The heirloom protectors from the Auszeit farm

The 8 beds have only been rented out since Christmas 2015 as a vacation apartment suitable for all generations (without TV), and the spirit of the 17th century can still be felt in parts of this Upper Carinthian building. And this is where Angelina and Hubert live their dream of being farmers. If you listen to the love story of the two, who met and fell in love on the Kröll-Alm in Mölltal and had five children, then that alone would be too much material for any Rosamunde Pilcher movie. But I don't want to get that intimate here and now. A private matter. "The farm is supposed to be a place to stay for people who are too healthy for hospital but too ill for everyday life," Angelina tells me and, without having to discuss it in detail with the farmer's wife, I recognize the raison d'être of what she does. My God, how few people, companies and projects are there these days that can really answer their "why"? The Puchers have and live a mission and that goes down like oil.

"Spiritual path to self-healing"

However, Angelina's life was not always all sunshine and roses. Without claiming to be chronologically correct, life-changing events such as anorexia, bulimia, depression, a year-long stay in hospital and therapy shaped Angelina into a very strong woman who now lets her roots grow deep into the Heiligenblut soil and speaks with a clear, gentle voice. Angelina drew the strength to carry on, even during the difficult time of hunger sickness, from the thought and deep longing to return once again to the alpine pasture where she was able to spend the most beautiful summers of her childhood. Up there in those days, with the "Burgstaller mother", high above Mörtschach in the Hohe Tauern National Park. It's great that she was able to do that. And much, much more. In addition to studying medicine and psychology, Angelina Pucher is also training as a dance therapist, laying a promising foundation for the future and the good things to come. She already has an image of the "Auszeit-Hof", the analog, natural power refuge of simple living. Meaningful. A place of longing in the fast-paced everyday life of city dwellers? Slowtravel, slowlife, if you like anglicisms. It can and will work because she is firmly convinced of it. Society will create demand.

"Ark farm: breeding and presentation site for old and endangered livestock breeds."

The trained retail saleswoman is now also able to cope well with the small setbacks of everyday farming life. They both had to learn the hard way as career changers in agriculture. Some things are unavoidable, such as having to master the instinct of a predatory fox that somehow finds a way into the barn with the chickens and turkeys every year. But that's the way it is. In the cycle of nature. Taking and giving. Otherwise, the farm works in a triad. Hubert stocks the button-making shop, Angelina sells her books and photographs there alongside her work on the farm, and Grandma knits and crafts. Of course, there is no online store. If you want to buy handmade items, you have to come to Winkl (note: a district of Heiligenblut). Sales are not everything. The Puchers orchestrate a collective of more-than-just-organic farming here and offer their guests a piece of home without having to explicitly say so or actively advertise it. The good life. An open farm that also offers some endangered domestic animal breeds such as the Cröllwitz turkey, the Tauernschecken goat or the Tyrolean Grey cattle a dignified life. Cheers to all Ark farms. Guardians of precious heritage and preservers of living cultural history. Thank you.