Christoffer Petersen

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Paffequtit!

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Jane sewed mittens sealskin and leather when we in Uummannaq. In Qaanaaq she switched to knitting paffequtit – wrist warmers. Paffequtit are a common sight in Greenland, worn by men and women. Perhaps mostly worn by women, but after wearing them for a short time, it’s a no brainer! It’s fun to experience just how much warmer you are when wearing them around your wrist.

They can be as basic as you like, as long as you like, and as decorative as you like.

Now, I’m not very handy, but I am very good at placing plenty of orders to keep Jane busy, including an old kindle cover with Smaug and the Lonely Mountain!

Yeah. not quite a wrist warmer, but you get the idea. 😉

Chris

Dirty Lumps!

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When the sea ice begins to break up, you get a lot of dirty lumps on the beach. These photos are from Qaanaaq, late June, when the temperatures, wind, and tides decided it was time for the ice to melt.

I may have mentioned before that overcast days are the best days to photograph the ice as the blues really pop! The bluer ice tends to be the really ancient stuff that has been compressed the longest in the glacier.

At least, I hope that’s right. 😉

There is still plenty of ice though, and many of the hunters still have their dogs camped a short walk from the beach. I think “plenty” is a matter of opinion and experience.

Chris

Greenland’s National Day (2007)

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A selection of photos from a stormy Greenland’s National Day (2007) in Uummannaq. You can see the clouds curling over the glaciers!

Jane was working at the hospital that day. One of the porters took her home on a break as the clothesline had “helicoptered” out of its holder (a length of pipe ingeniously – if I say so myself- screwed into the deck). Yes, the clothes missed the fish, but neighbours – and the porter who was driving past at the time – said it flew higher than the roof. 😉

And a shot of Jane’s workplace (yellow hospital) when the sun broke through the clouds. Yep, I just might have posted this one before. 🙂

The storm shoved a tonne of ice – tonnes of tonnes, actually – into the harbour requiring a bit of boat juggling to stop them getting crushed. Add a few iceberg calvings into the mix, and you’ve got some seriously intense seas!

Chris

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Borgen: I should probably watch this!

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Thomas wrote and said I should watch it (thanks, Thomas). My mum thinks I should blog about it (thanks, mum). But the truth is, apart from an absurd situation where mum and dad encouraged Jane and me to watch an early episode about pig farming – absurd because we’re living in Denmark and had never seen it, and it was in Danish with English text – I’ve never watched an episode of Borgen. I know, head-shakingly curious, right?

Well, curious or not, apparently I really should watch this latest season – season 4 – as it is set in Greenland!

While some Greenland politicians are concerned/angry about the way the Greenland self rule is portrayed as something gifted to them by Denmark, rather than something they fought hard for, looking beyond that, it seems that the viewers are excited about the series.

The basic premise for this season is finding oil in Greenland. Which is fun for me as I was in Greenland during the first serious exploratory drilling. Oil fever was high and it went hand in hand with renewed dreams of independence.

Sound familiar? 😉

So, I think it’s time to fire up Netflix, and, for once, I don’t have to spend forty minutes searching for something.

If, like me, you’re new to Borgen, then it might help to know it is a Danish political drama with four seasons, starting in 2010. More from The Guardian.

Chris