I've been lucky about Icelanders not so keen on collecting mushrooms and about finding my favourite kind at some places closeby. Today I went to check if I could find some and was successful, got nearly 1kg. And I found some aðalber (a kind of bilberry), which were not soooo common this year due to late frost in spring.
Back home I prepared some of the mushrooms for freezing and hope I got it right and they'll be nice when I'm going to use them later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got visitors from Austria this week. I knew Monika from my time at Forsthof, but except for occasional "Likes" and comments on Facebook we hadn't had much contact. So I was rather surprised when I got a message earlier this year asking if I could recommend places to stay and places to visit during their planned travel to Iceland. In the end they booked a stay at Hólmavað Guesthouse and we planned to meet when they would be travelling here.
Unfortunately the weather wasn't in our favour, but we were still able to do a lot of things and had a very interesting tour to Þeistareykir and the caves up there. Think everybody enjoyed that.

 

 

That's what happened when Jón went for a holiday in Spain and left us in charge of his garden. We arrived with saws, pruners and a trailer to cut overexessive branches of a few trees to make it easier for the other plants in the garden to get some light. Good for us Jón didn't see all the branches we cut, but the result is great!

 

 

 

 

It was time to get the big hay bales for winter and Atli & Atli at Laxamýri came to deliver 2 wagons full of them today. We decided to have them at a different place this year, trying to make it easier to fetch them when there's snow and maybe far enough away from the rubishpile and the ravens. When driving down we got aware of a family of rock ptarmigan lingering in the grass, not at all afraid of us in the car. Well, good thing to have enough feed for our horses when needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our friends Siffi and Jón Óli and their families invited us and fellow riders for a ride at their beautiful place Arnarnes in Kelduhverfi. Hjördís and Ingólfur took Embla and Magnús along, whilst I took my camera and a smoked leg of lamb which had hung and riped in our cellar for about 18 month and was ready to be eaten. We got that leg in december 2017 for helping our friend Halldór. It was from a rather fat lamb, a heavy piece of meat and perfect for that kind of experiment. We more or less "forgot" about it being there, just checked regularly if it would become moldy, which never happened. Of course we tried it before taking it along and it was delicious!
Whilst the riders went for a tour in the beautiful area with excellent paths, I helped in the kitchen and was especially good at trying out the newly fried kleinur (Icelandic twisted doughnuts). After the ride we had grilled legs of lamb, salad and potatoes, just the right thing! Even though it was a bit foggy and chilly we had a great time in the barn and it was surprisingly difficult to persuade Hjördís to going home as she had a great time with the other teenagers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

... our stable. We had finished mucking the boxes and now it was time to use the high-pressure water blaster to wash away the winter's dirt and grease. I started brushing the walls with water and soap and Ingólfur rinsed with the pressure washer. Now everything is clean and shiny and just has to dry before we can make the boxes ready again. Nice to have it clean.

 

 

 

 

We got to know that a farmer close by had decided to use the great weather and make small hay bales like he already did 2 years ago. Then we were really happy with his product and decided to try and get a load for our horses. The meadow wasn't fertilized this year and the hay was a mixture of new and old grass so not very nutrient, but that was exactly what we were looking for. The hay should be "light", not too many calories and the perfect startingfeed for our horses when we take them into the stable later in winter. So we went with our trailer and the aim to fit as many bales as we possibly could into it. We ended up with 52 crispy dry bales ready for our horses. And the best thing: they fitted exactly into our stallions' box, where they'll stay until needed.

 

 

This place is one of the hidden pearls in our area, not too many know about it or have visited this place. It's in the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon opposite Hólmatungur reached by a mud road and then a nice walk from the parking place. There's a lone rock called Vígabjarg with one of the hideouts of Grettir and as the story tells, Grettir jumped over the river with 2 muttons on his shoulders. Well, the canyon is rather narrow there, so who knows...
We invited Ingólfur's dad and Hjördís for the trip. Jón hasn't been there for about 50 years and it was Hjördís' and my second trip there.  Amazing to have places like this, where you can still experience unspoiled nature and don't encounter trash every second step. On the way back we spotted a female Gyrfalcon which was watching a few rock ptarmigans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...at the meadow today was Hjördís. Our horses haven't met her for quite some time, but of course remember her and the fact she usually brings some treats. So she quickly was surrounded by nosy youngsters trying to get her attention and treats. Really nice to watch that and how naturally she acts and reacts to them. Hasn't been like that all the time. 
Bensi got quite lucky today when one of the wheels of his car just dropped off when he slowed down to turn into his driveway, but he managed to stop the car without slipping off the road or getting injured. The wheel on the other hand just carried on its way and dissapeared over the next mound. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weatherforecast was nice for this weekend so Ingólfur and our friends finally could go for a ride to the countryside more precisely to our friend Bjössi's place. I was supposed to be the driver as I still couldn't join because of my knee. Whilst everybody was on horseback, I went back to Húsavík to fetch some sausages, bread, mustard and salad to have a nice barbecue later. When checking on our horses I saw a big bunch of sheep that weren't at all supposed to be in our field. I chased them out of our meadow and drove them further away hoping that they won't come back anytime soon. We'll see about that.
Back in the countryside we went for a refreshing swim in Bjössi's pool and had a quick dinner before heading home. Later in the evening we met again for some drinks and a chat. That resulted in 2 more joining the day after on the way back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingólfur got a call from our friend Halldór who asked him if he could help out. A good possibility to check out how Sigtýr and Sæla have been doing since they started their summerjob. We started the day at Halldórsstaðir in Laxádalur meeting the riders and guides. With 2 experienced riders in front it was possible to have some nice photostops so I could get one or another pic. Best part is alwasy watching them wade River Laxá and it was no exception this time. 
In the end of the day we took our horses back home as there was a planned break from the riding trips for about 2 weeks and they could spend those days with their herd instead of going east. We'll decide later if they'll go back or not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a wonderful stay with family and friends in Austria, Ingólfur fetched me at the airport 2 days ago and we started our trip home via the east yesterday. The weather wasn't perfect, but not too bad. We hadn't booked any stays yet and decided to just see where we would "land" at the end of the day. Maybe should have booked in advance, would have spared us some adventures ;)
But first things first: we started at Reykjavík and had a few stops at interesting spots e.g. at the LAVA center at Hvolsvöllur, visited our friends at their new place near Hella and so on. We even saw barnacle geese with their youngsters next to the road. When getting close to Jökulsárlón we realized we hadn't booked anything yet and it would be time to finally do so... Well, that didn't work out so well, but there was a free room close to Höfn. We tried our luck there, but the place was rather bizarre and we drove into the village, where we got the last room at a decent place. But not without having another surprise when opening our room: there was already somebody in there, desperately trying to close the door when we tried to open. Poor guy just came out of the shower...
Got the right room after a few minutes and were happy to go to sleep. 
Today we drove all the way to Húsavík with a few stops inbetween. One of them was at our friends' place at Egilsstaðir, where we got a fine cup of coffee and a nice chat. Will be nice meeting the horses tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, not Navy Seals, but real ones. Not a common sight around here so I was really delighted, when Ingólfur called me and told me there were 3 of them close to the coast, probably that close I could get some nice pics. It was nice watching them a bit and trying to get as close as possible, they were posing nicely and not scared at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hugleikur got lucky yesterday and evaded being castrated. So after deworming and trimming his hooves he got a ticket to the stallionspasture, where he met his new friends. He'll stay there until fall, when we'll decide what's going to happen with him.
Pandóra got her pedicure and deworming, too, and went to the summerpasture. Unfortunately for her, she has to get around there without her mum as Vordís was supposed to meet Óskasteinn frá Íbishóli and  so it was just a short meet and greet when we arrived at Hagi. 
Afterwards we drove Vordís and Flugsvinn to the stallionspasture in Skagafjörður. Flugsvinn is going to meet Hákon frá Ragnheiðarstöðum and we hope for a nice foal next year. Brownpinto would be nice. Óskasteinn wasn't home yet, but Vordís already met some other mares that were waiting for him. Hope she'll soon be in foal and we can get her back home. On the way back home we stopped for a quick takeaway and whilst waiting for Ingólfur, we got a nosy guest looking for food. Quite cheeky guy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to fetch her and give her hooves a good trim. Things didn't go that well last time, but today she behaved very well. After trimming and deworming she got a lift to the summerpasture where she'll stay with the other mares and youngsters until fall.