Isn't it amazing just how fast time can fly by. Here we are in Austria, working away at retreats and back into our old life as though nothing had changed, and yet next Tuesday Jeremiah and I will be flying home! Shortly thereafter Dominik and the other kids will follow. It feels as though we've had a marathon time of visits and camps and rounds of coffee. People wanted to see us and chat about life here and in Canada. The kids have all been to one or more camps, which is a huge blessing! But we're not exactly on holiday. It's normal life, just in another language! We are so thankful to have had this time, and yet we also look forward to another visit sometime in the future when we can also include a camping trip to the beach in Croatia or Italy. That is a summer holiday here. :-)
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| A farm before the mountains. |
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| Austrian houses. |
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| Older balconies.... |
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| Younger house and balconies! |
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| Kirche in Frauenstein. |
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| Here you can see the Bergkirche- which is on the hill above the Schloss, with the Kremsmauer towering above it! |
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| They build houses differently in Austria. |
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| Another farm...neat and tidy. |
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| One of many Kappelle found in the countryside, |
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| St Anthony- in the Kapelle in Frauenstein. |
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| On a friend's farm- the bundles of kindling made beautiful. |
I've been thinking about all the different things that we appreciate here. The beautiful mountains are obvious. But then there are things like the washing machines. Front-loaders with a smaller capacity than those giant ones in North America. These machines heat their own water and you can do a wash at 90 degrees celcius!!! We had a few white items which had turned grey in our time in Canada. We feel like the top-loaders just 'tickle' the laundry and rinse it through with some warm water. How hot might that be??? Well, these grey things were washed at 90 and now they are white again!!!! One of these is at the top of my wish list for our home. I truly can't wait!!! Maybe we should open a shop and promote them! Canadians need to know!!!
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| Look! 90 degrees! |
What else do I miss? The local pharmacy. It has shelf after shelf of bags of teas. Yes, teas. They are all medicinal and are widely used here. It's mainstream medicine, not even considered alternative as it would be at home. Do you have a sore throat? Sage tea is just the thing! Mixed with a bit of honey, it tastes devine! What about a cough? Well, you could try thyme tea or a specially prepared mixture called 'Brusttee' (Chest tea). They don't tell you all that is in the mixture but it is fantastic. Not only does it work but it starts off as a startling blue colour (maybe from Bachelor's Buttons) and then changes to a brown as it steeps. Again, add a little honey and it is magnificent. If you wanted tylenol (paracetemol) or such like, you would have to ask. And then it comes in much smaller quantities than what you find at Walmart. They have teas for kidney problems, lung problems, to purify the blood, for sniffles and for everything in between!
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| Medicinal teas in the pharmacy (Apotheke) in Micheldorf. |
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Now let's talk cars. Manual cars. Lovely cars with a gear shift! If you want to travel anywhere in the world, you really need to know how to handle a stick shift. It has been so much FUN driving one again. I am thankful for the car that we have in Canada...we really need the space that the van provides, but these manual cars are fun. Understandably there are loads more BMW and Mercedes and VW on the roads. Also cute VW vans which would make great campers, and the occasional Ferrari or Porsche. When we are driving around the kids can play a game looking for European license plates. In one hour on the Autobahn you might see (remembering that many are travelling for summer holidays just now) cars from many parts of Austria as well as Germany, Latvia, Italy, Romania, Holland, the UK, Sweden, Spain, Hungary, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Portugal, Denmark, Russia, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovena, Serbia, Slovaki and Slovenia. Occasionally you'll find the Ukraine and more far-flung places. We used to travel with blank maps of Europe and coloured pencils so that the kids could fill in the maps as we saw the cars.
Today we said a tearful goodbye to the leaders who had come for the Ten English Days Camp. They came from England, Scotland, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. I'm so happy that all of our family could once more experience TED and build some relationships with these leaders. It could be some time until we are all back again.
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| We had a day out at the pool in Micheldorf. |
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| There was a battle of their small groups! They were ships: Relationship, Discipleship, Kingship, Dictatorship, Mothership etc.! This was Battleship! |
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| The forecourt of the Schloss. |
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| Kerstin! :-) |
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| Not -so-random Teddies (Paul and Jonathan). :-) |
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| Final battle of the week-long game! |
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| Teddies against the leaders water game. |
So now it is time to pack and to look towards our life in Canada again. The sooner that we get our house finished enough to live in, the sooner we can have visitors!!!
