they meant it when they said "no running in the barn!"

location: maria alm
time: 19:00
number of sprained wrists: only the one...

oh how the time does fly when you are pretending to be a farmer!

it's been over a week and about time i fill you in on all the adventures i have embarked on since i last sat down to write! it's been a full week for sure... i can never quite tell if time flies or crawls here because the days seem wonderfully long but they seem to pass so quickly!

the best way i can sum up all that's been going on is to write about the lessons i've learned. they are, in no particular order:

1. "when they say "don't run in the barn, they mean it!"
it's not really a written rule here, but it's something i learned the moment i started riding which was quite a long time ago. i always was told and explained to others that the rule existed because running could spook the animals who could in turn hurt themselves... two days ago i was trying to catch my youngest cousin (he just turned five) who was running around in only socks listening to headphones with the volume way too loud (we could hear it from across the garden). he ran into the barn and giggled "you can't catch me..." i gave into his game started chasing him around until he ran out the door and i slipped on something wet (despite the fact that i WAS wearing shoes) and fell as i rounded a corner, slamming into a wall. let me tell you... OUCH. i sprained my right wrist pretty nicely and gave myself a wonderful scrape on my left knee, the likes of which i haven't seen on myself in about five years. it's still oozing incase you were curious :) for those of you who don't know me and my... shall we say less than graceful ways... this might seem shocking... no need to worry! i emt-ed myself and am taking care of my wounds. for those of you who do know me well enough to know that i keep a wrist brace near me at all times, i hope you got a good chuckle :)

i might never shower again...

2. might as well bring your winter coat despite the fact that you are visiting in june... you can wear it over your bathing suit!
last week it rained and SNOWED! and this week it's boiling out and you can't leave the house without sunglasses or you will be blind... i honestly thought i was loosing my mind when i looked out the window and thought "oh look snow!" it didn't stick down here but it did accumulate in the mountains and worried everyone as the low temperatures aren't good for things trying to grow.

3. remember to put on shorts before hiking up to the pasture to feed the horses and foals.
over the past few days its fallen me to go up to the pasture to feed the two horses staying up there and their foals. it's about a twenty minute process which consists of walking through the church/grave yard with a bucket of feed, hiking up the side of a mountain for about eight minutes (i might as well crawl it's so steep), hoping the horses aren't in the far part of the pasture under the trees (they usually are), waiting for them to figure out you are there to feed them, feeding them, and then nearly falling off the side of the mountain as i scramble down. the foals are cute as can be, the scenery is, of course, breath taking, and it's good to get exercise... tomorrow i am putting on shorts before i go! i almost passed out from heat exhaustion in my jeans today. never again i tell you!

4. always have your camera with you... seriously... ALWAYS.
i didn't lug it with me up the mountain today and the foals were particularly cute... darn it!!

5. you can make perfectly lovely accompaniment music with spoons and musli
yesterday jacob came into the kitchen to practice the accordian (which he plays quite well!). his sister hanna and i were hanging around being silly and started playing spoons and glasses along with him. their dad, chirstian, came in to eat something and came out of the pantry shaking his musli in time and shouting "ja-hoo" at intervals making us all jump. we were laughing and having an uproariously good time when we saw a stranger walk towards the front door (people are always looking for someone or other to talk milk or horses or somewhere to stay) at which point christian whooped louder than ever and we played more vigorously and better than before. it was truly wonderful music... i wish i had recorded it :D our sides hurt from laughing after that and we continued about our day.

other than that i've been running around, helping as much as i can, going for wonderful bike rides, and reading/journaling when there's time. i haven't gotten the chance to horse back ride because it was raining and now it's just WAY too hot during the day but maybe soon! micha is coming out from vienna tomorrow which is super exciting! life on the farm is truly lovely but i am also really looking forward to the next part of my journey which includes: vienna, the netherlands to visit kimmi (!!!!) and then paris where i get to see ella (!!!!). all extremely exciting :)

until next time!
- a