Day 16 Beer, Babies, and Grapes
Getting up this morning was so wonderful! After last night’s storm, we woke up to puffy white clouds and snow on the hills and mountains! It was beautiful! Of course my day always starts the same…get up, make breakfast, and start “school”. I have to say that there are pros and cons for sure with homeschooling. One of the pros is that you only have one student to worry about, and you can gauge how quickly you move through material based on how they are doing. The con is, I have to teach math…not to be the ultimate sterotype…but yes I am a girl and I hate math. That’s right…I said HATE a word I hate to use. Math feels like a cruel joke to me…that I never seem to understand…even when I think I have...
Day 15 1/2 Huge Storm
Okay I am a bit groggy this morning…it was tough to sleep last night. We had a huge thunder and lightening storm! I mean lightening that lights up the room kind of storm! The interesting thing about the thunder is that is sounded different…well you know it does speak Slovenian :-)! Really, I think that the walls of the house are so thick…that we barely heard it! I was waiting for the crash that rattles your soul…but just a rumble was all we got! The best part was when you look at the hills just across from the farm…there is snow on them! Gregor said that it was going ot happen, but I did not believe him…I guess he should know right? So this morning we woke up to snow covered mountains, blue sky, and chilly weather!...
Day 15 Let Them Pick Grapes
Today actually started extra early for the youngest member of the Alton clan. Reid asked Gregor if he could milk the cows with him. Gregor was thrilled that Reid was interested in learning how to milk and told him that they would begin early at 6:30 a.m. Yes, I will admit that my cynical little mind was thinking that my son, the one who hates to get dirty, doesn’t like stinky things, and these days does not like to get out of bed before 8:00 a.m. is in for a big surprise. The time came for him to get up…6:15 and he jumped out of bed, got dressed all on his own (that is a pretty big feat for him), and went to milk the cows. I have to say that I stand corrected, because he LOVED it, guess he is a farm boy after all! When our day finally began, the...
Day 14 Back to Work
Today was a typical work day on the farm for us! Russ heads out to start work around 8:00 a.m. and that is when school starts for Reid and me. We work for about 2 hours on reading comprehension, math (yuck!), and writing. Reid has already read 5 books since we have been here…so actual reading takes place all the time! After our morning session of school, we also head out to work. Today the task for the morning was to label the organic beer they make here. Today’s batch was Rosemary beer…delicious! The farm is called Organic Farm Silbar (which I am sure sounds better in Slovenian)…but it is a family farm that has been handed down through the generations. It has survived wars and even outlasted communism! The property it sits on is...
Day 13 A Day of Rest
Sunday on a farm is a day to relax, rest, and get ready for the following week,,,or at least it was for us! By the time we woke up, Gregor had milked the cows, gathered the eggs, fed all the animals…and god knows what else ( I mean after all he is resting today). After we managed to roll out of bed and shower, it was almost 9:00 a.m. I think the organic beer and the plum brandy ensured that I slept like a Slovenian baby! Well today was an Alton adventure day, we were heading off to the famous Lake Bled. I originally watched Rick Steves’ in his khaki induced glory, going on a tour of Slovenia, and one of his stops of course was Lake Bled. I can tell you that it did not disappoint! Lake Bled is a glacial lake that is nestled between mountains. It...
Day 11 and 12 Time to get to Work
When you are a WOOFer, you are a worker, here to help a farmer whose livelihood depends on the success or failure of his/her farm. This is not for the faint of heart…you are not on a fun side trip checking out quaint countryside while you can some vegetables…this is for real (and yes that is meant to sound like a cheesy tag line for a reality series!). Time to rise and shine, I did get a little bit of a break because I am homeschooling Reid, but I am not so sure that counts as a break! I actually started my first task as babysitter for the twins and their little 5 year old brother who was sick…not a bad job huh? But when their mother got back it was time to work a bit. We pressed the apples that we picked yesterday, into juice…gallons...
Day 10 Vienna to Slovenia
Time to rise and shine…repack for the 10,000th time (here I am going to give a shout out to Space Bags…they are fantastic to help keep things organized in the crazy hippie backpack). Okay, I am going to be honest here…I was nervous…very nervous this morning! We are heading to stay on a farm, in Slovenia, for 10 days with total strangers… talk about stepping outside your comfort zone! I am so far out of mine, I might as well be in Siberia…oh no wait …Slovenia! As we get Jacques, our cute little pumpkin of a car (which by the way I have to drive, because Russ is too tall to drive comfortably). Ha! Can you picture me whizzing around Europe in a little orange car? It is great! So as we are driving through amazing and...
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