THAT picture belongs in a magazine and the seeds didn't fall far from the tree
it must be the long days and nights that makes the females georgeous in the land of fire and ice.
will check again with your site
Beautiful Souls like Frank leave lasting memories in the hearts of those he touched .
Your country is extraordinarily beautiful...it seems serene and peaceful in these shots. I know that living there, I would hardly get any sleep at all in the summers. Can you hibernate during the long winters? I've been curious about Iceland since reading about it in "The Geography Of Bliss" which is a very interesting book, by the way. Apparently you Icelanders are some of the 'happiest' people....good for you....I think I can see why.
Hi Sherry! I'm glad you enjoyed the photos It is hard to get enough sleep this time of year, I always feel like I'm missing something if I go to sleep early..... oh, how I wish I could hibernate in January! That would be nice.
Yes, Icelanders are supposedly very "happy", at least we scored very high before the recession hit. It hit pretty hard here so I'm not sure how we rank now ..... I think Icelanders also tend to say they're happy even if they're maybe not so happy ... so I don't know, not sure we're any happier than the rest of the world. But, at least before everything came crashing down, I think we had a more worry-free life than at least people in the US and probably many other countries. And that probably contributes to the happiness score .... we feel pretty safe most of the time.
Yes, I found that extremely interesting...what contributes to happiness? In what different ways in which different countries...the economy, certainly, healthcare, politics, climate, the culture of different nationalities, etc. I wish that I could spend time living in different countries to be able to compare, there are so many differences and when you've spent your life living in one country, it's hard to know what it would be like elsewhere. From the 'outside', I think it looks as though you're very lucky to living where you are and we'll hope that the economy gets better everywhere...here included...we could use some help also.
I'm impressed that it doesn't get as cold there as I would have imagined. I think I could live there.I prefer cold to heat anyway. With all of the geothermal activity there, is there much use of it in, say, greenhouses? Using the warm water for greenhouse heating? Is there much use of greenhouses there with the short growing season?
Sherry - yes we use geothermal heat quite a bit .... to heat houses, swimming pools and yes, greenhouses. Greenhouses are used year round to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers as well as cut flowers. During the winter months they're grown under lights so the cost of electricity factors in big time ... although electricity is cheaper here I think than in most countries. All electricity here is "green", that is, it's produced by hydro - or geothermal power.
I think I'm very fortunate to live here too ... my kids are safe and have the freedom that goes with it and we have a good health care and welfare system. What makes it difficult to live here are the dark winters and the weather. Our winters are more rain, slush and wind than cold, clear, snowy days ...... makes the dark somehow even darker when it's wet and slushy. And we wouldn't say no to slightly warmer summers although for the past few years we really can't complain. In that respect global warming isn't such a bad thing It's just bad for the glaciers and the rest of the world ......
Yes, most people under the age of ~ 50 speak English, many older people don't. The younger they are, the better their English Kids learn it early now with all the video games they play plus all TV shows and movies have subtitles instead of being dubbed like in most European countries, so we have a better grasp of English because we hear it more ..... They start teaching it in 4th grade now, but when I was a kid it didn't start until 6th grade so I didn't speak a word when I moved to Florida. It was pretty tough ;-)
Yes, I do know the effects of the dark, wet winters. We built a house in Washington state and lived there for 3 years...though I really loved it there, I was also severely depressed in the winters and it was certainly not as dark as your winters. I would think that the ideal occupation / hobby would be spending the winters working in a good sized greenhouse...warmth and light and living things all around. Cost of food high? Such as bananas...lol..?
Cost of food is horrendously high here .... bananas and everything else Especially after the recession hit .... a lot of things we took for granted have become luxury items ... like Kellogg's cereals and Cocoa Puffs, strawberries and lots of other things as well ....
I agree, a good sized, well lit and heated greenhouse would do nicely to keep the winter blues away It's a really tough time of year to get through, at least it is for me.
I had the same problem with some foods while living in Hawaii years ago...very high and if anyone even mentioned the threat of a dock strike there would be a run on the stores for staples such as toilet paper...lol....this was years ago, I'm not sure what the situation would be now.
We are lucky where we live, we won't freeze without heat, we won't die without air conditioning, we could grow a lot of food, but our water becomes more and more scarce with high water bills and the just about year round threat of wildfires now. October used to be my favorite month, but now it's the month we worry most about fires....I want to live where it's 'perfect'...
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, it's a wonderful town. 12 hours of day light 12 hours of night. no volcanos, earthquakes, mud slides, lava flows. temps in the winter no lower than 10 degrees above zero most of the time and summer temps usually in the 80's. to mid 90's.we do get 90's. we do have a humidity problem sometimes during the summer but thats about it.
did i mention the restaurants in NYC. you can eat breakfast. lunch and dinner each day in a different restaurant and it would still take you about 11 years to hit every place to eat. i'm sure we have an icelandic restaurant here somewhere.
LOL
have a great day
Beautiful Souls like Frank leave lasting memories in the hearts of those he touched .
90 and humidity is far too hot for me also...I've done Iowa. I liked the winters, actually...hated the summers. 90 is too hot for me here also..even though we have that dry heat, you know...lol...
A cubit about the challenges of gardening and living in Iceland. The climate, the plants that can be grown here, beautiful gardens, beautiful scenery, a bit of culture and history and daily life before and after the economic collapse.
It's just bad for the glaciers and the rest of the world ...... 
Frank ..... sounds great, except 90 is too hot for me ;-)