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Færslur: 2010 Júlí

31.07.2010 15:31

Holiday II

I try to keep you a bit up to date about our holiday and time in Austria.
Today, after doing a bit of shopping (well, that´s neccessary too, don´t you agree?) we spent the afternoon in the oldest zoo of Europe, the Zoo Vienna. I was quite impressed how much had changed and improved for the animals since my last visit. The Orang Utans have a new, much bigger place to stay and the Southamerican animals got a big habitat for themselves, where different birds and mammals stroll around in the same area. It´s quite interesting to see how these different animals interact.
The lemurs were really active today and showed themselves from their best and maybe most interesting side. At least there was a lot of action!
Of course we had to have a look at the giraffes, elephants, seals and the polarbear (this one is waiting to move to a different zoo, so the habitat can be changed and improved).
But the most interesting thing wasn´t an animal! There is a small waterpark, where kids are allowed to play and try out different things to learn about the power of water. If we would have allowed it (and the zoo wouldn´t have closed), I think we´d still be there... emoticon

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30.07.2010 19:19

Holiday

If anybody wondered why the blogg was so empty the last days, there is a perfect reason for that! We are on a holiday in Austria!
Last Sunday we started to Southiceland and took a drive over Kjölur. The road was actually quite bumpy and so we had no chance to listen to all our favourite disks on the way.
Our friend Dagmar offered us a place to stay and so we put up our tent (she actually called it house...) in front of her house. We had a nice time and a lot of nice stuff to eat there ;-)
On Tuesday early in the morning we drove to Keflavik to pick up Hjördís, who was going to come with us. She already was looking forward to this trip for quite some time.
The flight went well, the food was good and so we landed relaxed on Tuesdayafternoon in Vienna. It was good to relax during the afternoon and plan the next days.

Wednesday afternoon we met Martin and Philip in the Museum of Natural History. It is a wonderful place to learn, try out and experience. Have you ever seen a pic of yourself taken with a heatcamera?
We started at the stones, went through the dinosaurs, meet the Flintstones and made our way upstairs from the cells to the insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and finally mammals. Of course we had a look in the Vivarium, where they show alive fishes, frogs, snakes and birds.
In the evening we made a short visit at Martin´s and Kristina´s place and said "Hello" to their daughter. Philip and Hjördís were really busy with Philip´s cars.

We used the rainy Thursday to pay a visit to "Haus des Meeres", a kind of Indoorzoo. They mainly show reptiles, amphibians, birds and fishes. The main attraction are the 2 Rainforesthouses, where the animals are roaming free between the visitors. Some of the little fellows are already so much used to the visitors, that they come really close and have a good look at you.

Today we went to visit my granddad and had a good look around in his garden. We went for lunch with him and got so much to eat, that we were still not hungry in the evening. But who could say no to a delicious ice-cream???

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06.07.2010 07:43

Shock and grief

We are shocked and most sadly that we have to announce here, that our favourite mare Hugsun and her son Muninn left our meadows due to an accident forever.
Words can hardly describe how I feel writing this, who would think about losing what you have longed for for years just in an instant?

When we went to get Hugsun and Muninn on Sunday to bring her to a stallion, everything seemed so normal. But when we arrived at the field, there was no sign of her and her son. So we hoped they would have left the field together. Well, they had not, Ingólfur found them accidentally in a big hole that had opened under them. Hugsun was standing there, the icy water reaching up to her back, Muninn was already dead.
Bensi and Ketill came to help us, getting Hugsun out of the hole. To do that, Ketill and Ingólfur jumped into the hole and put girths around her, Bensi lifted her then with the tractor. We covered her with our jackets to keep a bit of heat in her and went straight to the animalhospital in Húsavík.
Vignir, our vet, was most helpful and came in his holiday to help us trying to save the mare. We fought for her life but all in vain. Her systems started to break down yesterday in the afternoon, so we had to let her go over the rainbowbridge. There she will be on evergreen meadows with her sons Huginn and Muninn, who Óðinn called to his services already earlier.
Hugsun will live on in her 3 daughters Ögn, Ösp and Kátína and of course in our memory.

I want to say thank you to everyone that supported us in that difficult time, kept his fingers crossed, came for a visit and hoped with us. Good to have friends like you!

Here a picture of Hugsun and Muninn the way we want to remember them! A beautiful and proud mother and her beautiful son.

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01.07.2010 00:18

Good things take their time...

Last sunday, we were at Þeistareykir with a group of Faröan riders, my phone rang and Hrund, Bensi´s daughter, told me, that Hugsun had given birth to her foal. Hrund spotted it first and asked her mum, if she could call us and tell us the good news. Thanks for that!
Well, when I asked for the colour, she wasn´t sure what to say and not Ella either. It was something grey, most likely the same colour as the mare, which would be Ingólfur´s dreamcolour. Hugsun has had 4 foals, but none of them was silver dapple like she is. So could it have finally happened?
Ingólfur talked to Bensi later that evening and he called it a strange colour he had never seen before. Now it was clear, that the foal was silver dapple like its mother.
We were both happy about these news and of course eager to see this foal.
Tuesday on our way back from Mývatn we stopped by and had a look at Hugsun and her foal. When she saw us, she came and presented her son. He is quite big and really nosy. Will be a challenge to find a good name for him!