Andreas Blank

The day started badly! Called the garage to ask if they could add some special oil in the Jeep drivetrain. Most non-Jeep dealers don't know about this oil only available from Jeep. A few years ago, two garages told me I would need to replace the entire rear axle (4WD) works due to the terrible noises coming out of the transfer gearbox. Luckily I then checked it out at a Jeep dealer and without a test drive, he knew the answer. Simply replace the 2 litres of oil - 50 Euros instead of 500!

The garage owner said he would check it BUT he has found several expensive problems - front brakes but worse a major rust problem on a weight-bearing part of the chassis. Hours of work involved welding etc!
No choice but to say go ahead and please try to get it done by Friday evening as Angie need the Jeep for the horse trailer on Saturday. Would do his best he said.

The usual day around the house - Angie riding. On the way home from picking up Flash, thought I would Blip the sign/display at a local farm right in the centre of the village. Put up by locals it has been hanging since last weekend but hadn't had the opportunity before and with the horrible weather doubted a good Blipatunity would come.

As I was photographing Andreas drove into the yard on his tractor having collected a trailer load of grass for his girls. So was able to belatedly congratulate him on his 60th birthday and we ended up having a long chat.

Andreas is a very engaged member of the village but also in the farm world particularly on health issues connected with cows and humans - from BSE to lactose intolerance. He not only advises the local county council on cow health issues and has contacts to university profs, I think in UK & Canada, connected with human health problems. He is also very active in the so-called "Original Brown Cattle"  and "Brown Swiss". A very typical farm for these parts - 35 cows (+ 38 calves + 2 bulls) held in a (since 2000) free stall in the middle of the village and fed from grass/grass silage/hay (no maize) from his 22 hectares. I suspect the size will horrify most English dairy farmers and explain the high EU agricultural costs. I personally support this size of farming for all sorts of social reasons but that's for another day.

Andreas also opened a Milk Filling Station in 2013. You can buy fresh untreated milk from a vending machine, either filling up your own containers or using ones he has for sale. Can also simply buy a glass of milk for a few cents. I love fresh untreated milk and used to get it from our former neighbours Heidi & Sepp but had the feeling my innards didn't like it and stopped, only using supermarket milk.

I mentioned this to Andreas and while he said lots of people do have a straightforward lactose intolerance many actually show signs of the intolerance but in fact it has more to do with the production of homogenised/pasteurised milk whereby the protein and fat get separated and thereby become more difficult to digest than the untreated milk where the fat coats the protein. Thought of RedFlash when he talked about this. I mentioned I had heard that the further north one lived/originated from, the better the body could deal with milk. He confirmed this - Swedes & Finns have fewer lactose problems than for instance Greeks who apparently are 80% lactose intolerant!

Always very pleasant to chat with Andreas. Not everyone might agree with all his ideas but I do like that he listens and never dismisses other views before he has properly investigated them. He has quite a fan community in the village, particularly with the ladies! (Joke) He always waves when we seem him and whenever he meets Angie out riding, either slows right down and pulls over or turns off the tractor engine so as not to frighten the horse. He also has a couple of ponies on the farm.

The sign says something like:
Whether Music, voluntary fire brigade or local citizens society, Andreas was at the forefront. Saved the Bavarian cow from the BSE- Executioner, he advises the county council. A milk filling station is on the farm, milk directly from the cow tastes better to us. For your 60th cradle anniversary, we all wish him the very best. Happy Birthday.