Hay There!

I’m getting to know everybody a little bit better as we chat while doing chores or meals. Jean-Francois owns the farm and runs it with his children. Among other talents he plays the accordion. I heard him playing when I was preparing salad for dinner last night and again today when I was doing some JNE commission work. The sound is lovely and makes me feel like I’m France. I learned that his father is French and his mother is Quebecois. I’ve heard a few people refer to themselves as Quebecois, not Canadian. I wonder if that’s a cultural thing because of the French dominance in this part of the country, wanting to set themselves apart from other Canadians. I was confused at first when everybody asked me if it was my first time in Quebec when we are closer to Montréal. I finally figured that they were talking about the province of Quebec, not the city. Quebec City is the correct name for the city.

Cybele is the youngest of Jean-Francois’ children. I haven’t met her because at 22 she is currently sailing around the world on a boat! I don’t know much more than that so far. Earlier this summer she gathered a group of friends and held a ‘Theater in the Forest’ where they camped for 2 weeks and created a new production from start to finish. Unfortunately it ended up getting rained out, but what an amazing thing to do!

Noè is almost 24. He is very creative and has written a book and created a game, both of which I to talk to him about to learn more. He was one of the people who taught me some of the folk dance steps, he is very sweet.

Safran is 26, I met his girlfriend Chloé today. He spent 7 months in New Zealand traveling and wwoofing (world wide opportunities on organic farms) after he finished high school. During the winter he works as an alpine guide in the wild areas up north. The rest of the year he helps his dad in the fromagerie.

Brittany is Noè’s girlfriend and is building a tiny home, using hemp bats for insulation. Her grandparents on her mom’s side are from Washington and met in California. She grew up to Saskatchewan, and will be going back there in the fall to complete her masters in First Nations history. Today I watched her putting on shingles as siding for her tiny house. She has been able to get lots of free and recycled items for her house, including all the windows, even the bay window at the front of the house. Noè is helping Brittany build the tiny house, I watched him sawing through a board he balanced on his lap today. Boys!

There are also 2 cats named mignon un and mignon deux. (Cute one and cute two). Mignon Un is pictured below, #2 was camera shy.

I got to milk goats again this morning. Some parts went really well. I remembered the list of the things I had to do but I’m finding hand milking to be challenging. I’ve had experience with it, but I am slow, and my left hand is not as strong as my right, so I’m often having to do more work on that side of each goat. I’m sure I will get better with practice and it’s nice to start in the morning with something active and know I’m helping out in a tangible way. I got to feed the teenage goats their grain, and managed to keep them distracted with a little bit of grain on one side of the pen while I snuck in and filled the rest of the trough. I also changed out the water and feed the pigs their breakfast of corn and whey.

I got a couple of hours of downtime before we had a very busy afternoon as it was time to put up the hay in the barn. The hay was threshed yesterday and today a tractor came with a baler behind it and a large trailer behind that. It was fascinating to watch the tractor drive next to the rows of hay then to see bales pop out and land in the trailer- most of the time! 

Once the trailer was full our work began. Safran and Noè pulled the bales off the trailer and put them on a conveyer belt that took them up to the top level of the barn and dropped them on the floor.Jean-Francois, Brittany, Chloé and I grabbed bales and piled them up in different areas of the barn, first in one level, then 2 and eventually 3 or 4 levels in some places. It was hot, hard work and I was proud of myself for being able to keep up, though I did sit out one round. We ended up unloading 6 1/2 trailer loads – approximately 150 bales per trailer. Whew! 

Afterwards we had beer (I opted for lemonade instead), chips and some of Noè’s homemade salsa which was delicious. Safran, Chloe and Brittany smoked roll your own cigarettes, something I haven’t seen since I lived in New Zealand (and then it was only the old guys who smoked them). After we savored our job well done and got a little more energy it was onto evening chores – mine was to feed the pigs and prep their food for tomorrow. Once that was done I took a well deserved hot shower and took it easy. Definitely an early bedtime tonight- I’m pooped!