deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

So, before you go to bed tonight please check under your bed for Askasleikir. And remember, the best Northern lights are usually just after midnight. Kær kveðja

Pottaskefill, known in English as “Pot-Scraper,” is like many of his brothers in that his Christmas hi-jinks are gluttonous. Breaking into one home after another, he seeks out pots of sauce, chunks of roast meat left on the tray, saucepans of seasonal vegetables, and scours off anything leftover to eat. Pottaskefill was no doubt created to…

Thvorusleikir, the fourth Yule Lad, is known in English as “Spoon-Licker.” This Christmas troll set out on his nationwide tour of mischief on the fifteenth of December each year, to break into the homes of Icelanders and lick the spoons of households in the hope of a morsel to eat.  Thvorusleikir’s behavior was a result…

The third Yule Lad, Stufur or “Stubby,” became a nuisance throughout Iceland at Christmas by stealing the household pans for the delicious crust that remained on them. From the 14th to the 26th of December, his appetite was insatiable. While this may not seem like a terrible crime, historically, pots and pans were incredibly valuable…

Giljagaur, or “Gully Gawk,” was the second Icelandic Yule Lad to arrive in human settlements. Hiding in the gullies around a house, waiting until its residents have fallen asleep, his method of troublemaking was to break into the cowshed to steal any milk available. In doing so, he robbed families of the key ingredient in the sauces…

Just returning from Iceland, we learned that Iceland does not have a single fictional character called Santa, they have 13 fictional characters who make an appearance during Christmas time. The 13 lads live in the volcanic mountains with their parents and a cat. Starting on December 12 one by one, never two by two their…

The flag of the Northern Territories of Australia. Located in the North Central region of Australia. Its largest city is Darwin. It is the ancestral home of the Australian Indigenous people, with most theories stating the Aboriginal people were there for up to 65,000 years. It was not granted ‘responsible government’ by the Australian parliament…

On last full day in Iceland we decided to go to the National Museum to learn more about the country we had been spending time in. On our hike to the Museum we walked by one of the oldest cemeteries in Reykjavík. The headstones were ancient with dates from the early 1800s. We noticed that…

The morning hours were spent in the geothermal mineral hot springs outside of Reykjavik. The strange feeling of being in a gigantic outdoor swimming pool in Iceland. After sitting/squatting in the very warm geothermal broth, doing an impression of a potato in sulphuric soup you are supposed to ‘plunge’ into the real very cold sea…

We call our travels: Adventures. There remains an element of, ‘we have no idea what is going to happen’. Looking back there could be a searching for reasons, I wonder why that happened? If I hadn’t looked in that direction…if I hadn’t sat there, would this not have happened? ‘It is all a random coincidence’.…