Last Days on Farm

Sorry the photos don't go right along with the story. Rushing to try and get an update out and this takes so much time, which we generally don't have. We had a really great week with Renate on her farm. One day when it was particularly hot we went to see the surrounding area with one of her friends, Johnny. He took us to see his horses, the ruins of an old castle and we went down to the Danube to have ice cream. Then Johnny took us out on the Danube in his motor boat. It was slate grey looking and had a decent current. The temps were chilly but everyone (except me) went swimming. We floated and had cheese and beer and went swimming. It was really nice and we felt so lucky to have that local experience and not have to hire someone to get out on the water. Back on the farm the girls continued to hop into riding classes when available, we mucked stalls, fed the animals, cut the grass and started working in the forest to clear cut logs. One of the last nights we were doing the grass in the dark because we had been so busy and did not feed the horses until 11:30pm. We ate schnitzel, knoodlen, wurst, quail....On the very last night Renate took our whole family out for a ride in the evening. She was crying when she dropped us at the train station. It is an interesting relationship you form with woofer hosts. You are there a short time, but it is intense and you spend all day together and they open their homes and lives to you. We felt we knew her and have a tremendous amount of respect for her as a person. She is hard working, optimistic, kind and patient.

We rode the train to Munich, having to switch trains twice, but it was a smooth trip. Once in Munich we figured out the subway system and got to the apartment of James' old teammate. We dropped our stuff and went into the city to explore for Molly's birthday. They first and main thing we checked out was the English Garden (a giant park with a man made river through it). There is a place where the river creates an eddy that people can surf on. We watched this for awhile and then joined the fray with everyone jumping into the river and floating down the current. Think of a lazy river and this is what was running through this park. We all tried it and Casey and James went many times. We dried ourselves in the sun and then wandered around a little more until we found an outdoor cafe to have Molly's birthday dinner at followed by gelato on the street. We headed back as everyone was exhausted.

This morning James and I picked up the rental car and we are headed to Salzburg.

Farming Days

Bear with me while I catch up a little.... On Sunday the pace on the farm is much more relaxed. Today was also Ben’s 4th birthday. Ben is the adorable son of Verina, the woofers from Berlin. We woke up and for breakfast had a birthday party. We ate cake for breakfast and sang happy birthday in English.

After breakfast we started to do some odd jobs but nothing too difficult. Renata is renovating her home so I swept up so the flooring can be put down. James split and moved more wood but this time outside with a large splitter. Molly was able to join a riding class and enjoyed it. We ate cherries right from the tree. The other day Renata's mother wanted to teach me how to make these little, sweet biscuits. She cannot speak a single word of English and I cannot speak any German. But she was excited to teach me this and these are some of the fun experiences of woofing. Renata’s father was wearing leiderhosen today. There is a tiny kitten here that is so cute to hold and the kids spend large portions of their days snuggling with it. We had pizza for Ben’s birthday and then James and I went into the forest with Renata and her neighbor to look at the trees. Bark beetle are a major problem in Austria and we had to mark the trees with signs of infestation to be cut down. I was so tired when we got back but the kids had been promised to go riding and Renata is the most generous person. At 9:45 she started the task of saddling up 4 horses and took the kids into the indoor ring for lessons. They walk around the perimeter while one person gets on a leash and Renata helps them move in time w the horse. The kids loved it but were low on resiliency given the time. I got them showered and to bed but not until midnight. Side note: we are on a horse farm in northern Austria. There is no real town as we are out in the farm land. Renata gives riding lessons. She also had a job in marketing. She works tirelessly and has more energy and enthusiasm than anyone I’ve ever met. She is always positive and kind to everyone and so selfless. The weather has been ideal. When it is sunny it is not stiflingly hot, there is a breeze, it cools down at night, there has been rain or thunderstorms almost every night and we’ve seen several rainbows. On clear nights you can see the Alps in the distance. It is very beautiful here and we feel lucky. We have settled into a routine here at the farm. We are learning the tasks and can perform certain daily things without being asked. Mornings call for feeding all the animals; fresh grass for the horses, goats and quail. Mucking the horse stalls is done about twice a day. We've learned that the horses use a "toilet". They don't like to just pee or poo anywhere. They look for a pile of old hay strategically placed over the little pee trough and go to the bathroom there. The hay prevents their pee from spraying on their legs, which apparently they do not like. Day time you do whatever work needs doing and the evenings involve more fresh grass being cut for the evening feed. Renata works from 7am to 11pm. A heat wave has hit Europe and our day was slower yesterday due to this. We did some work indoors-hanging curtain rods and preparing the house for painters. We drove the quad bike down to a small river and took a little dip yesterday. Every afternoon Renata's parents come to visit and usually they bring some food and stay for dinner. We had another wonderful Austrian bonfire to cook sausages over the fire along with potatoes and fresh veggies.

Farming Day 1 & 2

June 21 Today we woke up late like a scene out of "Home Alone". We planned to leave for the train at 10 and we woke up at 9:45 so the pack up was frantic. We made it to the train in plenty of time, though we had to ask for help figuring out which train to take and how to buy tickets. Once on board we had a 90 minute ride. Some slept, some read. We changed trains in Linz and had an 80 minute ride. This train was very rural and made stops in the middle of nowhere. We were met at the town of Peuerbach by Betty and Lisa who live at the farm. We only had a 10 minute ride to the farm. There were several people around. We learned there is a woman with two young children also woofing here. They are from Berlin. The kids instantly started playing w the 6 year old girl Louisa. There are lots of tiny kittens, goats, horses, chickens, quail, a donkey. Renate is the owner of the farm. She is a tan, lean, strong woman with a long grey pony tail. She gave us a drink of water then showed us our room. The room is very modern and clean and had 4 mattresses on the floor and a couch. There are lots of windows and some have screens! We wandered around looking at things and not really knowing what to do. Rebate teaches riding and some local kids were showing up so she said we should relax and after the class she would show us what to do. James and I took a nap and the kids woke us up around 5. We walked to see fences we need to repair, a hole that needs covering, and then she took us to a room where we learned to split wood. We worked with her parents. Her dad is 90! And her mom is so strong. James and Casey used the splitter while I moved big logs towards the splitter and stacked the split wood. We did this for almost two hours. Then Renate came to say that it was time for dinner. We roasted sausages on a stick around the fire pit with salad, some rice and bread.

After dinner Renate and James drove the tractor to the field and Casey and I followed on the quad bike. She mowed and we scooped the cut grass into the tractor. The sun was setting and we were up on the hill. It was absolutely beautiful. We fed the horses and put the stuff away. Then we took a quick shower and at getting the room set for sleeping. It seems like a great farm with lots to do, really nice people and fun for us and the kids. Pretty ideal!

June 22. Didn’t have a great sleep due to lots of strange farm animals clucking, bleating and crowing all night. But all told the room was comfortable, cool and relatively bug free. I woke up at 8 and drove the quad bike out to the pasture where we cut the grass. We had half a row to finish collecting from the night before. The grass was wet so a little harder to lift. We fed the horses and then James and I went to work moving a very large stone slab to cover a big hole in the ground.

Julia joined Renata’s 9:00am riding class in the indoor ring. We had a quick breakfast of bread and jam. We cleaned up the wood room and finished splitting and stacking all the wood. We shoveled horse poop more than once and took it in a wheelbarrow to the poop pile. I weeded the potato garden which was much easier than weeding beets. We had a big lunch outside. Lunch is more like our dinner with it being a large hot meal. We are schnitzel, rice, salad, noodles and potatoes. All three girls joined renata’s 2:00 riding class through the woods. We walked along with them to help because our girls are less experienced. It was a nice walk and the kids had fun. The ride lasted about one hour.

In the evening we cut more rows of grass and loaded it in to feed the animals.

Then we helped clean the barn. We moved all sorts of stuff out of one side because they are going to build a few more horse stalls. We finally ate dinner around 8:45 pm and we were exhausted, dirty and hungry. Dinner was more like our lunch, bread, cheese, meats, hard boiled eggs and some left overs from lunch. I took a shower after and am in bed. Today was a full day of manual labor and I am tired and my feet are tired! But it was beautiful and we are happy to be here!