Woodcarver.

I took the Irish girls on a hike to the woodcarvers' workshop yesterday. It was a good way to spend a work day, out in the snow and along the hillsides. They lagged a bit, but not as badly as before. The woodcarvers are fascinating to watch. They're a family, parents and son, and they've been the woodcarving family in Adelboden for decades. The father especially can carve so deftly it seems as though he was born with wood tools in his fingers. Kurt, the son, is always excited to see our chalet staff. I think he's a bit starved for repeat contact with anyone, though the family also runs a shop in town. They carve giant animals, bears and rabbits, as well as breadboards, music boxes, and toys. Kurt should be joining us for the afternoon in a few weeks to do some carving on site. He's a nice fellow, and I'm looking forward to his visit.

While at the woodcarving shop, we had a gentle snowball fight with the Irish girls. They're a sneaky lot. They bought too much chocolate cake at the family cafe next door, though, so they passed it down the table to where I was sharing a lemon cake with two other staff members. One of the other girls also gave me a chocolate bar at the end of the hike: a present, I think, for putting up with her sluggishness on the uphill portions. I dug the campfire circle out of the snow that evening, and the girls sang for us for an hour or so.

I'm getting a bit of a backlog of photos, so I'll end this with a few of them.

This is where I live. Yes, it's gorgeous.


The little houses on the left are another part of where I live, and the chalet on the right is the neighbors' and where I pass by on the start of a day's wander. Also gorgeous.


This is what the homes look like around here. They've lots of detailed woodcarvings on the balconies and trimmings, plus carved words above the windows for luck and blessings. There are often also little paintings, sometimes of flowers.



Here's one of the winter hikes. We only do a few right now, to a couple different waterfalls and to the woodcarver's, but more will open up when it thaws. I am really looking forward to ascending some of the peaks around here.


And, just because I know I haven't posted this sort of thing yet, here are some of the mountains. These peaks all have names like Tierhörnli, Bunderspitz, Tschingelochtighorn, Steghorn, Wildstrubel, Mittaghorn, Fitzer, Lohner, Luegli, Ammertenhorn, Metchstand, Elsighorn, Stand, and Chuenisbärgi. Tierhörnli is the one with the bald peak, I think. This panorama comes from the top of one of my favorite ski runs, so I don't know the mountains as well as the ones visible from my valley.