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.....

At Christmas, all roads lead home. ~Marjorie Holmes

 Yep, I baked bread.... boy am I getting domesticated in my old age.  We had a bit of a "lobster" well langoustine feast the other night - soup followed by a cream cheese concoction with langoustine tails.  Have worked out how to make it better  - so all is not lost and the left over bread was used the next night for bruscceta - so badly spelled  - apologies to all italian speakers or lovers of that language...  

 My niece Olga said the most appropriate thing on her blog the other day (she always does - she has a gift that I don't - ie one for language and it's correct use)... We are living in a Christmas card... This was taken tonight after my walk with Freyja... and as you can see - all roads in this neck of the woods lead home - to my place... where if you are lucky you will get langoustine soup with home made bread...

All are welcome - at any time.

As long as we know in our hearts what Christmas ought to be, Christmas is. ~Eric Sevareid

We all wish that we could be this content...  and I think I am - if my lack of Christmas angst is anything to go by then this is probably the look that I have at most times.  Although, today, I think that I actually realised that Christmas is less than a week a way.  I have done NOTHING, no cards sent, no major cleaning done, no planning made for the days of the festivities... figure it's coming whether or not I write a card, clean the floors or do any more baking.   So, to all my friends and relations reading this - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year... no doubt I will blog some more over the festive season - so I will keep this mantra going and hope that it will be a sufficient replacement for the lack of cards or presents being sent.  Pretty lame - but that is Sigga in 2010.

 The tree outside my lounge room window.  The first of the winter blizzards came through last night.  Twas quite nice, I really do like a blizzard every now and then.

 The lights on the tree - I think that I do a pretty good job of providing the neighboring restaurant with a bit of festive cheer.

 Tonight (and last week), Glaumbæ and Áskaffi had their yearly Advent fest, where people can come and visit the old farm house and experience what Christmas was like not that long ago here in Iceland, in the old house there is no electricity, so only candle light to light the way down the dark turf halls and the cold seeping in.  In Áskaffi, my cousin Herdís puts on a feast with all the old traditional cakes and cookies that all Icelanders know and associate with this time of year.  To wash it down she provides the best hot chocolate with whipped cream, if hot chocolate is not your thing - you can have a great cup of coffee or malt and apelsin.

 My cousin Gýgja's daughter Karen has been helping Herdís out.   She is a lovely girl, quite shy

 After the the old house tours are done the volunteers came down to partake in the offerings at Áskaffi.

 A really really nice way to spend the day.  Unfortunately this year there were not that many visitors to Glaumbæ and Áskaffi, or should I say fortunately - you see I ended up with a lot of the leftovers.   Anyone want to come over for coffee?  I could possibly make a cup of hot chocolate - not as good as Herdís but not bad....

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin

We had a thanksgiving themed dinner at Steina's tonight, she made pumpkin and pecan pie, the side dishes were sweet potato and pumpkin and other autumn goodies.  Instead of turkey we had lamb and for that we are extremely thankful.  A turkey in Iceland costs over 12,000 isk. Thats 120 dollars to you down there and over there... 


Not much to report - apart from the fact that budget work is in full swing and we have even less money at our disposal.  So it's belt tightening and trying to do as much as possible for as little as possible.  Ah, the joy of being a part of politics.  I also did a first the other day - stood up and gave a little talk at the litlujól.... talked about Christmas in Australia - as you do.....


Will leave you with lots of photos from tonights dinner..

All happy and well fed we are...

 Olga and Steina in the kitchen discussing things motherly perhaps???

It´s amazing how we manage to fit into whatever space is available.

 The stars of the night - pecan and pumkin pie.... were very very tasty!

 Cousins destroying things - as you do..... Atli Björn and Finnur.

Halli, such a cuty - this is a first - he usually tries to avoid Þórdís - now she has won him over - and how did she do this - well the way all women win over men - she fed him!

The boys are back in town!!

So it's that time of year again - my most favourite time!  So the boys are out and on the shelf.  This year I was super lazy and decided that it was possible to have my normal clutter plus christmas clutter and that all would be well with the world.  So the boys are competing with pictures of mum and dad and grands on dad's side.... a good mix as far as I am concerned... 


Today was also the day that they turned on the christmas tree.

The kids and helpers are switching the "on" button... 


As a part of todays festivities there were businesses and others holding markets and stuff for folk to spend the day in the old part of town.  There is an enterprising bunch of women that work in the local primary and after school care that have created a club called maddömur... they took over an old house here in the old part of town that no one seems to own and have created a little handicrafts shop (only open on special town occasions) and today they opened their little hut and provided free meat soup to anyone who cared to imbibe.  Well, after the cold at the tree lighting ceremony I decided to give them a visit and partook of the soup (anyone who knows me knows that lamb soup is not a fave... however today - I really really really did enjoy it)... My cousin Guðný - newly arrived from her Australian holiday is one of these enterprising women and so I grabbed this great shot of her...

Just like the angel that she is - I really am so blessed with the family that I have here!

Previously I went for a walk with Freyja and took some shots of the town and of horses... 'cos that's what you do - 

yes ok.. there is a bit of evil eye happening there.....

This is a standard... a view of my little hood.....

and then to end things off... mum... she is a classic.

Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Big wedding weekend happening.  My wonderful, beautiful niece Maja is getting married to her Jason and my cousin Beta is marrying her Benni.  Both get married on Saturday.  I am feeling a tad bad and sad about not going to Aus, but time, money and distance was in the way of that happening - also - I have too many wonderful nieces and nephews down there and so to attend one should really mean that one should attend all... ( well that is my excuse!) I also know that the important thing is not the being there on the day but being there for all the days after... there are more than enough people at these events.... and basically I am a selfish person - when I next see Maja and co - I would rather have them to myself and not have to share them with others.....  

So, I am off to Reykjavik... this will be the third trip this year (records are being set).  The weather is crap so am not looking forward to the trip down, however, I am not having to drive down - am hitching a lift with the father of the bride.  Mum is already there having gone on Wednesday - that way able to spend some time with number one son and daughter in law.  Mum and I would have to be the slackest people in terms of spending any time in Rvk.  Thankfully my brother and his wife have come to accept this as a part of who we are.  


It's budget time in local politics so most of the days are spent in meetings trying to find ways to make ends meet.  The funds that are coming from the national government are being cut and we are running over budget this year.  The aim is to retain all jobs, and not increasing costs for locals... but that is a tough target.  We shall see.   

When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste. ~Laiko Bahrs

A first in the house of Sigga - I did some baking yesterday - the last time this was attempted was before Christmas in 1987,  Unnur and I thought we would try and be Icelandic and bake cookies and things.  Well, it was a disaster.   This time round I thought it time that I made the brown layer cake that is my favourite (for Christmas).  Thinking that I would need to do it a couple of times - well for a first attempt it wasn´t so bad.  I used mum's recipe - problem with recipes from mum - they often don't come with instructions - just ingredients......

This is the dough which then gets baked for about 10-12 minutes (I think I may have over baked it as it ended up too dry)

The next step is to put in the butter icing - yes it's just butter, icing sugar and eggs, - I forgot the vanilla essence - it wasn't listed as an ingredient - but is apparently a requirement.... oh well, next time  - the burnt offerings to the right are my biscuits - we made ginger nut and chocolate and coconut (they ended up very large...... again - will know better next time)

This is the final result - the taste is good, but there is a lot of room for improvement.

In other news Uncle Andres came today with the reward for all the work Olga and Ross have been doing - 4 lambs are now nestling in mums freezer... oh, except for the back that we are having for dinner tonight - yummy!!!  There will be lots of lamb on the menu this winter.... I also ordered half a pony the other day.  So, there is no chance that any of us will be short of food this winter.

Have a great week people.

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~John Ruskin

Yes there is definitely a change in the weather coming -  

Wind in Iceland is measured by metres per second... those dark purple colours are 22-24 metres per second... In Aus it would be cyclone weather.  The forecast has actually toned down a lot over the last 24 hours, on Thursday the forecast said that Saturday was not a day for travelling - as a result a lot of things planned for this weekend have been cancelled.  I chickened out of driving south to Borganes today - worried that I would end in difficulties on the mountain pass home.  I am not the most confident of drivers in the snow.  In hindsight I could have gone  - bet then I would only just be getting home now.. So I am glad I didn't go.

In other news am transferring some photos to flickr, none recent recent, as the batteries in my camera seem to last about 5 seconds... so I have "borrowed" a charger from work and will be more "green" in my picture taking.

We have had an amazing autumn so far which even included a walk on the beach - barefoot..

I will also upload some photos from when Unnur and I went with the cousins to Akureyri - what a great weekend that was!

I am not sure about this photo - I think that we are all looking a tad strange.... 

Will leave this for now....