Friendly Austrian sheep

.

When I worked at Heifer Ranch in Arkansas, the joke was "If you had to look through a slatted fence all day you would have rectangular pupils in your eyes too."

Here is Austria we went for an Ausflug today and visited an open-air museum of centuries-old farm buildings in Bad Tatzmannsdorf.
This big mama ewe was on display too.

Giving the sheep sugar treats was verboten.

But we did pick up some apples from the grass and the sheep loved them.

Unlike in America, sheep are allowed to keep their long tail.
.
(Linking to Camera Critters.)
.

Austrian reflections: churches, candles, and muddy pants

.

Austria has given me a few pictures for James' meme, Weekend Reflections.
First, in the entrance to the St. Vincent old people's home, which has a nice modern chapel of its own*, you see steeples of the two big churches of Pinkafeld.
The Evangelische Pfarrkirche and the Roman Catholic church were both built in the 18th century.

In the door of the Rathaus, Pinkafeld's city hall, the main street of the old part of town is reflected.
Notice the "1639" above! 

Back at the Franziskus community where I am spending the month, the candles in the little gift shop (where everything is made by the 18 members) show through the window, while on top the courtyard and house are reflected.

And near the window, a telltale sign that this is a working farm.
.
*One of the nuns was sitting in the chapel praying, so I didn't take pictures there at St. Vincent's.
Too bad, because they have an interesting modern wooden "crucifix," but the cross has no crossbar so Jesus simply has outstretched arms.
.

Sister Moon and stars of wonder

.

One of the advantages to living in rural Austria this month is being able to see many stars in the very dark night.
Another awesome thing is seeing this cosmic trio for the last few mornings on my way to the chapel as the community of St. Francis gathers for 6 a.m. prayer and meditation.
Near the moon is Jupiter and below is Venus pairing with Mars!

As St. Francis said in his Canticle of the Sun --

Laudato si, mi Signore, per sora Luna e le stelle:
in celu l'ài formate clarite et pretiose et belle.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars;
in the heavens You have made them bright, precious and beautiful.
 .
(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
Also see The Night Sky Guy about this phenomenon.
.

Stones in a cage

.

In the hills around Jerusalem I was used to seeing ancient agricultural terrace walls.
Farmers built them from stones they cleared from the field.
They placed one stone on another in just the right way that the terrace wall would last for thousands of years.
So now when I see this easy-to-make stone wall in an Austrian village I have to wonder (and giggle a bit too).

See posts about the ancient terraces near Jerusalem  here.
.

Tow this into the forest

.
In Israel we carefully plant trees, one by one, and nurture them.
People around the world donate money to Keren Kayemet to plant trees in barren landscapes.
It is against the law to cut down a tree without special permission.

But here in Austria it is almost like a mitsvah, a good deed, to fell some trees.
I was told that the forests are simply taking over the land.

We saw this by the wayside while hiking from down from Hochart.

You just tow it into the woods and start sawing.
The logs fit neatly into the back part.

You see woodpiles everywhere here in rural Austria.
I'm a bit envious, especially when I read this report from the 1990s about Austria's forest harvesting:
"Forest land: 3.9 million ha (46% of the total area, 0.5 ha per capita). The forest area is steadily increasing by some 2,000 ha a year ..."
One hectare (ha) = 2.47 acres.    Sigh ...
.
UPDATE:  Merisi of Vienna (do see her lovely blog!) gave us this good info in her comment:
"Woods and trees in Austria are well protected where necessary.
It is a fact that wood acreage is increasing here. Alpine landscapes are often cultural landscapes, created by farmers. Once they stop cultivating the meadows, those are quickly overgrown by bushes and later by trees developing into forests. Keeping this cultural heritage is one of the reasons farmers in high alpine zones receive subsidies."
.

All Souls Day in a rural Austrian cemetery

.

 The graves had special candles and many fresh flowers today.

It is All Souls Day today and yesterday was All Saints Day.

These are special days here in Austria. 

This was just a small cemetery in rural Burgenland, but the graves were quite ornate.

I wish I could see it at night when the candles are lit.
. 

(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)
.

Ephemeral snow poles appear

.

I was working in the field yesterday (here at the Franziskusgemeinschaft farm in Austria) when I heard a tap-tap-tap down the road apiece.
Soon this truck drove up and workers from the nearby town hammered a snow pole into the ground.
Something new for me, an Israeli from the desert!

These Schneestangen show drivers how deep the snow is and where the sides of the road are, and they even have reflectors for night driving.
These ephemeral snow poles are here today and gone at the beginning of spring.

EPHEMERAL is the subject for City Daily Photo bloggers' Theme Day for November 1.
Visit the CDP portal and see what others have come up with for this challenging theme.

.

Pinkafeld's Pranger

.

For ABC Wednesday, P is for the Pranger of Pinkafeld.
The oldest remaining building in this Austrian village was built in 1600 and served as the Rathaus or "city hall" for a long time, but now it houses the Pinkafeld Stadtmuseum.

The museum is really a labor of love, and I'll show you the inside in coming days.

But first looks what's OUTSIDE -- the Pranger, erected in 1804!

Wikipedia explains it as

a Central European physical punishment device related to the stocks and the pillory. The Middle Low German word means "something that pinches badly".

The pranger chained the victim's neck to a pair of leg restraints fastened around the ankles. Often the chain was short so that the offender was placed in an uncomfortable half-kneeling position.

In another type of pranger (pillory), the condemned person was tied to a column that stood in the town center for public view. 

The pranger was only used for public humiliation as punishment, not for painful interrogation or coercion.

But why the sword you ask?
It has to do with Blutgericht (Blood Court) and Jus gladii (high justice).
In the Holy Roman Empire this referred to the right of a Vogt (a reeve) to hold a criminal court inflicting bodily punishment, including the death penalty.
In Latin ius gladii literally means "the right of the sword," referring to the legal authority of an individual or group to execute someone for a capital offense, i.e. high justice.
The sword of justice (and hand of justice) are regalia that (often proudly and publicly) symbolize this highest penal authority.
.

Village murals on Austria's National Day

.

I had to go all the way from Israel to Pinkafeld, a village in Austria, to find something to post for Monday Murals.

Here they are.

In 1697 Pinkafeld had 1,500 inhabitants.
Now there are 4,545.

I'll show you the nice village in the coming posts.

Best wishes to Austria today on her National Day.

.

A cat warming up by the firewood

.

Siamese cat sunning on a bench by the woodpile on a chilly Austrian afternoon.
.
(Linking to Camera Critters.)
.

Kraut in the afternoon sun

.

The late afternoon sun was warm here at the Franziskusgemeinschaft in Austria.

A good time to harvest the cabbages.

In German cabbage is Kraut.
The kitchen has served Kraut in many different recipes in the ten days I've been working here, and they are all good.
Krautfleckerl was today's noon meal.  It is a typical Austrian dish of square pasta and carmelized white cabbage. 

Two community members cut the remaining row of purple cabbages in the front garden.
I followed them and uprooted each plant, shaking the rich dirt from the roots.
That's a first for me.
I love learning new farming things from the dedicated people who have tended this land since the early 1980s.
We wheelbarrowed the harvest back to the courtyard (Hof) and worked on cleaning up the cabbages and selecting which would head to the cellar and which would be cooked the very next day. 
.
(Linking to SkyWatch Thursday.)
.
.

Jausenbrote -- breaking bread in rural Austria

.

This evening some 15 of the community members walked five minutes up the road to this Gasthaus for a nice supper.

A common sight in Austria. 

Lots of  geese in a big pasture.
The neighbor farm also raises cattle, pigs, chickens.

The menu is overwhelmingly pork but I found one smoked beef dish.

They make every time of beverage imaginable from their apples.
It is high season now for the apple pressing. 

The meal comes on a thick slice of bread, served on a wooden cutting board.

Everyone gets a sharp knife to cut it into manageable sizes.

I took a backwards stealth picture of the one side of the cellar.
There were more happy Austrians on the other side.

Here between two guests is Mr. Luif, the nice man who owns and manages the whole farm and restaurant.
Four generations live and work together.
See more at their website, in German.
.

The bounty of the earth

.

This afternoon we took advantage of the sunny day (the first I have seen in my 9 days in Austria) and worked outside.
Nice how the beets are color coordinated with the wheelbarrow, no?

We prepared the freshly harvested root vegetables for storage in the cellar.
 There was parsley and some other herbs too.

Here I'm showing off a 3-fingered carrot.
The food here at the Franziskusgemeinschaft  is great.
The community of 18 members is self-sufficient in meat, dairy, vegetables, and fruit and nuts.
.