Big river

These photos Rod took after heavy heavy rain. We went down to see if John's cottage was still there. The river was so big that it came only 10 meters from the little house. Advantage of the river being so high is that Marley doesn't take of, it's tricky to cross at the moment.

After the rain a few nights of frost, and now back to rain again...

chanvre

From one sort of relationship to another... France is known for it's attachment and use of hemp, seeds for their oil and nutrition and the straw for it's many building qualities. Since Dupoint kindly kicked the hemp to touch in the 50s (to ensure the success of it's new synthetics in the US) we potentially lost an amazing resource. Sure, the advent of the 60s ensured it's survival yet also and ironically ensured it's isolation...
It took the French to develop and subsequently license five seed strains of cannabis that are virtually THC free and therefore 'okay' to grow for their products. So it is not unusual to come across small fields of what appears to be something we may see on a documentary in the foot hills of Vietnam, yet to the locals this is just chanvre.
One of the (many) wonders of hemp is it's ability to thrive without need of chemical intervention, produce bountiful seeds full of omega rich oil and a straw that is an incredible insulate, both thermally and acoustically. It is this that first caught my attention for here we had 700mm stone walls, stripped of a suffocating layer of cement render yet in need of covering. Hemp, when chopped and mixed with water and lime (looks alot like tuna mayo at this stage) makes the perfect answer...
The walls can breath through the render, it is a by product of a very eco crop, provides insulation second to none. looks fantastic (soft, rounded, thick...pictures will appear soon) and is lovely to work with, applying by hand, moulding on the wall...something very old and satisfying is felt...
I am sure this product would be a a big hit in NZ yet it would need to be grown there to ensure it is sustainable...maybe once mr key and his cronnies have gone?
So this is exciting stuff for us as the kitchen starts to lose that ruin look (which was really beginning to wear me down!)...yet with much shorter days now and still the same amount of other stuff to do it seems it may take some time to complete...

So here comes our first winter, stacks of wood in the shed (I still find it amazing that the previous people had little or no wood system other than burning it green), the next thing to do is try my hand at nettle beer. Made a lovely nettle soup last weekend and before it all gets zapped by the frosts I think a beer will be a fitting end. We did spend a day last Sunday at Debbie and Duncan's helping them with their annual cider pressing. It would seem that the (apparent!?) dryness of the summer has meant that the apples are short on juice, suffice to say it was tough going.
I shall not mention my struggle with French other than it is...as to how long it will take me to get to a place of being able to hold a conversation is unclear. there are some that give me hope, my friend Hilka (sells flowers on the market) chats away in French and all learnt at street level but she has been here 20 years!
What with the language and therefore reliance on Heleen to provide the sharp end of an income I have had a difficult week in my head. A lot of anxiety re the future, economic vulnerability etc. and the prospect of remaining quite powerless to influence this from here... however, as with most things in sitting with it I notice that being here accentuates the reality of our lives...as we get older the options are reduced and so I can not so easily fool myself with thoughts of endless time.... I am beginning to think that France may well become quite a meditation for me!
Still no news on the green beans, have found a place in Tilbury and Antwerp, Tilbury I guess is slightly easier yet the irony is not missed that I could have delivered to Albany, organic, fair trade beans cheaper than here in Europe (go figure)...
Time for bed said Zebaddy, all those reading this from the fair isles of NZ..enjoy the spring, I do miss you all and hope to see you at some stage of this particular journey...

R

Mammie on holiday

Last Thursday I went on a little holiday 'all by my own'. Alibi was the seminar of paardenbegrijpen, an organisation that promotes the art of academic riding that I follow on the internet. It's been the first time in almost 7 years I've been to the Netherlands for 'pleasure'. And it's been a pleasure overall, but with some difficulties to get around and back...

Thursday night Liesbeth picked me up. It's so nice to see here so happy and relaxed! Great to be able to visit the Netherlands without a huge jetlag...

In the morning she dropped me of at the station and I went to Arnhem where Jolanda, another french member of the horseclub, picked me up. The day was held in a stable that was set up with a lot of space for the horses to wander around as a herd. The place had several feed cabins similar to those in cow sheds that repond to the microchip of the horses. Very high tech!

The seminar consisted of 9 demonstrations of squires showing all the levels of work starting with the basics of the in hand training of a young horse to the advanced work like canter pirouettes with an more experienced horse. Very useful to see and hear the explanation. Great to see all the people I only know from the forum.

All of a sudden the day was over and almost everybody left! A bit of a missed opportunity maybe. It would have been great if everybody had stayed for drinks and chats, but the pouring rain made everybody rush to their cars... Felice and I went to have dinner. I really enjoyed getting to know her better and maybe we can email a bit more in the future...

Saturday Joyce gave me a riding lesson on a very experienced stallion. A bit overwhelmed by cold and all the new impressions it took a little while before I really got into it. Then a mare entered the arene and we decided to continue our lesson on another horse, Roko (not a stallion...). It doesn't really matter what horse you're on if your teacher is good you will learn something.

I had a real eye opener. Joyce made me feel the different influences my seat has and how any tension in me is responded to by a change (for the worse) in the horse. At the end of the session I felt I really had found a missing key in my horse riding skills! Great stuff, worth every cent. Thank you Joyce!

I came back downtown Arnhem and it was incredibly busy... to find there where no trains at all that day. By bus and train back to Amsterdam. A new public transport ticketing system makes it not easy for tourists like me. By that time I felt pretty exhausted by the whole urban experience. Is it me, or is it really so much more overcrowded everywhere?

Sunday I had a lovely day with Liesbeth and Quint. First I had a chance to practice my 'new seat' on her horse and wow it worked! I've never really felt this kind of being in balance on and with a horse! I could even do very nice flying changes, stuff I only know in theory!

In the afternoon we went on their Harleys to the beach. I love that sound and that feeling of strong engines nicely tucked in lots of layers of clothes and leather. But Gee, very 300 meter there is another red traffic light. Lots and lots of traffic, even on a Sunday afternoon.

Monday another nice social day: Breakfast wit h Hilmar, a quick visit to the dentist, shopping with Ineke, coffee with Alan. So Nice to see everybody, picking up the friendship as if I'd never been away.

With Jan to Lelystad to visit his new horse: A beautiful young mare with very long legs. Interesting also to be able to guess what side she would prefer by just looking at her feet!

My flight was delayed due to the strikes. Tuesday I had a quiet day, reading a book and visiting a museum. Sounds boring? Not for mums with four year olds!

Wednesday morning I had the change to visit Saskia and her baby twins. They were so adorable and so calm! But I had to run again, to the plane... Everything seemed to be on time, boarding was slow, waiting for fuel. Then more then an hour on the runway.

The ladies on the plane reassured me that there were hardly any planes on time. They advised me to run for it! So I did... CDG is a very very big airport. The plane had left. And by the time I had found a phone Rod and the kids had left too to pick me up. I felt so bad! Staff tried everything to get the people in Brest to make Rod phone them, but no luck there.

Rod's gone home after two hours. I arrived around 11. My only option was a taxi. The lovely taxidriver gave me a good price and we chatted french the whole way back.

So nice to be home, have cuddles and funny chats with the kids.

A bit sick

The flu (or was it just a cold?) has knocked us all down over the past few days. In the night we were all coughing and sneezing en gurgeling and snorting in our little marae style bedroom...

Now the kids are back to school now and seem to be ok with their runny noses, and Rod and me are well enough to chip away on the building site. The new front door is in place. Rod's taken the floor out and this week we've taken a thick layer of concrete and pizzeria style plaster of the walls. The space is starting to breath again. We're basically stripped it back to the stable it once was. You can even see where the cows were standing and lying down in the way the concrete on the floor is cracked and worn.

Now the fun bit can begin: Plastering the whole lot again...

Our little tractor Hector is sick too. Hopefully Rod will be able to fix it, but the poor thing just doesn't seem strong enough for our big land and our tough grass...

We have a little guest: Pillou, the tiny maltese dog of our crazy neighbour Joelle. That she has stolen our wallet we can sort of forgive her, but that she has left her dog (and cats) while she is going away for half a year we find absolutely disgusting. We didn't really know what to do about it until last night.



It was as he was politely waiting for our invitation, lying on the road looking this way. I called him and he came running down the road. He enjoyed a bath and a haircut (one big stinky felted woolen flea bale he was. Oops I cut his ear) and he has completely moved in. Our dogs love him, so no problems. But we weren't exactly looking for a third dog...

Lola has started to sing french songs without words, but her pronounciation is beautiful. We've done some recording today, that was a great game!

Rain, rain, rain....

So, we slipped into October and it started to rain..yet to stop!!! I think this is day four but you tend to lose track of time after awhile (didn't read this in the small print LOL). The amazing aspect of all this being the lack of mud, by now in Waitoki the infamous clay would have liquefied to trench-like conditions. I suspect it is the stone in the ground that allows drainage so within half a day of raining the ground is almost dry..shall see how this is January perhaps.

The clocks are yet to change so it is quite difficult to get up early enough for school, markets etc. I think they go back at the end of this month... suffice to say the chickens are not quite so demanding in the mornings!! I appear to have lost two over the last wee while, I found a hole in the fence in spite of a knee locking electric wire just alongside..a hungry fox I presume, I think owning a shotgun will be handy but first I need to take a test (of course in French) so it maybe sometime before I can tackle that.

I am happy to report I have found someone up the road who is selling his whole bee keeping operation (has developed an allergy..can happen so it appears) so I have bought three hives, extractor, suit, smoker, bees and many other bits. I shall pick it all up when the temperature drops so the bees are quiet! I am both excited and a little nervous but having read about them for awhile I feel it is time to get on with it..

Markets are going well in spite of my shockingly poor French, some people are not amused but on the whole they seem to be okay with my stumblings.. occasionally I get to say something that is understood and this feels great. The organic market has finished for the summer so I am back at Carhaix, between here and Huelgoat I manage to sell around 9 trays. I imagine the girls will take a break over winter as I do not plan to install lights etc. I feel they give enough over the year so a well deserved rest is fine with me.

The renovations are slow at the moment, I think it is something to do with doing it alone, quite unmotivating at times and overwhelming..although I do think it is a particular stage as everything is a mess. Once a few things such as a floor are in place the rest will follow. Also aware that the cold is soon to arrive and therefore this limits how much I can remove at a time.

Last Sunday I went to an artisan market in Locarn, there I met a chap who grows industrial hemp for oil, foods etc. He is always looking for people to grow some as he needs more seed than he can grow..After DuPont effectively killed the industry in the 50s France developed 5 strains of hemp that are have a zero THC rating and they now supply hemp growers worldwide. The great thing about hemp is that it requires no chemical intervention and of course the whole plant can be used. He would want to buy the seed at approx €1/kg (getting approx a tonne/ha) that leaves us with the straw...very good for building/insulation. Shall keep you posted on this one but it does sound like a great way to use some of our land and something that NZ should be growing by the truck load...

All in all we are well as we settle in for our first winter, have missed the boat for many things in the garden but we knew this would be the case on year one. Next year I shall have more time (and contacts) to get a plan together, hopefully will have built a glasshouse/potting shed that will give us the ability to grow many things we currently cannot...

Still no news on green beans so I shall have to stop selling coffee and just roast it for us. I reckon the best approach would be to have a mobile coffee machine at the markets etc. although the French are not so keen to stroll and drink/eat I am sure enough will try it and discover coffee can actually taste so good. Will require quite an outlay if it is truly mobile such as the machinery etc. but I shall think about it for awhile..perhaps I can incorporate it into my market stand or my landrover!!

Okay that is enough for now (the rain has stopped!) I shall attempt to post a couple of pics re the 'kitchen'....

R

PS Kids are doing much better in school. They are now speaking 'fake french' to each other and Lola was correcting Rod's pronunciation the other day. Funny.

I don't like the teacher :-(

Going back to school hasn't been easy for poor little Lo! Just before summer holidays their lovely teacher Cecile had left. In the new year C&L found out they'd moved up one class, from petite section to moyenne. And there they were also faced with a new teacher: Genevieve, la directrice. Oops

It is probably not an easy job to teach 28 kids ranging from 4 to 8 all at once, but she's done it for over 20 years. After two days Lola was terrified because Mme le Mat yelled at her. Lola peed in her pants, got nightmares about a giant chicken pecking her toes "because she didn't know the word".

The teacher tried to convince me that I just had to let go of the kids (They are big now!) and put them in school all day, just like all the other kids. That would solve the problem! It's a bit like breaking in a horse the old fashioned way: to swim or to sink. Well, we have different ideas about it. The kids can go full days when they decide they want it.

My french is not good enough for politeness stuff. But I managed to tell the teacher that Lola loves going to school, but that she is scared of her. Back at home Lola made a drawing for the teacher to 'make her like her'. With a beautiful monster (?!) and 'Pour Genevieve' written on it.

Now most days Lola runs out of the school smiling and happy: 'The teacher didn't yell at me!'.

Charlie is not at all impressed by anything it seems. His colouring in style is just covering the whole lot with a thick layer of crayon, giving everybody a big smile and then getting on with what he likes best: His tractor.

After lunch C&L go back to school for half an hour for some extra french with the same teacher and just two other kids. That will improve their relationship too I think. And prepare them for going all day at some stage.

I wait in the car and read a french book. After they are finished I see them racing around in the square with scooters and little bikes. I ask them if they want to stay for the afternoon. No, they say. This is not where we live! We will die here because there is no food! (Actually, there is a lovely lunch in school, I'd like to eat there myself!)

I don't think it will take long before they decide to stay. In the afternoon they do more fun things in school like gym, painting and singing. In the morning it is mainly hard work with drawing, cutting and glueing.

French education has a good name, but till now it (she) feels all a bit rigid to us.

- - - -

In the mean time Rod is just working - working - working. The whole left side of the house is stripped on the inside and has now a big door to the garden en a small window where the sink will be. I ordered a new front door, but it opened the wrong way, so we have to wait another 3 weeks before the new door arrives...

I've been doing some 'pointing' at the back of the fireplace. With sand and lime filling in the gaps between the stones. I really like it! I am going to start at the outside of the house now, trying to do a bucket per day and working my way around.

Last night I had a first ride out on Milo: all by himself out on the tracks, through the river and round, ending up at our neighbours' place for a break and a chat. He is standing nice and still with mounting and doesn't worry about things too much. All the gentle work of the last three years is paying of. I'm so proud of my horse! (and me!)

Autumn

Hiya

Well, here we are in September, the last of the tourists have headed home and we are left to prepare for winter... beautiful sunny days at the moment to assist in our wood collection, finishing off the harvest and then contemplating the rather large job of the redesigning the house!
I have had the Rayburn sandblasted and it is now resprayed (not a bad job for my first one) and this week I have been collecting large pieces of old, thick slate that will be our kitchen floor. Having searched and researched woodburners, decided to buy a British Hunter...this looked likely to cost the best part of €1,000...tomorrow I am picking up a 3 year old one after my market in Carhaix for €350...very nice indeed..
I have finished recladding one of the barns (pics to follow), will finish it off with stable doors and then the focus will be on the house. As to how much we can achieve before winter is the question, I am starting to feel alittle worn out and looking forward to a winter rest (a Tui ad I suspect!)
However, winter will be the time I shall get ready for my bees, have decided to buy a (French) traditional hive and build a top bar hive so I can see the difference. Mick (of Gambia fame) is briefly back and has both experience and preference re bee hives so there is plenty for me to digest. I am reading beekeeping for dummies right now which is a lovely broad stroke guide....
A big mention to a lovely Belgium couple, Linda and Thierry...they have introduced me into the fascinating world of Belgium beer...oh boy what stunning beer it is. Also rekindling my desire to own and be able(!) to ride an old Harley..lovely.
Charlie and Lola are back at school yet the teacher now wanting them to go fulltime, we both think they are too young so we shall have to wait and see if we can hold the line! I really can not see they need fulltime school this year, we are not obliged by law so if the school insists we shall find another in the area..
All in all life is good here in Kervelen, kids are happy, the land is fertile, we have met some lovely people..if only I could crack the speaking French part..lentement!