There are many different beaches around Húsavík and you'd be surprised how different it is to ride on them. The best one is at Höfðagerðissandur and that's where we went with our friends today. Ingólfur, Laufey, Óli and Gísli grabbed their horses whilst I grabbed my camera. It was so much worth it! Great weather, beautiful light, nice waves, horses and riders having a good time.
We'll have to do that again soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a few very sunny and even warm days, winter is back! With quite some snow. 
Our horses and the horses of Gunna went to the bigger paddock today to have fun in the snow. I had my camera ready when they rushed to the field. You could definitely see who was used to the sound of the camera and who not.
 

 

 

 

Finally we fixed an appointment with our vet to let him check the teeth and more. It ended with all of them getting a toothtreatment, 1 wolftooth removed from Sæla and sheath beans removed from both Sigtýr and Magnús. They didn't like it, but it was necessary and they'll have it nicer after that. 

It was time to move Fönix and Svipur to the big meadow. No problem to get Fönix, he just comes and you put the halter on. On the other hand it wasn't possible to catch Svipur, svo he's gonna stay where he is at the moment. Me and Fönix took a walk down to the big field, where the other horses were already waiting for him. He was happy to have a bigger area now and after saying "Hello" and running a bit everybody went back to grazing. 
On the way back we stopped at Einar's stable and had a look at his surprise foal. As it was born on the Icelandic Ladies' day, which is the first day of the old month named Góa, and is a mare it was named Góa. Looks like she got all the fur she needs in this cold weather. Now she has to wait for some time to taste the first green grass.

 

 

 

 

As the weather was great and we were asked to take pics of a young mare, we drove to visit Kiddi and his herd. As he was very busy, we got a description of the mare we were looking for and went off to the herd, trying to figure out, which one it was. It was supposed to be a black, shy mare with good mane and tail. Well, we didn't find any matching that description, no shy mare... So I just took some group pics and enjoyed being around the horses. We'll try again later and take Kiddi with us.

 

 

 

Sounds strange? You should try it! Siginn fiskur is a kind of halfdried and fermented fish, which is cut in pieces and cooked. Kæst skata is fermented stingray, usually eaten the day before Christmas. Not going to tell you how it smells ;)
Anyway Grani, the local ridingclub, offers once in a while siginn fiskur og kæst skata as especially older people like it a lot, but nobody wants to have the smell in the house for a long time. Younger people are often not used to this stuff. In fact I like siginn fiskur quite a lot, especially with boiled potatoes, turnips, hot sheepfat with greaves and Icelandic ryebread.
This time the former headmaster gave us potatoes he grew last summer and as I was very busy getting him a few different kinds and colours of potatoes, the bunch we got was in a lot of different shades, from violett to red and yellow/white. It was fun watching people denying to eat those in unusual colours, eventhough they taste great! As usual this event was a success and we were able to raise a bit of money for our ridinghall.
In the afternoon we met on the ice at Kaldbak and had fun on good horses on great ice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally back home again after a 1 week worktrip to Sweden, where my colleagues from the CRISTAL Project and me checked out a few very interesting educational places and kept working on the toolbox, which is one of the outcomes of this project and is supposed to help teachers in rural areas to get to know and use open source software, encouraging technical education, boosting and training engineering habits of mind.  
CRISTAL is short for Creative Regions for Innovation, Skills, Technology, Accessibility and Learning. 
I was very impressed by the ABB Industriegymnasium and the way young people are taught and encouraged to work in teams. Each and every student has his own desk in what looks like an open space office, which is their homebase before going to classes. They have their own computer there with all the necessary software and work a full workday til 4 o'clock. There are a lot of projects and students in 2^nd grade have to found a company, develop a product and sell it. 2 groups made a presentation for us, which was very interesting and good to witness so much passion in young people. I'd love to have the same possibilities, but that school definitely has no trouble getting money to stay up to date.
Another impressive visit was at Tom Tits Experiment, an experimental museum, where you are encouraged to touch and try. Only thing forbidden is to have your hands in your pockets. I'd like to see more exhibits like that as they offer you a very different approach to things.
We stopped at Expectrum and got a guided tour there, too. There are many different kinds of offices and facilities there, which you can rent for shorter or longer periods. The building itself is very open, a lot of glass walls and open offices. And there is a big makerspace, where they offer schools to come, try out, build and create. We'd loved to try out everything there, but unfortunately there wasn't enough time to do so.
Last but not least we went to the Retuna mall where old stuff is recycled, changed, repaired and sold again. There is an educational centre, too, where locals learn what to do with stuff others don't want anymore. Very inspiring visit!
Like last year we got stuck on our way home and had to spend an extra night at the airporthotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst I was on a worktrip to Sweden with a few colleagues from school, Ingólfur and other members from our local ridingclub Grani offered families to come and experience the horses. They came with a few horses to our ridinghall and younger and older kids were offered a ride. I think it is very important for us, to show people, what we are doing and what kind of animals our horses are. 
I attach a few pics Ingólfur took and a pic of his Christmaspresent. He got personalized stirrups last year. They were manufactured in Germany by Motivsteigbügel, who offered a very good and personal service. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now after all our guest left, our horses have to start their training again. We started to fetch Vordís and Þrá at Ísólfsstaðir, bringing them to a field close to Húsavík with good hay as much as they like to eat. They join our youngsters in that field, good for them to get somebody teaching them manners.
Next trip was for Sigtýr and Sæla, who were going to the stable, starting their work soon again. When Magnús and Embla have arrived, too, we'll make an appointment with our vet to check their teeth and the geldings for so called sheath beans, which can cause them real discomfort.

I got a day off to have a chance and be with my guest. We decided to spend the day around Mývatn and Dettifoss. 
My brother and uncle had brought their drone around and we were eager to try it out in the still winter weather. First stop was on the way to Mývatn. It was nice watching the drone depart and amazingly difficult to keep track of it with your bare eyes. My uncle had a big screen where he could see the pics the drone was taking, but it didn't make it any easier for him to locate it. Anyway it got back safely and we kept going. Next flight closer to Mývatn and then one at Námaskarð. I got a small glimpse of the video he was taking and it was amazing to see how sharp pics this tiny camera was delivering. Last stop was at Dettifoss, where my brother and me took the walk down to the waterfall. We were lucky to have spikes under our shoes otherwise it wouldn't have been possible to take the walk because of the huge amount of ice on the path. But it was definitely worth it! Such a beautiful view! And all of a sudden we could hear the drone arriving... My mum and my uncle made their own excursion down to the waterfall, just by means of technic. I'd love to get to see all the videos he captured there. Well, hope to get to watch them soon.
It was an amazingly beautiful day with my family and sad that we'll have to say goodbye tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier this week we got a few more visitors from Austria to stay with us and celebrate my birthday.
My uncle and my brother joined and as a big surprise Hjördís came, too.
They spent the last days exploring the near surroundings with my mum and yesterday we had a good party with lots of fun and great guests.
Today we visited the horses at Ísólfsstaðir. We'll soon fetch the first ones home, which will be the pregnant mares.
The herd didn't know straight away what to think about all these strangers, but in the end the bread we had was very convincing and the bunch had a good look at the new arrivals.
 

 

 

There was one familymember we still had to introduce to my mum as that member of the family is usually in the highland during summertime.
Snilld was very happy to see us, but even more happy about all the treats she got. Think my mum liked her and had fun when this greedy ewe was begging for more. Lukka had to check out what we were doing and as she's not supposed to anger the sheep while in the stable, she sat on the haybale and watched closely what was going on. 

 

 

 

 

And all the best for you and your family! 
We went to the annual bonfire (this year again a huge pile of wood) and fireworks. It was the first time my mum joined and I think she hadn't seen anything like this before. The weather wasn't perfect, but we enjoyed it a lot anyway.

 

 

Last visit to our horses at Ísólfsstaðir before the turn of the year. It was cold, but still weather and after talking to the farmer, we got the permission to open the gate to the meadows for the horses. As they didn't get it straight away, Óli went to fetch them and came with a long queue of horses down to the gate.
I was ready with my camera and got some very nice shots. The herd was definitely happy to get to new grounds and have a feast of bread waiting for them. It was so much easier for them walking in the snow than it was for us, but we managed.
Soon we'll start to fetch the pregnant mares and the first riding horses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a very peaceful and calm Christmas with a lot of food, long walks and good times together.
It's nice when you have the possibility to take good time in preparing food, trying out new recipes and chatting along. Quality time!
Of course our horses got their share of Christmastreats and were chewing happily on all the bread we brought along.