Memories of childhood adventures on the farm.

When I was a child we would spend many summers and weekends at the farm of some relatives in Styria. I loved to be there. We lived in the old farm house, often together with my grandparents, while our relatives had a new house which was built only a few meters away from the old one, down the hill.

The eastern half of the old house was made of wood, covered in shingles, while the western half (which would get most of the wind and rain) was made of stone. In the east there was a small vegetable and flower garden, surrounded by a small wooden fence and large bushes of red currants. Many jams, syrups and cakes were made from them. Next to the garden was an orchard which had mostly apple trees for making Most, a kind of cider. There were always a few barrels in my uncle's cellar. I was often sent down with a jug to get some for him and my dad.

Behind the house was a large stack of wood for cooking and heating and a small path for driving with a tractor and bringing the cows to the meadow. Then the hill got steeper, there was another large meadow behind a fence and then there was only the forest. It was a great forest, full of mushrooms and raspberries. I always loved picking mushrooms and my mother's mushroom sauce with dumplings. Raspberries unfortunately were not my friends anymore after I stepped into a wasps' nest when picking them.

The house had a large wooden door in the middle which was painted green with white stripes and had a huge iron key. Left to the door grew a large red rambler rose, two storeys high. To the right was an old wooden bench to sit, talk, work and watch. We often had our meals there on a garden table.

Inside of the house a chain with small bells hung on the door, they would tinkle when somebody entered. At the entrance was a small hall with a steep, creaking staircase up to the bedrooms and below it a stone staircase to the cellar. The cellar was dark and had no proper floor, when it rained much the water would flow through it. And it was full of large black spiders. Next to the door there was also the switch box which still had old screwing fuses. There was no phone, if an important call had to be made we went down to my relative's house.

Behind the staircase was the so-called Rauchküche, the 'smoke kitchen'. It was out of use and only housed a few boxes of coal and the trash can. There was a large hearth for an open fire and a hook for the kettle above it. The whole room was black from smoke, which could leave through a hole in the ceiling. When someone made a fire in the new kitchen the smoke would still enter the old kitchen through a hole and then left as it did ages ago.

To the left of the entrance door of the house was a small bathroom which must have been installed sometime in the 1970s (the tiles were terrible). It was the only place in the house which had warm water. Behind it was the storage room for grains, which had a separate entrance at the side of the house. The grains were used to feed the animals. Harvesting grains and shovelling them from the trailer through the window into the grain store was always a very dusty work. Especially for those insde, who had to distribute the grains evenly in the room.

At the eastern side of the ground floor was the Stube, a room used as kitchen, dining room and living room. It had a very uneven wooden floor with rather wide gaps between the boards. Everything that was small enough and fell to the floor would be lost in the cellar forever – including stitching needles and parts of children's surprise toys. Large wooden beams crossed the ceiling. Next to the door was a water tap for cold water with a bucket standing below it because there was no sink. In one corner stood a large metal stove which was used for cooking and heating. There was always a huge pot of water on the stove which provided hot water for washing the dishes, which was done in plastic bowls. Next to the stove was a cupboard for the tableware, which showed a collection of designs from the 1960s onwards. On it always stood a stoneware jug full of water from the bathroom, because the water from the kitchen tap was not for drinking.

Along two sides of the room was a wooden bench, where they crossed (opposite the door) stood the dining table. It was always decorated with table cloths my grandmother had made with cross stitching. They usually were covered with a plastic table cloth for protection. In the table drawer was a stack of playing cards which was often used in the evenings. The whole family would eat together at the table, the meals were either cooked by my mother or grandmother.

In the corner of the table was also the traditional Herrgottswinkel, a triangular shelf which was the home of a crucifix, a stitched piece of cloth with a wise verse about life and god, a large candle and some plastic flowers. There may also have been a picture of Mary or Jesus, but I'm not sure about that.

The last wall of the room was only a thin wooden partition wall which was added to create a new pantry. At this wall stood two wooden trunks, painted with colorful flowers of a typical farmhouse style. On one of them stood an old black and white TV which could only receive two local programmes. In the evenings the whole family would gather around it to watch the news and the evening programmes.

The pantry was a narrow room full of shelves. The bench of the other room continued here, as it once was part of that. At some stage my father added a wire grid to all of the shelves, to keep out the mice. There was also a shelf hanging from the ceiling which they should not be able to reach. And there always were mouse traps somewhere in the room. There was no way of keeping them out.

Walking up the stairs to the first floor my father always had to bend his head. Upstairs was a large dark hall, full of old things. Bird cages hung from the ceiling, there were plenty of old household things, oil lamps, antlers and stuffed animals. My grandparents occupied two rooms in the western part of the house. One was a kind of living room with a large wooden table, upholstered chairs and shelves filled with ornamental pewter. Every evening my grandmother would sit at the table and write a holiday diary which she decorated with paintings showing the most important events of the day. Like when a cow broke loose during the night and everyone wondered what the strange noises were in front of the house. There was also a small iron oven for some warmth in winter. In the bedroom I was mostly impressed by an old ceramic washbasin and fitting jug. I don't think it was still in use.

In the western part of the house was the room I occupied with my parents. It had an iron oven at the door, through the hall outside the oven was connected with the chimney at the other side by a very long almost horizontal rectangular tube. They wouldn't be allowed to build this today. I still remember my father rattling at the oven at night. In the front part of the room were the beds of my parents, behind them was a curtain which divided them from my part of the room. I had a very old bed, it was painted on the outside and only about 1.70 meters long. Over the bed hung a stuffed hawk of which I was always afraid as a child, but I never told my parents. Next to the bed stood a chair instead of a night-table, and an old table under a window facing the garden. I loved watching the dust dancing in the sunlight while lying in bed in the morning. There was also an old painted wardrobe with a creaking door.

Next to our room was a small guest room with three beds. It had no heating, so guests could only come in summer. Even then it was the coldest room in the house. In this room there was also a large collection of Agatha Christie books, which my mother must have read many times.

Next to the guestroom door, at the back of the hall was the wooden staircase up to the attick. It was closed with a large wooden hatch, which could be held open on an iron chain. I loved the attick when I was a child, even if there were wasp nests high up in the wooden beams. The attick had washing lines to hang up the laundry and there was plenty of old farm equipment like horse collars, hemp combs, rakes and flails. At the eastern side there was also a large balcony, overlooking the garden. It had a rickety wooden handrail, which was the reason why I hardly ever was allowed to go there. When I was a little older I often was alone in the attic, playing and painting. It was a great place for a child.

When we were there we often had to help our relatives with the farm work. They mostly had cows for milk, which we would get every evening in a metal can. Many neighbours also brought their cans every evening and would get them filled in the morning. And two large bowls were filled for the cats. The main part of the milk would be picked up by a local creamery every day.

Usually there also were one or two pigs from which my relatives made their own sausages and bacon. They had a small smoking hut next to the orchard. I loved the sausages and my aunt's roast pork.

Sometimes there were also a few chickens to supply my relatives with eggs, they didn't sell any. And of course there always were plenty of cats everywhere on the farm. I loved them and I even got my own cat from there. We would take her with us whenever we went back for holidays and she hunted the mice in the house each night.

At the farm I often helped with stacking hay before the rain, so it wouldn't get wet. Sometimes I also helped to dig out potatoes and or to pick apples.

I loved being at that house, but when I was about 13 my younger aunt wanted it for herself. She lives there now. All the walls got insulated on the inside and the long bench in the main room is gone. The old wooden floors were replaced with modern cork floors and all the old stuff was thrown out. Instead she decorated the house in a kitschy modern cottage style. When I first saw it I secretly cried when she didn't look. The whole house was destroyed. I never want to see it again, I can't bear to look at it. Most of the furniture and the old doors were used for heating.

Tavaron

31.08.15 Front Page

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