Monday 28 February 2011

Tage 26&27...lurching into carpe diem...

J has just left for the airport and im feelin the loss already...its going to be a weird couple of days methinks.

Anyhow to recap, Sunday was Js last night in Eitental ..the end of things really rolls on fast! Unfortunately it was a weird morning...we both thought each other were in grumpy moods, perplexing because neither of us were, perhaps the bad vibes came from the whole leaving sensations ...no reasons to be fed up, unless i was subconsciously forseeing trials and tribulations for the next few days as the sole helper; before G has to go it alone until the next one.. maybe thats what had me jaded.

Nevertheless we had an undarkened ride, jaunting along on Barrack and Gnome...i think J was pining to be on Creo ...but she got a good gallop from the former whilst i struggled on my mount stuck between the slow ones, Ah well you cant win them all!
Afterwards G vanished for a lie down so we decided it would be the perfect time for a last SAUNA which unstiffend the sinews and sweetened us for the gauntlet of culinary concoctions et al for the last supper . Although J was a little stressed about the preparations..G laughed as she saw her pace up and down from the window...I felt chilledout about the whole thing, i reckon that was because B did the stables at 2pm! Simple things huh --cos it meant a lesiurly evening body and soul!!
Hunted high n low for all sorts of dishes and salad bowls and ...ooh we found Ws liquor cabinet!!! I tried to give J some space in the kitchen so she could do her thing as i worked at a pièce de résistance with the dining table for 12. There was plenty of food and i put out enough bread to feed 5000, Hm cooked a soup for the starter, though she  didnt turn up to taste it herself poor thing, must have tired her out!
E and H arrived with PRESENTS! a bottle of very good sect, some chocolate bars...can never fail with either :p and a special gift for us each...a hanging er something i forget what she called it in Austrian..the type you can put up at the window, or decorate the christmas tree....mine was circular with a girl holding a candle...actually looked like J hehe so i can put her in my pocket then lol ....with PEACE in different langs around the edge ...i recognised Finnish..Rauha!
The dinner was a triumph, everyone turned up and everyone licked their plates clean! My only quandary was being stuck on the corner of the table between H (okay so he cant speak much english) and W who were making a brisk and loud conversation in German, totally ignoring me ..in fact it was German and Spanish going round the whole table ..(J practicising with HandJ over the rubicon) ..at first i tried to isolate the words maybe recognised the words but then i gave up a tad peeved ...G noticed i had finished and made me start to clear everyones plates away ...well at least i got to run out into the fresh night air.
Our dish of the day was PEET-ZUH with a load of random toppings we bunged on. ...I tried rid my  blasé self with some beer ...hooo wheaty SNEEZES...W never opened that bottle of champers ...though another sect bottle made an appearance so that brighten things...then i dashed off again to sort the pudding out and load the dishwasher, gahhh!
Later we presented G with a mini montage of pics, and J wrote an awesome poem about Gs camel farm which went down exceedingly well !!! Plus she finished off the manual for the rest of the helpers which had gotta be  BIG HELP..i was soo lucky J was here to induct me into everything...

Nearly forgot where i was this morning; followed by lack of tolling bells...awkward start to the day without them...hmmm counting down the days when i dont have to be up at 6am 24\7 ... ahhh And shining morning face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school...
Broke fast over a sea of glasses.....thats the trouble with cooking for a dinnerparty, you have to face the washing aftermath!! .....We searched in vain for that chocolate cake that we saved from the nightbefore, ..core, bamboozled by people who are supposed to be on a diet!!
 Both J and I had been looking forward to one last ride ...J still aching to ride her baby, Creo...to our dismay however plans changed again and J had to whizz off very suddenly. I hate goodbyes. Fullstop. I was soo happy to find her at the camel farm , we get on quite well considering my calamatious antics ...maybe we will have a reunion in Oz or backing in a summery Wachau where we dont have to get up at the crack of dawn! WHO KNOWS!....i went back to the room looking around forlornly then headed on down to the office to ask G about this horse ride ! ... hehe
As it turned out she had to drive off somewhere but decided to wait whilst she let me loose on Creo in the deer park HAPPY HAPPY!! this horse can be soo laid back it really makes for an enjoyable ride under blue skies...FEELING GOOD...to have plenty of cantering on the straight stretches ..even though G told me to take it slow hehehe....Creo heaved a big sigh when we came back and guzzled down water to his hearts content...I could have easily ridden twice more! Oh and Mustafa made me burst into a fit of giggles when he startled from drinking, shook his head,  muzzzle going blaaarrggghhhaarggle with droplets of water and foam which he then wiped on Halefs coat ...naughty or what !!! Actually being precise and deliberate about it !!

Only a small palava later, a pipe had burst outside the camel stables, they were all huddled inside, making growly moans ! Hmmm only 4 more day left ...must get organised ...my previous host had to cancel on me (Germany) but i managed to find another place, although its far north near Hamburg i think..so im hoping to CS in Munich ...got my Salzburg one sorted btw whoop!
Oh and i scored a slice of cake which appeared in the factory today...and they left overnight...silly silly!
hehe right bedtime...in a strange quiet room

Sunday 27 February 2011

Day 25..Hei Big Spender!..

HELLUVA NIGHT!!

Where O where shall i start....right ok THE PROLOGUE....damn really should go to bed, im like a walking zombie from being a dirty stopout since 5hrs ago....anyway it came to pass that Freitag was another polarific morning and further stable stunts. Right after breaky G let us go riding ..just the two of us!! WOW ..on Creo  and Barrack, J led the way up the mountain ..literally backcountry style, screw the trail lets go up this hill wooop! well im all for the road less travelled. This time we were equipped with 2pairs of gloves but not enough socks, poor little toeses. Barrack also decided to throw in a couple of sneaky bucks as we cantered along frozen leafy mud, I gotta admit that had me on tenterhooks for the rest of the ride, cursing silently, not to be hurled into a tree or down the cliff ! But it was smooth, and made a nice change to go our own pace.
Bit of a palava back at the ranch, J noticed Wolga shivering so G whips out the ole thermometer and proceeders to show us how to check for fever, yep that would be wriggle the tiny themo up the horses ass like so, oh wait,  some spittle to lube it up....wonderful . Vet was called out...J had to check twice more Wolgas temp...tehehe. G kept trying to find us things to do, J responds with 'how about EAT lunch..' which we had been tending to when the vet came. :p

Pottered around in the factory for a while singing out of tune..earphones in...as we  toiled with the elastics ....whence we took prize of a few hosenträgers...braces...for Js last night out ..farewell party..sniffle...IT WAS AWESOME ...I had lime green NEON, J had purple/black/green stripe..and we sorted out a pair for Jk..bright pink ! and her sister..cute red ones!! Time for dressing up and having fun!! :D

Began the evening with dinner invitation to Es where she made another deliciously divine meal...ooo soo good ..we of course polished it off with titillating tastebuds..plus many glasses of sect ...and chocolate dessert Austrian style. They are such a lovely couple, and i think its such a blessing that they have been together 40yrs since 16yrs old! E offered her apartments to us to stay freely if we ever came back for a visit...which we definitely will, especially to see the Wachau blossoming in summer!
G drove us to Johnnies bar, where Jk had got all the people we had met together and we whipped out the hosentragen to much delight! After a few drinks there, it was time to hit the Roadhouse...Americanish rock bar, barn ...although it was crammed with emo teenie boppers...or rather not so bopping haha ,,just standing around trying to look cool drinking coke ... we all cleared a nice space once we started to boogie snapping our fandangle braces ....really let my hair down which havent done for a while, felt good...until ...sheesh i have such broken elegance to fall on my ass again CRINGE J tried to drag me off the floor to no avail lol, W finally hefted me up under the shoulders ...QUICK to the bar ..nothing happened ..just checking the gravity ya know! ....oooh tequila...
Next stop..Friends ...yep i made it this time, and i was super impressed how i at least managed to keep standing..from the drink anyway, considering the varity we consumed ...sect, spritzer, a beer, tequila, random bloody mary shots, and somebody kept buying redbull and vodka.... Friends was a big discotech deal ..lots of jiving to be had, we attracted a lot of attention with our sexy hosentrager ....(we are bringing back the fashion! )...which equalled free drinks ....! ?Dancing on the tabletops and much much fun ..topped off with a small drama on the way home ....no no that was not when i cantankerously fell on my face in the middle of the road ..what an oaf and i was actually thinking, hey i havent falle---WHACK! ...
.The other fiasco  was a 'did you steal my bf?' conundrum between J and D .soo another awkward ending, driving home with j in the front...possibly passed out...and D sobbing and yelling in Austrian, poor girl..but possibly a good jolt in hindsight since her bf has a reputation to be loose.as jk told me. J felt totally shit the next day, it didnt help that she couldnt remember much, but shes not the type of girl to sleep with anothers bf even if she does find him hot, luckily it seems everything has sorted itself out..she didnt burn her hosentrager lol thus not a tainted end to the night.
HAHAHA i say ''night'', by the time they dropped us off and we made hugss and apologies, it was 4.40AM!! J ran for her bed whilst i thought ...feel free to shoot me....it was too little hrs for sleep and i knew i would feel worse having to climb out from a stupor!! I flew to the kitchen, like you do when your not far off from being trashed, in control of most of ones faculites...except for gravity maybe.. anyhow i gobbled down bread mit jam, made a brew and spent the wee hours surfing the net, actually i proabably passed out at some point....Then i stumbled back to the room, about to drop into bed which didnt happen as a heard the bells tolling.. forbbidding my desires for Zzzzz. Those camels have never moved so fast when i came hurtling round the corner ..whooosh one stable down, zooom 5 horses fed, i bumped into a startled J who was even more startled than i had everything going !! I held of bed for another half hour or so as we had breakfast and i charged to the showerroom...ICK hair stinking of smoke, which smelt like it was rising off in fumes when i turned the water on it! There all clean and hydrated, going to hit the......

Sometime later...the sun is shining through the window and J knocks on door asking if i want to go for a ride? At first i mumbled No ...too cosy, but the sun kept tempting me until i pulled myself back into jods. I was particularly grumpy after having just woken and got myself into a pickle over Barrack, dreading a buck. Stupid. Took me ages to saddle him, as i pondered in the tack room, until i came to the decision that i was being foolish and would regret not going out on such a nice day. Great ride of course...chillout time between evening work..J made some tasty soup..and then i went to bed at about 7pm! haha
GOOD TIMES

Friday 25 February 2011

Day 23...Arctic Atoms...

Thursday 24

Another glacial essence to the rise and shine ...greeting the stratospheric icebox outside which takes our noses hostage ! Definitely in minus DOUBLE FIGURES today. Exchanged routines this morning..I ventured to take another stab at wrangling the camels alone..J kept an eye on me of course...they responded pretty well, though I reckon half of that was because I faffed about so long they got fed up and went to stand in alotted feeding places...can hear collective sighs of Food Girl, Food!! J said it went all smooth and groovy...lets hope i can keep it up, I certainly dont want a chunk out of me as a souvenir!
E picked us up 8.30 sharp....damn it was cold, her car thermo read -10...no wonder my legs were fading into numbness out in the paddock! Anyway we volunteered to accompany E to the English class she teaches..(for J it was the second time) luckily G let me go, earlier in the week she was quite strict, telling E she could have both. The lesson was packed, about a dozen or so ...we spoke a little about ourselves, and heard about them too...then we all strolled down to Cafe Melk...J and I getting sidetracked by SALE boots...chatted some more and were treated to CAKE, alota people have fairly big gardens down in the Wachau ..with orchards and honey bees ...one of the pupils actually dashed off home and brought us back a pot of apricot jam (i think) HOMEMADE!
H collected us and we all took a diversion back to that trendy boutique, having fun trying on all the random items ..but we were good and didnt spend our money!! ..more for beer ..
Shopping time Wooo ... grabbed some ingredients for a pizza gigantica on sunday ..a farewell meal for J ..and W has promised to crack open a bottle of champers !

Thursday 24 February 2011

Day 22...Mohnkuchen...mmm

schneien eiskalt ...
Winter continues down in the Wachau valleys with another snow dusted dawn ...after work we all bundled into Gs camel den for English practise ...OOoooh but wait before that it was time..yes we made the time.....to wash our dirty selves. I poked my head into the helper bathroom to see what state lastnights ongoings had left it in.....WOW the near shower was up...screens work, check! Hot Water? double check!!! I knew i probably shouldnt have ...the temptation was tooo strong though  ...so i christened it with my grubby feet and camel smell...ah i never felt so good afterward hahaha...is that bad!?
Further wickedness appeared with tea and special (liquor of course) chocolates ...along with an amazing pastery with raspberry cooked with somekind of cheese...I'll look the name up later..YUM YUM YUM !
(Hmm my blogs alaways seem to have a food context....oh well ;p

Two afternoon rides came our way, with B.....G stayed to hibernate in her room, which was unusal, cant say i blame her though and she didnt miss anything because it was pretty darn cold outside! DIVINE Snow kissed ride with Barrack..watching the glowing peachy sky between the silent bare trees....come back to me sun!!!ahhhhhhh Think the last rays were glinting in J and I's yearning eyes...back to the yard for a swift swap of mounts...Optima ...a tad awkward generally but we got some brilliant gallops once i decided to hold her back as the others went round the corner, she even took half a branch on the ground as a mini jump WOO .....unfortunately it dramatically dropped a couple of degrees on the second round, cause for another pair of gloves as fingers disappear into numbness. I got a shock when i jumped off to the hard ground with frozen toeses :p
We plunged into the stables with extra haste, not only because of the biting dusk but we could also smell delicious roasting aromas coming from the kitchen ..'looks like chicken tonight' J whispers..slight false hope there...since W ate most of it...I watched him whilst shovelling rock hard camel poo, devouring some steaming grub .....felt like a little frost bitten orphan from Oliver Twist haha.
Rushed inside and managed to rustle up a few veges to go with the 3 potatoes and the last chunk of deer meat ...weaving in the midst of W and B ensconced at the table of the tiny kitchen ...sooo couldnt wait to getoutathere!! we set up the mess in the dining room with those stuffed rams for company...also musing over that MANGO they had decimated as we cooked, why are you peeling it!! gah, heathens ! :p
J pondered whether W had ever cooked for himself or even cleaned up, her words never became truer when he asked me whats in that plastic bottle on the draining board (i guess he thought it was some special drink ) ...'This..no, its washing up liquid. !

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Day 21 Elastastic...

Brrrrrr! Yesterday's bestowal of a cheery warming sunset was an ephemeral glory....my radiator packed up during the night..OOH NOO.. thus I awoke to a refridgerator room which made getting up alot harder! Outside it must have been at least -2, okay it doesnt sound that bad ,but this was an especially raw glacial cold...with snowy wafers gracing the air every now and again. I was properly cocooned with godknows how many layers, a head buff, big fluffy scarf...which stayed throughout the mornings toils. Ahhh it was soo crackerjacking super to finish before 8am ...i hope i can beat the the time down when im on me onesy next week! In 6 days J will be living it up in Rio ..CARNIVAL..im pretty jealous :p it will be like getting off the plane into a sauna complete with beach and cocktails !
The breezy call of morning wasnt over yet ..busy busy ...G told us M, her nephew wanted us in the factory ..(back to the salt mines :p ) to help out with some random production involving the elastics to go inside machinery, (one job was to cut the right length and burn the ends, other was to loop ends with bolts ), we made 20 trials of those so M could see if our work was up to snuff....I got there eventually...
Afterwards we got to hop on the horses and take the camels....ok bye bye camels...back in the yard we switched steeds - first time on Creo..Native American spotted apoloosa breed - and we took off to find the camels again. Mini adventure on the return ..only 9/10 camels ....Sky managed to get himself stuck in deer labyrinth, silly bugger obviously too busy munching to notice the herd disappear...anyway we rode to the paddock to get the rest in the pen leaving Sky pacing up and down in frustration. Then just a small cafuffle upon opening the gate, untill he galloped off home ..in the right direction.
.....Stomaches Grumble....M wondered if we'd be doing anymore handywork with the elastics ...umm not yet, we had more important things to do..EAT! haha....On that note we feasted on crossiants, a cinnamon swirl and a little cake with an interesting poppy seed mix stuffed inside. Mmmm
Later on we had an industrious hour with the elastics whilst blasting music in the empty factory...also took a tour of the hundreds of rolls with various patterns..horses, harleys..beer..funky neon colours...got my eve on a couple :p
The English lesson group is coming to Gs tomorrow, be nice if we get to join in again....also got my couch surfin host sorted ..weeyhey, should be good fun..cant wait until the last weekend !

Monday 21 February 2011

Day 20..Magic Pills..

Monday 21
Caravan HO!


G produced some plant alchemy after i spent a loooong time in the shower harhahar untill my skin was red!
There was some kind of cream, I guess akin to Savlon and a mini bottle of tiiny white pills ...take 3 every hour...apparently it helps with the shock ...and other stuff. I mused about heavy duty pain killers ..or a bottle of RUM..

Well whatdoyaknow... IT WORKED. I'm still feeling bruised and battered but not as painfully stiff as i thought it was going to be. The night was awkward and i woke up early to the sound of pattering feet in the walls ...I say in the walls because I scanned the rooms, besides we live at the top of the house by the stairs so it cant possibly be the dog....oohherrr  rats and mice and all tails nice..EEK...literally :p

Made it through the morning ...thinking i could do with a back massage...I got a little grumpy at some points watching the sun rise higher....(oo there was a freakish misty moon before dawn shrouded in a glowing aura, felt like i should have been in a fairytale)....then checking the watch to see it tick past nine only to remember that i hadnt done the flipping stables yet! G asked me if i wanted to ride a camel...hmm bit dubious about that, for today at least i would rather recouperate ..or ride a horse...but I WILL ride a camel again.
Now G is driving to Germany, said she'd be back in evening....plenty of time to rest then ...J should return this afternoon..hopefully we'll go with H to the market..all food wiped off the map..particularly bread...although there is a black bin bag of loaves outside the kitchen wtf?..Should ask somebody about that.

Right camels want hay..and i want bed after! Over and OUT!

J hath returned! Woop! I left her a pile of poop in Optimas stable as a welcome home present :p ..by accident you know! Lovvee it : ''Well you just plum forgot!!'' - Where on earth is she getting all these phrases haha too much Jeeves and Wooster!
Afternoon stables were a piece of cake once again ...and the sun peaked over the top of the valley ..ahhh so not a bad weekend really ..it was nice to be my own boss, as it were...but two is definitely better.

Sunday 20 February 2011

Day 19...The First Battle..

It was mighty strange going to bed and getting up without J to share early morning grumbles with. I was tossing and turning before the alarm went off having nightmares of how i might easily screw up my work being the sole helper. Feeding the horses was okay, although I need to remember a deft hand to slug their oats into the troughs as I got an impatient head butt from Barrack which smattered a handful over the side ..well it was his breakfast not mine! :p
Moving the camels was almost effortless if it hadn't had been for Halef, the stubborn son of a gun DELIBERATELY took a 15 minute piss just to slow me down and wreck my routine! All i could do was seethe as he stared haughtly over his humps, very much mocking me chewing on an old bit of hay.  Not long after I'd finally got stuck into shifting those flying poo balls, G came out and brought the camels into the yard to show me how to collar and tie them up. This was good to learn..Mustafa is the one to keep an eye on since he's the stallion baby....poor Halef puts on a ruse of Mr Tough Guy because he needs to save face to avoid getting bullied ..awww.
The camels are such funny creatures, its quite adorable when they dance about like theres hot coals on the ground and the way Halef poked his head around the bottom of the barn door reminded me of the dinosaurs in Jurassic park ..those Velociraptors in the kichen !!
Anyhow it was 9am when i eventually sat down to breakfast, a full hour later than when there is two of us! Shoved the horses into the field, swept the yard - Hurculean misson! G asked if i wanted to join her at the riding stables but I really could not be bothered after such a long morning. I might have been... if given the chance to join in their jumping lesson.....though i'm promised a horseback ride this afternoon...

Much later.....G rang after lunch, told me to bring all the horses in ready to saddle up 2.30. I hot foot it to the paddock..cue crazy herd of mud encrusted beasts coming my way...ahhhhh...arrgg the grubby buggers took me ages to clean up! A few more people arrived with G ...I got to tuck into some cake by the way...damn im such a glutton :p Anyhow we got a mini caravan going with 3 camels ..this time i was on Mustafa..he looks smaller than Halef but his humps sit higher ...I could have been on an elephant for all i knew!
Off we go...up a small gravelly path to the deer park where Mustafa decides to go LIMBO WILD ..typically at that precise moment i was taking the chance of shortening the reins.. HENCE no hands on the saddle holds...brilliant. Why is it always me ?? I can hear G shouting in slow motion Hooollllddd Onnn...
Whatthefuck I'm on a freakin camel wriggling like a woooormmmmmmm! arrrr  SLIIIDDDINNGGG DOWWWN...the grey earth rushes up to meet me. THWACK! Shit that was a big drop!
There we go i did it again! Luckily no bones broken, my insides are completely shook up though..hurting right now...aww im gona have some nasty bruises....Later i found out mustafa was actually starting to gallop..they naturally undulate...thanks for the heads up. ...New resolution..Be prepared!!! So well done there...thats the second time i have fallen off in a month.
 I got back on of course....thats a rule i've learnt, always get back on, if you dont.. fear will find you.....nothing can stop wounded pride however..which smarts like hell! I'm an epic fool in the making! Never known myself to be soo acident prone ...I have to admit i was a litte scared when we trotted and went down hill on the camels, Halef has a nice dip in the middle of his humps to feel secure on..
Mustafa..sitting on the edge of a cliff....AND I've never been so relieved to get back after a ride..teriffically embarassed, however I felt somewhat better when the girls told me they had fallen off plenty of times on the other camels. Good I felt less like a blundering nincompoop!
We hopped on the horses for another lap about deer mountain ...they forgot about me!!!! The horrors!! On the other hand it gave me the excuse to gallop after them on Gnome! Waaahoooo! Gnome was extremely skittsh and lively, thankfully he's not a go happy buckeroo like Barrack. Weirdly i felt nice and safe at manic full pelt ..which we got to do a fair amount of ..BIG SMILE!
Followed by another cheesy grin as B had done the camel stables...I made it through the eventide feeding with my poor aching side...really gona feel it tomorrow!
Methinks its time for a hot shower before slumping into bed ....if i can get out of this chair that it....

Saturday 19 February 2011

Day 18...Ye High Seas Of Mud...

BLIMEY its gone 6pm and I have literally just finished the evening work...I started at 4!!! Normally with J it takes less than an hour ...and I am sooo very FILTHY!
The menacing tempest from the afternoon thankfully held off, but I was still up and down like a yo-yo checking on the weather ....then about 3 o'clock a girl turns up ..Oliah, or sounding that way anyhow... G had recently returned from another funeral and was resting so an unexpected horse ride came my way..short but sweet ..on Gnome who was full of beans, I would have loved to let him flip the lid in order to gallop across the hills together. Back to the yard within the hour ...the horses fly into their stables, wait ..to find NO HAY! Yep my routine got fuzzled by appearance of more people...Nevertheless TALLY HO camels in their quagmire of a pen ...in a particular oozing state thanks to Halef who managed to grab and upturn the water trough. Gah if looks could kill.
Meanwhile the horses are working themselves psycho because I havent fed them, when I finally rush off to do that it comes to my attention that I forgot to turn the hose off refilling the camels water. bah. Send me up the river why dont ya, !! Dusk starts to settle in, although now the deer are staring at me patiently through the gate for their sugar beets which i sink ankle deep in mud to get through to them. Lastly time to dump the shite from the wheelbarrow onto the ....HOLY HELL the whole friggin muck heap has disappeared...a guy tucked inside the jcb chatters away to me in Austrian....I never understood a word, but went Ja and Danke, which i think he wanted to hear, since it was getting dark..I guess he wanted to go home and clear the half mountain tomorrow. All done. HUZZAH!....Wolfs down meat, salad and whatever else is hanging around in the fridge.....OOOOHH TIN FOIL SUPRISE......there are some HUGE scrumptious looking CAKES..an ambrosial selection....who are they for!!!!! Damn, normally anything in the shared kitchen is fair game, except these look special..and havent been touched yet. Maybe Gs friends supposedly coming for the caravan ride tomorrow...ssshheesh those delights are going to haunt me all night!
Okay I'm just gona pop to the kitchen ...have a brew and nibble some chocolate to calm my tastebuds..I promise not to poke my finger into anything.....
Yep they're still there ....as a penance for making an excuse to go to the kitchen, H interrogated me again about my uni studies..specifically 'now what can u actually do? Stutters....trying to explain that with eng\history\creative writing, there are loads of fields but nothing exactly specific as with say music or medicine. I went because I had the chance, wanted explore more on my fav subjects and because if i had wanted a specific career u cant seem to get anywhere without a degree, although these days you cant get anywhere with one!! Hmmm humbug...I think i've prattled on enough dont you?
Maybe download some more music in an underhand fashion...suddenly going through a phase of Northern Kings....then get some shut eye for the campaign on the morrow.

Day er 16-17 ..Diligent Debriefing...

Thurs17th and Fri 18th

Right now J is in Vienna, lucky sod - for the weekend whilst I hold the fort at Gs farm. Alls is quiet on the camel front except for the office where i'm blasting some classic rocking metal from their new pcs, mwahahaha! I had been thinking about going back to bed since we had to be up and atam before the bells so J could get a lift to the station, but after breakfast I just wasnt tired. STRANGE, considering how i love my sleep, I can even nap standing up. Hmm...Really must stop rambling....

Donnerstag...pretty chilled out day..I can hardly remember what happened! Spent alota time on the net trying to get organised, only 2 weeks left until i hustle on down to Deutschland! GASPS. Hoping to make my way to Vienna and Linz with friends before I cross the boarder aaannndd if couch surfing prayers are answered I'll make a day for exploring Salzburg! Es soll schön sein!
One of the workers is continuing to magically wash our clothes, of course we've been making the most of that by bringing down dirty piles each day....soon we will have to have a shower party ...once the taps are installed in our new Helper bathroom!! Ahh lifes blessings, full of fresh laundry aromas and hot water!
Speaking of HOT....we filled the evening quiet time with SAUNA (when i have my own house i am most definitely having a sauna, a little piece of sizzling heaven)...I love the way it warms you right through, and it stays like some delphic flame, soothing every tension ...almost an inner skin to fortify us from the chill northern wind .....and then we relinquish cloud nine WHAM..the stinky camel yard and the smell of our shit stained boots gets us full in the face, momentarily shattering elysium..hahaha :D

Unfortunately we didnt get a ride that afternoon, although things are looking up for the weekend ..weather permitting ...G said if her friends come along we can go out with ..ON.. the whole caravan of camels..awesome! Later she pulled J and I into a big bear hug...we sometimes forget how tough things can be for her..stress from the factory..and she doesnt always have helpers to care for the animals etc its a lot of work ..it didnt help that theres been 6 funerals in the past months ...also we are more forgiving of her kitchen tornados as we learned that she grew up having maids to do everything, like now..so shes never learnt to do those things for herself.

Freitag...a similar day ... Ooh i just scoffed the remainder of those Waffelmischung ..chocolaty goodness! Das wer lecker! I've been trying to hold back the munchies, realising im eating way too much, i would say good thing that im getting a lot of exercise, but ahhh all these pasteries ....remembering a few days ago as i had to heave myself onto Halfi's back TOO MANY PIES!.......speaking of food, the bells are tolling, best go and give camels lunch ..i just put the horses out because the sky seemed to be brightening up...dreaded last words ..gah as i trudged back dark clouds loomed....
Hmm where was I? The most exciting things of the day happened to be riding on the back of a mini tractor to shift the hay plus Js Purple rice suprise for dinner (actually that was thurs) which im now gobbling down the remainder of ....later in the evening we went for tea and strudel with Hm  and I met Markus Hms grandson who does odd bits and bobs around the farm, he decided not to take on the elastics factory and I cant say i dont blame him when he's already got a great career in hand-gliding combined with 'extreme photos' taken whilst in the air....cool! Time for a verrry fast shower and off to Jks for Tacos, Wine, Wii and Uno..another lovely evening ........news on the cake, apparently it gave W a stomach ache OOPS haha even though the girls ate most of it and were fine ..obviously 'man' pains ...that night we bought a bottle of wine ..but im still up for more baking ...maybe lemon drizzle ...and not raiding random kitchen ingredients this time :p

The rain keeps threatening me ...I dont wish to trudge back through the mud just yet, thankyou very much ...GROWLS at splashing droplets....hmm we'll leave it there...defo shouldnt have had that thermos of coffee earlier...all jittery!!!

Thursday 17 February 2011

Day 15...Good Suprises ..and cake and camels !

Well we certainly had a very busy day, which commenced by having to shift our weary bodies at least 20 minutes early (gah ! engage warp factor 5 before the sun is up!) so that we were grabbing the shovel and broom by the time the bells were tolling the forbidden hour of 6! The reason in question was that G invited us to a weekly English lang class with some other friends of hers we had already met, H and E ...unfortunately there were some problems with the elastics factory thus we didnt get underway until an hour later.
Anyhow we rocked up about 10ish maybe....to Ms house, like a massive nuevo converted barn with three floors! Plus a cute little puppy! Oh and a massive cat, bigger than the dogs which slunk around the corner like a tiger just woken up....right I digress..ummm yes ahh coffee and cakes again YUM YUM  over chatting and reading articles about The Strip in Las Vegas..fun explanations there :p G had to shoot off during the meeting..at first i thought it was really rude the way she always answered her mobile during anykind of conversation etc but E told us the elastics business was struggling - too much mass competetion and family descendents dont want to carry it on.... Noon and E whisked us away back to her home in Aggsbach..that might be wrong spelling, H also packed us off with a box of apple strudel along with the rest of the pastries from Ms ...mmmm we're gona get like fat piggies on all these sweet treats!! Lunch was delicious of course..basically spagball but in a whole new DIMENSION! A pint..a mini detour around their holiday rooms they let out (---pretty damn good for 35e,so if u wanna trip to Austria..)  and then Walla! E uncovers those profiteroles from Montezumas kingdom....i think they were packet bought, still worth a CORE BLIMEY!
G joins us in time for a glass of sparkling wine which we had to gulp down before she spirited us back to the camel valley ..and to work ..WAIT WHATS THIS!! ...OFF FOR A RIDE ON THE CAMELS ! SUPRISE!...I was so excited its all a blur...we saddled up, well sort of flung on the saddle atop the two biggest camels, Mustafa and Halef then we ya know, hopped on board haha ! Going down!! Both furry beasts settle down on the floor ...G comes along Up Up ...Ahhhhh!! She led us into the deer park and gave us free rein Whoop! Walking pace was actually very comfy but going faster...when we managed to goad them into action ...was awkard ...G told us to pipe down at one point as we got quite into riding them, trying to get past each other with C'MON HUP HUP  ..whips and kicking them was practically useless, their fur was soo thick ! Made getting up at 6am all day every day rather worth it for that !



Later......As I was  shovelling away J comes up to me casually informing me 'By the way Jk is picking us up in half an hour..'' What..WHAT...thou cheeky mutt!
Okay flick the dirt about, gobble down some pasta we took home from earlier, quick change and hey presto just in time...uhoh G wants to meet JK..lol J said it was like bringing home a date to meet the parents...which G finished off with 'And don't get too drunk'' .....AS IF!

Lovely chilled out evening ..with good beer, good wine...good sect...and UNO! the girls enjoyed my cake bread mishap..i think W would have rather given it to the cat haha, and I must admit it was pretty CHEWY, could have been ration cake ..or bread pudding...anyhow all in all ...a very successful day ! :D

Day 14..Tally H..Haaaayy?!

Tues 15th

Seriously I keep finding straw, hay even sawdust in all sorts of random places! See me brush a pile out of the bed! Arrrgg! My kindom for a washing machineeeee!!!

I was determined to move the camels again this morning, J told me if i get my ass whooped then we'd be in for it! I have to be in (some hazy sense) of control with the huge furry teddies since J is going for a break up to Vienna this weekend plus I'll be staying for a few more days once she leaves at the end of Feb ..so Yoda train me Jedi style! ...Why do I keep making Star Wars references ??....I nearly wrote STRAW Wars then :p

Another fractious debarcle with G - the so called Hurricane G as termed by J on the account of stepping into the kitchen for breakfast to find a whirlwind must have trashed the cupboards, it was all complete CHAOS! Bags and dirty cutlery were scattered about the decks, dessimated food, like a hunk of broccoli littered the floor ...CRINGE! I thought J would burst into her own thunderstorm as we cleaned up after our host, the aforementioned telling us to put the kettle on, and 'where's this 'n' where's that... we had to do it all over again when we later accepted G's invitation to lunch, I actually crept about the floor trying to dodge her salad monsoon..ick! Sure it was nice not having to cook but I think we both prefer to just rustle up something for ourselves ...instead of munching quietly in their dining room adorned with taxiderma, wonderful to have some glassy eyed vulture poised in mid squwark hanging over you..we couldnt wait to get outtathere!!

Afternoon was better, we did more riding since the weather has softened the ground, exploring the valleys to the other side of the house among the hushed woods sprinkled in snow and a bubbling stream untill dusk..tres poetic !

Whilst J was studying in her room, I snuck off to the kitchen ...no not to raid the chocolate stash..but to bake CAKE! I deliberated if it wouuld be a good idea, more to the point would my cooking actually produce an edible, worthy torte... and not a calamity of mess? This is why my cake mission was a secret operation...I wanted to do something nice for J and W - our local friends who take us out so often ...even though we havent always wrapped up the night with grace...plus it was W's birthday....thus I prayed to the powers that Be not to fuck up my quest! At one point as i was beating round a gloopy mixture, G walks in -- that half foils my plan - - she asks if I'm baking a cake...I look at my off golden creamy mix and reluctantly reply yess...she pats me on the shoulder with a 'Ah poor you' and promtly disappears! It wasnt that bad surely!!?? Although I must admit Idid have to melt sugar cubes in the butter..then i bunged in a few squares of melted chocolate and whatever else i could find....dried candied peel? My rummaging also unearthed two types of flour..I proberly used too much of the heavier one...at any rate I popped it in the oven with the hopes that it would magically rise!
Sometime later...also after J was called by the wafting aromas...I peeked inside to find that it had in fact got bigger! We both attemped to ice it...I wanted something sweet and refreshing on top incase the cake just looked good on the outside. Eventually we managed to whip up a buttered honey, lemon glaze finished off with grated chocolate! MMMmm Unfortunatly we didnt go out that night to see our friends and with willpower left the clandestine cake in the fridge with high hopes of the morrow!

A very dishevelled me with a quick hashed cake !

Monday 14 February 2011

Day 13...In a galaxy far far away...

Monday 14th

5am switched on the lights t....wait why is it still dark? Crappy feeble glow from the lamp..hmm, I get up to flick on the main one and its the same! Weird. OK curl up in bed to doze in the gloom, dreaming in confusion that if the electricity was on the blink didn't that mean the bells wouldn't ring and we could stay in bed!! Hahha..ah if only that were true .. as if to spite me the lights sparked on when it struck 6am.

Had to do our morning routine back to front when it went pitch black again..gah (I moved the camels to the other pen all by my onsey too - perhaps i should play death metal before i do this to get me really to go GGRR...I  could hear J in the background saying BE Louder!!  Obi-Wan c'mon tell me 'The FORCE is with YOU!' I'll find it soon....)........ but on the brigh...no bad pun marching in the direction of this blog...er on the other hand G wanted to take the baby camels out for exercise - saddle up em horses! First on Gnome ..seat with springs...around the valley alla Rawhide cracking whips! ..Back jump on Naomi ..pretty little chestnut but little legs too, we were cantering as the others trotted! Back again and I hop on Barrack ...yes my BUCKAROO BABY..he's soo comfy though.

Noon G grates our nerves a bit...she barks orders at us, although I dont think she means to, its just the way she is and how she says translantes from Austrian. But it can get aggrivating..see J woosh out the door after lunch as G throws out a volley of ''do this''  ''do that'', ''why didnt you do this''...not to do with our stable work which is what us helpers are here for - just random little things that could be done easily by herself, or avoided if she mentioned it in advance... ANYHOW....raids chocolate cupboard....

Was thinking about bakng a cake for Valentines so J and I could eat ourselves into a 'loveless stupor' haha never got round to it though...best i could come up with on short notice would be a slice of Brioche and a dollop of strawberry jam!

G and J have gone off to gymnastics class, I politely declined ....even Gs mother whos 80 something can touch her toes..i just wave at them ...plus thought to have chill time with place to myself...Nice :D
Ooohh and hopefully the washing machine will be all ready to WASH tomorrow...getting rather desperate!!

Day 12 ... Did Frankenstein steal my neck bolts? ..

Sunday 13th

Tolling bells..sighs...drags feet out of bed, pull on the thermals and then flop back down on bed - actually the morning wasnt too bad since i  managed to keep mysef upright the night before.. heard J shuffling around hope she was ok, she seemed fine (much like we were after the last nightfall escapade) - nose to the grindstones again!  Cleared up the stabled like greased lightening..had some good tunes going that morning - Oh Maria from Sister Act really got me bopping about with the broom haha!

Silent breakfast. J went to catch a few more hours of sleep so i pottered down to the cellar attack the beets.
It seemed as if i kept fucking things up today more than usual, silly bugger always falling over my own feet, i'm not sure that ive made it quite back to earth from living in the clouds ...

Afternoon horse riding ....AND i didnt have to do the camel stables ..''Wooppteeedoooo" - that must be G's idea of us having a day off! I jumped up into Gnome's saddle this time to find i pretty much bounced around like a lunatic - flippin ex-trotters dont know whether they're coming or going - on a long stretch of track we finally burst into canter or some kind of 5th gear but then then he broke out..trot trot..canter..gallop? all of a few seconds! Still i'm counting my blessings to be riding almost everyday! Even changed over horses for a second ride! whoohoo :D

Back in the yard it seemed a dark cloud loomed over J - oopsa - I tried to walk around on padded feet, G got a liitle confused at first thinking she was unwell because of the change in work and needed minerals. I sniggered in the background, 'bah, the girl doesnt need minerals to cure a hangover!' Did i say that outloud?
I gave her the magic pill known as Nurofen and J took some soup back to the room with her whilst I revelled in having  HOT SHOWER!
Then ...oooh cake!! Strange pink cube like kingsize petite fois except drowned in RUM! I dont believe I've had a cake in Austria yet that hasnt had some alcoholic concoction soaked inside it.....not that i'm really complaining on that point :p

Sunday 13 February 2011

Day 11 .. Alive and...Incredibly DIRTY!

saturday
Cant believe i went to bed at 8ish last night..G asks me if im really tired? - No I suppose not... but i like my sleep, plus early night is almost akin to having a lie in! Strange now that our boss is here we're having to do everything a little different around the yard. Anyway it rained again over night, nice fresh smell although it meant all the shit that was frozen to the ground went all gloopy! I kicked and cursed the wheelbarrow too because it kept getting stuck in the mud....YES ON PURPOSE !  Grrr !
After breaky G told us to saddle up the horses to take the camels out for some exercise ...wooo more riding! I rode the other halflinger Barrack - J warned me he can buck when he gets excited to be out, figured I could manage this one.... chased the camels down the driveway - me on foot..Whhaa...then G made me mount from the right hand side (normally is left) so that was comic ! Barrack gave a few sprightly bucks as we cantered past the camels, upon reaching the top of the trail, G told me to have a gallop along the side of the mountain so Barrack could burn off his fizzy energy...he certainly did that! Just as we were charging back up towards the herd my horse went RODEO WILD flying high with a series of bucks, KA´-POW a big kick from his hind legs caught me and i slipped halfway down the side of the saddle desperatly trying to cling on as Barrack conitinued to go mental at top speed! Its uncanny how falling off seems to occur in slow motion, you have way too much time to think about the way down! haha At this point i realised if i tried to pull myself back round in the saddle i'd probably hurt myself more, I thusly half threw my body forward as another buck sent me flying and i landed SPLAT  face down on the mud ..i think i actually slid a couple of inches... with my head and hands hanging over the edge of the field! First thing i thought was bugger i really do need a clothes wash now...i got back on two feet, body still absorbing the sudden impact ...Barrack had galloped off back down the mountain to munch on some hay, crazy horse! Later Halef one of the former stallion camels chased Barrack all around the meadow which i thought was pretty fitting!





That was the big drama for the day, i definitely looked like a proper country farm girl as j put it,covered in mud.
Afternoon we had a nice meal with the hosts and once again j and i both polished off everything in sight..never have leftovers here....went for groceries yaaay and we bundled in 4 huge bars of chocolate when G wasnt looking!

Rock and Roll time ! Jk  picked us up after work to take us to a gig where her bf W. was playing (Pain and Glory) second night out  in the last 2 weeks we're doing well here! :D Went for some pre drinks to the cafe next door and some old drunken bloke at the bar paid for our round...nice but awkard ... we buggered off to the loos leaving J to have kisses blown at her hahahahahah!
First band was Psychodelic circle...odd bunch...but played decent cover songs..in fact i think thats all they plaayed ....bassist was getting really into it....also too many guys in lumberjack shirts tehehe ..
Held back on the beers tonight...had a spritzer too finish off, might change to that, Kaiser beer bit bitter.
J got partying, dancing, drinking ..whilst i got wide open space phobia and refused to dance..need the right equation... P&G was pretty good although I think W was nervous and there were lots of technical mishaps apparently, i think the crowd agreed it was  ROCKING night!
Outside for a breather and ....SNOWWWWW..... jumped into someones car for warmth plus a uh spliff, ahem was rather strong! Left J lying in the fronts seats on new gf Whilst i went to escape the smoke and hear the last band play, more heavy blasting guitars wooop, should have brought the ear plugs though, a few guys had paper coned into their ears ! Found Jk and W, went in search of J....uhoh hanging out over the car seats, luckily i missed the projectile vomit ...What are we like though!!! Jeeze if its not one its the other ...what must the others think ! lol ...(at least i made it to the bathroom tehehe)
Anyhow got home around 1 .. J dived onto her bed, and i made it in a more orderly fashion this time...ok black cross against tequila and Austrian joints ...:p


Friday 11 February 2011

Day 10..Rainy English day...

Friday

Gosh...(hehe i like that word..go on say it!) it was hard to get up this morning, I heard rain pattering during the night and knew it would be a gloomy start. One of those days when you normally turn back over, going back to sleep! But the camels and horses would have a hissy fit and probably raise the dead with stamping feets for breakfast! Oh well ..I can only dream of lie ins.....Js been here a month longer than me and i dont think shes had one yet EEK, G our boss is a woman always on the go, in 6th gear.
Broom was heavier ..shoves in ipod...woohooo! Arrrghhgh slips on the slick tiles in the yard, rain and pretty chill weather is a bad equation. Out in the fields I used the poo piles as steeping stones to spread the hay...hmm too much information? No records broken this morning- bah! --Also running out of food..oh dear its going to be one of THOSE days ! On the bright side i found some yummy leftover Christmas cake in the fridge and toasted it!!

Afternoon, not a lot happened just chilling with mug of tea plus random forays back to the kitchen for more cake ! G. came home later..I wonder what tomorrow will be like with the boss around, hopefully will get to do more horse riding and she might show me how to handle the camels..!

Weyhey! looks like we're off to a gig Saturday night - jks boyfriends band ...REMEMBER STAY AWAY FROM TEQUILA!  Gah more apologising !

Right time to see what there is to rustle up in the kitchen!

Day Nine - Vienna!!

Thursday 10th

This morning I blitzed the stables and we stumbled into the kitchen at about 7.30, Woo ! Today was our first day trip to Vienna by another kind invitation from Jk who was on her holidays and offered to drive us the hr or so down the autobahn, along with her 7yr old son plus 10yr old half brother..Naturally i got bundled in the back seats with the kids, mostly stared out the window at the changing landscape..spartan valleys with lush hills gradually getting flatter and denser urban zones...listening to snippets of the conversation up front - some talk about this ball J and I could be going to on Saturday possibly fancy dress - JK has a few costumes...wait did i hear the words BEER WENCH!
Found a free sparking space -- lucky or what eh! - Then skedaddled on down to UB to buy a 4 euro 70 day ticket to go anywhere on the trains, better than London I think ? The boys were ultra excited to be on the
Ubahn, it was jk's sons first train so they made much noise and as jk put it everyone knew we were here!!
haha!
J's first point of call was the Brazilian Embassy since her next stop is to helpX in South America
Meanwhile Jk took us to The Hotel Sacher...famous for..dun dunnn duuuuhh the Sacher Torte - the route we walked along was full of expensive shops, imagine like Mayfair London..I didn't quite realise we were going inside! I was quite happy to press my noise against the window like a passing peasant- though once inside couldnt really go out again...paid to hang our coats up -  throw it over the back of the chair!
Anyhow it was all red plush with little gold motifs on the furniture, walls..on the waiters..the tearoom or lounge had that hushed atmosphere of the rich, the boys were a little in awe, jk and I just muffled our giggles! Hot chocolate and cappacinos plus The Torte to share between us ... one of the kids went Tssh its the same
as any other cake...I must say I quite agree! You were handsomly paying for the privlidge just to be there, but I supposeits not something one does everyday and it was our first time to Wien for all of us! ...So i even pocketed the sugar which had the name on too!


I hope that JK comes to
England like she mentioned because I would love to show her about London and invite her out to places as she gracefully has done with J and I.
Afterwards we took to the spire of gothic Stephansdom (it has a multicoloured roof!) not realising there were 345 steps to haul ourselves up in a dizzying fashion! Apparently the church houses a 400 yr old bell -Pummerin bell - which is now only rung on New Years, although we only saw the place were it used to be..boo!
More stairs surprise surprise ! Fantastic view of course from the top, the city spread out for miles!
They had some random artifacts at the top - one was an  Ottoman cannonball used to bomb the church - also a beefy man behind the till - we wondered how he could be so fat if he had to climb 300 narrow stairs - perhaps he had a secret elevator..
Back to pick up a famished J equipped with visa to Rio - found a sausage- würstel -stall - Did I mention it was another glorious day? J desperately followed all the sunshine patches lapping up every ounce of warmth

Last stop Schönbrunn Castle...wait you call this a castle?! More like a palace ..of banana custard extravagance pipped with lusciouswhipped cream....mm must stop making food comparisons !



Would have been gorgeous during the summer with baroque gardens,  flower beds in bloom, sparkling fountains ... although winter gave it a certain beauty...like icing sugar!
Too expensive to go in thus us peasants went for a run around the Hapsburgs' grounds ..also flipping humongous..its extends 1.2km practically on all four points of the compass! Made another climb to a summer place perhaps, which is now a cafe! wooo -- hot chocolate!

Silent drive home, the kids were worn out, i was worn out....and i really must learn TO NEVER FALL ASLEEP WHEN 'FRIENDS' HAVE CAMERAS' ...Why I oughta!! 'shakes fist in angry 1950s fashion''!

Despite the fact that we didn't actually, rest, so to speak, it was a grand day out in the sun with good company and I felt strangely refreshed for going back to work !

Day Eight .... Run To The Hills ...

Wednesday

Its soo very tempting to burst into The Sound of Music with that Title.......



Must say we're pretty lucky here, I never imagined that we would get invited out so often, its great that people want to show us their country...and I do want to see Austria ....beats hanging around at the camel farm all day - we'd go loopy! Henceforth time to shrug off those smelly jodphurs, don the leather jacket and hit the road jack! After the morning ritual a couple of G's friends drove us to the enchanting Hamlet of Dürnstein deep in the Wachau valley. Certainly a radiant day for it, the blazing sun practically washed through those glacial breezes. Anyhow today's trek was to reach the ruins of a mighty fortress crowning the curious town of Dürnstein.- little cobbled streets, plenty of taverns est16th-18th C and a baroque monastery in blue! - The Castle is  famous for having imprisoned of King Richard The LionHearted --ooooh--when he was on his way back after deciding the Crusades might not have been such a good idea.. We hiked 520 ft of rocky steps to clamber about the ruins excited as excited things! Dazzled by the views that could have been from some equatorial country, taking a breather at the highest point actually shelling off our layers!! SHOCK HORROR! A good dose of sunshine vitamins - J was ecstatic for the glorious sun, poor Australian :p  - - strolled back down the easy way - i wish they'd have said haha! The rocky cliffs the castle was built atop also battle sites for Napoleon and WWII ...cool..
The Danube sparkled so that I nearly wanted to jump in ..... perhaps if there had been a sauna nearby..

Drove though Krems - busy city, big prison - to a view point high above the hustle bustle where J and I promptly dozed off on the bench under the suns rays!! Off to find some nosh and a large beer!! YUM - goulash soup followed by sausages, although Austrians don't seem to know hot dog style yet, but they do know how to drink - Beer, some water and Wine and then SPARKLING WINE MMMmm !  The latter was after coffee at E's, she also laid out some chocolate biscuits - with alcohol in too - we devoured those all but two!  The drive home saw us enraptured by a blissful glowing sunset - G's place is snuggled right down in the valleys, we only get to see the last hues in the sky - but back to the big golden penny casting soft azure tones against the trees and the sandy coloured monastery above Melk. Winter crept back again, you could see frost glinting in the shadowy places by the woods along the streams ..5 degrees..4...2...

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Day Seven ...If Wishes Were Horses.....YeeeHAA

I didnt really want to get up this morning, too cosy..might have had something to do with waking up about 2am to make a foray tothe bathroom which just happens to be outside, a few minutes walk in front of the factory (they also own an elastics factory here) Its nice though to see all the stars but as J put it we're dangerously underdressed in our pjs !! Later on I found out we could use Hm's toilet downstairs during the night! 
Despite the morning frost the sun warmed everything up again, so after the early workout time for ticking more jobs off the list. We got incredibly mucky scrubbing all the horses troughs and..oh yeah THE HUNTER came today..dun dun duuuuhhh! J warned me he usually strings up the carcass on the back of the barn where the muck heap is tossing the head and guts onto the aforementioned poo pile!
I ventured round ..I had to with a wheelbarrow, to discover TWO deer split open, ribs gaping, nailed to the wood! Large stomach sacks lay about, along with their little heads staring up from the hay! Well we'll be chomping on a nice venison fillet sooon...:p
Had a suprise phonecall from G in the afternoon, (Gs my boss, who i havent met yet!) and told us to saddle up some horses, she was coming back from the Retreat for a visit and we were to go riding!! YES YES YES !! Finally its been  hard being around so many horses and not get to gallop off on them ! I was very excited, nearly falling down the steps again!
Optima was to be my steed of the hour, a reliable dark bay ...turned around and G appears hugging everybody then running to me for a hug...well i didnt picture meeting my boss like that but whatthehey, i certainly felt at ease afterwards because i had no idea what she would be like. Along with j and B we rounded up the camels - or rather they did, i just kinda sat on Optima a bit unsure of myself, I'm not used to all this shoutingat the camels -YAR YAR YAR - HUP HUP HUP - as some might know im generally the quiet one but i reckon I'll burst into Cowboy Rawhide spirit!! Move 'em on, Head 'em Up .
Once the camels were back in their pen, we three went for a trail ride almost vertical uphill meandering up the side it was very rocky, such a weaving plod felt as if we were on a sort of pilgrimage ... Excellent view from the top..of  more hills on the other side, where the sun was..damn. Beautiful too, kicking up the fallen leaves, watching the sheep bound away. Got in some good canters wish i could have gone on for longer but was probably just as well since my knees were starting to click because i hadnt ridden for a while.

There was something else i was going to mention but i have forgotten what it was..................

Day Six....Leather Fetish...

Monday

Camels started to get rather boisterous with J this morning, I heard a whole lota yelling - daring to poke my head round the stables as J cracked the whip at Mustafa who had just punched out with his great padded feet, obviously testing the ground to see what he can get away with.  Alpha domain game ...
Mustafa (stallion, size of small elephant) proceeded to bounce up and down on his front legs demanding breakfast ..much like the horses who paw...wait paw? hoof the ground? I've forgotton the phrase...for their feed as soon as they hear us round the corner. I saw Halfi (tubby halflinger pony) practically drag his hoof across the bars on the stall door ..like a woe begone prisoner rattling the bars !!
Groomed the dirty buggers as well only for them to fall on their asses in the paddock, I dont think they like ice skating.
-
It was a hard frost overnight yet the sun still shone making another beautiful clear day! And on that note
we made the most of it, even chucked the cat, sweet faced ginger called no-name, outside as many times
as possible, he was quite affronted, but got over it quickly with affectionate cuddles! The cats
are a laugh, following us about the yard, Chole the outdoor tabby darted into a hay pile as if there
was something she could find inside! A new world perhaps?
HMmm hay, we did plenty of hay work that afternoon forking all rotten straw by the sheep manger....waaaay tooo many wheelbarrows to heave up hill for me (J has bad wrists from doing in all by her onsey for a month)..  I was nearly at the end of my tether ... GROWLS..one more bloody wheelbarrow of...!!
Still we do ridiculously awesome teamwork even though I can fight with a broom on occasion like its alive!


Later on we made use of a sunny spot with a thermos of tea to oil some tack...mmm luxrious leather...i love that smell when you walk into the tack room.....hmm I wish I had my leather boots here too..erranyhow ..looks to be a trip to Wien on ThursdayYAY, a kind offer from jk..oh noo I'll have to apologise for my tequila drama ............CRINGE!

Tuesday 8 February 2011

Day Five...Some Pepper With Your Guinea Pig Kebab? ...

Sunday 6th

So not sure what to write... er blog about here, i'm writing this tuesday,...ok well we started with food lets continue with that theme. OM NOM NOM NOM!!
(I also stole a look at J's blog to remember what we did) ...
Yep we eat like horses, cant believe how much food we get through...breakfast (& I'm not just talkin about a bowl of cereal) ...elevenses ..lunch....dinner....midnight snacking...the latter for me anyway!! I suppose we do work hard and I never feel a lack of energy.....thats right guys, I havent napped on the job ..NOT ONCE!! Hmmm might have to refil that secret chocolate stash soon...we also happened upon a tea stash ... definitely spoilt for choice....THE AMAZING WHEEL OF TEA.. spin to win!!
As i think of dinner...I wonder where G. keeps the snake, a python of possiby 10years - and monstrous size to go with it.
J and I armed with pitchforks, spades and brooms stomped off to tackle the Guniea pig enclousure...house..mansion!! Turned it upside down and made a damn fine bed of fresh hay .. the little critters got quite excited during all this and J thought she had skewered one as it dived into a dirty hay pile !

Another blessed sauna evening, J threw on some Eucalyptus oil to remind her of home haha
however it was a tad too much - skin tingling bonanza!

Day Four...Whisky Vapours...

Saturday 5th

Awaken to tolling bells..to ward off ‘The Oh God of Hangovers’?  ...ooohh queasy stomache :S
6am eurgh! Shot around stables in grand slam style then back to bed until 11am
as we were being picked up by H. And E. A couple J has met the month before,
who invited us out for lunch. Homemade knoedels, with meat sauce thing ..deellliicccooous!
hmmmm and i may have broken the law in austria - i didnt finish my beer, but i really
couldnt trust this hair of the dog - J diligently purusued the last drop.
Om my God! Those profiteroles, steeped in creamy chocolate sauce....ahhhhhhhhhhh
Helped E go through a couple of essays in English from her lang class then suprise, off to a
Whisky distillery!! Brilliant i would have loved this if only my blood wasnt beating around
friday nights intoxication!
J and I struggled silently as the car rolled on through idyliic villages with turrets
and wooden balconies, hands across bellies, on past apricot fields, remembering the gaah tequila then woe is me as the car snakes up a huge hill forever.
Thankfully the tour was a sitting down one, although in fast German,  before a film with music
alla funky hobbit style .... clashing flagons and dancing round trees or on tables ...
After wandering about some rooms its time for Whisky tasting ..i think i accidently tried to shot
the first one because i was dreading what it might do to me  ! haha Three more to go, going
up in strength!
Afternoon again worked like bats from hell, made up a parcel of food and pretty much crashed
into bed, at about 7.30 !
Sunday.....RECOVERY.. good long sleep, right as rain in the morning - could tell we'd had a
wham bam end to the week, clothes flung about all over the place!

Monday 7 February 2011

Day Three...Nightlife Tequila Style...

Friday 4th feb
I’m pretty sure stables are getting faster ... I also got a hug from one of the camels – like a fluffy neck wrap as she tried to devour the 10kilo block of salt lick we were tying up.
Main event of the day was the evening....ooh after sauna....anyway J. Had made some friends previously at a ball.  .Jk – and her boyfriend Wolfgang (great name that ) who picked us up at 9pm - - felt like we were sneaking out haha – to go to a bar for someone’s birthday. Open car doors hear blazing guitars! weyhey...mentioned preference for music ....meeettall...instant change over of cd to...(slight word confusion here..demon? oh a demo! Still I’d like to make a demon demo! Hehe) ..er yes a demo from his band called Pain & Glory.
Bar was hardly full, though everyone was really friendly and Jk bought us drinks. It seems you can smoke in a public area in Austria ...apparently J told me that in Australia you cant even have actors lighting up on soaps...Talked a little, played a little – were rubbish at foosball just SPIN SPIN SPIN!
Random bloke, asked me ‘Are you English?’  - ‘Yes’ – ‘You are speaking really slowly, are you Scottish?’ ... Make of that what you will, I believe I buggered off at that point.
Appearance of Tequila and blood orange... oh noo... J ropes us in to do it Oz style which follows the path of cinnamon sprinkled on breast and orange seg in mouth, so ur partner in crime licks off cinnamon, shots tequila then takes the orange like a kiss....that went down very well with many people!
Right so now i will be honest here and give up an Ashamed Equation..3 beers + 3 tequila shots + % glass wine (forget had that with Jk sister) = me dashing to the toilets for projectile exodus. How utterly embarrassing ! And they say i don’t have my own style! I don’t know how J made it to the next bar  for more beers– I stayed huddled in the car in case I got into more trouble! Eta, 3.30am only to stumble out of bed for 6am!

Day Two...Taking care of the animals...lets shovel some shit!

Thurs 3rd feb
(Had a laugh with H. ... ‘muck’ing out... no no its called shit people! You can definitley get a lot of energy out in that word!
But i digress. ... 6am start. Dark. Cold. Faint starshine. First I clear up the camels, j. Attends horses, it gets light quite quickly, very quiet except for gushing stream which is completely iced over in some places, even the mini waterfalls are frozen in suspension. Then onto the stables, 10 in all, we’re done in about an hour 15, now Breakfast!! We pretty much have a banquet each morning. I tell you, its only been a few days but I already have pretty tough muscles! Time for getting odd jobs done until about 10am when we heard the horses out to the paddock , feed the other animals and try to get as many tasks done as possible, until lunch time wooo, gives pat on back for surviving most gruelling part of the day!
Mmm schnitzel...
Give the animals their lunch and free time for us! I have only managed to slip over once on an ice patch, luckily no one saw – my arm went grab onto the wheelbarrow but i was off balance so flipped out some  hay instead! I’ve also managed to prod myself with the broom handle, slip down the end of the stairs and make a mess of gathering up the hose pipe! Only I could do such things !
Chopping up the sugar beets is pretty fun – down in the musty cellar with a cleaver, certainly feels as if we should be cackling witches slicing manically!
Late afternoon...back to the camel stables and get horses in for the night ...Dinner! I should be able to get some riding in when G get gets back, her husband W. likes to show off to the young girls and mentioned we could use the sauna ..SAUNA!
Hm. Who is Gs mother, invited us to dinner (the helpers have the rooms upstairs in her house) she’s a widow with a dog called killer – ok well its probably spelt like this killa... we got by quite well on our lack of german and tother of English  - ahem quiet but nice meal...there was a Giant catctus in the corner i kept staring at it thinking of triphids ... played board game afterwards..Frustration I think..I’m not sure H. Wasnt  very happy with moi...bit of a harsh player muhaha!! Well it is called frustration
There we go, day done, water horses after dinner, then do whatever...mostly going back to room for chill time and bed, ... with some chocolate and thermos of tea!

Day One ..Catching the Trade Winds ..

I’m unpausing, as some friends would have it, although in which direction I pressed the play button  who knows, except in a northerly direction – first stop Austria.
Time to hit the open road (cue ACDC )  my heart beating doubletime with anticipation and boot quaking nervousness. 6.45am flight – nigh empty plane – chartered by Capt Cook..hmm Cook, good sign methinks. Two hrs later I’m hopping on and off trains to Vienna – Wien. Yep thats right, jumped on all the right connections phew!! Though dragged myself about Westbahnhof much like a pack animal until i found Ana  -good friend from Erasmus trip – quick Viennese coffee – Melange – ! Next train to Melk through snow dusted countryside (Where are all the mountains of snow!! just sprinkles?) ) struggling not to fall asleep for the next hour in case i end up at the end of the line!
(Thinking of travelling - definitely check out interail) also  https://www.helpx.net/index.asp
Ana said to watch out for a castle – in fact a huge bloody yellow monastry atop  hill!! Gotta be my stop! Small panic - mobile no work! Eek. Found J. another helper she’d been sitting in cafe  4hrs whilst W. with car was at lunch with friends, staring at her phone"
 J.is Australian, 26... with flippin dreads longer than my hair! (use to be :(....)   
Crazy driving in flash little merc, much overtaking and flying across corners ...apparently they say if a car is driving cautiously they are from the cities... Wachau region very historic on the banks of the Danube, plenty of ruins to explore, and lots of little colourful towns down in the valley, encircled by vineyard terraces.
Here we are - Eitenthal. Kamelreitschule.
Nice..warm room... got stuck in ..or mucked in ! But wait, Camels,  never seen one before – pretty huge –Cute and fluffy, large padded feet, smiley dinosaur, giraffe, teddy bear creature and guess what....their shit looks like maltesers ... goddamned flying poo balls! The farm has horses too, plus deer and ostriches ...and guinea pigs ..which are fed to the snake! Just the guinea pigs!
G. Who runs the farm is on a 10day retreat so J. Showed me the ropes at a more relaxed pace.