A Tree, A Chapel And Some Sunflowers.

 A stunning morning in Burgenland.

The magical tree standing tall and protective over a local chapel. Magnificent and awe inspiring. A village in Hungary in the background.

A set of sunflowers defying the trend of fading away after summer. This lot is just down the road and this morning while I took these photos a local resident, a little fox terrier, came running out in vociferal glory, trying to find out what I was doing...

It almost feels as if the colours for the chapel were chosen in autumn. A beautiful bit of blending and coordinating...

A cheeky lot, aren't they?

The chapel facing Eisenberg. Always divine in nature and exterior...

These sunflowers lifted my spirits this morning and one can understand why...a ray of sunshine that all of us need now and again...

Biggi

Burgenland, Eisenberg, Paradise.

 Landscapes of choice, my choice.

A stunning morning paying homage to this wonderful place we call our home. 

Deutsch Schützen at its best...

Looking from above the various fields resemble a chess board of sorts. This is why I love walking very early in the morning! Hardly anyone's astir and everything is pristine.

The fields are hued in a healthy shade of green somehow belying the fact that we are experiencing a heat wave with hardly any rain.

Finally, the main road to this paradise we call home. Seeing it from so far above it makes me realize how well created it is. A slightly curvy road is much nicer than a straight boring one....

Biggi

All Ado On A Sunday.

The bits and bobs that make up a blissful rural life.

A view of note and a view showing how spring has finally arrived in Burgenland. The grass is green, vines still bare but promising another fabulous season ahead.

Isn't nature amazing? The inherent knowledge of nature turns a bare branch into an annual feast for the eyes with these intricate and delicate blossoms welcoming in spring...

A happy family of geese marching gaily around a neighbourhood garden.

A true mother hen issuing a summons for these teenage geese...which they dutifully followed albeit muttering all the way. A happy garden indeed.

Meantime in our garden a resident is contemplating going for a swim....

Living straw alongside a part of the road I happened to be trotting on today. A touch of gold that warms the heart and soul...

Last but not least, a view from one of Bob's offices. It was amazing to stand there this morning and take in the whole area from atop the Eisenberg vineyards. A great reminder of how lucky we are to be able to live here amid such splendour and abundance.

Biggi

 

Visual Bits & Pieces.

 A small slice of Burgenland yet again.

A hazy morning frock thrown over Deutsch Schuetzen with only the church spire to be seen.

A bit of a floral greeting to the day. Aren't the colours and cheer of these daisies lovely? A most welcome sight so late in the year.

  An abandoned trailer putting its stamp on the meadow it lives in. A slice of country life and a gentle reminder how peaceful and safe a life we are allowed to lead in our bit of Burgenland.

The famous sunflowers of Dorfstrasse still reign tall, cheerful and proud. A different glimpse to the start of a day, one on the opposite spectrum of news, gloom and corona.

  The daisies might be blurry but that cements the attractiveness of the vineyard behind. Clear and clean lines makes it almost seem like part of an English garden or even a maze. Nice.

Finally, another look at my favourite sunflowers. This particular trio of flowers are stuck together for their adventurous live through summer and bits of autumn. 

Biggi

Bits And Bobs Around The Village.

Splendid nature of course.

A splendid start to my morning today. A perfectly ordinary rural path yet so much more...a long walk to ponder the day ahead while glimpsing the sun's reveals.

Another sunrise surprise from the day before. Burgenland has an unique ability to transform open spaces into canvases. Undulating gentle hills.

It has been a while since I took a photo of the geese. This current batch at least has a bit of freedom but sadly will end up on someone's lunch plate. Each time I walk past them I greet while telling them to fly away! Wish they would escape the chop.

On a brighter note, these sunflowers do steal the show and create a dot of beauty in our road.

As you can see it has been raining on and off this past week thus creating many puddles along the way.

To end off, another peep at the yellow divas.

Biggi

Far Off The Beaten Track.

The hitherto undiscovered jewel called Burgenland.

Bob and I were driving to fetch a brush cutter from a workshop in a village three over. On paper a mere hop but in Burgenland a sedate journey over the undulating hills that are either filled with crops or just plain as is. Not many buildings in sight apart from a few homes or Kellerstöckls dotted here and there. A real feast for the senses and not the usual overload of a busy landscape filled with sights and people.

We drove for miles and never saw a tourist. We drove for miles and only met with a few oncoming cars. We drove for miles and were grateful that everyone keeps mistaking Austria for the towns and villages at the foothills of the alps. Yes, the alps are Austria, the alps are beautiful but the alps are also overrun with tourists. Living there can't be much fun.

A bit closer to home, at the foothills of our ' alpine region ' a.k.a. The Eisenberg the odd tourist started appearing on the road, seated atop bicycles. Quite a bane trying to navigate narrow roads with a bevy of cycling beauties. Nerves, especially Bob's, did get a bit frayed and I won't repeat what he mumbled.

Bob took the alpine road home and when we were entering the Eisenberg Weinberg Kellerstöckl area, we couldn't believe our eyes. Tourists everywhere. On foot, on two wheels and in cars. Perhaps as many as ten. A lot for a Saturday morning and they naturally didn't care about us trying to drive past them.

Two older people equipped with the brand of an exerciser, Nordic sticks although they used them more to lean on, stood halfway in the road chatting to two ladies resting on a bench. Bob was at the helm and I could almost feel his foot itching to put foot. He was getting impatient because he couldn't pass them and they only turned around when they took in the impatient idling of our car. With scathing looks the tourists ( we know almost all our villagers ) stepped back onto the curb and Bob stepped onto the gas pedal.

His window was open and he managed to get his feelings vented by loudly muttering an opinion. I, of course jumped down his throat for being impatient, swearing and more importantly, not being respectful of his elders....doesn't bode well for me, being a bit older than Master Bob!

Biggi

Climbing The Roof.

Ah, the weather gods are paying us back.

The last few days the weather has been trying to dampen Austria's spirit by deluge, flooded streets, mud slides, overflowing rivers and flooded cellars but as annoying as it is, Austrians are made of sterner stuff. The first few days Burgenland was akin to the promised land with sunshine and nary a rain cloud in sight but that changed last night.

The sky blackened and the rain came riding in on the back of a wild bronco. It stormed so badly that doors flew open, rain was smashed against windows and trees just about folded in two. All we cared about was that the vines would be spared and I still have to find out from Bob if they were.

Both of us were standing in our kitchen yesterday evening viewing the rain through the comfort of a window when we noticed a few tiny streams of water running down the kitchen wall. Ah yes, we panicked for a second imaging our house collapsing ( drama queens I tell you ) and after checking every room discovered another rivulet from the bathroom ceiling. Yikes, nothing for it but to go up into the attic to inspect the leaks.

Now our attic resembles a set from Steven King; dark, dusty, precarious and inhabited by spiders, martins, mice and a feral cat and to top it all off, it is only reachable by climbing a spindly ladder and somehow fitting through a tiny hole ( about a meter square ) in the wall. Yes, stuff of adventures and also stuff I tend to pull the it's a man's job card.

Bob reluctantly agreed to go up but as he opened our front door to dash outside he heard the siren. Wasn't he pleased! A fire brigade call-out naturally takes precedent and with a quick peck on my cheek he ran off, telling me to be careful going up the ladder.

Well, equipped with bowl and pluck I went up the ladder only to be met with my personal hurdle of how to get my sore knee ( two botched cartilage ops ) over the threshold of the attic. Thank goodness nobody was watching from below as it must have been a funny sight. Once there I nearly toppled back out again when the feral cat shot past me in fright. Jeez, he could be a bit more considerate seeing that we feed him.

The gaps in the roof were quickly discovered and I did a sort of MacGyver-ish job with the odd old building material laying about and said a quick prayer for the rain to stop. Fat chance, it carried on sporadically through the night. At one point I was petrified of having to wait atop the opening until Bob came home because it wasn't easy trying to wriggle out backwards onto the first wrung of our wooden ladder. Imagine not being able to bend one of your knees! I managed though and at least have worked out a quicker way to go into the attic.

Eventually Bob returned from pumping out several cellars with the fire brigade and was quite proud of me when I told him about my endeavour. After both of us had stopped panicking we sat down and worked out a plan of how to fix the leaks and will start repairs this weekend. Thankfully the sun is set to stay with us from tomorrow for a fortnight. Nothing we can't handle together...

Biggi

A Floral Sunday Indeed.

Nature, always there to cheer us up.

Atop our Eisenberg Weinberg...bird's eye view of a lush vineyard accentuated with purple flair.

Our wonderful village in the valley surrounded by green forests, fields and shrubs as far as the eye can see. Even greener after a weekend of rain.

Who doesn't love sunflowers? A yellow as bright as sunshine, a height so tall as to lift it above the ordinary fray and a brilliant blue sky providing the perfect canvas.

The stillness of a Sunday morning almost jumps of the photo. The birds enjoyed a lack of humans and the bees were getting ready to collect their daily ration. Bliss.

Our neighbourhood, our home, our haven.

I have to end off with another look at the troupe of sunflowers. Refreshing, stunning and reassuring.

Biggi

Flower Power.

Literally growing on the side of the road.

Street art...there is a bank of wild flowers growing next to our main road that gladdens my heart every time I walk past it.

Despite appearances, there is a road between the bank of flowers and the hills of Eisenberg.

Orange berries beckoning many a bird to sample. The whole shrub is so luminous early in the morning when it basks in the sun's touch.

Old but new. These flower pots at our war memorial are always kept in tip top shape and are just a treat to look at. Every year the same but I never grow tired of them.

Joined by a yellow friend...there is something about the strong primary colours that soothe my thoughts...

Last but not least...another street art scene. Sadly our local chiefs love to chop everything to uniformity. Lawns and bejeweled banks never get a chance to be seen by many. One day they'll stop the constant mowing and leave these delectable tidbits for bees and insects.

Biggi

Some Flowers On This Beautiful Wednesday In Burgenland.

Flowers, the darlings of nature.

A simple pot of petunias do transform into something magical when the sunlight hits it just at the right angle. This particular ensemble was spotted at the edge of St. Kathrein village.

No guesses what this is...my love for lavender never fails.

Again, an interesting and stunning pot ensemble, in St. Kathrein at a picnic table. I sat there while waiting for our car to undergo its service and it was so much better than sitting inside the garage.

Not really a flower but at times when I walk early mornings, the sun's messengers can be seen descending to earth. As beautiful as a flower!

Those rich hues are simply amazing.

To end off, a nice gathering of wildflowers gladdening any heart, spirit or day. Nature, truly breathtaking, awesome, stunning and wonderful...

Biggi

Sometimes An Image Is Better.

The last few days of June.

Wine country par excellence...these slopes produce very reputable drops of heavenly nectar and coincidentally protect the little hamlet of Eisnberg Weinberg.

Taken this morning before most were astir. Stunning to see the moisture evaporate into an almost celestial tapestry of mist. The big tree is really that big and has many a story to tell. Amazing to think that it has stood there for decades, providing shade for picnics, cover from rain and a nice spot for lunches eaten.

Two days ago, Sunday, I happened upon a simple bush of roses which upon further reflection turned into a spectacular collection of vibrantly red roses. Too beautiful.

To me this pattern of fields and acres are incredibly calming. To walk with this view ahead helps to sort errant thoughts, feelings and ideas. The only companions were buck, a rabbit and bundles of bees.

A line of trees, a blue sky and endless fields of golden wheat transform into an awesome image to behold.

This newly renovated Kellerstock always reminds me of a gingerbread house from fairy tale fame. The only pity with this one is that it is mere meters away from the main road. Too much noise, yet stunning nonetheless.

Biggi