I love summer. With good weather, long nights, the swimming pool open and the garden to nurture, there’s plenty to do. So, since Sam’s not yet in school, we generally plan holidays in shoulder season when it’s quieter, and cheaper. But all of a sudden, summer was about to end, and I hadn’t organised anything.
That’s how it came to be that I was due to head away every weekend in September.
And guess what? It was too much.
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When I was in Australia this year, I went to the swimming pool on a Saturday morning to do my laps. “There won’t be much space,” my friend informed me, at which I scoffed. Sure, for the hour or so after opening it can be pretty crowded, but then it’s pretty much clear sailing… or clear swimming as it were.
But she was right. The pool was PACKED. I struggled to park.
Continue readingMaybe I wasn’t paying attention in Australia… but every year in Austria it surprises me just how much growth there is from spring to summer. Hubby took some pics in our back garden… the first just after he cut the trees back, the second near the end of summer when everything was at its peak. Check them out!
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It was only going to be a quick trip… it was! Three weeks from start to finish which amounts to 2.5 when you take out the flight times. We didn’t want to put Sam through another long flight and jet lag, so the decision was made that I would go on my own.
I was excited. This was going to be my trip. This was going to cancel out all the disasters from last year’s trip – the snow, the Covid, the everything. I was organised, my excel sheet was planned out and it was going to be great!
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I just had four weeks off parenting… and it felt… decadent.
It was only meant to be three weeks, which in itself is more than a lot of parents can dream about. But then I came down with the flu upon arrival in Australia. So we decided to add a week to make up for the time I spent in bed.
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I have to say, the season started off promising. I felt good. I felt ready. I planted like crazy. And then it rained… and rained… and rained… And I guess a lot of the seeds rotted or washed away. Or got eaten by bugs.
But eventually they sprouted. And then it got hot. And hotter. And hotter. So hot in fact that at one point I even had to admit that it was hot.
So… it was a bit of a struggle. But I struggled on.
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When Sammy was around 18 months, things got a whole lot more fun. He liked going places and doing things on his own two feet. The days of easy stroller walks were unfortunately over, but it opened up other possibilities.
Earlier this year I was still home with Sammy full time, and although it was lovely… it can get pretty monotonous. I was looking for new things to do… and living in a small town limits things somewhat. A visit to a playground… playing in the garden… visiting the supermarket. These are all things to do… but they’re not terrible exciting.
So one day, in the grips of loneliness, I translated the word Petting Zoo and googled it. Cause that’s what we were ready for. Sammy was too young to enjoy a large zoo – but a petting zoo? Hell yeah.
And wouldn’t you know? There is a Streichelzoo (petting zoo) 20 minutes away from where I live. Though it’s more on the scale of a hobby farm than those mobile petting zoos that visit schools and shopping centres.
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This might sound bad, but last week my husband took Sammy, along with the in-laws, for a beach holiday to Italy. They went for the week, but I could only join toward the end because I had to work. You might think I’d be bummed… missing out on long beach days, and mouth-watering Italian food, and my kid running around on the sand with a big grin on his face.
Well… in a way, I was. But in another way, I was ecstatic.
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I am Australian. I come from the land of dangerous animals… of deadly crocodiles and sharks and jellyfish and snakes and spiders… all of which I never really worried much about when I was in Australia.
But here in Austria… the ticks freak me out.
Tiny little creatures, they are. Innocently bumbling around in grass and foliage on the forest floor. Not too smart, not too fast. But since you don’t feel them bite, they just hang out on you for a while… gorging.
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Despite over a year of living with Covid (or hiding away from Covid), we’re all still up in the air about what the future is going to bring. What’s the right thing to do? Should we be in Australian-esque-style lockdowns, or should we be celebrating Freedom Day? The government has an opinion, the scientists have an opinion and the people have an opinion… they don’t always agree, and no one really knows who’s right… if a ‘right’ actually exists.
In Austria, following the removal of almost all our measures in early July, our numbers are steadily increasing again, which is hardly surprising. So what do we do now? Half the population is already vaccinated, yet Delta is threatening to plunge us back into chaos.
I tell you what we do. We get in the car and we drive to Italy.
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an aussie in austria 