Christmas details and more weather stories

 



Just a small detail from Christmas...in which Dom and I made cookies for all the relatives and this is one presentation which went with us to Reykjavik. People raved about the snowflake cookies which we did our best on. Actually there is a set of even more detailed cookie cutters which one can buy in the States....soooooooo nice! It's just one of those things you can do here in the winter and get good at since there is like TIME galore out here in December to do stuff like that.....not to mention January, which is a good time to do other in house type of fun stuff like scraping down 70 years worth of paint on the doors.

I am trying to figure out how to put our photos onto the blog using Flickr and so do keep an eye on out for that and you can see all our photos since we arrived here.

We are in the process of making decisions about what to do over the summer...there are so many tempting options such as:

Go on a SWIFT which means Summer Witnessing Initiative for Teens ( right?) and spend the summer going camping around Iceland and doing some major outreach. Well actually that is the most tempting option so no use posting any others as that is one of the best! Anything so that the kids don't die of boredom! Right? They have always wanted to go camping, but alas, my husband is not the outdoors type so it is really hard to get him to go along with the idea. Ok , so maybe not the whole summer, what about 3 weeks? We shall see.....

The weather has been warming up and 42F feels so nice! No more icy roads and we are like the cows in the barn who have been let out in the spring! Rejoice! We are not having to totally concentrate on the roads when we drive and we can relax and enjoy the view....at least I can.( Eman doesn't seem to see any of it for some reason, but that seems to be fairly typical of Icelandic people) Of course this doesn't mean that Spring has arrived by any means, and I'm sure this is not the last of the snow either, but we are just enjoying this reprieve after the storms of last week.
Boo was not able to participate in her school's production due to the weather, which turned out fine, but everyone was just so nervous that that they canceled it at the last minute. Boo!

So who wants to come for a visit this summer?

Weather permitting!

Top photo: The sign that points home
Bottom photo: Looking out from Eman's work place "N1"

So this is really the end of civilization here where Eman is working. For travellers going onwards it is the last stop until the next village, 80 kms away, Vik. You do NOT want to run out of gas between Hvolsvöllur and Vik. It is gorgeous scenery but no, you might not want to get stuck. Otherwise you would have to walk to the nearest farmhouse. Mind you, Icelandic people are very kind and there would not be the slightest problem if you did find yourself stranded. Some kind farmer would put you up for the night and give you a good hearty meal and a strong cup of coffee. If you are a tea drinker you will have a problem as here it is only black coffee and you have to ask for sugar and milk.

Recently there was a crowd of French tourists who were going onwards to the glacier Vatnajökoll where they drive over the glacier in these huge 4x4s. Evidently these French tourists paid no attention to instructions, trashed one of the vehicles and drove way too fast on the glacier....maybe they just need a French speaking tour guide? I will offer my services...... Finally the Icelandic guide had to confiscate all their car keys and wouldn´t let them go onwards until they obeyed!

Yesterday was unbelievable weather wise....a violent storm raged from 3pm until nearly midnight. Eman was still working and we considered that he might have to spend the night in Hvolsvöllur as the winds were at 40 miles per hour with gusts of up to 72 miles per hour and your car can blow off the road! There was even thunder and lightning, which is VERY rare in Iceland! It is just one notch below hurricane levels! It's not really that scary as the houses are well built and can take it, but I was over at our host's house, about 100 ft from ours and I got stuck there for a few hours. Finally when they got back in from milking, Guðmunder DROVE me back over to our house as it was too dangerous to walk! Also very icy as of course there is still plenty of ice and snow on the ground.

Today, weather permitting, we will attempt the drive to town, a mere 10 kms away, so that Boo may participate in her school´s show....there are skits and music and comedy acts. Boo plays the guitar in the "orchestra pit". Go Boo!