I did some instagramming this summer. One of my fave pics is this one, my hubby playing around with his bottle of water at our short picnic in east Iceland. The mountains in the back are called “Dyrfjoll” (door mountains) and are the most beautiful in Iceland – in my opinion. We once walked across them, 7 hr walk, just to find paradise on earth. You can find some pics from the walk at my flickr page.
Berries! Yes, it is the berries season!
In the northern part of Iceland, where I live, the mountains are practically filled with these delicious special type of blueberries called Bilberries. They have a strong flavour, are full of anti-oxidants and vitamins and are as organic as they can get. And they’re wild and free, ofcourse!
I already have 5 kgs in my freezer since last weekend, but I really have to go out and pick some more to make jam and stock up for the winter smoothies. The season only lasts a couple more weeks or till the night frozt ruins the whole thing.
I’ve already made bilberry muffins with white chocolate and a “skyr” cake which is very similar to cheesecake. Skyr is the protein-rich low-fat milk desert originally from Iceland but getting popular in Scandinavia and on the east coast of the US. I’ll post the recipe later. It is really yummy!
The scenery isn’t too shabby either. The house on top of the hill has been in my family for decades and the land belongs to it, from the top of the mountain right down to the shore. My husband is in the middle of the field, arranging his geese-hunting bunker. The geese love berries too 馃檪
This little guy really did enjoy himself bilberry picking, there were a couple of berries in his little jar but most of it went straight in the belly. That’s the way to go 馃檪
The annual “Arctic handcraft and design” trade show / exhibition was held this weekend in the countryside of my town Akureyri, today being the last day. At the show designers and handicrafters from all over Iceland show and sell their work and the farmers sell their harvest along with dried fish, jams and organic juices. Much of the craft work celebrates the traditional working methods and contains very traditional material, made from sheep wool, fish leather, volcano ash, birch wood and reindeer horns. On the other hand, many of the items that can be found are very modern and up-beat but have a reference to history in a non-tangible way.
The weather (i know i always mention the weather) was very kind to us, this late-summer monday.
The first person I saw as I entered the main room was Maria, a graduate from Akureyri School of Visual Arts and a former student of mine since I was teaching a Web Design course there last year. She has a really strong sense of textile patterns and shapes and her bright colors are simple and very cheerful. The patterns are inspired by modern architecture such as the National Theatre in Reykjavik, which is then inspired by “columnar basalt rock” which can be found on many locations in Iceland. She’s taken her final project one step a head and is now making pillows and other household items as well as giftwrapping paper. Check out MariaCreativeStudio.com
These really grabbed my attention, Spunadis makes fabric jewellery which is so feminine and pretty. Check out her facebook page to see the necklaces in action. I am in awe.
Fl贸ra is inspired by the delicate icelandic flora which is sometimes so small and weak but always survives the harsh winters and comes back stronger than ever. The artist Ingunn 脼r谩insd贸ttir prints on fabric and paper and brings that flora into our homes. Check out Fl贸ra on www.iflora.is
I totally fell in love with these聽crocheted necklaces from Aberg. Glamorous yet so modest and homie, The designer, Anita Berglind Einarsdottir told me she uses glass pearls, plastic pearls and wooden pearls in her work which also include earrings and bracelets. I love them, check out Aberg.
Bjarni Helgason is a well known illustrator in Iceland, his portfolio at nothing.is shows some excellent illustrations and for the exhibition he showed us a brand called “Elsku Alaska” (Dear Alaska). The main item is a world map with the country names in icelandic to place on a wall in your home. The funny thing is that Alaska falls off the map, perhaps the name indicates some regret that it does.
Even though the show was dedicated to craftmanship, and you think of them as woodcutters and glassblowers, you could actually find a couple of healthcare companies there. Among them was the herbalist Anna R贸sa, who makes excellent creams and remedies from Icelandic wild and organic herbs.
What do I see in front of us? Routine! YES! As much as we desire to have a holiday and go on vacation, staying up late and sleeping in, nothing beats the feeling of the Routine, that silent, stable feeling of knowing what lies ahead of us and PLANNING is actually possible. The summer vacation is almost over. Kindergarten starts on Tuesday – they obviously know that kids need that Monday for getting their sleepie-time together, at least mine do, so tomorrow will be a nice little preperation of mindset.
And what a summer it has been. We were on a weekly long trailer trip in July, camping in the East of Iceland. The weather was amazing, which is not something to take for granted because it can have a huge effect on what to do and whether it’s t-shirt day or woolysweaters and mittens day. Yes that’s why we talk so much about the weather, it pretty much controls us.
Each summer we go camping somewhere in Iceland. We live on the north coast so our route is either east or west. Most of the time we head east because there’s more variety and the landscape is more appealing. Still, we have a lot of places left to visit on the west coast and the west fjords.
Many people travel with tents and that’s quite easy because the camping areas are usually fairly clean and dry but since my parent have a trailer we are lucky enough to be able to travel fairly easily, and with quite a luxury. During summer, June – July – august it is daylight during all hours so having a dark asylum to turn to over night is very nice.
Camping, especially with kids, requires all kinds of gear. Short pants or overalls, depending on the weather forecast. We rely on the weather forecast staff a lot and during summer it’s actually them who decide where the local people go camping, because people over here tend to follow the sun.
Clothing:
The temperature outside now in mid-summer is around 12-15掳c which is not warm so it requires a nice sweater or light fleece jacket which can be taken off when the sun comes out. A raincoat is essential especially when traveling in the south, and good hiking shoes as well. I always take a knitted hat and mitts for the kids because the wind can get pretty cold. You can actually expect all kinds of weather so being on top of the weather forecast is a must.
Food:
Most of the camping areas have running water and some have cooking facilities and a washing machine. We have a grill in the trailer but I always bake something before we leave. Today I made coconut & chocolate buns and a chocolate cake. OK, not getting any slimmer this summer but this is also about quality time, camping without munchies is just not a good idea. And home made is a little bit healthier, at least I use oil instead of margarine and a little bit less sugar than intended.
Gear:
Maps and GPS is usually essential but we’ve done without it because we’ve know our track, but if you’re a newcomer a map is necessary. The road signs are not really informative so a GPS is a good choice aswell. If you have a smartphone you should use it to be on top of the weather and even download the 112 Iceland App from safetravel.is so that search and rescue is easier if you get lost in the highlands.
We went hiking last week in our trip. 4km or so in pretty rough areas.聽 My 4 yr old loved it, walked ahead of me and never complained one bit. The hiking trail was marked with sticks so the kids always had a destination in front of them, i think that made the journey a lot easier. The trail led up to a lake where we had our lunches and then we walked back. The scenery was magnificent, mountains being built in rhyolite which is a yellowish type of volcanic rock.
Summer is here and everything changes. The white cover that has been dominating our surroundings gradually diminishes and the spring starts to flourish everywhere. The sounds change aswell, birds chirping, motorbikes and lawnmowers make their mark on the summer sounds as well.
This spring has been exceptionally pleasing, with +15掳c almost every day. I even got a sunburn on my shoulders when we were paving around our new little flowerbed last weekend. +15掳 is brilliant on our scale, when the temp rises above 20掳c many companies close early for the day just to let people enjoy the sunshine.
And just to be able to let the kids go outside without putting a coat on is a relief.
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