lots of catching up with the nicest people.  Today was spent at home meeting with the political party folk, tomorrow work, meeting then þorrablót with the family... (yep that time of year again).  Thursday meeting in Reykjavik with the Minister for the Environment, Saturday mum and Unnur and Nicholas and Mary leave us for Rvk... Sunday they fly in different directions.. mum is going with my sister to Aus and Nicko and Mary to Sweden to go on a dog sledding tour.  Looks like I will be coming to Aus folks... mid March - leaving 8 April with mum......  Stay tuned.

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

 Hope that you have all had a fantastic Christmas time, I have!  It begins as usual with a trip up to dad to leave a candle on his grave on Christmas Eve.  I miss him so much, it seems amazing that next year it will be 20 years since he left us.

 Had the Aussies over for Christmas Eve dinner - Vicki, her sisters Kerry and Donna, Kerry's man Steve, and Donna's daughter Bella - along with ma, Olga, Ross and the main man Henry!  I think that they enjoyed themselves - I know I did.  The day started with the rice pudding at 4, then mum and I went to church at 6 and then the meal just after 7 and then

 Presents!.... Henry helped in handing them out - did an excellent job!

 I went for a late evening walk with Freyja - there was not a soul on the streets.  So peaceful - so beautiful.

 The last few days have seen a massive storm hitting the west coast of the country, the westfjords have been particularly hard hit - with some homes without electricity for the last 40 hours, hopefully this will be fixed before tomorrow night.

 But the snow makes the town even more beautiful.

 All the fishing trawlers are home for the holidays - something I think is so important - that the family has this time together.  That the fishing can wait till after the new year.

 So as the fisherfolk are home they have a mini Christmas do.  I got invited this year - twas a good night - but I do not have the stamina that I once had.  Andri Kára and Gísli Þór provided musical entertainment whilst Eiki was mc, main music man and stand up.

 Tonight - or rather today is Olga's 29th B´day, she invited us all over for curry - yummy!!!!  Nina was delightful - as usual. Henry was almost edible in his sweetness and cuteness - made sure that we all got a little bit of Henry time.

 So good, family - it's the best....

And to top the evening off - my sister arrived!!!!  No photo as the camera battery had died - promise to post again very soon!
Love and hugs to you all!  and a joyous New Year.

Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance - each beautiful, unique and too soon gone. ~Deborah Whipp

OK it's been a while.... but we had snow... snow is an excuse for everything... here is the proof - the mountains of snow that have been scraped off the streets and taken to sites like the one by the harbour. 

 This sailing boat is going no where in the near future.  In other news my cousin Jóhanna's daughter Rúna Birna and her partner Helgi Páll christened their son.... Rúrik Helgason.... A wonderful name for a beautiful little boy.  The picture below is of Jóhanna the proud amma holding him with Helgi Páll just making sure that everything is ok.  The church was decked out with Christmas - and to make things even better it was Jóhanna's 60th birthday.

 To celebrate both the christening and the birthday the family got together for a great feast of coffee and cakes and other stuff...  Here are my cousin Rúnar's daughter Þórdís and Jóhanna's eldest Steina....  Such good looking and wonderful women.

 Both sides of the family were there ofcourse, but the wonderful thing about this small place is that the connections are multi-faceted...  Mum is talking to Gunni Valgarðs.... he and I share a common great grandmother on my mother's side.  His wife is Helgi Páll's sister..... Rúna Birna is related to me through my father... the circle is complete.

 Jóhanna's cake... marzipan... yummmm

 I tried to take some night shots. . . but am still learning how to use my new camera.... but as you can see the cross is lighting the night sky above the town.   It's a view that I will always find peace and solace in.

 Most folk have started to put lights out - in windows, on trees, around houses.  This time of darkness calls the inner need to put lights... lights ... more lights - everywhere.

 Four weeks after the storms the snow mountains are not disappearing - instead they are freezing over and are now hard as rock.

 Last weekend was the Christmas work do...  We went to Akureyri - 1.5 hours away.  Árni drove (just as well - as the weather on the mountain pass was to put it mildly - shit - a total white out) anyway we made it to Akureyri and took a small bus to the local micro brewery - Kaldi.  Where we were given a tour of the brewery - a small talk about how it all started and how it has evolved.  Kaldi is probably the most successful of all the micro breweries here in Iceland and the product is excellent - probably due to the fact that they managed to get a third generation Czech brewer to come over and do the brewing and is in total control of the production.  The first attempts were apparently not working the way that he wanted so he sent water samples to the powers that be in the Czech republic and the response was - don't clean the water so well (they were using spring water - straight out of the ground.......) So now they need to add some minerals to make the water less "clean"

 If ever you are in Iceland I can recommend Kaldi - (also our own local brewery - Gæðing....)
This is the only photo taken after the visit to the brewery - I was banned from taking any more.... I was also too preoccupied with eating. After the brewery visit we went to a Christmas smorgasbord at the hotel.... where we sat and ate and ate and drank and ate and drank some more..... then we went to the only bar in Akureyri that sells Kaldi.... unfortunately the monopoly on beer production and bars has meant that it is only on tap in a few bars around the country.  Gæðing is here in Kaffi Krók, Kaldi in the bar in Akureyri and both are on sale in Reykjavík at Micro Bar (owned by the maker of Gæðing)

 After the bar we went dancing.... it was a Good night.

In other news - there is a new book out that is a must in all homes (well that's my opinion) - the book is called Eldað undir Bláhimni - cooked under a blue sky.  It features all our local restaurants, local cuisine, local produce and basically our fjord.

 Ofcourse my wonderful cousin Herdís has an opening about the coffees and cakes and hot chocolate and breads and other stuff that you can experience at her coffee house Áskaffi at Glaumbæ.

I will try and post again either just before or just after Christmas Eve.
If I don't and if I don't manage to get an email out then I wish ALL of you a very very happy Christmas!  I will wish you a wonderful New Year later...  love to all of you!

Oh... I almost didn't mention - I am SO happy - my sister is coming to Iceland before years end!!!!!  Mum is thinking of maybe going back to Aus with her - all we need is for someone to escort her back to Iceland......

To the aesthete it is an art form, an athletic ballet. To the spiritually inclined it is a religion. ~Paul Gardner

OK, so the bloke is away watching a soccer/football game in the UK... this is a big thing in the life of a soccer/football fan... the first time going to Old Trafford... seeing the bronze statue of Mr Ferguson..  I am really happy for him..  Honest!

In other news...  it did not snow this weekend - the first in a month!  so all the photos I have are old ones - and if you have a face book account you have seen them all - but i know my brother H doesn't so this post is just for him!

I have been now been told that I have overdone my storage..... will put photos on flickr brother dear...

The color of springtime is in the flowers; the color of winter is in the imagination. ~Terri Guillemets

 I've been a tad preoccupied with the weather....  there has been a little bit of snow falling here. As a result I have not been doing much driving.... My car will be dug out in the spring me thinks!

 My little house is covered in snow, at least three feet or more!

I also haven't seen the boy at all - we may live almost next door, the snow thing seems to make visiting a little hard.  As usually when I am outside I am with the dog and in a snow suit - not quite visiting material.

 Today's challenge was to remove the snow from the roof of mum's extension.  Easier said than done.  As you can see the first challenge was to get into the garden....  - first dig out the gate... then dig your way towards the back of the house.

 As you can (or rather can't see) mum's "skáli (extension with the hot pot) is totally covered in snow.

 I called out the troops - Maggi and Árni - well I called Maggi first and then Árni to drive Maggi down into town - a lot of the roads are impassable and up in their street the Golf may have found getting out a tad difficult.

 In other news last night was the yearly get together of my political party - dinner and dance and entertainment brought to you by your local politicians.... this year there was a meeting of the mid level management of the party - so lots of additional folk there to entertain and be entertained.  The weather made getting there quite difficult - one bus load took 2 hours to come 10kms.... The photo above is of the local "powers that be".  The one on the right (Gunni Valgarðs) is related to me through a common great grandmother.

 My house is seriously in threat of being stabbed by icicles.

 The dog loves this weather and would spend all day outside walking in the snow..... I think today was a major work out day for me.  Walking her and digging in the snow.

 This was mum's before we went in and dug the snow off the roof.  - her fence is probably six foot high (well higher than me).... I am standing on top of a snow drift between mum's fence and Ólafshús.

 My lovely neighbor Þorgerður dug the path past my house and through to mum's - she also dug the snow off mum's front steps.  The folk in this little town of mine are just amazing!

 This is mum's from the inside!  A wall of snow!

 Snotra mum's cat was getting a tad stir crazy - she hasn't been able to get out of the house for 3 days.  So she took her favourite hunting position at the top of the stairs.  That hole that she is looking through is where you put your hand in order to get up the (quite) steep staircase, once the hand is in - she attacks!

 The other side of my house - my kitchen window under threat of snow and icicle attack!

 So much snow!

and some of us love it a little bit too much!

After I posted this I realised that I used the same quote as two weeks ago... hence a new quote from Terri Guillemets