24 - 30 November 2008

For generations the farmers have been recording the weather, and noting useful observations in the 'Bauern Kalendar' in charming rhymes (here, badly translated), such as; 'If October is clear, Winter is near', 'Snow in the 10th month, mild till the 4th', 'Sun on St Martin's, in for a cold one', 'Blustery on St Matthias' day, Winter till Easter' and so on and so on and so on! In the same vein as St Swithuns or Groundhog but SO much more complicated, taking into account when the lark sings, how thick the ice is, when the leaves fall and what the cows are up to. It is absolutely reliable, since there are enough of these 'rules' to ensure that whatever the weather, it will have been correctly predicted! I don't mean to be cynical - it's just that the Bauern Kalendar predicts not much snow this year and we really want it to be wrong.

17 - 23 November 2008

We just couldn't wait any longer - so when the pisteurs tested the snow cannons this week and left large spots of snow on an otherwise green mountain, we tramped up to a 10x10m patch with our sledge. The children delighted in the 3 seconds worth of sledging thrill that the patch afforded, and Justine despaired at the hours of washing the huge pile of cow pat, in which the sledge came to an abrupt halt, afforded. Had we waited one more day we would have had a whole mountain's worth of white fluffy stuff.

10 - 16 November 2008

Over the past year and a bit in Austria, Justine and Simon have been employed in various guises - ski instructor, cleaner, teacher (physics, English, German, swimming), taxi driver, jewellery maker, translator, lawn mower. Most have been lots of fun for little money. The perks of the latest job, painting an entire hotel in Saalbach, have included 150 packets of crisps and 2 industrial sized boxes of Frosties, past their sell by date, and a huge great Mercedes. Result! (PS we don't get to keep the Mercedes but we can eat all the crisps.)

3 - 9 November 2008

Simon is often appalled at the Pinzgau misuse of his beloved German language. Irregular verbs are disrespected, genders are all over the place, and as for the genitive..! To facilitate family integration into the community, he bites his tongue and refrains from correcting the local dignitaries as they deliver their key note speeches. Although there is so much work to be done in sorting out their German, he is in demand as an English teacher. Most want to learn enough to explain to their guests what time breakfast is and where the ski slopes are, but 5 unsuspecting and assiduous students who signed up for Simon's intensive refresher course, now know, after their first lesson, the correct context in which to use whence, whither and wherefore.

27 October - 2 November 2008

Whilst Justine was practising her snowplough on the Kitzsteinhorn in a bid to become a qualified ski instructor, Simon took sole responsibility for the children's well-being for 10 days. We are pleased to report that they are still living, having survived... near drowning (Elizabeth), branding (Elizabeth), being temporarily misplaced (Mary), and being accidentally strapped into his accordion for an hour and a half (Caspar). Justine passed and Simon enjoyed his week. All is well.