Monday, June 7, 2010

Smoker, hot pots and ice cream trucks

What a summer day! After our long walk in the morning, Jacob got working on his smoker!!!! Oh yes, it was coming together with a large steel barrel, some old grills from the junk pile and hammer and pliers. He mounted it on the grill, filled it with drift wood from the beach and put it his wings.....what a sight!

As that was working, once Zelia woke from her nap, we collected dandelions for wine making and later we will do it again to make dandelion syrup and then we were off to the pool. Since the pool opened we have been going together almost every afternoon or evening. It is a small pool, 12.5 meters long and one hot pot, but it is a 2 minute walk from the house, right next to Jacob´s work. I have been swimming laps in the morning as well which has been great. The sun has been so bright and it has been so beautiful everyone is getting a tan. We played in the pool and sat in the hot pot until closing time. Other nights we have been going after dinner, relaxing, drinking coffee in the hot pot, chatting with some folks and then putting Zelia right into her PJ´s, it´s the perfect summer activity.

We came home to make rice and coleslaw and ate delicious smoked wings. We just found out that we can call the slaughter house in Blönduós and order certain cuts of beef...so we are going to make some delicious BBQ this summer....especially for Jacob´s birthday. When we were finished I thought it would be nice to walk to the gas station and buy some ice cream but as Jacob was tinkering with the broken washing machine (ugh), I heard the ring ring ring of an ice cream truck. We went running out and Zelia chose her ice cream from a picture - her first ice cream bar, chocolate ice cream dipped in chocolate...she ate the whole thing!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Sjomanudaggur 2010 - Seamen's day

Saturday we were all set for a great day....last year in Isafjordur the weather was poor and we didn't see so much happening, but this year we were told that in Skagastrond Sjomanudaggur is one of the biggest days of the year, woohooo. The next biggest day is Kantrydaggur, countryday and it is in mid-August.

In the morning Jacob was thinking a lot about his grandparents Arnice and Sam and decided to make french toast in their memory. It was sweet to tell Zelia how her great grandfather Sam was famous for his french toast.

Eventually we got ready and headed out at 10:30 to join a parade from the harbor to the church. It was a fast walk and we had to put Zelia in the stroller. There were four people at the front with the flag of Iceland and in uniform. We got to the church to hear the bells chiming and headed in for a special mass where an all men's choir was to sing. Halldor was one of the members so it was especially fun to see. They didn't sing traditional church songs but rather songs from the sea, not the sea shanties you might hear from Gloucester, but I think sea shanties none the less. It was really fun. There was a so a short memorial for those who have died at sea from here...no one recently. We headed home for a nap and to look forward to a boat ride in the afternoon.

Sadly, I had the time for the boat ride wrong and by the time we got to the harbor it had ended....everyone was gathered there though for races and games. We watched as the long row boats that have been in use for this day for about 40 years were raced. The kids were everywhere, there were grilled hot dogs and huge thick lollipops. We watched several games including tug of war, the line dancers dance, silly races with water and toilet paper and Zelia being called over by the older kids from her school. They all had these candies so she was just staring at them...yes we are the mean parents...not to worry she got chocolate cake later:)

The most fun race to watch was a times race that was a course into the harbor that the 20-somethings were trying. There were rope bridges in the water, large balloons covered in soap and they had to get across in the shortest time. Everyone fell in at least once, it was hysterical to watch.

By 4pm we headed to the community center where we had coffee and a buffet of cakes and savory treats as a fundraiser for the rescue squad which organized the day. We sat with Sigga, Halldor, Gudrun Anna and Oli and were invited over to play on the trampoline. It was a really lovely afternoon, sitting in the sun with beer, Zelia was off playing and every once in a while we could hear all of her Icelandic. It is so cool but we don't get to hear much of it so it is a treat. We ended up staying until almost 9pm when Zelia was done!

This week we began working with her to go to sleep alone and it has been a great success. We are using a sticker chart and some soft music and it took no time and she is proud....perfect!

This morning we headed out for what turned out to be a very long walk. We saw lots of horses, pet them and also a tiny foal. Jacob was picking dandelions to make a wine and it was just very, very nice. The flowers are blooming and eventually the sun really came out. At home we ate tuna melts outside in the sun and now Zelia is fast asleep. I think this afternoon we will head to the pool, keep working on our tans. yes, you read that right...we are all getting a bit of color from the gorgeous sun.

We are super excited for next weekend, we are heading to Reykjavik, will hopefully plant some trees with the Jewish community, a bit of a summer Tu B'Shvat, meet with the midwife and then pick Terri up on Wednesday morning! Zelia is getting very excited about getting her and going to Isafjordur. We are going for Jacob's graduation!

Friday, June 4, 2010

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