News

Some of the news is written for my friends and family who all live abroad. However most is dog related news that might be of interest to those who like dogs of if you just like to see what my life is like. Please feel free to read through and also check out the older news, articles or photos on the site.

December 3rd

Rúnar came home a bit earlier yesterday, around 2 and took the dogs out before it got dark, it's hard to do this time of year. ;-) He said he found the source of the stink the other day by the lighthouse and here are the photos he managed to take. Apparently the whale that beached so long ago has washed up closer right in the area we usually walk with the dogs so there are bits of it all over the place. Now it's important to keep an eagle eye on the dogs so they don't roll around again. LOL  I noticed a piece of backbone the other day as we got out of the car (almost right up by the road) and took a photo of it but here he found the "mother load" of stinky remains, the skull and the half rotten body. I suppose that is also why the crows and birds have been so active the past little while, this isn't too far away from where we live.

Here are a few more photos he took just for fun. I tell you Klói definitely blends in nicely with the environment, he has true camouflage colouring.

I'm trying to be more positive these days, I know I've said that before but I truly am intending to drag myself out of the negativity I've been in the past couple years. The sickness and personal matters don't make things easier but I know and have to remind myself how much being positive and laughing can help. I remember for example going to visit my mother for what I was told (and I thought so myself after seeing her the first couple days) were her last moments last spring. My brother and I went every day, telling ourselves that what she needed was to forget her troubles and we made her laugh until she needed to rest, my Dad did the same thing and I think Rúnar thought our whole family was nuts. In the two weeks Rúnar and I were there she miraculously got better and went home just after we left for Iceland. I can't forget that my Mom has been blessed and she has my guardian angel Freyja watching over her and my worry and making myself sick will not help her so far away. All I can do now is pray that we can have her around for a bit longer and try to work towards being healthy myself so I can go visit her as soon as our economy will allow. I found a great show on the Icelandic station INN called The flower of life, it's a talk show with a few well known Icelandic woman, one comedian was a guest tonight. They talk about health and wellbeing and different ways to help yourself to a healthier lifestyle by being positive. Tonight they were talking about how much Iceland needed this economic crisis because it forces people to look deeper and realize what really matters in life instead of the way it used to be that greed and being famous or great was what drove people. I couldn't have agreed more and am so glad to see how much the Icelanders are getting back to the basics, back to the Iceland I knew and loved when we first moved here. Now things Icelandic made are important again whereas before if something was made in Iceland the Icelanders didn't want to buy it. It had to be foreign and preferably expensive if you wanted to impress your friends! It was funny on one show last night a furniture designer and producer that my late step-father used to do business with (he was an upholsterer) was all of a sudden in the spotlight. He has so much to do these days since the crisis started and is exporting a lot because of the quality of his furniture and he is actually one of the few companies here that is hiring people instead of firing. They asked him why they hadn't heard of his creations before and he said well they have always been sold in one of the main stores here but they didn't want to put a sign on to tell people it was an Icelandic creation because when people knew that they didn't even look at it.

I must admit that much of my change of heart today is thanks to my ex-brother-in-law Árni. He sent me a link to his website a couple days ago that he has been working on for the past year and just opened. I started reading and looking at the photos. He is a very talented professional photographer and well worth looking at his site just for the photos! They are so inspiring in themselves. Then all the memories came flooding back to me through his photos, things I'd forgotten and the stories he writes about his dogs and his feelings about them just got me to thinking. Life used to be so simple in the old days and still seems to be for some people, then I wondered why was that, we didn't have any fewer worries about the economy or other things. It was just our own way of thinking that was different, we were pretty much invincible back then. Boy how time has passed and things have changed and each passing year reminds me that we aren't invincible at all, but as Freyja tried and Birta and Klói still are trying to teach me, we should be living life with our hearts and not our minds, don't let the small things get you down and don't forget to rejoice IN the SMALL things as well.

 Here Klói has made himself a nice comfy chair tonight by throwing an air mattress around the sofa until it was just the way he wanted it, if you notice the one end is actually on the coffee table and there is a big gap in between where he has decided to lay. I made sure it wouldn't fall off so he didn't injure himself. What an inventive little guy and well, I've learned that he can be quite entertaining if you let him do things on his own. I know many would be appalled by the things my dogs get away with but they give life spice when I don't have kids to do that. ;-) Hehehe  Besides why should I be constantly demanding obedience and have lifeless beings in my home...what fun would that be? Life is for making memories with those we love.

 Hófi Sr was a grand teacher and when I think of her and remember our life together I think I owe her a lot of credit for showing me how life should be lived, mostly through how it shouldn't be, she was my little robot and I often regret demanding so much of her. When I saw the old photos of a young Hófi on Árni's page that I hadn't seen for so long I realized why Hrafn Dreki has got such a special place in my heart already, he looks so much like his great grandma!

So I've promised myself I am going to start back to writing again. I had mentioned to my doctor the hypnotist that I was angry at myself for having so many unwritten books in my head that I can't get myself to write. The doctor then told me that I definitely should use my God given talents and write books if that's what I want to do. We´re all here to do something special he said and we just have to find out what it is. I've given up on so many during the years, either just had them as a thought in my mind or started writing and got half way through and quit, casting them aside because I thought no one cares what I have to say. Then I get mad that other people are writing and selling books instead of me, I talked for years about my dog training book and quit writing it about half a year ago, just gave up. My intent was to have the first dog training book on the market here since no other Icelander had ever written a book in Icelandic about dog training. Then of course since other people do things they believe in there are now two new Icelandic dog books out now for Xmas. Why wasn't it me with my book? That's why I'm angry, I'm not angry at the people that have the courage to do the things I don't. I remember being told through the years that writing a book is not a real job, all it will do is cost me money to publish and there is nothing to gain from doing it. I think that has to be the wrong mindset, if everyone thought that then no one would ever waste their time writing.  

My grandfather was writing a book himself, I don't know if he had the same negative remarks from those around him but all of his life he spent writing about his experiences in the war under the command of Hitler. Maybe like me he just didn't think his writing was good enough and he never finished his book before he died. I believe his writing was in German and because I live across the ocean I haven't been lucky enough to be able to read the draft. From the stories he did tell of the cold march through Russia for example and the ones we found out about him (he had an injury on his hand from where his trigger finger had been destroyed) that he maybe didn't want anyone to know I for one often wish I'd both talked to him about his experiences more or at least been able to read about his life in a book. Quite possibly my "thoughts" are not something people would be interested in but maybe I should just write for me like my grandfather did to be able to get the thoughts down on paper. Of course my life is not exciting enough to write about but I have so many ideas for books about the ISD and some children's books. So we'll see if I can change my doubts through hypnosis and finally have a way to get my thoughts down on paper. Who knows maybe I'll sleep better at night when my mind doesn't have to be thinking a mile a minute.

Maybe the hypnosis I've been to so far is working a little in that it's helping me to seek out a more positive outlook. I have even been thinking lately that I might just stop reading posts on dogs lists because many times when I see what is going on with the breed I just want to scream so it just may be a better idea to distance myself from it instead of getting upset and taking it personally and feeling like it's my duty to FIX things. LOL  I want to dedicate my life to my dogs and to the breed through my dogs and my own actions, I can't influence others to do things they don't want to do. Hopefully what I do in my lifetime will help out future generations but I won't be around to see it and have no children to carry on my work so all I can do is hope that what little I did do was enough. 

December 1st

So far so good, not much news today really. Mom is doing okay and the tests are going well from what I've heard. I'm waiting for her to go back home so I can call her and talk to her. I don't know when that will be though, she had talked about 10 days in hospital but we´ll see. Rúnar's grandfather is out of the intensive care and seems to be getting better as well. We have very cold weather here, lots of ice on roads and sidewalks and the deck. It rains off and on but no snow yet in our town, we had a few minutes of snow last night and then it turned back into rain and was all gone again. I hope we have some snow for Christmas. I tried to bake some coconut peppermint cookies yesterday but they were a complete failure and I ended up having to throw them all away. I used to be a good baker but these were awful, soggy and stuck to the backing paper. All the Christmas decorations are up now, everything but a tree, that goes up just before Xmas. ;-)

The demonstrations have been tougher the past few times, the weekly demonstration was downtown on Saturday and then today on the 90th anniversary of sovereignty from Denmaark there was a demonstration downtown and a couple thousand showed up, many had to work today of course so they didn't get the numbers out that they had hoped. In a couple different places demonstrations carried on and a very large crowd gathered at the Central Bank and for a short time it looked like it might get out of hand. Eggs were thrown and people were very angry demanding the one bank manager David Oddsson resign, they managed to get all the way into the front of the building but there were a lot of police in protection gear that stopped them from getting farther into the building and kept it from getting worse and they said today it was enough to warn that they would use pepper spray if it got out of hand. Luckily they didn't have to do that. Many do feel that things are getting too heated and hoping that people will remember the importance of not getting violent.

I am keeping my eye on a lovely litter of puppies out of Valli's (Töfra Hvutti Valtýr) daughter in Holland at Fuglatorgi kennels. What a lovely girl Iduna fra Gull Lyklinum is with the beautiful red colouring of her father, she reminds me alot of her grandmother Frigg but with a longer coat. I can see she is just as good a mom too. ;-)

November 27th

Just heard from Chris, Mom is doing okay she is in the hospital in London, Ont. They are doing tests to see if she is a good candidate for a donor heart so we will soon know if she has that possibility or not. Now whether or not we will be blessed with a heart for my Mother I would like to add a special note to those families of organ donors and all who have decided to give this precious gift of life. My respect and sincere thanks to you for the courage and love it must take to do such an amazing thing. You never know how precious a gift it is until it touches you or your family personally. I feel selfish hoping that my mother may get a heart and I apologize for my selfishness at a time that must be devastating to those involved.

News of Rúnar's grandfather is that they managed to get his kidneys working again today but he is still having some problems with his heart and is still in intensive care. The doctor was a bit optimistic but Rúnar's grandmother said that he seemed much worse today.

We had a brilliant idea today and when Rúnar came home he took the dogs out for a run by the lighthouse so that I could wash the floors in peace. It was so much easier than trying to get them to sit on the couch or have them in the yard until it dried. Well, they had a great time in the strong wind and cold but little Hófi decided that she was going to roll around in something horrible. Rúnar said she did it so quickly that he hardly thought she had the chance to get anything on her but oh boy did she stink! We don't have skunks here but something smells extremely awful from the ocean, possibly it was remains of the dead whale or just something fishy. In any case the smell was unbearable so she had a nice bath and now smells like perfume instead. Yuck. She was so proud of herself the little goon. She has gained a tiny bit of weight over the past few days and we are getting excited to see if she continues to do that.

A new law was passed in Parliament tonight and some think it is a good thing, others feel it might make matters worse and yet others feel that it's just going to possibly start another depression in two years time. The law is that for two years the government can limit the amount of money that leaves the country. This is to make sure that foreign currency doesn't leave the country as quickly or quicker than we can get in into the country. In a way it's geared towards the tycoons that might want to take all their money and run now that the first payment from the IMF has arrived! I don't know exactly what it's about because I didn't watch the live coverage of the discussions in Parliament tonight. House was on and it's one of Rúnar's favourite shows and I must admit it's much more entertaining than watching parliament discussions. LOL 

November 26th

Rúnar's grandfather was moved to intensive care today, he'll be there all night and we will get more news tomorrow. From what I understand he had some bleeding into the joint of the break and then some heart trouble on top of that. He is 81 years of age Rúnar said so it is always difficult to know how things will turn out at that age since he has been very ill ever since his stroke. We were told it didn't look good but I will cling to hope for Rúnar's sake he loves his grandfather so much, he is named after him actually.

For you Marilyn, when I talked to Mom on Sunday she said she went to see Nana on Saturday (I guess she was getting everything done she felt she needed to do and she always visits her when her health will alow) and she said Nana was doing well. She had no clue who Mom was and was happy to see the nurse come in but they did spend some time together and Nana is doing okay. 

In other news one of our biggest building supply stores Húsasmiðjan is letting over a hundred people go at the end of this month. Rúnar is always nervous but he says although they went to work this morning without knowing what they would do they were lucky enough to get a couple jobs before the end of the day that will keep them busy into December so we cross our fingers that he can keep his job a bit longer. It means he has to travel around a little bit since all the jobs are not around this area but luckily they all drive there together on the company truck so he doesn't have to pay for gas. According to the newest calculations the inflation rate is now at just over 17%. Food has in many cases gone up from 30-!00% depending on what it is over the last couple months. The loans continue to go up each month since our mortgage loans are connected to the inflation rate. The government has put a couple new laws into effect to help people with the payments and one law allows people who lose their homes to bankruptcy to be able to stay in their homes and rent them from the government mortgage agency.

There is a motion by a few of the parliament members in the opposition, they would like Iceland to have talks with Norway to possibly connect the Icelandic kronur to the Norwegian  kroner (don't ask me to explain that in English! :-) ) and I had heard on the Norwegian channel that the Norwegians had talked about this possibility a while back. For those interested in reading some of the news (not all the news is translated) in English I just realized (silly me to not notice it before) that there is an English page on the national newspaper website as well. The news on that page it says is taken from a couple English newspapers like Iceland Review and Icenews but here is a link for those who want to take a peek. http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/english/

I just let the dogs out to pee, little Hófi asked to go out (it's the middle of the night but I'm still awake). It's cold out but not too bad only minus 4 with no wind for a change and I couldn't help but look up at the beautiful black star filled sky and smell the fresh sea air and think, I do have a lot to be thankful for even though unfortunately sometimes I forget. :-)

November 25th

Happy Birthday Hófi!  She is 3 years old already, how quickly time flies. It wasn't much of a special day for her unfortunately. Rúnar was working a bit late (he's working farther away) and I wasn't feeling too well today but she got some turkey with her supper and lots of cuddles and the birthday song. :-)

Got an email today with some news that I wasn't aware of, there is a litter out of one of my "puppies" in Norway at the moment. They were born on September 19th but the amazing thing is that there were 9 puppies in the litter! One unfortunately didn't make it but the 8 remaining are strong and healthy and I got these wonderful photos from a friend of mine. The breeder, Töfra Dofri Brosi's owner doesn't have the internet but I'm sure info can be given from the Norwegian club. I've put these photos on the puppy page too. Quite a few cuties in there that I wouldn't mind owning myself. Frigg's great little upright puppy ears are really being inherited through her progeny. 

I talked to Beggi today and found out he left Iceland yesterday along with Heida. I have had the funniest feeling the past few days and thought I should call Beggi and see how he is doing but I didn't call until today. He is living with his brother in Norway for the moment (his house is still being rented out). He has been out of work for a month here, his brother's company had to be shut down and everyone was let go. He said he finished building the house he was working on and then had nothing else to do and won't get paid until the house is sold which is not looking bright. He saw it was not working out being in Iceland, no jobs and the situation the country is in no hope of there being any for a long while so he went back to Norway after only being here almost a year. He got there yesterday and already had found a job today! I am quite sad to see him go, I wish I could have said goodbye to both him and Heida and I really envy him being in Norway.

Rúnar added a questbook a little while ago and I must admit I keep forgetting to check posts. For some reason we don't get emails to let us know when a new post is added so I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those who have taken the time to post. :-) I will try to peek at it more often so please write us a line if you feel so inclined. For anyone who wants to keep in touch more I am on Facebook and sadly I seem to write more on there than I do regular emails. 

November 24th

From what I have heard from Dad tonight Mom didn't get a bed in the hospital today so I don't know when she is going in. I'll try to get more news and post when I know. Rúnar's grandfather (the one that had the stroke some years ago and was sent back home from the rest home the other day) fell badly in his living room, I believe it was on Saturday and broke his thigh just around the hip bone and had hit his head on a shelf but luckily not as bad as it could have been. So he is in hospital now waiting on surgery. We went to Rúnar's sister's on Sunday for his nephew's 5th birthday party, just down the road from us luckily because there is so much ice on the roads.

I'm a bit nervous since Rúnar is working way on the other side of Reykjavík at a place called Hvalfjördur, he assures me there is only ice on the roads in our town and the next one, I guess because they don't use any sand or salt here but do on the main roads or at least there is so much traffic that it melts the ice. The dogs are slip sliding a bit in the yard when they go out, this is the thing I hate about winter. I wouldn't really mind the winter if it wasn't for ice, snow is fine just not ice!

I've been trying to knit as much as I can but shoulders and neck are not being kind. Klói was just so cute tonight and Rúnar snapped a couple photos of him sound asleep in my lap.

There has been so much going on in the political sense the past few days and I can't help being a bit interested in it all. I guess because I used to work for the Political section of the US Embassy I did get a bit into the whole thing then and can't help but pay a bit of attention these days since it all has a direct impact on us. I guess it adds a bit of excitement to my otherwise boring day too (along with stress but we won't talk about that). Given that the financial supervisor for the government (I think that's what it is called) is a friend of mine from the old days (we used to train dogs together) and he is in big trouble with the whole country because they blame him directly for the bank crash it does bring it a bit closer to home. He has been protected from the media since this all happened and will not comment on anything, he is in hiding in a sense. I can't help but feel for the people involved like him, his family, the Prime minister and others. They are also human after all, but at the same time since I had to fix a payment plan for my own mortgage today I am also extremely angry at them all for letting this happen since it has been proven again and again that many saw this coming and warned them, both Icelanders and foreigners. The economic situation in the world is not only to blame for our problems but only add to them.

One demonstration got out of hand in front of the police station and they used pepper spray on the crowd. This is so unusual here, for those who don't know our police don't even carry weapons! The whole country is getting so angry and as always happens the more angry people get the more tempers flare towards others. So many are in financial crisis and don't know what to do there is an air of desperation in the air. We saw on the news tonight that so many people are paying two mortgages because they in many cases were trying to buy a smaller house but didn't manage to sell their homes before they bought a new place and now the market is dead so they can't sell and have to pay for both. It's impossible to even rent out property these days. But I'm sure it's the same everywhere! We really have to be glad that we didn't go crazy like so many others. At the weekly city meeting (they have been holding these for the past few weeks since the crisis started) in Reykjavík they had an outstanding amount of participation and there wasn't enough room for everyone that showed up. I must say I have a great deal of respect for the government officials (Prime Minister and a few other ministers) and members of parliament that showed up. All the chairs were labelled and everyone was invited but about half showed up. Some had legitimate excuses like they were out of the country but others just didn't want to come (they read the attendance list at the end of the meeting and the excuses that were given). I think it is wonderful that so many did come because it is safe to say the comments they have been getting the past while are anything but friendly and uplifting. The amount of eggs, tomatoes and yoghurt that has been thrown at the Parliament building the past couple demonstrations could probably feed a small city, not to mention all the toilet paper that has found it's way onto the building. The Joke Room the other day had a skit when they said this is such a wonderful time for the chicken farmers because eggs have never sold so well. This financial crash is just the best thing that could have happened to them. :-)

The meeting was very nice, very civil, no violence or even outbursts, a couple times one or two comments were yelled out but were politely quieted down, very Icelandic in a sense, cool calm collected and people genuinely were there to talk and to listen. Icelanders are soft spoken people when they are not under the influence of alcohol. Maybe that's why they have always held these meetings on a Monday evening. LOL ;-) It was shown live on the TV so we were lucky enough to get to see it from start to finish. There is a big question whether we will finally get the wish of most of the population and have an early election, the next one shouldn't be for another 2 years but everyone wants the government officials that put us in this mess to resign. The vote in the Parliament for an early election was rejected today so the people are angry that they won't listen to the population when we all say yes to an election. The government says that it would only make things worse because they are working so hard on fixing things and the population says we don't want the same people that made the mess cleaning up the mess, we can't trust them to know what to do to fix it. The opposing government brought a motion and said the government was incompetent and the motion was to allow the Icelandic population to vote for a new government. So it was discussed and voted on in Parliament as to whether or not to bring it to a vote or not. But what do you expect, when the question is if the government is incompetent and the majority is the incompetent part of course they are going to say no to that themselves and the vote will be on their side. How silly. :-)

November 21st

Just very quickly. Talked to Mom tonight and she is going to be going into London hospital on Monday. She should be in for 5-10 days she said if all goes well. They are testing her to see if she can be a candidate for a donor heart. She sounded both excited at the chance but very scared and nervous at the same time and still sounded very out of breath. It took her a long time to actually make up her mind to be put on the waiting list because she felt she shouldn't do it. So now the question is how the tests come out and if they can help her, I think the thing that makes us all nervous is that we are scared she will not be a good candidate and her condition is so bad already. So I promised to phone again today (22nd) and Sunday so I can talk to her a bit before she goes in on Monday.

I was at the doctor's today, was supposed to be hypnotized. For those that remember I haven't been for the longest time so I was just too nervous and scared about the thought after having a slight panic attack last night. The whole appointment changed into talking about the hypnotism and other things about my condition and the stress I'm under lately with the family etc. He needed to reassure me that it will help, what exactly the adrenalin is doing to my body and why we need to lower it. That I don't have to worry about anything bad happening and if I do have a panic attack then he will talk me through it again like last time. I just feel so silly getting so anxious and nervous for no reason. I have another appointment in a couple weeks hopefully I will talk myself into being excited about it rather than have too much time to get nervous again. In regards to my eczema he understood that I didn't want to have to stop the gluten free diet but did say he could get me into a specialist if I wanted to get the biopsy done. He did use some of the time to "calm" my nerves (a lighter hypnosis) and I left less stressed than I went in. :-) Rúnar saw a difference and said I always walk with more confidence and am more upbeat and positive when I come from that doctor. So not a wasted visit at all. Then as usual on Fridays Rúnar spoiled me by making supper after we got back from the store. We had some fresh haddock which is something we don't eat so much anymore, fish is usually more expensive than meat oddly enough.

We have a nephew's birthday on Sunday so we'll be out part of the day for that but luckily it's at his sister's house right around the corner so we don't have a long trip into town or anything on the icy roads. Hopefully we will be taking the dogs out for a run during the weekend, it's been cold but pretty nice weather the past couple days so let's hope it keeps up. Although I think we are expecting rain again. There is another weekly demonstration in front of the parliament building tomorrow, we'll be there in spirit. :-)

November 20th

Got a few more photos of the dogs in the pedigree of Hófi x Dreki from people who saw that some were missing. So I added them and unfortunately I have some wonderful photos of some of the dogs but my scanner doesn't work so I can't add them.

Rúnar was working right across the street at the neighbours for a short while today and the dogs especially Birta were quite happy with that. However I thought it would be ok to let them be outside alone a little while so they could watch him and my dear Klói decided that since he couldn't get to Daddy he would start digging a hole in the yard. Thank you very much, his feet were all black with dirt and I needed to wash them in the bathtub (boy is he heavy to have to lift in a strange position) the floor of course had dirt all over it and the hole in the garden well, need I say I wasn't happy! Why can't he be more like his mom and grandma, they would never think of digging and they can stay outside calm and happy all day if we let them without having to keep an eye on them (although we don't do that!). I was a bit nervous because when I went to the door (I was washing the dishes while this was happening) to let them in I saw him and Frigg eating roots from the hole he dug. They were very pleased with themselves with the stupid things hanging out of their mouths chomping away. I'm pretty sure it was dandelion roots, at least I hope it was nothing bad for them. So far so good Klói doesn't have any ill effects and it's been a few hours already. Anyway, here is Rúnar working and being kept an eye on by his "girls. :-)

We took Hófi and Frigg to Selfoss with us on Tuesday evening and they loved the special attention, we just went to the store and then let them out to run on the way home. Loads of fun and it always amazes me how in tune those two have been from the very moment they met, it is just so obvious they are related and as if they have always known it. LOL Oh how nice it has been the last few days to have no females in heat. Life as usual so to speak except that Hófi is gaining a little weight already and eating well which is so unlike her.

The stores in Selfoss are open late tonight because the town is turning on their Xmas lights with a ceremony and I wanted to go just to walk around with one of the dogs down the street and pick up my spirits but Rúnar said he doesn't want to go since we can't buy anything anyway he thinks it's not necessary to go to the stores just to look around, typical male. I guess sometimes you just have to have kids to have an excuse to do stuff. LOL  But it's cold outside anyway and poor Rúnar has been outside all day and I'm really dizzy the past few days so we'll go some other time. No doubt I'll see the lights when I go into Selfoss to the doctor tomorrow.  So he's stopped at his Mom's house now on his way back from work to help her get down her Xmas decorations from the attic and I don't know what time he'll be home but I guess I better go get supper ready.

November 17th

Just thought I'd update because I noticed we've had less traffic to the site lately. We had a lot of traffic while I was keeping "the secret" about Dreki. :-) Sorry no more secrets to let out of the bag, just boring every day stuff going on. I'm still praying for Mom of course but that is a given. Hófi is acting pregnant so let's just keep our fingers crossed about that. She is being so cuddly lately and she is so cute when she does that. LOL

Our funny friend the crow was at it again this morning, I keep forgetting to mention his antics I think it is so cute now, I never thought so before because I didn't know it was him. LOL  So pretty much every morning he will sit on a street light outside our bedroom window (Rúnar leaves early and I usually try to get a little bit more sleep because I wake up every couple hours during the night) and every time Rúnar leaves the dogs bark for a few minutes. Trying to keep the herd together you know, but if I catch them before they start then I can keep their attention while he leaves. So the friendly crow will try to get the dogs to bark at him. He'll start out with a little bit of a higher pitched sound that almost sounds like a child trying to tease the dogs by barking and at first I thought it was the neighbourhood kids on their way past because there is usually a lot of noise from them too. I think he might have originally learnt it from the kids. But no I found out it's the crow because he keeps getting more and more convincing in his "barking". So once he gets the dogs started (usually just Birta will get angry at him and bark back) his bark gets better and better until he has a deep "could swear it was a dog" bark. He really is quite talented. The dogs are starting to get used to him though so they don't bark too much back anymore and Hófi usually never barks except when she sees Rúnar drive up (then she is so excited she can't contain herself). Lord help us if he decided to copy her high pitched hair raising bark. Hehehe I was hoping we would manage to bore him so he´ll give up and go tease the neighbours instead, however I think Birta likes him so she tends to encourage him a bit.

Rúnar has been working less at his job because of the economy but I was pretty much home alone all weekend since he was fixing the car, we finally got the part so it took a lot of work on his part to change the muffler and exhaust system under the car. He is lucky that his sister lives right around the corner from us and she has a garage. I've been using most my time knitting, that is when I'm not online or doing housework or the like. I'm trying to make Xmas gifts this year because my pay will be lowered in January as well so we have a lot less to live off. We were lucky and got a turkey on sale the other day so that's in the freezer. :-) I have seen that there is a lot of articles in foreign newspapers about Iceland and our situation. Even an article in Canadian newspapers. Had a very strange turn of events today and one of our best and most experienced members of parliament resigned. Everyone is just stunned, he isn't even one of the instigators of the crisis here but they are all still in their positions and won't budge. So there are lots going on here in terms of the country itself although I don't really want to talk politics.

So a friend of mine at Greenstone Icelandics was at a show this past weekend and had two of her newest up and coming puppies do very well. They both got a BOB and some points towards championships. Her lovely girl Greenstone Ada, one of her adults who is a grandpuppy out of Töfra Dalla Hektorsdóttir was BOS the one day and got a few more points toward her championship as well. Congratulations on all the wins Valerie!

Last week Rúnar's grandfather was sent back home from the resting home he was in because they went bankrupt. It really is hard for his grandmother, she never gets any rest from caring for him and she is not strong anymore either. Rúnar's mother often lives there on weekends to help out and has been doing that for a year or more. Rúnar's younger brother goes to school here so she needs to be here during the week but we hardly see her because it's usually weekends that we have time to visit. It means a lot of driving for her into Reykjavík to help out so his grandmother can have a bit of rest. They finally got an opening in the rest home they had been waiting for so his grandfather had been admitted and was supposed to be there for a few weeks. Rúnar's grandmother was looking forward to a few weeks just to herself and was going to stay here in our town for a little bit but he was only in there a few days and then she had to take him back home again. At least she got a few days off but you'd think they could have seen they were headed for bankrupcy, it was just on the news one night as if it happened suddenly. Apparently the building was rented and they couldn't come to an understanding with the landlord. I guess they had loans or something that they couldn't pay as so many other people. So much going on here, every day there is something surprising in the news it seems. It seems our government had to accept the terms laid out by the IMF (the Icelandic nation must pay for the debts created by a private party who owned the IceSave bank) or we would have possibly lost our contract with the European Union as well as all the other offers of loans from the different countries. It's horrible that because we are such a small country they feel that WE are ALL responsible for the doings of one or two Icelandic tycoons. They just go back home to their villas in the other countries on their private planes or yachts and say oops, sorry about that! I feel sorry for the young kids growing up today that will have huge debts on their heads for their whole lives. 

Wow, it's seems I've been on the computer almost all day, I know I shouldn't do that but got caught up answering emails and stuff. I really must go knit. I do have eczema again, don't know if it's the knitting, the stress or the fact that I have had to cheat more with the gluten. I tried to get a discount card from the health insurance through my family doctor but they said no. His word for it is not enough I'd need to go in for a test (they take a scraping of the intestine) which cannot be done if I've been off gluten for any amount of time. The doctor who originally gave me the diagnosis was in Canada and is dead so there is no way I can get proof from that time. If I start eating gluten again I have to suffer so I'm not sure if I will apply for the discount again (even though it would save us a bit of money). I'll just try to eat less of the gluten free stuff and more soups or stuff instead of breads and pasta. I'm already getting aggravated and irritable with the itching and burning of my hands so I think I'd rather not stop the diet completely. Have a doctor's appointment this Friday so I'll ask him what he thinks.

November 14th

Talked to my mother yesterday and told her I'd heard she had been in hospital again (I meant on the weekend). She said yes, Chris took me in yesterday and we got home again after midnight. I said; what, you were in again yesterday and she said yes. She needed her lungs drained again. That is so unbelievable because I had been told they drained a whole gallon (about 4 liters) out of her lungs on the weekend so I wonder how much they drained this time. I didn't dare ask. She was very out of breath again and said she was so cold (a nurse had just come to help her in a bath so she hopefully warmed up a little after that) so I asked if she was feeling better but she said the lungs are filling so fast lately that she feels pretty much the same all the time. Her doctor said next time she goes into hospital they will transport her to the London hospital (she lives in Cambridge). She promised to make sure I get news and know what's going on so I'm not in the dark. I tried to phone her a little while ago and no answer...here we go again.

I'll just let these photos do for an update today! Pretty Christmas snow. :-) Makes me think I should get crackin' knitting the rest of the Xmas gifts.

November 12th

No news seems to have been good news (or as close to it as we can get these days) a dear friend of mine who lives in the same province as my parents phoned my Dad for me to find out what is going on. Thank you so much! It is just so expensive to call from here that I really have to limit calls myself. My Dad is apparently doing well, no complications after his heart attack so that is great news. I don't think he knew that I knew about it (he didn't mention it when I talked to him last time) so might have been a bit surprised that my friend asked him how he was doing. My Mom let the cat out of the bag about my Dad so he didn't get to keep that secret. :-) My Mom is stable and her lungs were drained so they will have to continue to do that regularly so she'll be in and out of hospital as she has been for a while now. I guess I'll just have to tell myself that I shouldn't worry that if something drastic happens that my family will let me know, since these hospital visits are so frequent they just feel I'm better off not knowing. I'm glad to hear that she is stable and it is a relief but also must be difficult for her being so sick all the time.

Not much more new. Don't know why but there was an "army" of crows and smaller birds in the yard across from us this morning. They liked to tease the dogs as crows always do they'd fly right over our yard and then sit on the neighbours roof and "laugh". Luckily for the neighbours the only one that was letting it get to them today was Frigg but she is still in heat so she is a bit irritable these days. Hehe  Klói got to go out by himself and he thought is was just neat, I'm sure he'd play with them rather than chase them if he was on his own (when the others chase he will follow). LOL

Got this pretty photo before I went to bed last night.

November 10th

Isn't it always the way? I put news on my site and it's already "old" and inaccurate by the time I turn off the computer. So I should have said I talked to my Mom on Friday night and she was a bit better but I haven't heard from her since Friday and I just heard last night that she has been in hospital all weekend. She was supposed to have her lungs drained yesterday but I was told they didn't do that yet, I suppose it's too risky or something. Let's hope they can help her today. I'm going to try to get more accurate info before I update next time. This is one hard rollercoaster of feelings.

So we've made a family tree for the hopeful litter and put in on the puppies page along with a few photos. This time instead of just having a photo pedigree of dogs I have used, owned myself or bred we have included as many of the relatives as we can. We were lucky enough to be able to get some photos of some of the older dogs on the father's side and they are all so beautiful and have been "favourites" of ours for so long that we wanted to include them all. :-) As many may have already figured out from my hinting the lucky dog was Reykjadals Hrafn Dreki. He is the son of Töfra Hólmfrídur Hrifla who is a daughter of the O family male Skessu Skolli. Hólmfrídur frá Ólafsfjördur (Hófi) also has a stem to the O family since her grandmother is Skessu Salka (Skolli's sister) and on the other side of her pedigree she also has the M family and bringing to Iceland some Norwegian/Swedish blood while she is at it. As an added bonus both are Frigg's grandpuppies. So there is an element of linebreeding there but when we checked the co-efficient in 5 gens it is only just 5,7% which is well acceptable and comes out as a "green" litter in the Lathunden. It would have been lower with Klói but we have the future ahead of us for that mating. The interesting part is that when we ran fictional puppies from the litter with the rest of the population in Iceland we get an awesome outcome and the litter would be able to add diversity to a very large amount of the population, I can't remember the percentage right now but it was well over half the population. Dreki has none of the most used matadors in him and neither does Hófi so it is a great combination of "different" lines to the rest of the population. So here is my absolute favourite (for now) photo of Dreki. The photographer is of course no other than the artist his breeder and sometime babysitter Brynhildur I. Einarsdóttir from Reykjadals kennel. Enjoy! It's his baby (half) brother sitting in the photo with him. :-)

I just fell in love with his half brothers with their calm quiet loving nature and then I got to know Dreki better too (I'd met him a few times in the past but never really spent time with him) and I was just smitten! He has the same wonderful temperament. Here are his two younger half brothers when we took Hófi for a visit on the 5th. They are a bit gangly and still puppy like but oh so well behaved and calm.

Ah, it's cold out here. Rain, rain go away! Handsome boy!

Will this stupid heat cycle ever end? :-(

November 9th

I noticed there has been a bit of traffic to the site and I unfortunately haven't had time to update the past few days. We have been trying and trying to get a mating with Hófi and nothing happened so we were exhausted after this week, hardly spent any time at home the past week at all. So today we had thought when we woke up that we really didn't feel like going today since we've wasted so many days trying but said oh well, we'll give them an hour at the most and if nothing happens we give up! Well, thank goodness we didn't stay home because we got a 15 minute tie!!!! It was freezing cold and 15 minutes felt like an hour, LOL Thank goodness after all our travels it wasn't all in vein, now we just have to cross our fingers and hope it was actually successful in giving us a litter. I will update with a photo of the hopeful father tomorrow...I know I said I was going to keep it a secret but on the other hand I also said long ago that I would update with more info when we had a "mating", so I figured I may as well. If we get no litter then at least you can all enjoy seeing the photos of him for the next couple months. :-) I just had to kiss him on the head and hug him silly today, he is so sweet and I just think he is awesome. After seeing him for a week every single day I'm sure we'll miss seeing him tomorrow but no doubt "someone" is going to miss seeing him more than me and Rúnar. Hehehe  Hófi seems to be exhausted though too and she will probably sleep for days. We took Klói and Birta out after we brought Hófi home, for a walk in the nice weather we had. It was beautiful and clear but quite cold of course we forgot the camera, both with Hófi and when we went for a walk. Typical it's probably because we forgot the camera that it worked out! So Hófi and Frigg had to stay home, it's not always fun to be in heat. :-(  

The tide had brought so much sea weed way up the field almost to the lighthouse, there were even some whale back bone pieces laying amongst the sea weed piles. No doubt from the whale that washed up earlier this year.

I talked to Mom again and I'm pleased to say that the prayers that have been said for her are helping, at least for now. I have gotten some lovely emails and I appreciate them so much. This disease of hers is so hard, she has CHF (congestive heart failure) that has been extremely bad for many years, her doctors are at a loss since there is nothing much they can do, they didn't even expect her to still be alive so many years later. It does so much damage not only to the heart itself but to all the organs not getting oxygen or blood to them. She is maybe fine one day and the next she is in very bad shape, we never know. She often spends more time in hospital than at home. Her heart only pumps 5% of what it is supposed to so she is the worst she has ever been. I honestly thought a few times in the past few years that she couldn't take anymore and we thought we were losing her for sure when we visited her in May/June but my Mom is the toughest and most stubborn person I know besides my Nana (her mother) and I'm thinking she is fighting this tooth and nail. My Mom started a support group when she was first diagnosed with CHF for those with CHF and their families and she was working hard visiting others and holding informative meetings for the past few years. She has been in the newspapers and TV telling people about this disease so no doubt she is getting back some of the love and good thoughts that she has given to others. Sadly many of the people in her support group have already passed away.

The other news that I don't think I had posted is that I found out my father had a mild heart attack a few weeks ago. This is his second one but there has been about 14 years since his first one I believe. He has been eating extremely well the past years (only organic and not taking medication but relying on nutrition) and taking all kinds of supplements so no doubt they have helped since it was only a very mild one this time.None the less it does worry me to be so far away and to realize how quickly things can happen without warning. I think as my Mom said it seemed to be due to all the stress of the economy, all my Dad's savings are/were in stocks and after he retired that has been his nest egg.

So I guess that's all for now...wanted to update so those on the waiting list know that we at least have some hope that there will be a litter in the near future. I'm just going to see if I can get a few good photos from the owner and then update tomorrow with photos. We didn't get any good photos since we have had nothing but rain and fog this week or it's been dark when we met.

November 6th

I talked to Mom last night after we got home with Hófi. She sounds terrible, she could hardly speak, the words were slurred and hard to understand and she was out of breath. I could only talk to her a few minutes because she needed to rest, I hated to hang up the phone. I just wanted to be able to jump in the car and drive over to see her. This is so frustrating and I honestly think every single day would I wouldn't give to turn back the clock, I would do things so differently. 

So we did take Hófi yesterday and today and no tie so we´re just crossing our fingers that the first tie was sufficient even though it was short. We didn't take the time so we don't know exactly how long it was but it wasn't more than a few minutes but I have had healthy litters from a pair that didn't tie or not more than a couple minutes so I'm hopeful since I have also mated my females to males that once they did the deed refused to do it again (seemingly knowing that it was successful :-) ) that have resulted in healthy litters, some dogs are just so sensitive to the correct smell and the hormones. We are not going to give up right away and are going back tomorrow but we find it quite strange that they should have a tie on Tuesday and then for two days after nothing! We´re thinking she is finished the fertile period since she is being extremely nasty to Klói, if he gets too close she will almost try to bite his face (it's so totally unlike her!!) he´s not allowed to look at her today let alone walk past her or try to lick her face. However her boyfriend is still interested in her and she is totally smitten with him so he is allowed to do anything, it's not like they are not playing around and going through the motions but no tie. Klói definitely wishes he could show her some affection and he hates having to be in his cage so much so he is liking the smell of her still too. We haven't lost hope that she may still be receptive and we might get another tie with her chosen boyfriend.

I haven't gotten a chance to answer a lot of emails lately but I am reading them and keeping abreast of things. A very sad event happened last month, a grandpuppy of mine in USA died at only 4 yrs of age. She went to bed and never woke up again. It was so strange and she was healthy with no signs of any ill health so the owner did a very responsible thing and had an autopsy done and we got the horrible horrible news that she had been poisoned by their neighbour. The world can be such a cruel place sometimes and I just don't understand how anyone can do anything like that, I'm hoping it was unintentional but in this day and age you never know. My condolences and thoughts go out to her loving owner as I know they are devastated. I pray this will never happen again to anyone. I urge everyone to ask friends, neighbours and relatives to never use poisons in their yards whether they have pets or children or not, it is so easy for mice to eat poison and then run across a field and die and the dog may find it possibly in his own yard even though the poison was somewhere farther away. Also you have things like weather that can bring airborne particles into your yard. We always avoid poisons in our yard but of course most people don't think about it and will spray the hedges etc, we are really lucky actually that we have dog or pet owners in almost every house immediately around us and most houses in our street. I will admit though I'm always a bit paranoid when we go walking places we don't know. I think we are pretty lucky though here in Iceland because most people use friendly traps and we don't have so many wild animals. We do have some positive things to Iceland even though the weather is horrible and so many other things that we wish we had.

How time flies but sometimes stands still. Rúnar called me from work today and said did you realize that today would have been Hófi's (Sr.) birthday. It's 20 years today that Hólmfrídur frá Kolsholti was born...wow, it almost feels like it was much longer ago, it feels like a whole other life! But at the same time feels like yesterday that I went with Beggi to pick her out of the litter. Wouldn't it have been nice if she had of taken after her grandfather Garda Tinni, he lived to be 21.

November 5th

What a great day in history! Congratulations U.S.A. I am so happy that Obama is the president elect. I stayed up all night watching live coverage from the election and I remembered how much fun I had at the last election. Then I was working at the American Embassy in Reykjavík and worked on the election watch event with the Public relations and Political departments. So many preparations and tireless hours of work that was at the same time enjoyable. I have a nice framed "Extra Mile Award" from that event. I remember how devastated I was when Kerry actually lost but when thinking of the significance of the election last night I really wish I had of been able to take part in this event. I can just imagine the celebration in Reykjavík in the early hours of the morning! I couldn't pull myself away from the TV this morning and didn't go to bed until after the wonderful speeches of both parties were finished which was 6 a.m. So today I'm a bit of a zombie...but a very happy one for the people of U.S.A. and the rest of the world. :-)

So yesterday was a very busy day and I wasn't home much all day, little Klói came with us to Reykjavík then we came home picked up Hófi and took her to her boyfriend then straight after that we visited Rúnar's mother for a little bit. Today is a little bit calmer but another day when it seems I won't be able to sit down for a bit. We´re off to mate Hófi again and I have to get going right now. We had a very short tie yesterday so we are hopeful that today will go well.

Chris is not hopeful about Mom's health so I'm getting quite worried again and fear this will not be a good Christmas. Just wanted to put a little note of Congratulations after the great election night but have to get going now. I will try to find time to update a bit more later. 

November 3rd

Called Mom last night and she had been in hospital all day, coughing up blood but was back at home. I feel happy and relieved that Chris has made it safe and sound to Cambridge and now he can visit Mom and keep her, John, Dad and Donna company. Just wish I could be there too!

It was strange to have Rúnar come home at 4 o'clock today, it was his first day of cut hours. I won't lie it was nice to have him home early but on the other hand I wish the paycheck didn't have to change along with his hours. So we took Hófi to meet her hopeful mate and although they were very excited and tried hard for awhile we left without getting a tie. We'll be going back tomorrow after Rúnar gets home from work, maybe then I can take some photos (for posting later :-) ) because tonight it was just pitch black outside. The more time I spend with Hófi's mate the more I fall in love with him, what a treasure of a dog. My fingers are crossed.

Poor little Klói in his Joe Boxers is so frustrated and starting to whine a little bit every now and again, he didn't eat anything today either. Now I remember why I told myself I was never going to keep a male dog again. It's so unfair to them, I just love him to bits though so I'm going to try to ignore the few weeks a year that he is uncomfortable and tell myself that life isn't always fair. But I still think given the choice again I probably would only want one sex it is so much less work. LOL Thank goodness the girls all synchronize their seasons, I certainly hope they keep that up in future for his sake. He wasn't like this last time but obviously he is growing up and becoming wise to his instincts.

Today was a very sad day for a dear friend of mine, she had to let her 13 year old female (from her very first litter...I know how hard that can be) go tonight due to a huge tumour in her abdomen. I remember the day she was born and it feels like yesterday. Every time we lose one of the "old timers" it hurts a little more to realize that we are losing a whole generation of wonderful dogs and time just goes by much too quickly. I'm so not one that appreciates the way the breed is changing so I feel each time we lose the old dogs we lose a little bit more of the old type and of the history that made this breed. Another friend lost two 14 yr old dogs not too long ago as well and they will be sorely missed in the minds of those of us who knew them. My condolences to both of you. The sad part is too that many of these old timers didn't have progeny or their progeny did not carry on because they were not from the "popular lines". It just makes me all the more determined to breed for bloodlines and not care what the majority thinks. Thankfully my friends female did have some progeny in other countries and they have wonderful offspring in turn that contribute to the population in those countries as well as I will be tapping into the other old line of the dogs we have recently lost of old age.

Speaking of bloodlines and rare lines...I went onto Laura's website and watched the short video of Max and wow he looks good. I don't find the photo does him justice (I think he is like his mom Frigg, impossible to catch their true self on photos :-) ) but that video is really great, way too short I will admit (hehe) but I loved to see it, thanks for posting it Laura and Scott. I can clearly see what Mr. Edh saw in him on the video. I'm looking forward to seeing more photos. You see more news from Max that I received after I updated is that he along with two of his offspring passed their herding tests yesterday. Great news indeed and what a weekend! Congratulations again to all the owners.

A new litter in Holland arrived a few days ago out of a rare line (Max's brother Valli's daughter) at fra Fuglatorgi kennel which is great news. You can see a family resemblance there. Iduna fra Gull Lyklinum is a beautiful female and looks sweet from her photos and I swear she reminds me a bit of Hófi in her expression (Valli and Hófi's mother Lotta are half siblings). Always love to see new puppy photos.

November 2nd

Well, I was going to wish everyone a Happy Halloween the other day but then I got too busy to update. Hope everyone had a great day. The novelty is catching on here in the sense of people dressing up and having parties on Halloween but the children lucky still don't go trick or treating...sorry I am one of the people that hates that! :-) I didn't go trick or treating when I was young and I have never really been a fan of it. We have always had a type of trick or treat day on Ash Wednesday in Iceland when the kids dress up and go into the stores and ask for trick or treat. I guess this means we will have it twice a year now in Iceland.

I went to give a private consultation to a Doggue de Bordeaux owner today, that was fun and a nice dog that unfortunately has a very little soul and needs some character building exercises. I have no doubt she will be open and happy in no time, she showed a bit of progress just in the short time we were there. She was totally tuckered out though afterwards and was snoring under the table at her owners feet. Hehe

So the most awesome news of this past little while is that I got a phone call last night from Soley (Belglen Röskva) and Solhundur Tindra's owner Laura. She has a visitor at her house at the moment, Maureen had brought Max (Töfra Hrói Grettir) up for a 1 year birthday celebration of the puppies that he sired with Soley. Fate was really kind and there was a very big dog show in their area with an FCI judge and I encouraged them to use the opportunity when I had heard about it since I feel that good or bad outcome the opportunity to show under an FCI judge that knows the breed is the closest they could get to actually showing in Iceland. :-) I didn't know that Maureen had intended to go to the show too with Max but when I heard about it I was a little nervous because of course being from my own breeding I am very aware of his faults. So they took the three dogs (Max, Soley and Tindra) to be judged by one of few specialty judges in the breed (he is in my mind a specialty judge due to the fact that he is on the 3 judge committee that is working on the judging compendium with drawings that is to accompany the FCI ISD standard). His name is Kenneth Edh from Sweden and he is also the one who educates judges in Sweden and has been to Iceland a couple times and judged one of our specialty shows with over 60 dogs entered, so a very knowledgeable man and I was so anxious to hear what he had to say about the dogs. This is a judge that is very strict and would withhold a prize if he doesn't feel the dog is worthy at the time, he gave Klói a very good because he felt he was not mature enough and was a bit feminine. So as usual I expected the worst so I was totally blown away when I heard all the great things that Mr. Edh had to say about Max, Soley and their daughter :-) Max was BOB and competed with 14 other breeds in the group and he was awarded 4th place which is so awesome. According to the point system in Canada that puts him on the list for the Top Dog of Canada this year, I believe 2nd place at the moment but he could lose that to someone else before the year is over but he is on the list. How wonderful for him and Maureen. This was Max's very first show! He was attacked horribly by a German Shepherd a little while back and I'm so happy to hear and see (on the photo) that he is doing good and is healing well. Congratulations Maureen and Max, Laura and Scott with Soley who was BOS and the great comments that you got for your little girl Tindra. I'd like to say Thank you to Scott for handling Max!

Max's one daughter Solhundur Frída Töfradís (our co-own female) actually saved her owner from a very bad outcome with a ram the other day. Thank goodness her owner is now doing better but still has a back brace and lots of pain. I shutter to think what might have happened if as her owner said Dísa hadn't headed off and stopped the ram in his tracks before he slammed her the second time. Dísa is an unbelievably gutsy girl and sounds like a true representative of the breed, courageous and strong and would do anything for her owner. Both Dísa and Bjarki (the male ISD on the farm) took good care of and stuck by their owner while she was unconscious and until the ambulance came. You know dogs really do deserve our love and devotion and thank God they love us so much. :-) I always love to see the new photos from the farm and all the stuff Dísa gets to do...what a great life for a dog. Best wishes for a speedy recovery Lisa.

So  Klói went out again today to get a break. Not always a bad thing to be a boy as Rúnar says. LOL He stayed in the car while we were doing the consultation (about 2 hours) without a peep and got to run again on the way home like he did yesterday. The weather was not much better today so the photos aren't great but I think he looks pretty good on them. One of the few times he actually stopped moving. LOL  My stupid camera is so slow that I push the button and nothing happens until he has already moved out of the frame. Maybe something happened to it when it fell on the floor a while back or could also be the cold outside. I'd love for Kenneth Edh to see Klói  now, he has grown up so much since he saw him.

We are feeling so sorry for him he isn't allowed to come any where close to his mom and she gets snippy. He can't understand it...he's not even allowed to walk past her or look at her. He's such a momma's boy that you can just see the confusion on his face. I can't wait until the girls are finished their season.

October 30th

Just talked to my mother tonight and while I was worried about her I mentioned I was talking to my father on MSN the beginning of this week and he didn't say a word about himself being sick. So what I found out tonight was a bit of a shock but at the same time a slight relief that I actually didn't know about it at the time and part of me thinks my family knows what's best for me by keeping secrets while on the other hand I get very upset that they feel they have to keep secrets from me. I will admit though that given my own health concerns I think they are probably right. My Mom told me that my father had a heart attack two weeks ago, she actually thought I knew about it because I had talked to him after it. So I'm just trying to get my head around it and I'm a little bit numb and realizing how quickly things can change. My Dad has been doing so well for the past few years (this is his second heart attack) but in the back of my mind I kept thinking that he might have another one. Apparently Mandy was with him when it happened and if I remember correctly poor Mandy was also with him the last time so many years ago. I feel so blessed that he is fine they say and I guess it was a small one, he thought it was just an anxiety attack but the doctors assured them it was his heart and now he has to go for some tests.

I'm so glad my brother decided to drive back to Cambridge (he lives in Vancouver) and is on his way this week. I just so wish I could have been there too this Christmas.

Rúnar is getting a bit more worried every day and I'm just trying not to think about anything really. I'm putting my head in the sand and hoping for the best. The news every single day announces 100's and 100's more unemployed. Iceland has never had this terrible an unemployment problem before. I think so many are actually not laughing any more and are actually believing now how much trouble the country is in, we all just tried to deny it before. The inflation is expected to reach 20% by the end of this year. When Rúnar came home today he was very quiet and his head hung so I asked what was wrong and he said the other building company here in Selfoss laid off all their workers today. Now Rúnar is afraid it's only a question of time and he'll be out of work too, next week he starts working shorter hours so I'm hoping his boss manages to keep his head above water for as long as possible and hopefully the government will be able to get things back on track before everyone loses their job. The TV station we watch all the time laid off all their workers today too as well as so many more companies that it's now hard to keep track. I wonder what the Joke Room will come up with this weekend. They have their work cut out for them anyway, everyone needs a good laugh.

Little Klói got a little time on his own tonight, he went for a walk in the neighbourhood with Rúnar and stopped at the store for cigarettes. He met a drunk guy at the store (there is a bar right across from it!) and so it was a bit of extra socializing which is always great.

October 29th

We got some snow again last night so that is nice, the dogs are happy. Klói got so excited all of a sudden while we were watching TV last night and ran to the window then back to us and just was smiling from ear to ear and hopping up and down. We thought boy he must really have to go do something and so I walked to the door to let him out and what do I see but it was snowing so nicely. He ran out in circles around the yard jumping around and catching snow flakes. It really is a pretty time of year I must admit when the ground is white and the sky is grey but bright and then we get the ever awe inspiring Northern lights in the evenings. When there is no wind so you can hear the sound of the waves hitting the rocks and the nice fresh crisp air that you just love to take a deep breath when you let the dogs out into the yard it can be so nice. Mind you it is cold and well that is the down side. LOL

There have been meetings with Norway and the other Scandinavian countries and no definite answers yet regarding the loan to help us. I have been watching the Norwegian news and also followed a talk show the other night about the financial crisis in Iceland and it seems they are a little bit torn, on the one side they feel that Iceland should be taught a lesson and left to pick up the tab for their irresponsible spending (or something along that line as they worded it) on the other hand they feel that it is important for Norway to have Iceland on their side since if Iceland joins the EU and takes up the Euro then Norway will have to share the fishing waters with all of Europe instead of only having to negotiate and share with Iceland at the moment while we are still independent. That was the main points I heard but I will say that it was obvious that they find it to be a little bit of a joke and had a few laughs at our expense. Which is all well and good we are laughing at ourselves too! You know so many times when times are hard you find out who your true friends are and so it is with Iceland. We got some wonderful unexpected news out of the blue yesterday. The Faroe Islands has offered to give us a substantial loan to help us out and it seems that unlike any other country it is without strings, more out of a neighbourly concern and friendship. It was a unanimous decision in their government. It really is a generous offer given how small a country they are. They really are a great people to show us such good will and the Icelandic Parliament members were very happy and emotional in the meetings today they said on the news. They want to try to stick by our friends and try to do what we can to strengthen the bond between these two small countries. I for one am very grateful to the people of the Faroe Islands!

So many people have lost their jobs here now and Rúnar came home on Monday with the unhappy news that there will be no more overtime in his job. He has been working 1,5 hours every day as overtime since he started so this means there will be a substantial pay drop for him. We are just hoping that he can keep his job for as long as possible.

  All the girls are in heat and Klói is being a good boy so far, chewing on a few ears and losing his appetite though, just biding his time I think waiting until the real "time" starts and so he is watched like a hawk of course and has to take up his old cage dwelling habits at night again. It's so unfair for the poor guy but life isn't always fair I guess. It's so funny when the girls are in heat especially Hófi they walk around the house with totally wet ears from Klói. LOL We're going to try to take Hófi on the weekend to see if her boyfriend will be smitten. :-)

I am looking forward to the weekend as well because I will be going on a house call on Sunday to help clicker train a dog that needs a little bit of specialized training. They decided they wanted to try clicker training, since they have already tried many other things and I'm so happy about that because I know they will not be disappointed. The yearly Icelandic Kennel Club dog walk (parade) on Laugarvegur (our main shopping street in downtown Reykjavík) is on Saturday. It is a great time to meet all the people we know with the dogs, it's a fun day out where we are allowed to walk down the street (the rest of the year dogs are not allowed on the streets downtown) and have Police and a marching band lead the way, it's starts at 13:00 and takes about an hour or so to walk to the end of town. At the other side of town they have agility equipment and then in the evening when the dogs are back at home the owners meet to have a supper and a few drinks together (I have never gone to that part of it because I live to far away to drive home and back). Anyway, given it is on Saturday means we won't make it to the walk with our dogs which is just typical because I was looking forward to taking a few of them. If I remember correctly they were also in season last year or was it last year that I took Hófi and Frigg? Probably the year before, time flies. Anyway, a couple times in the past I have been a flag bearer and that is tough especially with a dog on leash and holding the flag high enough that it can be seen, I definitely couldn't do it this year, I'm getting too old for that. Hehehe  Too bad, we could of course take Klói but I don't think we will spend money on gas just to take him alone because we need the gas for so many other things these days. I think Rúnar will be going into Reykjavík for example on Friday to pick up new parts for the car that are finally here (he ordered them a long time ago) to be able to fix it and get it inspected again before we get a ticket. I'm sure those that go for the walk will have a great time and we'll see some photos of all the dogs on TV, they always show it on the news. I will admit that during the past few years I have been doing less and less within the dog world...I am just finding it more rewarding to be with my own dogs and with Rúnar in our own little world. Hehehe In the old days I was EVERYWHERE dogs and their owners were congregated. Funny how we change as we age, or at least some of us do. :-)

October 26th

So not too much new. We had a fun time watching the Joke Room again last night, this time they did a sketch where the government had decided to help out the nation and we see them bringing a huge barrel of Prozac that they were putting into the drinking water. Maybe not such a bad idea. LOL The other sketch that I thought was a bit funny was they had decided to do the same thing with the country as you do with companies that go bankrupt, change the address and the name. So they called us Bísland and made a new flag. It was the old flag with a bunch of dandelions in the middle that was supposed to be a reference to the government officials. So what does that mean you ask? In Icelandic the name for a dandelion is "Fífl" which means idiot, so the bunch of dandelions in the middle was a bunch of "fíflum" (idiots) that were running the country. Apparently some newspaper some where in the world said that our country was being run by a bunch of idiots. Need I say more? Our new national anthem was Don't Worry, Be Happy. :-) Funny that's been my phone ringtone for about 5 years now hehe.

So we went for a fun visit to my friend Brynhildur today to get a few "family" photos. Frigg and Hófi came with us and we got the extended family together for a few photos, unfortunately we forgot to get the two younger boys for the photos and it probably would have been a bit too much work anyway since they are still so young. We tried to get them all in one spot for a few photos and it was not too easy but we got a few photos. :-)  I added them to the photo page. Hrafn Dreki is such a nice looking dog these days, he is really coming into his own. He is strong and beautiful, so smiley and loves people, we got lots of cuddles. :-) Well after seeing him I came home and thought boy Klói has a bit of growing to do yet hopefully. We weighed Klói yesterday and were so happy that he was already 16 kg (around 35 lbs) but still think he has a ways to go because he doesn't have much muscle yet and is a bit thin. Then we saw Dreki today and heard that he is around 23 kg. Nice big boy I hope Klói will be like him when he grows up. Hehehe  Here are a few of him and his grandma.

Then mother and daughter for those who can't open my photo page and the whole gang playing.

Birta is in heat now and Frigg looks to be starting too so we are waiting on Hófi. Poor Klói is thin these days because he is starting to lose his appetite, I'm hoping all the girls will be in heat at the same time and that Hófi doesn't wait until the other two are finished to start hers since that is not fair to poor Klói dragging it out like that. We´ve had a hard decision as to if we should actually have a litter at this time given the economy, but we are thinking that we may as well try. We aren't going to stress too much, we will try to mate her and if it works it works if not we are not going to sweat it. I still think fate controls things and puppies are born when they are supposed to be. We will not be mating Birta though.

October 23rd

I know I have often talked about the fact that I feel HD isn't something we need to be worried about in our breed and it quite possibly might be that our dogs should have a looser hip joint because of their cousins the Lundehund and the way they can put their legs in all directions. But I can't help but jump for joy at Klói's results that came in today. You see the whole world is obsessed with hip dysplasia and if we want our dogs to be part of the "in-crowd" they need to be HD free it seems and well I will not lie I have been trying to improve on my lines from the start and so was hoping that I might be able to get B´s or C´s in my dogs. However Klói is my little miracle boy, he is out of Birta who is out of Freyja who was out of Garda Röskva and with all my good intentions, painstaking hours of studying pedigrees and HD indexes trying to find the right dog I opted to use Klói's father Hektor and then hope for the best. I have been told time and time again that I shouldn't spend so much time on stupid investigations, it is just a waste of time. I should just use the dogs I like and take my chances like everyone else, all my thoughts of saving bloodlines also make some people shake their heads and they say we should just be breeding nice looking dogs that can do well at shows. I tend to disagree and so I decided to do what I could to pick a dog that I hoped could help my cause. :-) So I will not keep you in suspense any longer. Klói has A hips!!!!!

Unfortunately one of the other males I was thinking of using and had thought of on Birta has C hips so I guess he is not an option for Birta anymore. We will still use a C dog on Hófi if we feel they can add something to the genepool but I will not use a C dog on a D bitch. The results are not on the DIF website yet but they are in DogWeb the database for NKK (only members can access it). I have also gotten a call from IKC so no doubt it will be made public on the DIF site within the next few days or so.

It's raining today, snow, slush and rain off and on with a bit of wind, just typical Icelandic weather. It's starting to get darker too, it's only 16:30 when I started writing this and almost dark already. I'm trying to knit Xmas presents, in between extreme shoulder and neck pain but I see time is really flying and soon it will be Christmas so I have to get as much done as I can. Hope people don't mind homemade gifts this Christmas.

I spoke a little too soon, apparently the terrorist law is still being used against Landsbanki but they moved us into a separate section at the bottom of the list instead of us being on the same list as all the other countries. There are all kinds of petitions going on the internet, there is one that we'd love for as many people to sign as possible. You can find it here.

October 22nd

Klói got after me a little early today to call my Mom and so I did! She answered with a happy tone. She had seen that I called yesterday and my Dad had also called her this morning to tell her that I had contacted him last night. So she expected I'd call again. She was glad to hear from me and said she is doing fine. She was at the doctor's yesterday and then stopped to get something to eat on the way home. I am so happy to know that she is actually not totally bed ridden, she did say the tests yesterday showed  her heart ejection factor (or whatever it's called) is down to 5% so that's not good at all and she gets tired quickly. I only talked to her for a couple minutes so that I can give her a call again soon. What a relief to hear her voice and it sounded like my old Mom again, just a bit out of breath and she can't talk for too long at once. I can see why my family usually doesn't tell me half of what's going on over there, I stress myself so much when I really don't have to worry as much as I do.

The weather is beautiful again today but now the dogs are even happier because we had a nice snowfall during the night.

The good news about the country is that Britain has lifted the anti-terrorism law from Landsbanki so we're not considered terrorists at the moment. The damage to our reputation is done but we´ll see if it will settle down again now. I know many Icelanders in other countries are being bullied and thrown out of stores etc just because they are from Iceland. It's been in the newspapers quite a bit lately in a few different countries, the last was a pet store in Edinburg that kicked two girls out of the shop because they were from Iceland. Students losing their apartments in other countries, all kinds of crap going on. You never know how much of it is exaggerated and how much is actually true. Britain is now negotiating a loan with Iceland to pay the debts that Icesave owes to the British citizens and companies. Apparently some of our members of parliament have heard rumours of a catch to the loan and say it's a bit of bribery but I really don't know. I'm kind of sick of the news these days and have stopped watching it. Talked economy with Dad last night too and it was a nice short "visit" on MSN before I went to bed. Was glad to "hear" from him!

Didn't make it to my appointment today for hypnosis and I'm a bit upset about that, I guess you can say both upset and a bit relieved at the same time. I had talked myself out of alot of anxiety the past few days and was terribly sick to my stomach all last night and couldn't sleep but was talking myself into almost looking forward to going. :-)  I know it's not dangerous but I get extremely anxious and scared, it's just me. I know pretty stupid but the anxiety is the problem and I wouldn't need to go at all if it wasn't for that! LOL  This morning before I was about to get ready to go Rúnar called and said he couldn't drive me (he had the car) like we had planned. They were extremely busy at work and no way he could get time off. He would come home at lunch but because I have been so dizzy the past few days and have extreme vertigo today I didn't trust myself to drive him back to work after lunch in the snow and slippery roads. I might have done it if it hadn't snowed last night. Winter driving is just so scarey more so than summer, I can sometimes drive in summer but all my car accidents have happened in the winter and I'm too scared to drive these days. Hopefully the hypnosis will help with that later down the line.

So the good news is that Rúnar is busy at work...for those who have followed the news here and know where things are headed in terms of unemployment especially in the building industry as well as the newest turn of events...the building supplies stores (the ones that aren't bankrupt) are running out of building supplies and not able to import at the moment because of the lack of currency, it is a GREAT thing that Rúnar is still working and I'd much rather miss a doctor's appointment that I can reschedule than have Rúnar out of work. :-)

October 18th

Mom is back at home, for now. She got home on the 17th and was about a week She said she almost went back in again the day afterwards but got some medications and was able to sleep a little better. I talked to her the day before yesterday and the day before that and will probably call again tonight or tomorrow, have to limit calls it's so expensive. She still doesn't sound good and sadly she is even losing her zest and positive attitude however she did a bit of laughing the second time I called her and sounded a bit better that time probably because she got some sleep. She is in a lot of pain from her kidneys shutting down, she has trouble keeping food down because her gallbladder is also giving out and her body is retaining a lot of fluid because she had to cut down her pills to stop water retention to only one a day instead of 5. Her heart problem of course causes a lot of extra fluid but the kidneys are having trouble with the medication and so it's a vicious circle. I did manage to find out one thing that is very interesting. Remember I said Klói brought me the card on the 9th. I must say that on the card (that is from my sister) it says "Pretend I am with you" on the front, it is a loving card that I always keep on my bookshelf so I can think of Mandy every time I look at it. I think the meaning of that card is so strong and such a mutual wish between us. So back to the point, my Mom apparently went into hospital on the 10th so that means that Klói DID bring the card to me when she was not feeling well and I should have picked up the phone when he did that! Next time I will be sure to take the hint from Klói.

The weather was nice today, the sun was shining so strong, no wind and not even too cold. Me and the dogs were in the yard getting some sunshine and cleaning the frozen "poopsicles" up and Birta found her toy and wanted to play. She can never get enough when you start playing fetch with her. She is just so cute that you have to say AWWW and can't help but make her happy with a game of fetch. :-)

Pretty please?!?!  Can you resist that face? :-) When I'm taking photos she throws the toy on the deck in front of me and waits. Here is Frigg in the sunshine, she is looking a bit old lately and she is really out of coat, her collar is not back in yet. She will be 12 in February.

I tried to call Mom tonight after Klói walked to the bookcase pushed the card with his nose and looked at me, I said alright Klói I'm gonna call her in just a minute leave the card there. So he saw my phone and ran over to it and tried to pick it up to give me. What a character, I love him to bits! Mom didn't answer and I tried a few times, so I'm worried. I will try again tomorrow since my Dad didn't know if she was back in hospital or not. I just wanted to write this for Marilyn before I try to go to sleep. Thank you for all your "hugs" Marilyn I appreciate them and thank you to my other friends for their kind words and thoughts.

Happy 6th Birthday Willow!! 

October 15th

Again my intuition was right, I've felt it for a few days now... I should know by now that when I feel sick but can't figure out what's wrong that it's not really me that is sick! Unfortunately whether I like it or not I have a sixth sense of some sort when it comes to my Mother. I got a hold of John last night and my Mom is in hospital again. He is so hard of hearing that he usually doesn't answer the phone and so I guess that's why no one answered the day before. This time I thought I'd phone back a couple times in a row just in case someone was there to answer and he did. Of course he didn't realize it was me, he thought it was my sister and he didn't understand what I was saying but he did tell me she was in hospital with a bad backache. John said she is not doing that bad just has pains in her back and they are giving her aspirin, that's all they can do and she said she is bored and would rather just eat aspirin in her own home. Trust my Mom to make light of it, laughter has sure worked before so I hope she keeps on smiling since we are not there to make her laugh. :-)  I fear it's her kidneys as she said the other day when I called her. John said she could possibly come home tomorrow or maybe in a few days. Let's hope. I know my little heart dog Freyja is watching over her as her guardian angel but anyone that can say a prayer or send good vibes, what ever you believe in, I'd be grateful for any thoughts sent her way. Again I should have listened to Klói on the 9th of October when he took a card from my sister off the shelf and brought it to me. Maureen was here and I laughed at him and told her how he only ever does this once in a while and last time it was when Mandy was having a bit of trouble herself. The card is in the same spot all the time but he only seems to bring it to me when something is going on...I swear it's true. I never believed in ghosts or the supernatural but I am starting to think that Freyja and Klói are partly one and the same, these abilities of his are spooky sometimes. I had told my Mom last time I talked to her about a week ago that I'd call her in a few days, I think Klói was trying to tell me then that I should call but I got busy.

October 14th

I hope all my friends had a nice Canadian Thanksgiving on the weekend. I didn't get a hold of my Mother yesterday, I'll try again tonight. We don't celebrate it here in Iceland however we went all out and had a roast chicken Hehehe. On Sunday I wasn't feeling too well and Rúnar made an awesome supper oh and I can't forget that I also got some gluten free pancakes with syrup for breakfast. Ummm He is just so sweet! I used the leftovers and made chicken soup yesterday and of course that's always the best thing for a cold or flu. Oddly enough though I don't really seem to be that sick anymore, I just had some aching bones yesterday and today not the runny nose, sore throat and burning eyes like the day before. I didn't think there was any such thing as a 24 hour cold, maybe it was allergies after all. Strange.

So Rúnar surprised me by putting a new guestbook on the website. The last couple times we've tried to use a guestbook we've gotten huge amounts of spam so we'll see if this one will work. I'd love to know who is reading my website. :-)

The news is getting more depressing all the time, I'm trying not to watch it if I can help it but I will admit you get curious and don't want to be the "last to know" if something comes up. Found out yesterday that it's hit a few family members worse than us so that's upsetting. We are hoping for the best, however I heard a rumour today that because the government is taking all these huge loans from all the different countries, Russia, England and Holland that it will of course mean higher taxes for us as well as possible cutbacks on payments to the elderly, disabled and others paid by the government so that will mean trouble for me. I'm hoping it's just a nasty rumour the payments have been way too low to pay the bills as it is, Lord help us if they feel we can live off less in these times. I saw that Iceland is now in the news in Russia and here is a video in English from Russia Today http://www.russiatoday.com/Crisis/news/31822/video . And here is something an Icelander wrote to the Guardian in England a couple days ago.

Can't think of much more at the moment, everybody is just a bit numb. Icelanders studying abroad especially in Denmark are in more trouble than the Icelanders in Iceland since they are not allowed to take out any money from their accounts. I'm feeling sorry for them since I do know a bunch of Icelanders in Denmark studying as well as family members and they must almost be starving since they don't have money for food or anything. I doubt the landlords will be sympathetic when it comes time to pay the rent. It is very strange that they should be affected so badly while living in other countries but of course most are living off student loans. The government lowered (they say temporarily, we´ll see) the credit card max for everyone shortly after this all started. Not that I mind, I never maxed out mine (couldn't afford to...you have to pay it back you know LOL) but it must also hurt a few people that lived off their credit cards. I just saw on the Norwegian news that the stock exchange in most countries has risen a bit today but that Iceland's stock exchange dropped by 76% when they opened again after being closed since last Thursday. Jikes!

Aaaachoo, okay so I am still sneezing a bit today. I'm gonna go take a hot bath and climb under my covers just in case. Was thinking of going out and cleaning up the dog poop in the yard but it is raining outside and cold so I think I better not. It will all be there tomorrow too unfortunately! LOL  Klói is so funny he always comes running when I sneeze no matter what room he's in or if he has been sound asleep, he looks so concerned. It's so cute when he comes running with his sleepy eyes just to see if I'm okay. Hehehe  Snubbur used to do that too and climb onto my lap when I sneezed...is it just the male dogs that are concerned like that or is it that these two characters are so similar? I wonder because they aren't that related.

October 11th

We´re taking a break from the drama this weekend. LOL We did have a huge laugh at ourselves though watching the weekly comedy show Spaugstofan (Joke Room) that makes fun of the news from the past week. It's always the high point of the weekend. This one was just hilarious I have to admit especially when one of the skits was about how the government now owned all the homes and the one comedian in Davíd Oddsson's character was inspecting a home while a family was sitting at their kitchen table. He came in and said things like your bath tub is too big, how many times a week do you bathe. The mother said every day. Then he said, you have to stop doing that, only once a week from now on with a half full tub and the whole family at the same time. Then he asked what they were having for dinner, the mother said fish. He said what do you think you are some millionaire family, it's spaghetti with tomato sauce and he gave them a few coins. The father said I have an allergy to gluten and the Central bank leader said, you can't afford that! (How ironic they should use that particular thing, you'd think they read my blog. Hehehe) One of the skits was our Prime Minister singing Don't Worry, Be Happy. They had a Russian as the bank teller at the new banks giving everyone vodka shots and the run around making them do lots of paperwork to be able to take money out of the bank. By the time they got to take money out they were so tipsy from all the vodka that they didn't care it was rubbles instead of kroner. People fighting over food at the stores because the owner had warned of a possible shortage, and then the owner of the store saying to the staff okay now all that out of date stuff is finally gone we can put the stuff on the shelves that ran out of date last year, it should be gone by Christmas. They had also gotten an award for exporting and the staff member says but we don't export anything, oh but we did the store owner says, we exported all of our profits to foreign banks. I think one of the best skits was when they showed footage from a press conference then cut to a guy who all of a sudden says he has a very important announcement to make. He gets up and says the mall just opened up and they have lots of great deals. All the journalists ran out of the room to go to the new mall. Then they showed footage from the opening with the parking lot and stores and how full they were that day. The Prime Minister character just stood there and tried to finish a speech for an empty room and then said oh well if there are such great deals...then he left too! :-) 

All the skits were just so funny and it was great to laugh at ourselves and it got me to thinking you know Icelanders do have a very good trait of being able to see the bright side of things. Humour is our best medicine and hopefully other countries can understand our humour because most the time the Icelanders make fun of themselves when times are tough. What a great trait to have. We have a saying "það reddast" which means it will work out, it always does. When you can't change the situation then it does little good to worry about it and I guess that is going to be my new mindset. I will say though that I am trying to pretend I'm calm but my body is feeling the stress and I'm getting eczema again, so typical! I think I'll watch the re-run of the show tomorrow so I can laugh at it again. LOL  I do love Iceland, can't help it!

We took Hófi and Birta today for their eye exam and I will just say that was 11.000,- kroner for NOTHING just as I suspected. They are both clear and have no hereditary eye diseases. I did find out though what Birta's is called, it's a perinuclear cataract and he made it quite clear that it is not hereditary. He remembered her as well and I told him about her puppies because he had told me to use her for breeding. I was very pleased to be able to tell him that 3 of her 5 puppies have had eye exams already and they are all clear. So Birta has a free of hereditary eye disease diagnosis just like last time. I was very happy when Hófi went on the table and he put the glass and light to her eye and said "beautiful eyes, just perfect". I had to smile.

I got an email literally minutes before I left the house this morning telling me that the male dog I had found for Birta would not be coming to the eye exam. The owner said they had checked on getting his hips done and then decided not to take him to the eye test at this time. I believe it's the economy since he does live a fair distance (a few hours drive) from Reykjavík. I was so disappointed because this is a male dog that is important to the population. I really feel like I should try to see if we can use him next time, if the owner is willing to spend the money later down the line. I am thinking that again this might be a "sign" telling me to wait with Birta because of the recession and how hard it is to sell puppies at the moment. I will however probably go ahead with Hófi if those interested still want puppies at this time.

I did get some awesome news today that I was so happy to hear. My gold nugget Karma went for a herding instinct test in Sweden and she got "good herding ability" with a very good rating in the different categories and good comment. I am very proud of her and it definitely made my weekend even better to hear that. :-)

We took the long way home through the National Park Thingvellir so we could see the fall colours. The dogs couldn't run free in this park so we had them on lead and they weren't too happy about that to be in nature without being able to run  wild but we had let them run wild on the way to Reykjavík before the eye test so they have been tired and contented tonight. I put up some photos from today but again for the couple that have dial up, here are a couple randomly picked ones. :-) It was very refreshing to just be out in nature and not think about anything else. It was a little cold but not too bad and the air smelt crisp and clean.

A couple from the road without dogs, just loved the colours.

Oh I finally got a photo of the cottage that the "fairies" protect. It's on the way home and I think it is so neat. All the rocks around this cottage have fallen during the years some due to earthquakes but it always survives and as you can see the big rocks are really close to the cottage and could have so easily crushed it but always stopped just short. The people still stay there without worry and as you can see on the other photo they have painted little houses on the rocks and if you want to believe in the unknown it is very easy to believe that the elves that live in the little rock houses are watching over this little cottage in return. I can't help but wonder every time we drive past there how that cottage is still standing with no damage all these years! Now let me explain the photos: the first one if you look close you can see the little blue house with some trees around it but mostly surrounded by huge boulders bigger than the house itself. As I say all these rocks have rolled down the mountain at one time or another some just after the recent earthquake. The next photo is a close up. Then a photo just a little bit farther away from the house and you can see two big rocks with something on them. The last photo shows a close up of the two rocks, and you can't see it well enough but they are painted wooden houses that are glued onto those rocks. 

Skaftaár river is flooding it's banks today and that is a very bad flood when it happens, it's the glacier water and is very fast flowing and dangerous. It happens regularly and covers the main road in parts so we're sending good thoughts to the people who live in that area.

October 10th

Just thought I'd put in a link to some interesting reading from the Guardian, both the original article and the comments that follow. The news today was a little heart warming to watch actually and I can't help but admit that I got a little choked up. I do sincerely feel sorry for all the families that have this crisis to deal with and it is sad that so many employees at the big banks had actually invested their own money into the banks. The one big bank Glitnir that was taken over first by the government got all it's workers together today in the parking lot before going home for the weekend and they held hands in a circle and then walked together into a huge group hug. It was just so nice an idea. The woman in the interview said that they wanted their workers to feel that they all stood together and although no one knows who or how many will end up losing their jobs that at least they all can show their human side by getting a much needed hug after a very uncertain week that has passed. There has to be a positive attitude to keep people going. Their future at least looks a bit brighter than it did a few days ago. The journalist got a hug too at the end of the interview. Another thing on the news today that I was less happy to see was while group hugs were going on at one side of town on the other side of town a demonstration was going on in front of the central bank with the people demanding the resignation of the leaders there. They say this should have been stopped before it happened but the leaders of the central bank have already said that they warned the officials and politicians about the possibility this would happen almost a year ago but the government didn't do anything to stop it and of course we are talking about privately owned companies with wannabe celebrities that just thought they could own the world and no doubt they just brushed it off when the warnings were given. So is it in fact the government or the central banks fault and what good can come from leaders resigning right now when they are working on fixing the situation. We shouldn't be going on a witch hunt right now as some politicians have said on TV, the witch hunt can come later when things have settled down and we can actually think straight and the "fire has been put out". Oh well, this is getting to be a real soap opera and I'm hoping I might just wake up one day and it was all a big nightmare.

Today was mental health day and Lord knows the whole country is in a definite mental crisis, as if the earthquake wasn't enough this year. LOL  So tomorrow we are taking Birta and Hófi for their eye tests and the weather is supposed to be nice so we're going to take a mental break ourselves and go for a nice walk on our way to Reykjavík with all four dogs.

October 9th

I had a nice visit today from my dear friend Maureen from England and ex-brother-in-law who I haven't seen for quite a few years. It was great to see them and the dogs enjoyed having company but they were a bit stressed and did bark a bit when Arni got up a couple times to go take care of his dog in the car. So he brought his old guy in to meet them. Albert is his name and he is a 13 year old Irish Setter and looked very good for his age. Happy little guy for sure, he has a heart murmur but you'd never guess he was that old. Here is a photo of when Frigg saw him first and introduced herself, Birta was checking out his other parts. :-) Klói was such a good boy and I am so happy that he is a happy go lucky dog that doesn't mind other male dogs, he found Albert very interesting and was excited to see a new breed of dog. He couldn't understand why Albert didn't want to run around and play with him. 

I couldn't help but put on a happy face and have a little humour for the current situation here and I said to Maureen that it might be in my best interest to keep her hostage as a prisoner of war and try to get some ransom money. Hehehe  You see it is horrible the situation we are in at the moment that the British government felt it fitting to use a law against terrorism in the matter of the Icelandic bank in England. The government here is of course very hurt and shocked at this use of the terrorist law and they are trying to mend fences but also told them how upset they were. We are all hoping that this will not be another "cod war" because Iceland in no way wants that, we are and have always been a neutral nation and look to all as friends. The British are bound and bent that Iceland should pay back all the money to the people that invested in this former private bank. Darling called it a diplomatic show down, so it's not looking good at the moment. Some say they misunderstood the comments by our former Prime Minister and chairman of the central bank while others say it had nothing to do with it. Many people feel he should resign but I was so happy with his comments and his way of thinking. He is one of the few politicians that is too honest for his own good sometimes and his ideas are often very well thought out and the best things to do in the situation even though many can't see it at the time. He said he didn't feel it was correct to do anything that would cost future generations and so they are finding a way to fix the problem without too much damage in general. I like that about him as well as he doesn't want to "reward" the bad behaviour of the few rich individuals that made this mess. The last bank was overtaken by the government last night (early this morning) so now all 3 banks are government run, it came as a shock to everyone this morning because they had spoken of this last bank being strong enough to make it through on it's own. We know that similar things are going on all over the world and everyone finds it so strange, how did this happen but I can't help but think, why would it not? It has always happened after wars, when was the last recession, after a war! It's too bad that we still haven't learned that nothing can be gained from wars between countries, Iceland has never believed in war and maybe that's because they were terrible in their Viking times and they don't want to resort back to that. Hehehe  I hope we have learnt through the ages to stick together in difficult times and help out our neighbours. Russia is just as much a part of this world as everyone else and I am happy that Russia is open to lending us a helping hand no matter what others may think, like our Prime Minister said Russia is a friendly nation and they have some abundance to share so why should we not accept an offer from them when no one else was able to help. I was upset to hear some of the questions and comments from foreign journalists at the press conference when this was announced.

Don't want to get too much into politics because I'm not really that interested in them, I'm just naive enough to think that we should all be able to get along! I have been watching all the press conferences live though and am trying to keep abreast of what's going on. I will say one thing that is upsetting me in a trainer mindset is that it seems each day the news changes we see more and more rewards being given to those that were careless, overspent and went over their heads buying stuff the past couple years with no regard to the future. There are a few like us who have tried to do things wisely and it seems like we are being punished in a sense while everyone around us is getting their loans frozen by the government until the interest goes down a bit (that was the newest thing that was announced today), because they had their mortgages in the banks they are now being moved over to the government but the government felt that since many took currency loans that are biting them now that it would be better to freeze their loans for them for a little while until the situation settles. Our loa