A Cold And Grey Winter's Morning.

 Still very beautiful.

The leaves have dropped and the branches correctly depict the time of the year. The leaves are so dry that even a lightweight touch of a bird's foot makes a sound as though a giant is walking past.

The various Kellerstöckels lining the scenic edge of the Deutsch Schützen forest. More and more Kellerstöckels are being converted into year round homes and sadly the authentic feel is being lost, one rebuild at a time.

The forest and its refreshing spots of colour. Moss is abundant and enhances any winter's walk.

The hunter's lookout or as I like to call it, Burgenland's tiny house, stands between the forest and vineyard, surveying its realm.

Some more moss among the rustling leaves.

A great collage of both vineyards...Deutsch Schützen in the foreground and Eisenberg lording it high and mighty in the background....

Biggi

An Early Morning Start.

Icy beauty abounds...

 Bob and I headed out early this morning despite the cold temperatures, or rather because of it. Breathing in cold air brings a sort of sharpness to the senses. 

At one stage Bob had to make a stop ( ! ) and I got rewarded with a stunning vista. 

Again, a different angle makes the colours drain from the sky.

The beacon of electricity...important at the moment as the weather does make it more comfortable with a nice warm heater close by.

The iconic Deutsch Schützen chapel standing proud with its marvelous history behind it. If only it could talk and tell us about the many lives it saved, the many stories it listened  to and the many sermons it presided over...

Biggi

Bits And Pieces Of Local Landscape.

An invigorating walk at the start to the day.

On the outskirts of Deutsch Schützen stands this magical early edition of a tiny house. Missing doors and windows of course but elusively exclusive nonetheless.

I chose to walk a different and longer loop this morning and it garnered me wonderful images of this magical bit of paradise in Burgenland.

The patched up bits of the road add to its allure and make it fun going for a walk upon it. Eisenberg is over yonder in the far off distance...

The fields are lying fallow ready for planting and the possibilities are endless...but knowing our area and the affiliation with the EU, it will either be maize, wheat or soy.

The sturdy yet awesome chapel that served Deutsch Schützeners for many decades if not centuries before the larger church was built in the village's center. If these walls could talk...

These particular band of trees always remind me of an Out of Africa movie.  Those dots of houses in the far distance resemble bits and pieces of Rechnitz.  

Isn't our area beautiful?

Biggi

Love The New Pop-Up Flower Oasis.

A visual feast indeed.

It doesn't look like much from this angle but I just wanted to set the stage. Only yesterday did I for the first time notice this amazing new ( well not so new as it must have been planted a while ago ) wild flower garden outside Deutsch Schützen.

Now let's go into detail. And what a spiffy detail it is. A magical garden has replaced a plain piece of grass at the side of the road. Conveniently planted on the curve where we have to slow down so much that we can take note of these beauties.

The pink parcel...I didn't know where to look first as it was all just so beautiful. Why aren't there more of these around the villages instead of those stiff display lots that firstly all look the same and secondly often resemble funeral decorations.

Great to see a sign which explains the importance of these wild flower oases. I would love to know if these pop-ups do make a difference to the crop planted on the fields next to them.

Who doesn't love a spot of yellow? If only you could have heard the buzzing in and around this oasis.

A happy ensemble gracing and facing the road for hopefully many of us to admire. Marvelous idea and I hope these pop-ups multiply everywhere because stumbling across one is a treat for the soul...

Biggi

A Rainy Start To The Weekend.

Still beauty to be found everywhere.

The elegant way the flower droops under the pressure of the added weight caused by a few sticky droplets of rain is absolutely stunning.

Kind of resembles a moon landscape such as the ones we saw when television just had two or three channels. Of course this is just the reflection a big puddle made of the burgeoning sun...

A troupe of floral trumpets brimming in the rain...

After the morning rain the sun beckoned many a bumble bee for a lovely breakfast buffet of lavender. Wonderful buzzing could be heard.

A bit of context...the flower shrub standing alongside one of the roads in the Deutsch Schützen vineyards.

No wonder that lavender helps to soothe one's nerves and helps one sleep better. A sort of image one could loose egocentric thoughts and revert back to the real us...

Biggi

A Morning In Paradise.

A delightful and mysterious looking start to the day.

Seeing the moisture float upwards in layers of fog was breathtaking. What a beautiful morning in Eisenberg.

The wild chamomile is still in stealth and night mode with petals facing towards the ground.

Deutsch Schützen shrouded in mystique almost making it look like a seaside town.

The old chapel standing proud while keeping an eye on its surrounding parishioners. Striking colours appear almost naturally with the various fields and trees harmonizing together perfectly.

If you look carefully you can spot the top of the Eisenberg range in the background...a hot day in store for us when only the tips are visible.

A stretch of the road I walked on and a snapshot of the glorious view that accompanies all of my walks in this bit of paradise. That cluster of trees in the middle used to be an old dumping ground many many years ago and I often wonder what treasures are buried underneath it. Yesterday's junk-tomorrow's antiques. Another mission on the cards perhaps?

Biggi

Everlasting Poppies And So Much More.

Taking the time to look.

A dash of romance and mystique thrown in. There is so much history embedded in a mere barn. Who wouldn't love to find out...

How nice to see a bee partaking in breakfast at Poppy's Diner.

A whole ensemble making one red siren stand out.

Before corn turns golden it has that shimmering touch of diamonds about it. At least when the morning dew is energized by the awakening sun.

There is such a feeling of tranquility and joy created by a simple country lane. Enticing to go for a walk, isn't it?

Deutsch Schützen at times reminds me of a scene from the African countryside. Those trees planted so straight and purposeful all those years ago often leave me speechless at the sheer luck of being able to see them everyday...Life is good.

Biggi

A Sunday's Encounter With Burgenland's Beautiful Nature.

A feast for sore eyes...

The poppies are still front and center wherever one tends to look and they do know how to pose to advantage.

A bit of fence'd floral jewelry along the top of Deutsch Schützen's vineyard looking mighty pretty.

Intricate and reminding me of ballerinas pirouetting in front of the green blades.

Lights and shadows bring the majestic details and awesomeness of sheer blades of grass to the fore. Isn't nature amazing?

Atop of the verge bordering the main road between Eisenberg and Deutsch Schützen is a lovely stretch of grass still being left alone to sprout and shout about the beauty of wildflowers...This ensemble of daisies was particularly fetching and eye catching when I walked past them. A sheer pleasure to be able to do that...

The red sirens gracing a garden along the way. Perfect setting. Perfect morning. Perfect life.

Biggi

And The Eyes Have It.

Disguise, not really.

We are all good citizens, walking around with half of our faces covered with either the generic blue mask or a string of homemade ones. The homemade ones are more funky and exhibit their own character or rather ours. Seeing that masks will be with us for most of the year we might as well get with it. A few people are a bit lax with their mask-ing and use their mask as if it was a hat or scarf, not bothering where they hold or touch it. Hardly they way we are supposed to handle masks.

Anyway, I was busy paying for Miss Maus's food at the pet shop when behind me in the queue stood a woman who looked familiar. Hard to tell when seeing only eyes, hair and not much else. Coupled with the fact that many women tend to look very similar. Hair, stature and features. Really. Erring on the side of caution, I smiled a friendly greeting when she also smiled at me and said:

" Hello, I thought it was you. "

Well, how about that.

" Hi, I wasn't quite sure, what with the mask and so on. Nice to see you here. "
( eh, I don't actually know her name and only really call her ' you ' ! )

She must have the same problem with names...
" Actually, I noticed your car in the car park and knew you would be here in the shop."

I must say, I was rather thrilled to be recognized and in such a way especially since I don't often see this Deutsch Schützner let alone the fact that she knows what car I drive. Of course, Bob and I are just the same and have an encyclopedic knowledge of who drives what... Ah, the joy of village life.

Biggi

The Lucky Packet Of Life.

When a lunch is so much more...

Nuggets of wisdom usually come my way when I go and visit one of the older villagers. Often a chat is worth more than a trip to the doctors. The other day someone mumbled; ' Oh, you just go and talk to people...' as if it wasn't important, forgetting that for those that live alone conversations are life elixirs far above a pharmaceutical equivalent.

Late this morning saw me visiting an elderly man living on his own. Always a treat to chat and as I love hearing about the old days and he loved living in the old days, a long and interesting conversation is the reward. By the by, Deutsch Schützen back in the good old days of the 50's, 60's and beyond must have been amazing.

The church bell was heralding noon and I knew that his lunch wasn't far away. He, like many others in our village, gets meals on wheels and is rather fond of it. A proper cooked meal once a day and often treasured meals that hint of yesteryear. Just like mothers used to make them. Every week they get a piece of paper with each day's lunch offerings revealed.

" What are you having for lunch today? "

" You know, I don't know! "

rather cryptic I thought but as he was grinning when he said it, I harked a bit further. Oh, he told me that the list of lunches was hanging on the wall over there and he had walked past it at least ten times today, but had chosen not to look. Not to get him wrong, he would have loved to have a quick look but then if he had, his day wouldn't have any surprise in store.

He enlarged on it a bit more by telling me that when he had known ahead of the time what was to be for lunch, he had gotten ideas of how it should look, taste or even if he would like it inevitably setting him up for disappointment. And that, as he told me, was stupid because he ate whatever came his way, no questions asked. Of course since he has chosen to not know ahead of time, he enjoys his lunches much more, has tasted hitherto unknown foods and really gets a kick out of lifting the top part of the food tray each and every day.

Sort of reminds me about life and how we want to dissect each aspect of it before we've even lived it. Perhaps we should keep the ' lid on ' and only lift it as and when it is needed...that way we are going to enjoy life that much more and stop complaining when our expectations don't resemble reality!

Biggi

The New Year Starts Off With A Beautiful Morning.

A flash of winter iciness.

Somehow the day is on its best foot forward once a red sun commences it. Cold yet divine.

A bit later and on a different side of Deutsch Schützen the magic of winter is revealed. The minus degrees turned even the hint of moisture into a lattice of brilliant icy lace. Blades of grass sparkling in their new silvery robe thus giving off an aura perfect for the season.

Not sure if the mist has to do with the weather or whether the weather has caused all and sundry to fire up their stove...

A layer of clouds held aloft by cold air perhaps? This morning was another one of those extremely cold mornings where one's breath is seen even without exerting oneself...

The fields reflect a frozen image, the blue skies belie the cold and the whole depicts one of those perfect winter days where being outside is almost a must.

To finish off, a look down the slope of a frozen row of vines. In the background you can see the individual chalets of the Ratschen peeping through their cloak of mist. A great start to this new year...

Biggi