March 2018

Journalist Heinz Bayer, in an article in the Salzburger Nachrichten, has brought to everyone's attention a surreptitious change in Maria Alm - a preponderance of Anglicisms to the possible detriment of the local Pinzgau dialect. In our search for our Austrian home we conducted a simple test - if we went into a shop, spoke German with our English accents and the reply came in English, then it was not the place for us. We wanted the best environment in which to learn German and that was, perhaps, unlikely to be a place where the locals were keen to practice their English. Maria Alm, which passed our test 11 years ago with flying colours, can't get enough of dear old Blighty now. The Schischule is now the Ski School, the ski instructors live in the Team Lodge and local boy Sepp is building a new hotel emblazoned with the promise that 'it's gonna be exSEPPtional' when it opens in 'SEPPtember'.

February 2018

'Your house shall be not an anchor but a mast', is engraved on the stone steps outside Saxons Hall, the home that Justine's dad built. This year is the 20th anniversary of his death, and a year to raise anchor and sail away, taking inspiration from his sense of adventure. Houses can anchor families for generations into this valley, enclosed by the unchanging skyline of these mountains with no distant horizons. A long unbroken tradition of a family home or trade passed down through the ages can be both a blessing and a curse. 500 years of history was lost last week when the old farmhouse at Rohrmoos was irreparably damaged by fire, but the heart of the home was found thriving in the community that rallied around those left homeless (including 78 cows, 25 sheep and 4 goats) and not in the bricks and mortar (or stone and wood). 'For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night.'(Kahlil Gibran)

January 2018

Apparently the first step in crafting the life you want, is to get rid of everything you don't. In a bid to declutter before the move in July, Justine has made a New Years resolution to find new homes for three things a day. Ideally they go to someone who wants our junk, sometimes the bin gets them. Yesterday it was a laser-printer, a guitar (we still have 5), and a small pot of caviar that has been in the fridge for two years. Today, a bed, a small crocodile, and a pair of salopettes that almost reach Elizabeth's knees. Difficulties arise when we cannot agree on what we don't want, but once agreement is reached, Justine finds it very liberating, particularly when it is someone else's stuff.

December 2017

Saint Sylvester's day was celebrated throughout the world with spectacular fireworks, but none quite as spectacular as the natural display that we were blessed with on an evening walk. As 'glucksbringers' go, this surely bodes well for the coming year because 'red sky at night ...', the sky could not have been redder, the shepherds could not have been more delighted.

November 2017

Simon messaged Justine - 'Just wanted to tell you we buried Mr Muddle tonight'. Then shortly after - 'He had died'. Justine was grateful for the clarification.

October 2017

Justine's friend Kate, who is lucky to be alive and knows how to make good use of the time she has left, celebrated her life with 'Instead of a Wake', for which Justine had the privilege of being part of the organisational team. In contrast to the usual events that Justine organises, in which there is always, usually necessarily, a little bit of hoping for the best, this was planned with military precision. A year before the event the idea was hatched. Months before, 8 cellists, a soprano and a small baroque orchestra were booked for a programme of Villa Lobos and Bach; flowers, furniture, venues and menus were agreed; the elusive music for David Bedford's beautiful 'The Grace of Love' was found and the choir met for their first rehearsal. Weeks before, Kate's gin was distilled; the font for the projected subtitles was decided upon; the programmes were printed; the tenors mastered the tricky bits in Purcell's Evening Hymn, and the playlist for the after concert party was drawn up. Days before, the marquee company sourced extra long stakes to keep the marquee from flying away in the anticipated gale force winds. One day before, a water main was punctured with aforementioned extra long stakes, and 4 hours before the event the last emergency port-a-loo was removed. There is no planning for the unexpected, we totally carpe'd the diem and it was the best party ever.

September 2017

Caspar started A'levels at Old Swinford Hospital this month. A chip off the old block, Caspar is taking exactly the same subjects as Simon. He is relieved to never have to do French and Latin again. Those subjects plagued him through his Austrian 'gymnasium' schooling where students are required to pass every subject in order to graduate to the next year. Too many summers were spent revising for retakes at the start of term, under the threat of being thrown out of the school. He'll be boarding, home in the holidays. Elizabeth wants to know if she can have his bedroom.