Spring is in the air

There’s truly a feeling of spring in the air these days, and the summer opening of the Icelandic Sheepdog Heritage Center is just around the corner. From May 1st through September, we’ll be open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A lot has been happening lately. Several groups of visitors have already stopped by, and we recently had the pleasure of welcoming Director General of the Icelandic Tourist Board, Arnar Már Ólafsson, along with other members of the Tourist Board and Halldór Óli Kjartansson, Managing Director of the North Iceland Marketing Office. We also participated in the project Sundays at the Museum here in Northwest Iceland and hosted a well-attended event, Turf House Walk and the National Dog, during Skagafjörður's Culture Festival (Sæluvika). Another photo session for the project on color variations in the Icelandic Sheepdog also took place, where Carolin Giese Linaimages once again captured wonderful photos of beautiful dogs, this time in front of our own turf house.

The name bank keeps growing, and there are now over 800 names recorded. More stories have also been added, and I’ve started exploring which ones would be suitable for recording so that visitors can listen to them peacefully at the Heritage Center.

It’s always wonderful when our activities start up again after the winter, but I’m also very grateful for the quiet winter months that allow me to work on all these wonderful projects about the national dog. I’m already thinking ahead to which dog-related projects might make their way into next winter’s program.

The photo that accompanies this post is of Breiðanes Fönn, the youngest on the farm and daughter of Sómi, who will always have the honor of being the inspiration behind my national dog project. The photo of beautiful Fönn was taken by Carolin and will be added to the color reference bank.

The first day of summer is only a few days away, and I want to wish all readers a happy summer and thank everyone I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the past winter.