A churn is a device for making butter

Yesterday was the county fair, held in the equestrian centre just outside of town.  My contribution on the day was to churn butter in the traditional way using a replica of a butter churn used in Iceland from Viking times to the early part of the 20th century.  Next to me was Ásdís who was demonstrating the art of making skyr.

 Our little set up, Eirikur and Eyþór getting ready for the days events.  Brynja from the office baked rye bread the night before so that people could taste the butter on fresh home made bread.  Needless to say this was much appreciated.  

 Ásdís starting the separation process.  First you warm the raw milk then put it in the separator and turn...

 On one side you get cream and on the other skimmed milk.

 The day before she had made 8kg of skyr from 30 litres of milk.  It´s a fairly simple process but time consuming.

 Serious discussion regarding sheep and farming.  Eyþór (on the left) was the mc for the day and walked around with a head set letting everyone know what would be happening next.  As we were busy churning butter and cutting bread, we didn´t get to see too much.

 However, I did manage to snap some shots for the ram judging competition.

 This one is called Ostur (cheese) and he is from my Uncle's farm at Tunga.... such a sweety.

 This one belongs to Fjóla - my work colleague..... he apparently scored well for being well behaved.

 Eirikur (another work colleague) with his favourite ram.

Hrefna and Jón with their ram.... He wasn´t that keen on the walk to the judging area.


It was a great day.  I churned 8 litres of cream into about 3kgs of butter.  The cream was given to us from the local dairy - it was so good, very thick and probably had a higher fat % than the cream that I am used to using.  This meant that towards the end of the churning process things got a tad hard.  Had to enlist the help of fit and strong looking men as they walked past.   It was quite amusing to see their faces when they realised how hard it really was.  But, it was a hit, the butter tasted excellent and I had a great time - can't wait till next year!

Now that it's all over, what did you really do yesterday that's worth mentioning? ~Coleman Cox

Another week over, last week was full of work and a start to the meeting season, but the weekend brought with it Gæran - a local music festival.  I scored some free tickets from my lovely neighbour across the way as she is one of the festivals organisers.  Before going though I invited folk for dinner.  Guðný and Heiðdís as well as Olga and Ross and ofcourse mum.  Guðný is ofcourse related to Henry Thor.... so she took great delight in getting to know him better.

Have I mentioned recently what a lovely little man he is...

 Nina, got to come as well.... She was quite impressed.... she looks at me and sees food.  I tend to be a bit lax about removing Freyja's food bowl before she comes.  

 Unlike most days after a big night out, Saturday was all about painting.... Maggi had bought paint and cement filler to touch up the concrete base on mums house and also paint to paint the steps.  A job I have neglected for far too many years..... It was actually quite beneficial, rather than lie in bed or be super lazy around the house, we were out in the cold wind making ma's place look all shiny.

 There was a little bit of sun shining from the west, but as I was mainly working on the west side I felt the first feelings of autumn.  It got sooo cold.  

See shiny stairs and me lying underneath touching up the concrete below.
We ofcourse rewarded ourselves with a beer or two.


Have a great week folks.

No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does. ~Christopher Morley

Another busy week, another good week, so hard to remember what I did yesterday let alone last weekend... However, it is slowly coming back to me... I should take my camera everywhere with a date and time stamp just to remind me... Anywhooo.  Sigga sister in law and Helgi big brother came for a surprise visit.  Helping Maggi change the gutters on his house, Sigga took the opportunity to check the main man... such a cutie.

 My nephew Gunni, his wife and two boys also journeyed north... This is Aron, showing that he is the BOSS... nah, sweet boy, getting worried that so far all the greats are nephews... no great nieces as yet.  Still, there are a few to go in the procreation stakes within the Jonsson family.  Jacqui, Maja, .... the rest of you..... we await a balance in the gender scales.....  

 My contribution is ofcourse the ultra female Freyja, pity she's a dog, which means according to English nouns, she is a bitch..... hey, she's mine!  She is currently malting... I think that I have mentioned this before on my blog... I hate it, I hate it soooo much, but this is what happens twice a year, the whole surface area of my house is covered in fine - very fine - dog hair.  I am trying my best this year in doing a daily sweep, and brush down of the sofa, but still they persist..... Still she is the most beautiful little bitch in the world.

 She is also very well aware of this and will only rest her head on pillows.... two at least but not bad to have a selection..
In other news this weekend is Gæran, a local music fest that started last year and is held in the tannery in our small light industrial area.  I scored some free tickets and will be checking it out.  Might even try to remember to take my camera and take a few photos and videos of the event.  Pity it's not smellavision as that would make it even better, but you can do it at home - wet your dog or if you have one a sheep... you will know what I mean. 
In other news, my brother Jon has taken the Freyjamobile for a spin, so far they are in Hólmavík in the western region of Iceland.... now I have no more excuses... I will be taking mum out of the fjord at some stage.
And finally... the main man, Olga and Sigga..... so adorable.

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Between the great things we cannot do and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing. ~Adolph Monod

Been another busy week, another good week, another week in a life that is blessed with so many good things.  My sister told me that I have a new readership - her class at Roleystone Primary or is it called a Junior school.  Anyway - a big hi to the kids in Mrs H's class.  She used this to demonstrate what having a diary was all about.  Kind of makes me a little worried about self editing.. about diction... about appropriate punctuation... Then, I remind myself - this is a diary.  Not a work of literature, it's for me, my family and my friends and now if they want the kids in the class.  The above photo is of my aunt Sigga, she is my dad's younger sister, to us in the fam she is known as Sigga stór frænka (which literally means Sigga the big relative - big as in "great" as is "strong" as in the one that rules the roost.  She hates having her photo taken - as can be seen by the expression she is giving.  I love her to death, she is so formidable, can have such a scathing way... but underneath she is as soft as the rest of us.  She loves her family and she loves her husband Þórð.

My wonderful brother Jon Bjorn is here on the rock at the moment with his lovely wife Lóa, they too are a couple that love and respect each other.  It's good to know that these sorts of relationships, like all those my sibling have, my parents had and my aunt Sigga has exist.  Makes you believe that it is possible to marry for love and to live and learn with your best friend.  Soppy, I know - but inspirational.

 Here is Sigga trying to avoid the camera, pretending to be deep in conversation with me - the conversation was about how much she hates having her picture taken.  
Then you have three people that are not at all averse to being photographed - and just as well.  Ross, Henry and Freyja - so beautiful.

 Mum got to sit with great grandson H and Freyja showed that she could be non jealous for the little one.

 Such a great little man is my great nephew... I know my sister misses him so much, but she can now start to plan and look forward to her next visit.  It will be even more exciting.

 The little family from up the street.... so great.

In other news, we took the Freyjamobile for a drive on Sunday - were planning to camp in Hofsós on the other side of the fjord.  We were going to have dinner there in the one and only restaurant in Hofsós.  So, we took no provisions, thinking that all would be well..  Anywho, the restaurant was fully booked, no room for me and ma.  Which meant that we drove right on home again.  Still, we did spend a couple of hours at the camp site, got the gas and water working in the car and basically know that all will be well for our next excursion.  It was just as well, as we had to do a bit of a dash half way to Akureyri and I needed the sleep.  I have to do something to my bed in the van to make it a little less hard and lumpy.   Freyja was also extremely happy to be home.


Today was the 18th anniversary of my fathers passing.  I still miss him so much......

I think housework is the reason most women go to the office. ~Heloise Cruse

Been a while I know.  What can I say - busy, busy, busy....

My most favourite person in the world had to go home, but before she left we had plenty of quality time, together, with the family and and with the main man.... Henry Þór (Thor - for those not with Icelandic spelling knowledge.... ) He is by far the cutest thing ever...... 

 Yes, great aunt Sigga has even picked him up... the number of children aged under 2 months that I have held can be counted on one hand....

 In other news we took the van for a drive to Akrir... am I perhaps repeating myself?, no  matter - these photos are all stolen from Unnur....  mum giving Freyja some water... this was our initial parking spot - but then we moved... to be closer to the amenities provided by my cousin and also - mum decided to sleep in the house and not the van... Piker.

 We had a lot of technical difficulties in this trip, one of which was the portable grill that had yet to be assembled, then the gas ran out, then the other gas ran out, the gas in the van didn't work, nor did the water.... but never mind... we were on the farm so all was sorted.. 

 See even a table cloth!  It was so good, the weather was fine, not too cold - not brilliant - but that meant no flies.... we were all very happy.

 My beautiful sister and her beautiful grandson.... such an amazing young man.

 Before Unnur left, my brother Jon came - he, his wife, brother in law and his wife and child all arrived in the Krók.... So no better excuse could be found to have a bit of a family gathering at my place - So good to be with family, especially when that family is made up of true friends!

A little cold for outdoor dining - but heck, this is Iceland - just put on another layer and all will be well!

Before Unnur left we did our pilgrimage up to the cemetary - one of the most peaceful and in my opinion beautiful places in the fjord.

 Here you will find the graves of my father, grandparents and great grandparents, aunts, uncles and great aunts.

 This is the resting place of my great grandparents in the male lineage.  Björn Björnsson and Guðbjörg Guðjónsdóttir.

 These are my great grandparents via my dad's mother... Magnús Benediktsson and Guðný Jónsdóttir.   The names are all familiar - I have lots of Guðný cousins, Magnús was my fathers name and is the name that two of my nephews have.  Björn is everywhere in the family as either a first or middle name, Guðbjörg, there is only one.... long story behind that one....


Dad would have been 86 tomorrow had he lived.... I still miss him...


In other news - I did my yearly churning of the butter - twas excellent fun - as always!!!! This time, as the sun was out and the weather so brilliant I asked to do my thing outside!


What a setting!

 The final outcome - yummy yummy creamy butter!

 I had a few days off last week, what did I do? relax, hmm a little, sleep, hmm yeh more than usual ----- but what was most important was that I actually did some housework - the reason - I had to make myself a home office!

 The spare room... it still has a bed that can be folded out.... but moving the fold up bed (that yellow seat on the left)... freed up a heap of space in the lounge!

 Not really see-able in this .... but believe me - there is so much more room in here!  Am quite pleased with myself...  Now I am back at work, but as I am there on my own I am that much more productive.... hopefully this means I will be able to take a couple of days off later in the week.


What a dull and boring post... but it's an update... 


Life is good - hope it's good with you too!

You need special shoes for hiking - and a bit of a special soul as well. ~Terri Guillemets

 For some reason Blogger has decided to upload my photos totally out of order so this blog will be the same!  Luckily the first photo is chronologically correct..  Lummudagar were a weekend or two ago... time has flown and I have totally lost contact with it... It was a cold weekend but grill we did - on both the Friday and Saturday nights.  The above photo was from the Friday - take a look at mums face... she doesn't look happy does she - but from what I remember of the night she was in good spirits... so sometimes the picture may tell a thousand words but then they may all be lies.

 This should have been the last photo - the waterfall at Foss on Skaga - just north of Sauðárkrók.   When I took this photo I was totally exchausted.  Amazing that I actually had enough brain power to stop - look - and take the photo.  This was at the end of a 25km walk - some 7 hours after we headed off.  

 This was two thirds through the walk - twin waterfalls that feed the river Fossá (which means waterfall river)  I didn't join our intrepid hiker colleagues as by this time I was knackered and realised that I would require all my energy and will power to keep my legs moving towards the end.

 This is a photo of the summer house where the bus was waiting to pick us up... I was a very happy girl when the farmhouse first came into view... Wouldn't it be great to have this as your summer home... the view out of the window is Drangey the Island that is in the centre of the fjord and in a way is an icon as well as a logo for the district.

Back to Lummudagar... this time the Saturday night... a tad colder, I put up some extra "decoration" to keep the wind down a little bit..  Still it was a nice night... it's always good when the extended family gets together...

 The weather on Saturday got too cold so we moved indoors.... 

 Ah last weekend, it's all coming back... Lummudagar was two weekends ago, last weekend was Landsmót hestamanna.  The lands meeting of horsemen.... very literal translation.  The event is held bi-annually with horse riders, breeders and others interested in the sport coming together to celebrate the horse, compete and also honour the best... This was from an awards ceremony for a stallion that has progeny that have won or are considered "among the best".

 Then there is Henry, the cutest boy ever born... this photo is to commemorate four generations.... ma, unnur, olga and her little one Henry Thor... (the only one to actually  be capitalised)  yep, I know, I will spoil him whilst he is in my vicinity... he is just such a sweetie..

 See, I am totally mesmerized.   Poor Freyja, she knows she can't compete.

 And in other news, summer arrived in Sauðárkrók - finally!!!!

 Mum contemplating life whilst I took Freyja for a little walk... 

 The start of the hiking trip - realise now that we should have taken a photo at the end to see if we were all just as happy!

 Early on in the trip - I think around the 6km mark... a lovely little lake in the middle of the highland area we were walking in.

 A view to where we were heading.... can't see the sea.. our end point.

Another view of the little lake.... if you went in this direction you would end up on the west coast of Skaga whose east side makes the west side of Skagafjordur.  I am sooo tired, but it was sooo worth it... This is a beautiful country and to think that this nature is just on my door step.... I really need to go out and walk more often... maybe not 25km in a day...