Saturday February 5th.

The light is totally different today and it’s hard to describe. I saw the sun for the first time this morning, as yesterday it was too cloudy. It wasn’t only the short burst of sunlight though it’s as if there is an added clarity and colour to complete forms instead of just hard edge outlines. This morning before I left for Beathe’s house I made a piece of work and did some washing. Amazingly washing will quickly dry outside if hung up. First it freezes hard and then because the air is so dry it is no longer wet within an hour or two of hanging out and smells like heaven

. It is a long walk up to Beathe’s so I set off in good time, as I wanted to get them some chocolate at the supermarket. I purchased a very small box and two little bags of chocolate raisins for the girls costing around 20e. After leaving the supermarket I began the very long climb up to where Beathes house is. Her husband built it single handedly and it is both a comfortable sturdy building.

 The village is charming in winter, the pastel coloured houses are painted mostly reds blues and greens but also some yellow. Fairy lights or even the electric advent candles such as those seen at Christmas time in Ireland light some windows. All the guidebooks describe Upernavik as a “scruffy place” and I can see that in summer this may well be the case, but the winter snow and ice transforms it, making the little houses sparkle like jewels as they rise upwards towards the mountaintop.
I reached Beathe, s a little after 2 o clock. I found the walk today much more difficult than yesterday for some reason so I was very glad to arrive. The girls made me very welcome and Beathe explained to me that her Dad had caught the seal last season and the parts she was cooking today were those saved for celebrations. She cooked it in two different ways the first fried with a boiled potato and the second more like a stew with potatoes and onions cooked in the blood and rice added also. I preferred the first dish and it had a gamey sort of taste. I think both dishes were made from the liver and kidneys.  Knud her husband had arrived home but didn’t eat with us. After we had finished I asked if I could see Beathes Kamiks (long sealskin boots part of traditional Greenlandic costume) and she kindly showed me the complete ensemble. The top with the beading is so heavy I was very surprised when I put it on.