Adventures and milestones with Kate and a visit from Seb

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Rehfeld with Kate and a visit from Seb

Kate arrived on the 28th of January for 3 and a half weeks of holidays in Germany. She had lived here for a year and had left only mid last year. It was such a nice change to work with someone else with the same work ethic and motivation. We would see how fast we could get our work done properly and share hints and tips on farm work. As alot of our work is mucking out stables we had chats on mist (manure) and mist dancing also, as a German farm is judged on how neat the mist pile looks. True story.

She had a laugh at my accent and my propensity to nickname everything, from the horses who all have additional names to their original ones, the dogs - Epona will forever be Pony...from my influence, and the stable brooms. Yes I named the brooms. Weird, you think? Wait for the photo, it honestly looks like a Harry Potter original Nimbus broom...so it's name is Nimbus, the other new broom (looks normal) needed a name therefore, but got delegated 'Jane' as it is just a plain Jane broom.

Luckily Kate is also a morning person and could happily tolerate or enjoy my morning antics of going gaga over sunrises and sunsets (perfectly timed for when we drive to the stables) and as it was usually cloudy on the horizon, so a sunrise or sunset was happily and gloriously celebrated by me. Once early on, before she got used to me Kate did have to ask if I had ever seen one before, I must have been overly happy! Haha

We also worked together on my project horse Verbeano who I have been breaking in or zuriten (in German). I had done the ground work but she was to be the first passenger aboard with Gretchen's help (Gerlind's daughter). Kate was paramount in helping me also get on for the first time, shame we both forgot I needed a helmet. Haha

We spent our afternoon breaks watching movies, baking and laughing over memes and I began my education on all things Harry Potter, of which Kate is an expert. I learnt so much, one night I even had Harry Potter characters in my dreams. When all our work was done we came home for tea, cake and an episode of McLeod's daughters, an Australian drama series about life on a farm in South Australia. Gerlind bought the box set and we watched it religiously every evening.

We had amazing times galloping in the snow on the ponies and sharing our favourite trails around the forrest surrounding Rehfeld. We also discovered a shared love of singing, disney, the Sound of Music or "I feel pretty" from My Fair Lady. Kate also worked as translator as her German is excellent. Especially when we went to the local riding teacher and friend of Gerlind's, Connie. My first lesson on vaulting (gymnastics on horseback) was especially new and exciting!

Kate was knitting a scarf for Gerlind but the first attempt was abandonded as Belgium security had stolen her knitting needles. She was going to throw it out before I stole it for a tiny project of my own. I decided to turn the 1/4 scarf into a tiny clutch purse. It was a perfect way to fuel my creative and sewing needs, awesome! :-) We also shared a love of baking, I mainly tried biscuit recipes with Kate and Gerlind as my guinee pigs, and Kate made well perfected pumpkin pies. Kate also helped fuel my chocolate obsession with frequent trips to the grocery store with the best lolly and chocolate selection. Haha Even more hilarious were our attempts to speak pig latin or "swine la-tine" as it translates in German. We decided we liked the German translation of it better!

We had a few celebrations while Kate was here, New Years Eve, Kate's 20th birthday and our final night before Kate left, AusMerica evening. We made apricot chicken from the McLeod's daughters recipe and Kate made a most delicious pumpkin pie for dessert. Thankfully she shared her recipe so when I get back to Australia, I will endevour to try it out myself. We also went visiting a huge horse show in Leipzig with Heidi and Gerlind and also went to see the local national stud of Graditz which is near here.

Sebs visited in the first weekend of January from a 12hr drive from Paris. He spent a day with Kate and myself getting mucky on the farm. The next day we headed to Torgeu for an afternoon of adventuring. Unfortunately much of the township was closed but we did find an awesome staircase in the castle and a nice cafe for lunch. Back on the farm we took Verbeano and the dogs for long walks in the woods and raced after horses in Rehfeld. Sebs said he was impressed that although I couldn't speak German I could at least understand most of what was being said. It was interesting to have a 'city person' experience life on a farm and Gerlind is so hospitable that it was a very relaxing and chilled out time. Kate, was glad to move back upstairs after Sebs left and we went back to our routine of Harry Potter movie breaks and singing crazy songs.

Kate and I shared a love and respect for Gerlind who is our most amazing German host mother. Her cooking, knowledge and amazing stories and the ability to tell stories in such a manner as we are hooked. She also goes out of her way to be helpful and share the ins and outs of farm work. Her calm but quietly dominant presence was amazing to see working with a young horse, especially as her athritis keeps her from doing more. I have learnt so much more than I ever dreamed of about German culture, the language, history and lifestyle both now and in the history of the DDR time as there is significant differences between East and West Germany, even now.

We have gone from sharing rooms, to not sharing when Sebs visited and then roomies again til Laura arrived and then left soon after due to home sickness and all the time we have had a glorious time together. I am glad I am not here alone for long and we both plan on returning soon. Gerlind adopts us into her family and has treated us like her own daughter, it has been such a special and wonderful experience here. I also love so much the woods, the horses, the dogs and the wild animals. It all helps this place to get into your blood. I will miss it a lot.

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