A Rainy Monday In Burgenland.

An abundant start to the week perhaps?

Only a few months ago we were all moaning about the incessant heat. Heat non-stop with nary a raindrop in sight which makes it so comical and ironic for us to complain about the rain...I've noticed myself muttering those sentiments as well.

The ground is soaked but rain it does with more expected for the rest of the week although in a different shape. Snow, as the temperature is expected to drop. Fair enough, it is Winter after all.

A rainy day carries so many positives. Reading under a nice warm blanket couldn't be any more iconic, eating soup any more warming and knowing that a drought is far off any more comforting. Yes, rain should be appreciated and not cursed. Try living without it and see life begin to change.

As we bottled wine on the weekend, the three wooden barrels needed to be taken for a rinse out with a high pressure machine. Easy peasy if you are a strapping man but for us it was a bit of a mission ( but we did it! ) to manoever them sans Bob today. Might I mention that rain accompanied us every step of the way! My parents and I rolled, pulled and half carried three solid wooden barrels from cellar to car ( twenty meters or so ) and car to cellar when they were clean.

One of the local wine farmers offered to help us with the cleaning and it was great to meet and chat with him. A young man who couldn't have been nicer and more polite. Often those impromptu chats help us get the measure of men and this one passed with flying colours.

Curiously enough working in the rain and cold is rather refreshing. Rainy days in Burgenland are just that...a whole day of cold, wet and damp weather unlike rainy days in South Africa where a downpour last for a short time and then is replaced by stunning hot weather. Nevertheless, I enjoy those rainy days precisely because for so many years I only experienced rainy days in the Southern Hemisphere.

Biggi