Mad March

Mayrhofen Hintertux Glacier

It's March and after a brief visit to see my mum and sister, I went to Mayrhofen skiing.

Skiing with ataxia is very demanding, but with perfect ski conditions I did OK.  The reds in Mayrhofen are steep, almost black, the blues mainly paths, so I would not recommend to a complete beginner, however, for an accomplished skier, Mayrhofen has a lot to offer.  The town has great bars and traditional cuisine.  There is also a great Tapas bar in the centre near the church if you fancy a change to Austrian food.  

Mayrhofen

Neuhaus Hotel

The Neuhaus hotel we stayed in is typical Austrian with loads of wood and marble.  Great food and two parts of the hotel connected via tunnels, lots of games such as pool and skittles.  Our routine was ski, lunch (goulash soup), ski some more, have a beer on the mountain, then back for a sauna, swim and Jacuzzi.  It's  always a great way to relax at the end of a tough ski day.  A friend Neil who was staying in Garmish drove up and skied for a day, great to catch-up.  He left Austria ten days before his visit came to an end to ensure he was able to back to the UK.

It was a week without children, I just had to pick up my brother-in-law's gloves, helmet and anything else he forgot and guide him everywhere (even in the hotel) as he has no sense of direction.  The weekend we left, all of the Austrian ski resorts were closed down due to the pandemic.  We flew out with the Crystal team, who were all sent home.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we have been self isolating since 17th March.  I have never in my life experienced such a situation.  The children have their school work emailed daily and Janine buys food once a week to limit social contact.  We are keeping in touch with friends around the world via WhatsApp and Zoom.  Some are in places like Columbia, which at the end of March imposed self isolation rules.   We are lucky, with four and a half hectares we have plenty of space or the kids to cycle, walk the dog and generally be outside.  Friends in Paris are not so lucky they are stuck in an apartment with no garden and three kids.  This will be normal for sometime, judging by the news (months rather than weeks) which I have started to listen to.  I think the world will ever be the same again and we will have to all make changes to the way we live.  But, I don't want to be a doom monger, it's challenging but we will get through it :-)

We are waiting on a start date for the apartment deck, cladding and steps,  however our plumber Lionel has been working the last few days replacing collapsed pipes to the farm fosse.  Helped by the kids and dog.............not.  Once work starts again I will post photos.

Lautrec from the hill

Ophrys Arachnitiformis

Spring is advancing fast with the first cuckoo calling on 17th.  The cherry trees are flowering and there are orchids in the meadows.  Bizarrely, we had a snow storm on the 26th which the kids were happy about, however, I had just moved the citrus trees and pot plants outside!

Plum blossom

Evie and I planted purple climbing beans, an avocado seed (we ate the avocado) and some six year old hollyhock seed from our garden in Weybridge.  Not sure the seeds will be viable, but if they grow will be a colourful addition to La Bastide.  We also prepared the tomato bed with chicken manure and more soil.  The orchard trees have had all the stakes removed and the chicken wire buried around the base to keep rabbits at bay, dug out.  Five years on (Nov 2014), we have lost two trees, however all the remainder blossom and produce fruit.  Great for the kids to pick as all the trees are dwarf.

Our first guests are supposed to arrive late May, however with the current situation we are expecting some cancellations and will pay back all deposits to our clients who have to cancel.  We hope any that do cancel will visit us next year.

Keep safe from all at La Bastide