Wood

For many centuries, Vorarlbergers used wood as building material. Today it is still used in innovative ways, and even in small villages, traditional and new buildings harmonize perfectly. And they fit seamlessly into this beautiful landscape full of meadows, woods and mountain peaks.

Our Forest Getaway

S, J and I spent our summer vacation in the westernmost federal state of Austria, Vorarlberg, which is so different from where we live. It's not only the landscape which is dominated by mountains, forests and the Lake Constance, that makes this state so different, it's also the Alemannic dialect that is spoken by the Vorarlbergers. It was the first longer trip we three took together. We went by motorail train from Vienna, the ride took us more than seven hours, but it turned out to be the perfect way to travel for us being parents. The pictures show the small village of Schröcken and the guesthouse we stayed at. J took milestones in these few days away from home.

Lakes And Peaks

In July, J, my parents and I headed out on vacation together. We visited my aunt who had rented an apartment at the Lake Mondsee and had a nice, calm family gathering. We even took the Schafberg Railway up to the Schafberg peak that is 1783 m high – against my expectations, it turned out to be quite uncomplicated with J.

Summer so far

I could find my way back to this space, I just don't feel ready for daily or weekly routines. These are just a few moments I captured this summer. My little boy is five months old now and starts crawling. J has so much energy, he already eats mashed vegetables and beef, he loves to drool, puts everything in his mouth, he babbles and laughs a lot! We make many day trips, J loves nature, and our days are so much fun. We were heading out on family vacations twice – more about that soon!

What happend to the happenings

I started blogging many years ago and mainly I wanted to share some glimpses of my (not so interesting) life with nice people, especially with those whose blogs I liked to read. A little bit more than five months ago, I gave birth to my child. Pregnancy and being a mum changed me and my life and priorities certainly got rearranged. I don't feel comfortable showing photos of my son to the whole wide world (and I barely take photos without him), so I decided to reflect on what happened week per week instead, adding some photographs, too, from time to time. I wanted to write a weekly post about some of the happenings in my life, but I had to learn that spending time with my son was more important than sitting in front of my laptop, writing lists and deciding what to tell – and of course, especially writing in a foreign language took more time than I had expected. Instead, I started to document daily life in other ways. In analog ways.

A few days ago, I received a note from Astrid, a blogger I've been admiring for a long time now. Her words led me back to this space. She said she missed my posts and asked if everything was fine with me and my little family. My answer is: Yes, everything is really, really good. I'm greatful and I enjoy every single second being a mum, my little boy grows so fast and I love him more than I ever thought I could. We three went on holidays and had such a great time together. And what happened to this blog? It's still here, but unlike a newspaper, it's not up to date.

Some days in August, I resign myself to fall mode, and I know that the chillier autumn days had always changed my routines. I'd really like to continue blogging, but I don't know what this little space here should show to the world outside. Apparently, there are always stories to be told and photographs to be shared, and I like the idea of communicating with people with similar interests. But time is passing by too quickly. Shouldn't the moments be enjoyed (and, yes, documented, too) without thinking about blogging? Is it really worth giving up some of my valuable time and energy to blog, and what do I really get out of it? I'm sure there are no general answers to these questions. I hope I'll find the ones I feel comfortable with.