Showing posts with label Iceland photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iceland photos. Show all posts

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Tea for the Road

 Hi everyone.  Yesterday was one of those days that wasn't exactly a bad day but a day where nothing went as planned. I just gave into that early before the day sent my frustration levels over the top.  We also had some storms, and our humidity, which has been really tropical all week, finally, supposedly has broken. As I haven't yet been outside today (as when this post went live), I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that is true. 

The other weather talk going on in my area is the hurricane (Hurricane Lee). They're still not sure of the final track and where within the cone  it will hit land ; right now they're saying anywhere between Downeast Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. Any which way, there will be rain, wind and some tropical storm effects at my house, but we'll have to see what happens. (And wherever it hits, let's hope people stay safe.)

Today. I'm sharing another spread from my Iceland journal as well as some more Iceland photos. 


My spread is made by first using a writing designed stencil and some paint. Then I used a black Sharpie and a number stencil to add the numbers on the inner parts of both pages.  Once I finished my background, I attached the labels from 2 to-go sandwich wrappers. I also attached 3 (what we in the US would call) Coke Zero bottle labels.  I pulled all of these labels  off the bottles and with the 2 sandwich labels I cut away the rest of the wrappers.

I then added some stickers  that had something to do with other foods we had while on our Ring Road Drive.  There were a couple of donuts that made it into my belly, and the cookie represents some other sweets we tried. And finally, my cup of tea with a big smile on it.

That  tea cup makes my page eligible for Elle's Books, Cat and Tea challenge at Art Journal Journey.

And let me share a few more photos that go along with the scenery I shared this past Sunday. If you're interested  where we were in these photos (besides the obvious Iceland), we are on the northwest side of the island, south of the Western Fjords, and on the north side of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. We were heading towards Snaefellsnes National Park which is off of the Ring Road. 

I'll start off with this traffic jam, Iceland style. It also shows some cars and trucks which is the theme this week at Rain's Art and Dinner Date


This bus had gone off the side of the road. into the little ditch you find along most Icelandic roads. And yes, the road is gravel, but this is not considered a back road. Many of the roads in Iceland are not paved. Everyone who was stuck in this backup, maybe 15 cars, got out and went up to watch what was going on. We were stopped maybe for an hour, and some people turned around and left, but, as we were told, to backtrack around would take close to 2 hours, so it was better off to wait.

Plus this was real life and interesting to watch. At a few points it even looked like the bus might flip on its side, but luckily, it didn't.


These next 2 photos are a little dark (sorry), but we also had to stop so my husband (who's a civil engineer) could stop and inspect how they were building this new bridge. As he said they were building it with pre-cast parts, whereas at home, they are built piece by piece on site.




Although I appreciate bridges, I much more enjoyed watching the Icelandic horses in the meadows.


I love finding all the little churches in seemingly the middle of nowhere although obviously there are people living in the area who use them.


And an afternoon snack for the road is never a bad idea.


And as you drive through town, it's good to not speed.


As we moved closer to the park, the cloudier and wetter it became. Clouds and fog make cool photos, but they also let you not see as much either.




That's all for today. I'm slowly making my way through my trip photos, even though it is now September and we traveled back in (mostly) June.  Next time I share photos from the trip I'll show you some wet and cloudy views from the park.

Have a great day.




Sunday, September 10, 2023

More from Iceland

Hi everyone. Happy Sunday to you. I'm having a quiet low-key weekend. How about you?

Today I have a spread from my Iceland travel journal to share.  I actually photographed this spread in 2 separate images,  because for one thing, these pages in my journal don't want to lay flat. I also thought because the second page needs a bit of explaining it would be better to show the pages separately.


The overall general theme is birds. This first page mostly uses some old postage stamps that I had from 2016 when I went on my first Iceland trip. The stamp down on the bottom right is one I picked up on my most recent trip. 

The next page ties in with birds, sort of. I added the white candy wrapper image because not only did I enjoy that candy but they reminded me of bird's eggs.  Well maybe not if you broke them open. grin. The red-throated loon (or diver) is  cut out of a brochure and was a new-to-me bird that I saw.



I also added in a little journaling tag. This tag is taped in between the 2 pages. On the back I wrote about some of the birds I saw but did not have stamps to share. The bird on that taped-in-tag is NOT a bird I saw in Iceland but I liked it and it's size so I added it.

You can see the book paper (Icelandic writing) on both pages. I attached the gas receipt because it was interesting with all the different numbers that showed up on it, and also because the paper was so thick compared to what we usually get in my area. Does it fit in with birds? Not really, but whenever we made a snack purchase we did get receipts so it does tie into my page. And even if it doesn't  tie in, it looks good on the page. grin
I also added the girl. She was  on a brochure I picked up on my trip to Charleston, SC in May, but I thought she looked like she could be in Iceland with that scarf she is wearing.

Since I have those book pages, I am linking up to Elle's Books, Cat and Tea challenge at Art Journal Journey.

Today I also have some more Iceland photos to share. Sorry for you ornithologists out there, these are not bird photos. But  if you like stunning vistas along the ocean, these photos are probably for you.









I'm also linking up to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.
That's all for me today. Have a great rest of your weekend. 







Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Waterfalls in Iceland

Hi everyone.  Happy Wednesday to you.

August is winding down way too fast, but since I can't stop time, let me  post another page for Chris' challenge over at Art Journal Journey.  Chris’ challenge runs through this Thursday. Waterfalls are all over the world, but this page is in my Iceland journal because we saw a lot of waterfalls in that country.


 I  have already shared photos  of many of the big waterfalls we saw in Iceland,  including this one on my journal page. To make my page I used a napkin I received on the plane, added a postcard I picked up at some point in the trip and also included the parking ticket to this particular waterfall's parking lot. This lot was  crowded; you can tell this is a popular waterfall to visit. (Probably because you can walk behind it.)

I'll be back with one more page for Chris' challenge before August wraps up.

To go along with this page, let me share a few more photos from Iceland. These are some "small" waterfalls we came across. (Along with a few other views also.)




And I'll add a turfhouse that was "next to" one of the small waterfalls.








Even these small waterfalls can have deceptively strong flows. This next one had a trail you could walk up to the base  (not the top) of the falls.






I still have a lot of photos to share from my June trip, but this is all for me today. I hope your week is going well.








 

Friday, August 18, 2023

A Morning Walk in Iceland

 Hi everyone. Happy Friday. 

Today I want to share some photos from Iceland for Nicole's  Friday Face Off  and also for Gillena's Friday Lunch Break ..

Today's photos take us to Lake Myvatn. We are in northeast Iceland, just off the Ring Road and not  at the shore. In this first photo you can see the view from our hotel room. I took this first photo at about 5 AM since I was up and wide awake. 

You can see the lake and some pseudo-craters in the background. There were also some  great walking trails across from the parking lot. 


The traveling and the time change  had caught up with my husband the night before.  I was more awake and had been thinking of going out walking on these trails that previous evening.  However, the translation of Myvatn is midge lake, and since there was no wind to blow the bugs away, I made due with the evening view from my window.  (I could tell there were a lot of midges because of the number that were on the window of our hotel room.)

 At 5 that morning there was a good breeze blowing which would keep the midges at bay, so it seemed like a good time to explore the pseudo-craters.  Since I didn't know there were these great short trails across the street when I'd booked the hotel,  they were an unexpected treat. 

Here's some photos and faces from that walk.

a silhouette of an arctic tern


part of my hubby and some "locals" who were snoozing on the trail


the sky was constantly changing and created some great views


I know you might not want to see the back end of a sheep,😃 but they finally decided to move as we walked closer. Smile.



I'm not sure what type of birds these 2 are. I think tufted ducks.  I can't seem to find a good match on the internet.  David, if you read this post perhaps you could let me know.


There were a whole lot of sheep along the trail. In Iceland sheep are free-ranging from spring until early fall.


From the top of one of the pseudo-craters


More faces for Friday Face Off.


I must say the little lambs were very cute.




More sky and landscape views, including the addition of a crow to one of the photos









It was a great morning walk. We were back just in time for the breakfast buffet to begin.  And we were ready to eat at that point too. 😀

That's all for me today. I'll be back with more photos some other post. Have a great start to your weekend, and thanks for stopping by my blog.