Winter

This last week has brought days and nights full of snow, the quiet gentle kind at first, lining the trees and houses like frosting...and leaving an air of hushed peace. The photo I took above is from a walk last Thursday morning into Reykjavik.

 There were days filled with flurries, busy bees of snow, wistful and floating horizontal rather than falling vertical. Then the strong winds arrived, a night of rain turning to ice and followed by what felt to all accounts like a proper blizzard. A blurr of white when we peeped out the windows after breakfast, there was the dark sky but a a mad haze of white. Accompanied by hurling howling sounds. Blinding waves of snow. But life carried on as if totally normal, kids walked to school (ours squealing in frightened glee, eyes pinched nearly shut and leaning fully into the wind) . People out scraping off their cars... (Other than us ....who were in complete awe)....there was no drama, no unusual stress.

Now there are layers of snow everywhere and it feels like we are in the middle of proper winter and really truly in Iceland! It's been marvelous, sledding, snowman building, even skating on the lake in town! Truly a time of winter magic....houses aglow...happy rosy faced children, excited to recap the days snowball fights. Humming Icelandic Christmas tunes. Inside we have filled the house with baking, with embroidery ( something my eldest daughter has been learning in school and is keen to work on) as well as  knitting projects  and all sorts of christmas decorations.

For a girl from the Midwest,( home to truly bitter cold winters) these last 14 years have felt ....well like something important was missing....and here we are...the feel of completeness, that missing piece. For once my children, raised in Malta, are getting to know the feel of snow, the difference between the wet- good packing snowmen kind and the powdery light fluffy perfect for sledding type. They are getting used to the different sounds snow can make when you step through it and how it feels to bundle up to where only your eyes show as you walk out the door.

Winter has arrived here.

Sail away

Is there nothing as grand as being swept out to sea  by a good book?

It is the book Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund that I am enjoying right now. 

A sea faring tale from long ago, well written and very engaging. 

Here far north amid the storms swirling round Iceland you can find us tucked inside a cozy flat. Fiercely lashing wind, rain, sleet and snow beat at the windows, it is the perfect time to be cuddled up inside, turning the pages of a book.

(The recent storm)

Up the street

Not long after we moved here, a little cafe opened up at the end of our street (featured above).

In the weeks before they opened we would pass regularly on our way to the local shop, on the way to the pool, on the way to take the recycling, on the way to basketball ( so in essence all the time).
The owners happen to have dogs, a big sweet black one and a chocolate brown lab who without fail offered a tail wagging-straining-the leash greeting every time. Always ready for some petting and attention. Being that my kids love dogs (and we have yet to get one of our own) , we had the pleasure of petting these dogs regularly and as a result often ended up talking with the owners and their families and friends who were helping with the refurbishing of old doors, windows, tables and chairs, painting of awnings, etc. as the setting up of the cafe was underway. So it was very nice to see it finally open its doors, ohhh the temptation-  homemade fresh crossaints just a few doors away!
It has a warm inviting glow and a I like the subdued blue grey palat of the inside.  Thus far it has been a success ever since the moment the doors first opened! The owners are three friendly fathers from the neighborhood. So if you happen to be in the Vesturbær area do give it a try, it is a stones
throw from the pool and across the street from the beloved little Melabuðin Shop.

Icelandic Clothing

Today for you, some Nordic clothing inspiration from a few of the local Icelandic brands. 

Enjoy.
*The links in orange below will take you to their home sites. 

Geysir 

Farmers Market

Kormákur & Skjöldur

Nikita

Cintamani

66 North

Icewear

Icewear

Nikita

Farmers Market

Farmers Market

A few to start with, more in a later post...perhaps I will have to share a bit of the other Scandinavian brands that you find here, as they are new to those of us coming from Southern Europe. 

The transition

Life in Iceland is a HUGE shift from Malta, in so many ways. 

I admit the knowledge that it would be a significant change for the children worried me for weeks before we left, how would the children take it, would they adjust....would they blame us and miss home every minute of every day? Would they wish for their grandparents ( so much a part of our day to day life in Malta), and their friends? would they long for the heat and sun? Their house? ( and toys?). We came with one suitcase each.  Left all the rest behind. Somehow I was convinced in my mind  that regardless of the difficulties we would surely face, it would be something positive for the children in the long run ( even in the face of some doubtful friends and family members),  who questioned the move, the children's schooling would suffer etc.

I am here to tell you, now that we have been here  almost five months, that from the very start it has been a surprisingly smooth and wonderful( in every sense of the word) transition. The children ( ages 10, 9, 7 and 2) have made such a swift and easy transition that my husband and I were truly amazed. They are all thriving in such a clear way, that we have already been confirmed in our decision to move here ( for a year), they are happy in the local school, confident, independent ( in a way they never could have been in Malta) and picking up the language very quickly. They are so chipper and free spirited, and with friends they can call on (and who show up almost daily after school to play). We were lucky that  the neighbourhood we live in is very family friendly, kids everywhere, parks down the street, natural geothermic pools at the end of the block and an easy 15 min walk to the center of Reykjavik. 

I think we were lucky when we found this sabbatical home swap. 

The local school ( which the children attend) is at the end of our street.

My husband and I too have been surprised by how quickly we felt at home here, have made friends and fallen into a gentle routine. Bike rides by the sea to work replaced daily traffic jams. Clean air and wide quiet streets. Kids walking on their own to friends houses, to basketball practise or the local shop for milk. Reykjavik feels like a very safe place, and the approach to children very loving but free, kids are allowed to play and really be kids. There are no annual exams for elementary or middle school children here, very little homework and there are cooked- on the premise healthy lunches every day, (fish and potatoes for example ). A far cry from the exam oriented very serious and not so creative quality of schools in Malta.  so far it seems there is in addition to the usual subjects of science, math, literacy, history, and study of world religions, textiles, cooking, woodworking, art and music. Music interwoven throughout actually. 

So many things have been an eye opening shift for us as parents.

Iceland may be small in population ( less than Malta!) but this island too is very rich in culture, history and nature and I won't even go into the love of books and high rate of authors here or musical talent. 

It is indeed a special place and we are enjoying our time here.

So any of you out there who are thinking of making a leap to a different land, kids in tow, consider doing it. It is bonding as a family and such a rich adventure to have as memories for the future. 

Have already probably said more than enough so I will end here.

May your mid November days be healthy and hopeful.

and who can resist this salt?

I fell for the combination of blue and orange

and the details, 

 the sliding front opening and the map of exactly where in Iceland the salt has come from.

It reminded me of an old timey food container and I gave in to buying it.

Street Art of Reykjavik

Since arriving in July I have been snapping photos of murals around the city. 

Here are a few ...

Dwindling Sun

Darkness spreading.......
From it's tucked away place behind dawn it has tipped over the rim and has encircled the alarm clock buzz, surrounded the coffee making grind, it is peeping in through windows as the spoons are being layed down upon the wood grain.

It is through this quiet deep we must pull the drowsy dreaming children, light the candles, fire up the kitchen glow and tred into the day.

The children trundle off to school, hats pulled down over ears, boots laced up, packs slung on backs, off into the dark wind. It is only after, when the last of the cars on the street pull out from their nightly resting spots that the sky begins to glow, pale rosy shades of pearl, wiped with puffs of a blue grey steel.

from the kicthen window, sunrise nine am 

'Is the darkness effecting you?' They often ask us.

It is not with the closing of the trimmed day because
then the stars do twinkle as dinner in its sembledges simmers, steams and browns, the dough rising in the heat, children all home again.... this feels cozy and comforting, to be home as the early night falls,  together.

There are books and playing cards, checkers and  big bath tubs full of steaming water, there are films and late night conversations...the evenings are centering, the gathering together so that in the secure blankets of our beds we may go exploring into the pages, or as modern day would have it into blue white flickering screens.

It is instead, I find, the process of emerging from slumber in the midnight darkness that is difficult, feeling still blanketed in a thick coat of dreams and ...somehow this changes the quality of the day, for beginnings have a way of staying with you till the end.

We are starting to feel the change of the shortening of day,
'It is only the start 'they say.

Music amid the mountains

(photo care of Icelandholidays.com)

Music in the air of Reykjavik tonight!
The massive music festival Airwaves has begun.
Hoping hoping hoping
to catch some of the off venue shows around town!
The calendar line up is packed,
feeling lucky to be a stones throw
away from so much creative talent in action! 

Greetings from the land of fire and ice, 

we have moved from Malta and are now living on another island.

.. Just a bit further north.   Iceland! 

We have come for a year and it has been a soft and magical beginning, somehow my words have been stuck ( blog writers block) and I have not managed to find the space to write although I feel like there has already been so much to say! I am some weeks late but I think it is time to start.....to share this adventure, the travels of a boisterous family of six relocating from the ancient rocky island of Malta to the Nordic island of erupting volcanos and glaciers. So let us begin. 

around the bend

this photo was taken just around the corner from my sons art class.

The sun was starting to set over the grand harbour below and couples, young and old were coming round the bend as the church bells called.

My focus of late has been distracted with what is around the bend for our little family (more on that later) but in the process of this  I have found the organisation called Internations (http://www.internations.org/about/internations)

to be very helpful and useful  and ... at the same time regarding the local Malta scene they asked if they could feature Capers and Olives! 

If interested,  here is the interview- 

http://www.internations.org/malta-expats/guide/recommended-expat-blogs-malta-16254/juniper-capers-and-olives-4

Hope you are all well, 

Carnival is also just around the corner here 

and below is a drawing my 8 year old left on my desk yesterday-a wish list for costumes I think

(she often leaves me small notes around the house, 

some more specific than others).

(I like the snow flakes and fire details...incase I needed some background)

There comes a time in a family with four children when you as parents,  

become very aware that you have become outnumbered. 

That is where we find ourselves now, with our youngest, 'Beppe' turning two. 

Our feisty rolly polly little one is officially off with his older siblings, part of the gang, be it dancing to the frustratingly catchy Frozen songs while jumping on beds, playing cards (or trying to), drawing sprawled out on the floor with every possible reachable pencil or crayon or hiking down the trail. This changing over is most evident at the start of meals, the bubble of noise comes thundering in with the children, their laughter, squabbles, stories and frustrations fill and quickly dominate the space. 

At the moment we seem to be drifting quickly into the background and finding ourselves holding on to each other for stability and sanity. Are they out of control, perhaps at times it feels that way, do we often roll our eyes at one another from across the room after a question or situation comes up- yes, do we love them so much it hurts-  yes, would we have it any other way...no.

One day we hope to travel footloose and fancy free, leisurely stop for coffee and talk for hours as we once did but that feels a very long way off at the moment. So from the centre of the lively circus that is my life  I bid you good day and goodnight.

What keeps us

These walks, these moments of clean fresh country air, sun and smells of the sea, they are golden. Almond trees are blossoming and the orange festival was last weekend, life is good. 

(if you live in Malta, I highly recommend the walk near Fawwara)