Cottage in the Mountains

I didn't mean to go m.i.a. last week. I was just on a mountain where beauty was bountiful and internet was not. So I thought I'd just wait until I left to do one big blog posting about my final wwoofing adventure in Italy. This one only lasted for 4 days and took place at Malga Riondera, which was located just outside of Ala near Trento (in the north)...Malga means farm in this section of Italy.  Since this post is big, I'm going to preface each little thought or section with a "......" between photos. 

This is the cottage which has been in the family for many years and has been hosting guests since 1976. Yes, that is a huge sundial on the front. 

This is Andrea & Alice (pronounced, Alichay) - father and daughter.  Mom is a doctor and other sister is in school, but these two are the team that keep this ship running...Alice is the big push here. She is the boss and is taking over the business. Wow, is she ever a hard worker. Only 25 but has her ducks in a row.  Andrea teaches high school students ecology and sustainable development when he is not at the Malga. You'll see more of them in a bit. 

These two...well, they are the dogs. Caddy (left) 11 mo. and Jock(right) 11+ years. Precious as the days are long. These two kept injecting me with joy the whole time I was there. I don't know what it is about animals but they are just the best. I see so much of God's hand in them. 

The first day I arrived, we had lunch and I got to know Andrea & Alice some more. There is a living space for them in part of the house and the rest of it is dedicated to guests.  I spent most of the time helping Alice with her duties, preparing for guests and also taking photos of what they produce (honey, preserves, nuts, & a beautiful place).

 The second day was pretty foggy and it rained! It was actually nice to have some rain as it was the first real day of rain in my trip. Much colder up in the mountains too! We were so high up that the clouds literally seem to just float by. I can't really say it's fog. I think they were clouds. My ears popped when were driving up the road to the Malga. : ) 

The beloved stove in the house! I love fires, can't get enough of their warmth and yumminess. So I was pleased to know that there is one going in the kitchen on the lesser sunny days.  I was a proud fire-keeper and tried to be diligent at it : ).

They make honey! So cool to see. I got to paint some bee houses as well as they are preparing for new bee families to sprout up. Andrea was explaining more of bees to me and it's fascinating.  Did you know that for every spoon full of honey = the life of 12 bees and the honey they can make in that lifetime. 

They gave me one of these jars of honey which I'm SO excited about using. Their honey is solid which was something I wasn't used to.  Alice was explaining that when bees gather pollen from *dandelions*...hmmm...the honey becomes solid, and also maybe (if I have my facts right), from various types of flowers. She said up on the mountain, it's hard to contain the types of flowers the bees will get pollen from. 

I went for a walk to see more of the view and I realize how far up we were...the town below was so tiny the houses looked like itty bitty. Here is a castle that was also within eyesight. 

Little boo....Caddy made me smile so much. Loved that dog! Precious.

Here is a small preview of the rooms and apartments they rent out.

.........................

So my last night there, Andrea encouraged me to go outside and see if I could see the wild mountain goats with his binoculars. Well, I think it was just God's lovely way of nudging me out the door! And, there before me was a beautiful sunset, and even a rainbow.  I never saw any goats but all this other was pretty much the most beautiful scenery I think I've ever seen. It was just more than I knew what to do with.  Every where I looked it was vast, unique, huge, and beautiful.  Oh, and every single day the mountains looked different based on the sun, clouds, weather. Funny how that works.

Where I was perched, I was covered by some deep forrest green pine branches and this light rain that started to fall didn't get me, but it was beautiful to watch. 

.......................................................

And then to my chagrin, Andrea, pulled out his accordion! and started playing it! It was awesome. 

Not sure how this will work but if you'd like to hear him play, click HERE (I recorded it). 

Alice, was making pizza for lunch the next day and the dogs were laying in their floor posts chilling. 

Cute story. I was taking photos of their cherry preserves and thought that a cherry blossom/branch would be cool in the photo, so I grabbed one and after a bit, I laid it down on the ground. Well, little Caddy decided to pick it up in his mouth and take it off. He was just the cutest thing ever. 

I really enjoyed being at the Malga, meeting the whole family, eating their yummy food, playing with the dogs, watching the clouds drifts across the lawn and see how vastly immense mountains really are.  I'm still taking it all in and appreciating the experience that they afforded me.