$3 Patterns & Iceland

PatternPlus has all patterns at $3 + $1.20 shipping/handling per order (within Australia) - good deal! Naturally, I've ordered some more. (Ages ago I ordered some patterns from PatternPlus (great prices and only a nominal handling fee per order). The patterns came really quickly but two weren't the ones I'd ordered - correct numbers but the pics & company didn't match. As soon as I let them know they got back to me pronto and said that they no longer had what I thought I'd been ordering but would happily send me two others of my choosing and I could keep the incorrect ones or get a refund ....... only a couple of days later and some more patterns arrived (of course I went for more patterns!). I can highly recommend their customer service, mistakes happen to everyone, what makes the difference is how it's handled.)

I haven't been blogging but I do have a few dresses awaiting hemming, so I have been doing a bit of sewing (see the WIP list on the sidebar -->). I also did make up the V1258 Vena Cava dress in the metallic emerald (and hemmed it!) that I was debating here.

Some pics from Iceland (Sep 2012?)

 Let me tell you, they don't call it Iceland for nothing. We were there at the end of Summer, one day the high was 3 degrees C, admittedly that was the coldest day but still...

I did actually wear the bogan pants at least once here but usually I was wearing two layers of thermal longjohns, so yes, I was wearing my underwear as outerwear. Bah! No one knows me in Iceland.

Sampling the local fare

 When I travel one of my top goals is to eat and drink all 'new to me' dishes and drinks - Iceland was no exception.

Eating some dried fish - tough but tasty. (I also tried the rotten, putrified shark but Tigerboy lost his camera with the pics - it's actually worse than it sounds.)

Some Viking beer - had to be done!

Puffin. I had warned Tigerboy (who is crazy about birds) that I'd do this - he assured me that no one ate sea birds. I told him that I'm sure he was making it up and got confirmation that puffins were indeed on the menu. As he had a couple of months to get used to the idea, I'd confirmed that they weren't endangered and he is aware of my need to taste everything, he was fine - in the end he even tried some.

Snowmobiling on a glacier.

Hadn't tried this before - these little gizmos handle a bit differently to my bike (no surprise) but they were lots of fun. The drive to get to the glacier was not as much fun in our non 4WD vehicle but we finally made it there and back in one piece.

Everyone else was doubled up on the snowmobiles but after I took tigerboy for a whirl on a jetski one time he thought it best that we each had our own (sook!)

Snowmobiling - Iceland

Snowmobiling - Iceland

Snorkelling between the tectonic plates in Silfra - Iceland

Yep, you can actually snorkel between the European and the American continental plates but it's cold! Dry suits only but water still gets in your gloves and of course your face is exposed.

Very little lives in the water and the visibility is 100m+ but although you are over a deep chasm a lot of the time, you can't see the bottom because it just fades to blue.

Getting into the dry suit - makes getting into a wetsuit seem easy peasy.

That would be me (identifiable only due to the camera hanging off my wrist). Silfra - Iceland

Snorkelling, Silfra - Iceland

Looks like it could be me taking pics. Snorkelling, Silfra - Iceland

Another one that we think is me (on the right). Snorkelling, Silfra - Iceland

Finally made it - my hands and face were numb. Snorkelling, Silfra - Iceland

Jokulsarlon Ice Lagoon

This place is used for movies a fair bit. The first day we were there the weather was so bad that at times I couldn't walk against the wind. Thankfully, when we went back a few days later the wind had died down.

Jokulsarlon Ice Lagoon - Iceland

Jokulsarlon Ice Lagoon - Iceland

Jokulsarlon Ice Lagoon - Iceland

Jokulsarlon Ice Lagoon - Iceland

Random shots

Basalt columns near Vik - Iceland

Vik - Dyrholaey

All of these rocks covered with inches thick cushy moss, as far as the eye can see - it was the kind of thing you'd expect to see in Lord of the Rings. Iceland.

Vik - Dyrholaey