December 2014

Simon has a brand new organ, sorry - the church has a brand new organ. Tailor-made to Simon's specifications the organ was installed by a German firm who found some features of the organ unfamiliar, until it was clear that the German organ builders had shipped an English organ to Austria, because it was easier to get an English model than modify the German model to Simon's very English specifications.

November 2014

Pay starts low for newly qualified ski instructors in Maria Alm, but perks are a ski pass, a bright red uniform, a free beer at the Ski Show and accommodation in the ski-teacher's house. The ski teacher's house has just been imaginatively enlarged. Two portacabins on top of each other have been wood clad for an authentic Austrian look. Caspar, at 14, is old enough to work as a helper for the ski school. The bright red uniform is enough compensation in itself, but he also gets paid real money, and has a large collection of tokens for free beer at the Ski Show which he will be able to trade-in when he's sixteen, at which time he might also be old enough to drink his beer on the balcony of his own portacabin, if it is still standing.

October 2014

Jan spends much of the summer pulling up Springkraut and motivating others to do the same (see blog 18 - 24 June 2012). Battling stinging nettles, heat-stroke, derision, opposition, apathy, and perhaps also the feeling that she is painting the Forth Bridge, she steadfastly continues in her mission to free Maria Alm from this pesky blight. This week in Vienna she was lauded for her efforts and recognised with an award from the national Naturschutzbund. Justine accompanied her, her first trip to Vienna, and hopes that Jan can find something else to pull up next year once the Springkraut is all gone, because the buffet was really good.

September 2014

Spelling out our surname in German is to be avoided at all costs. B's sound like p's in German, t's like d's. This leads to much confusion and some classic panto scenarios, of which this is an example: Elizabeth: 'I can't find my beanies!' Simon: 'You haven't got one, you're a girl.'

(beanie: bean bags filled with wheat and heated in the microwave as a hot water bottle alternative.)

August 2014

This was a month of summer camps. Music and a lot of hard work and good fun for Justine at Dartington. Tennis and trumpet for Caspar. Mary came back from her summer camp with a vast repertoire of nonsense songs. Elizabeth summer-camped in Austria, and both girls squeezed in circus camp too. Simon's favourite elements included a village fete and a steam rally. The summer was topped off with a trip to Barcelona which included flamenco, tapas, Gaudi and only one lost child incident.

July 2014

Home!

June 2014

Frisbee Golf. In theory you throw a frisbee into something like a netball goal from a 'tee pad' anywhere between 20 - 100 metres away. In practice you throw a frisbee into the wind which carries it 150 metres into thorny scrubland where, since you have paid a 10 euro deposit on each frisbee, you spend 1 hour looking for it, don't find it but manage to find 2 or 3 previously lost frisbees. Ultimately the day's objective of fresh air and exercise at minimal cost is achieved.

May 2014

No-one arriving from England may cross our threshhold without bearing at least one item from the 'wish list', which includes bacon, golden syrup, HP sauce, custard powder, Cadbury's chocolate, Walker's crisps, currants, dark brown sugar, and until this week, Cheddar cheese. Now stocked in a well-known Maria Alm supermarket, we have been buying West Country Cheddar in bulk to show that there is demand for the product. One can have too much of a good thing, and now we are feeling a little cheesed off.

April 2014

Noah, Hamish and Joanna came to Maria Alm for a ski. Not possible in Maria Alm, but we enjoyed one fantastic ski day in nearby Wagrain. Instead the week's activities included meditating in the Maria Alm labyrinth. Here they are enjoying the peace and serenity, and contemplating their own life's journeys.

March 2014

And a few weeks later it was all gone again. Artificial snow can only be produced at temperatures of - 3C or below, regardless of the many millions a small village like ours invests in snow cannons.

February 2014

The white stuff that falls from the sky, has finally arrived, about 2 months late. No matter, the white stuff that is churned out of noisy machines day and night has been winter-wonderlanding the mountains since November at a cost of about £5 per cubic metre. Since there is nothing like the real thing, Caspar is busy with the cold weather equivalent of making hay while the sun shines.

January 2014

Helmut from Waldhaus sums up Winter 2013/14 so far.

Ich war dabei! (I was there!)