Walking Before Everyone Is Awake.

 A beautiful Christmas morning.

Having a dog has many advantages and one of them is walking early in the morning, before everyone is awake. Even better during winter as the feeling of owning the dark along with stars, planes and the moon is priceless.

This morning, despite it being bitterly cold, was delightful. The stars were en masse, the odd plane reflected its beacon along the way and the street lights provided a modicum of safety. Seeing the village asleep like this was wonderfully peaceful.

A lot of the houses along our round were clad in Christmas lights and took turns to sparkle and create a modern version of an age old story. Maxi of course was only interested in the various smells encountering his nostrils and it was quite nice when he paused for a moment as it gave me a chance to contemplate the various sparkles in the sky which made me realize how nice our surrounds are.

A few of the houses were rubbing the sleep from their eyes or rather having their shutters raised. It is a local custom to have shutters on most windows which makes for total darkness, but I find that windows should be there to witness the world go by and of course to let light in. Perhaps the rising electricity prices will have more locals raise their shutters permanently.

Christmas crept up on us at an incredible speed and now that it is here a feeling of nostalgia alongside a childlike giddy expectation has appeared. I look forward to this festive season and hope that all of us manage to relax, recharge and rewire our stretched nerves back to normal.

Biggi

The Luxury Of Cooking From A Full Fridge.

...Beginning of the month!

Granted, we don't shop monthly as firstly I couldn't work out what and how much to buy, secondly our fridge wouldn't fit everything in and thirdly, I would miss out on my weekly therapy of perusing the various grocery aisles. Yes, I know, weird!

A few years ago I worked with a girl who used to only shop once a month with the odd top up of bread and milk in between. She and her husband would head out with a big shopping list and calculator. Most of the time they managed to plan everything down to the last supper unless of course a case of the munchies had arisen. One of the main things  I recall vividly was the way she planned meals at the end of the month. Scraps of this and left over of that and often she told me of the fabulous meals created. If by chance they ran a day short, there was always a trip to her parents on offer.

After yesterday's shop and honestly, it was a bit more than usual as we mistook the event of Christmas for a month of closed shops. Or so it seems when I look around the fridge and larder. Does everyone overdo it for Christmas or is it just a case of trying to relive our youth with the help of old time favourites? Thank goodness we can't get a vegan version of a Christmas cake yet because that would be Bob's first choice ( I don't like it so he would end up having to eat the whole cake! ) while I tend to stick with the decadence of creamy joghurts, ice creams and bread.

So, back to my thought for this blog today. Our fridge is full with yummy foods to be made. So full that I don't know what to make first. The vegetables are all still nice and crisp so they don't need to head so quickly to the cooking pot but on the other hand, that delightful piece of vegan Greek Cheese just begs to be devoured, either melted over a nice plate of pasta intertwined with broccoli or eaten as is with some nice rye bread and a glass of Burgenland's finest...Again, I am grateful for the sheer luxury of having more than enough to eat.

Biggi

A Tim Allen'ish Christmas Display.

A village cheer.

I was driving back from Kohfidisch this afternoon when dusk was settling. A double edged sword in a way as the light can play tricks on one and ironically the might of Christmas lights are shown off to perfection. Well, unless one drives in the middle of the night.

Each consecutive village had clad itself in strings of cheer. Kotezicken must have dangled a prize for biggest display of Christmas kitsch as a house on the left hand had half an animal kingdom in lights and the one opposite, the rest of it not to mention flickering distractions in each and every window.

Luckily the speed limit is 50 in villages as it did prove rather a distraction to have lights en masse. Pretty but too much. Of course the next village, Badersdorf, wasn't too shabby either because some houses on the hill could be noticed by the reindeer, sleds and Father Christmases on their front lawn.

Next village on the cards was Eisenberg and the only house that stuck out a mile away was the one where smurfs and gnomes reside all year round. A nice beacon if one were lost.

All along I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I remembered that silly movie with Tim Allen and the crazy neighbourly competition to outdo each other with Christmas lights and decorations. Well, despite some of them crossing over onto the kitschy side, on the whole it does bring about a feeling of seasonal cheer and that wonderful sense of family time that Christmas evokes.

Biggi

Christmas, Was't It Just The Other Day?

Time is running at top speed.

All those eons ago when I was little, it seemed forever and even longer before that man in the red suit would come and hand out presents. A lifetime, it seemed to be, but one filled with excitement, anticipation and tradition.

It isn't fair to merely blame the fastness of time on our chronological age because I have a feeling that it has more to do with all the activities, work and time thieves we cram into each year. There is nary a spare moment anywhere to contemplate the various markers of each year and before we know it, Christmas in on our doorstep.

Thirty or more years ago we did't have modern technology and all that it entails. At most, we received and answered about six letters per month. Answered by writing on letter paper and dropping the letter into a post box. Each letter contained a summary of life lived and one needed a bit of imagination too.

Especially that one carefully penned letter most of us wrote to Father Christmas, a letter which informed him how good we'd been throughout the year...oh yes, imagination indeed.

Most of us spend our days multi-tasking, if that is still applicable as we tend to juggle more than two chores at a time. Even the simple deed of conversation has been compromised by our beam me up Scotty appliance. Bad enough that it interrupts conversations but now with the Instagram & co's, it has to make snapshots too....Eish, what are we doing to ourselves?

Back to Christmas, which has finally arrived today. Millions of children everywhere have opened the last window of their advent calendar and that means one thing only. The next thing they open are the many presents under the Christmas tree.

Naturally, parents are prepared and snap away to share their offspring's bounty online, and sadly, making sure that even Christmas is an activity hindered by multi tasking...

Just for today and tomorrow, let's switch off our smartphones and just imbibe our children and family's joy first hand and with all senses being 100 percent focused on the present(s).

Biggi

Just in case Father Christmas is lost...