What a full and fun day. I am learning what it is like to be in an immersive language environment, actually, I would say it is semi-immersive. Everyone here speaks English to some extent (and a lot better than I speak French!), so when I am being taught how to do things around the farm we converse primarily in English to make sure that I understand what to do. But the rest of the time everyone is either speaking rapid fire French and I am trying to follow along somewhat, or much slower French when they are including me in the conversation. I am learning from both ways and have an even greater admiration of people who have moved to a country where people do not speak their native language. Being in an environment where I don’t understand what everyone is saying is a really good way to get me out of my comfort zone, force me to ask for help and to say I don’t understand many times a day! I had a little of that in New Zealand because of kiwi slang and the British terms they used, but that is nothing compared to this. I can’t imagine what it would be like living in a country where I had no experience with the language and it didn’t have any similarities with English.
I slept pretty well last night and after breakfast (side note-the toaster is old and the lever doesn’t stay down so you use a pair of toaster tongs to keep the lever in place, it means you have to keep an eye on your toast so it doesn’t burn. That totally sounds like something my dad would have done!) Jean-Francois took me on a tour of the property. They have 100 acres (reminded me of the 100 acre woods from Winnie the Pooh) with 45 alpine milking goats (chèvre), 2 pigs (cochons), 2 horses (chevaux), lots of chickens (poulet) used for both meat (viande) and eggs (œufs). (nb-I promise I won’t keep putting in French words everywhere!)
My first job today was cleaning spiderwebs out of the goat barn. It was really soothing to be outside (sort of), doing work that had a good feeling of accomplishment as I could see a real difference in how things looked as I finished an area. I also didn’t feel need to listen to anything, which is unusual for me when I’m doing manuel work, I’m sure my body, brain and heart are still processing a lot from this transition. Goats and chickens came in and out as I worked, they stayed away from where I was as they were all scared of the broom I was using. It was fun watching the teenage goats eat and play.
After spending a couple hours getting rid of all the cobwebs in the barn I had lunch, some salad and delicious leftover homemade pizza. I found out that at 5 o’clock I’ll learn how to milk the goats!
Jean-Francois runs the operation with the help of his two sons, Safran and Noe. They sell their cheese online, in stores, at local markets and to individuals stopping by their boutique, which is a self-serve. There are also agents who come and pick up the cheese and distribute it all over the region. I learned tonight that they also make cheese from sheep’s milk they get from a nearby farmer.
After lunch I went for a walk on the path next to the river at the edge of the property. Waking there feels like being in a fairyland. There’s all kinds of different mushrooms sprouting on the path. I took a ton of pictures of mushrooms and flowers but I’ll save those for another day since I think this is going to be a long post! To get to the river path I passed a tiny home, I haven’t met the person who lives there yet, and a sweet little caravan that Noe’s girlfriend, Brittany, is living in while she’s building her tiny home (the build site is next to the goat barn) Further on is a cabin with river access and a hammock strong up between two trees. It’s probably in the low 70s today, sunny with a few clouds, just perfect for swinging lazily by the river and contemplating what a different place I’m in. Last Tuesday (this time last week) I was having lunch with my mom and my nephews Rowan and Larkin. It was a warm sunny day and we were sitting outside working on the crossword. Even though I knew this trip was coming up it was hard to imagine what I was going to be doing. After my hammock sojourn I continued down the path until it took me to the road which goes down the middle of the property and I saw where the milk goats hang out during the day.
At 5pm we headed to the pig area to feed them, then onto the goat enclosure. I felt like I was in a scene from Heidi, we literally herded them down the lane and into the goat barn! I feed them their hay, gave the teenagers their grain and gave everyone fresh water, then we started the milking process. We let in 11-12 goats at a time, they all marched eagerly in and put their heads in the stanchions so they could get to their grain. I learned how to use the milking machine, hooking two of them up at once and also got to do some hand milking. I have the technique down from my time at Deerhill ranch when we would get a goat for the summer to teach the kids how to milk and make cheese, but my hands are nowhere near as strong as Jean-Francois’s, it was amazing how much he could get out so quickly. After 4 sessions of milking everyone was done and we cleaned up. I got the corn ready for the pigs, added the whey from the goat’s milk so it was ready for tomorrow’s meals. I didn’t take any pictures this time, but since I’ll be doing this twice a day most days there will be plenty of opportunities.
I made a salad for dinner using lettuce and tomatoes from the garden and mixing up a vinaigrette dressing to go with it. Brittany made rice and delicious stuffed squash, with almost all the ingredients coming from the garden, topped with fresh chèvre. Sigh, I am going to eat well here! By the time we were done with dinner it was almost 9 and I was definitely ready for bed. There was a lot to contemplate about my wonderful day!