We would do it again

Three weeks have passed! This morning we said goodbye to Hof and its human and animal inhabitants and to the beautiful Schnalstal Valley.
And it was really hard for us. We lived together like a big family for three weeks, worked together, ate together, talked a lot... And Magdalena and Manuel's two children really grew on us. Even though it was sometimes chaotic, it was nice to sit at the table with the two little ones, goof around, play with water... Sometimes Manuel's half-siblings were still there, friends or family would come to help, and Andi of course. So there was always something going on at the farm, no day was the same and it was never boring.
I was deeply impressed by how much work is being done here and how naturally we were accepted. And how easily we could adapt to a different 'system', a different rhythm. Maybe working together really creates a different bond?
The physical work did us good too. Trying out how tough we are, how much we can achieve, how satisfying it can be to see a cleared meadow. But also realizing our own limits, because the boys can move a haystack much easier than we can. Being so exhausted in the evenings that we don't feel like doing Pilates exercises anymore! 😉
I will really miss the tranquility, the view, and being outdoors so much. Despite the summer heat, it was always pleasantly cool in the evening at this altitude, except for the fan for the hay and the bells of the neighboring cows, there wasn't much to hear. It was really beautiful.
By the way, we had a special view on Friday morning. Manuel had ordered a helicopter flight to bring 600kg of salt to his goats at an altitude of 2,600 meters. And since a flight assistant always flies up first, who then unloads the cargo and there is still room for '5 guests' in the helicopter, we were allowed to join in!!! 1,000 meters of altitude in 5 minutes! It was really sensational to suddenly be standing on top of the mountain and look around. Normally, you have to earn that climb the hard way. And then the helicopter came again and took us back down in a steep dive, where otherwise we would have walked for sure for 2.5 hours. A really cool action!