Well, this, too, is part of owning a remote cottage...

When you need to literally carve your way to the door, that's what I call a snowfall. And having a house in a remote location means not only an adrenalin-pumping drive along practically non-existent, white-on-white, deep and icy roads, but also having to fight your way towards the house itself :-) But it needs to be done: one needs to check whether pipes have not frozen inside, and whether there isn't too much snow on the roof - else you might come back when the days are warmer only to find plumbing disaster and collapsed eves. So, yes, we did find over a meter of snow in places on the barn roof (the shovel in the picture is 60cm wide) and it meant having to climb up and shovel it off. It turned out to be a lovely exercise, and we enjoyed the feeling of a job done as much as the cup of tea by the open fire inside afterwards. And - thanks to our having left our heating to temper the interior, no plumbing disaster.

Sorry about the quality of photos (phone) but I thought you might enjoy them nevertheless :-)

We've been nominated

This blog as been nominated for The Top 100 International Exchange and Experience Blogs 2010
The final ranking will be decided by popular vote, so we ask you dear reader to vote for us - either by clicking on the link in the left column, or by going to http://www.lexiophiles.com/ix09/vote-for-ix10-here.

We're near the bottom of the list, by the way.

Thanks

Winter walks on skis

When you feel like a walk in the middle of Winter, you'd have a hard time going unless you put on a pair of walking skis. There are two ways to enjoy this pastime: one, when you take yourself on the many kilometres of prepared cross-country, or 'langlauf' walkways, kept by the municipality and well signed.
You can buy maps that clearly mark these paths, and as moving on skis is faster than walking on foot, you can cover further distances in the Winter than you would in the Summer, and see much of the countryside, stop off in villages for a mulled wine or beer, go alone or in groups, and take it easy, or exercise your athletic prowess :-)

Two - and this is what I prefer - is to go into uncharted territory and make your own marks. There is nothing like the feel of the snow squashing under the narrow ski. Of course you don't cover as much ground as you would on a made-up langlauf highway, but, especially when going quite alone and being quiet you meet animals: hares, rabbits, deer.... I even saw a fox as I was coming back the other afternoon close to dusk.

I love this country with all it has to offer. And being here in Krumlov means you needn't go far to get these pleasures: five minutes outside the town, and you are in a forest. So you have the best of both worlds.

skating at Lipno lake

When Lake Lipno freezes over, as it does every Winter (and it freezes so deep that people even drive cars, even lorries, over - as ferries obviously don't operate at Winter time) it is time for families to go skating, a must for most people here. When much snow has fallen, the Lipno resort obliges by keeping a clear path over the ice - 11km long - so you can skate to your heart's content and it never gets crowded like normal municipal outdoor ice-rinks tend to at this time. They also keep a path for people on walking-skis - 'langlauf' being another activity beloved by Czechs of all ages and shapes. But that maybe is a subject for some other blog.
In the evening, tired and full of endorphins from the sun and the exhillaration of skating, you get an added bonus of the famously spectacular sunsets over the lake. What more can one ask of a piece of Nature?

Krumlov under snow

In the previous blog I waxed lyrical about snow in the countryside, but Krumlov is also transformed when covered in its white duvet. So, just so it doesn't get left out :-) here are a few pictures, the one here on the right is looking out from the Riverside house's garden.

spectacular snow

I know my co-expat Potok has also been blogging about this phenomenon, and so did I a year ago, but one can't help it: when the frost covers the trees and frost-on-frost snows come, it is what we've come to call 'a diamond time'. In very cold temperatures an extra layer of frost forms each night and as this country knows very little wind, the masses of crystals stay undisturbed, just grow in thickness and beauty - even on the snow that lies on the ground. So when the sun hits the landscape, it sparkles like millions of diamonds. Unfortunately it is impossible to photograph in its full glory, but here's at least a pale representation of it. So while downhill skiers enjoy the exhilaration of powder snow everywhere, a great alternative is to put on walking skis and slide quietly into the stillness of the forest, and then stop, and wait: Not a sound is heard, and nothing moves save for the occasional drop of snow from an over-heavy branch, sending showers of sparkly flakes through the blindingly bright rays of the sun, and one is in the presence of something eternal, timeless - just sheer, gloriously pristine beauty, a gift beyond imagining.
If only the politicians and all those busy businessmen who shape our future would find time to take themselves, alone and humbly, just for one day into such paradise - maybe we'd have a better world to look forward to?

oh, the poor cat's homing instinct

I was too optimistic. Our problem is that we still have builders finishing off here so, added to the trauma of moving, the resounding voices, the banging, and the power tools, obviously don't make a cat feel at home. And the bloody builders do NOT KEEP THE DOOR CLOSED. So of course our male cat, though relatively calm when shut in the 'civilised part' of the house, shot off again at the first opportunity. This time he went missing for 5 days. So the routine started again: twice or three times a day I would drive up to the old house, call, walk around, ask the old neighbours - nothing. But his paw-prints in the snow showed he was repeatedly trying to get into the old house via the locked cat-flap. Problem is that the new owners of our old house are not there - the house sits empty and locked up, so we can't even ask them to notify us when the cat turns up. Anyway, during one of my visits he suddenly appeared, miaowing and running towards me - allowed me to take him in the car, let me carry him into the new house and ate, and ate, and ate.... He has a nasty tear above his eye, so he must have had a scrape somewhere along the way. But he is with us again. How long for, we'll have to see.