Curtains

The first anniversary of my mum's death in two days time. Time to remember her by sowing curtains with her lovely sowing machine. I finally have to learn to do stuff like this, now she can't do it anymore.

I've been feeling her peeking over my shoulder: Oh no this is not straight, oh no, don't you need to pin that first? And I bet she wished she'd also put some green string in with it.. Anyway, they're up, great fun, thanks mum!

Also thanks to Hansa who bought the fabric, not our first choice - green, but it actually looks allright.

Colds and snow

Greetings one and all...

Another month slips by as we descend into the winter depths, Thursday's market saw the first flurries of snow and today on my way to French it tried again...not enough to stay around (much to the twins dismay) but a signal that the winter has arrived and snow will happen at some stage (next Tuesday according to the forecast)...
Have met some lovely people of late, Simon, Audrey and the crew and this week Steve, Ali & wee Erin... although this is against the background of heavy colds, coughs and aches (not something I have had much in NZ)..Charlie especially has not been right for awhile...this has kept them out of school but in actual fact they have finished at Plouye (no-one knows as we are not brave enough to face Madame le Mat..!!)...There is a commonly held belief here that, as a parent you have the right to choose the school you wish your children to attend. However, in reality, I think we have to crawl, cap in hand to the Plouye Marie (he who holds all power in our commune..ie the person not to piss off) and tell him of our decision and seek his blessing to move.
We shall aim for somewhere in the middle (very diplomatic!), go and see him yet be firm on what we want for the kids...quite different if we were local of course...
What with sickness and cold, dark nights the hemp rendering has slowed considerably, I am 3/4 through the second coat and so may get the last one on before Xmas...
I have decided to head over to the UK for a week in December to catch up with Sian before she heads to NZ to thaw out..she will be 21(!! amazing really) on the 11th, is in Bristol on the 15th and so I shall catch her then...
Other than that no real news as everything slows to a survival pulse, the sap is sinking and first waves of the hibernative coma are felt....perhaps we shall post again when the days lengthen!

ZZzzzzz

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.