Last Day With the Goats

I got in a fight today. It was between me, a pitchfork, and a pile of hay. Okay, so the pitchfork was on my side. I was TRYING to feed the goats but the dumb pile of hay wouldn’t give. You know when you’re trying to move a large object (couch, table, etc) by yourself, so you try to get in between that object and the wall? And then? You push with all the strength possible, but the darned thing doesn’t move an inch. That was me except in a different perspective: I was lying on top of the block of hay, using my feet to push the layers down, dislodging them from the entire pile. No such luck. I finally figured that if I pushed at a certain angle, I could make it so that the pile was a bit more manageable. In the end I won. However, the hay didn’t let me get away that easy; the bunch of hay left remnants in and on my clothes, in my hair, but luckily not in my mouth (yuck!).

After the normal routine on the goat farm, a technician came to grade several goats for a future competition. He measured several different parts of the goats, including their udder. Speaking of udders, did you know that you can over milk a goat? Yep. It’s not like the milking machine for cows, which automatically detach from the teats. Instead, goat milking is all manual, wherein we have to pull the machine off and attach it to another udder. If they’re over milked, their udder can get sick. Around 5 today, I’m leaving for my weekend. Again, not sure what I’m doing but I’m sure it won’t involve hay.

My Day

Today I did the same round of milking, feeding, and bedding the goats as well as cleaning up the barn. Afterward, Frederick and I finished the cement wall. Since we were just about done with the wall, we ended up working until all of the mixed cement was done wherein we didn’t eat lunch until 1:15. Afterward I was expecting to do some more work on the farm, but just so happened to have off until the evening milking. There wasn’t really any work to be done anyway since we finished building the walls. Having this time off, Frederick drove me around town showing me several fields of corn, wheat, and grasses as well as a large factory that heats corn, alfalfa, etc into several small nuggets for dispersal to the farm animals. Even more, an artist lives on a farm in this town.  What I mean is that he constructs replicates of larger buildings(churches, Mont-Saint Michel, etc) from small stones, glass, and cement. He’s about 75 years old now, but I believe still constructs these as it is his hobby. Tomorrow is my last day on this farm and then I’m off to stay at a friend’s for the weekend. Not sure what I’m going to do, but a long distance bike ride may very well be in my future!

Day 5 of Rain ….

The controller for the milk included three women, rather than my expected “one man” show. The milking took about 2.5-3 hours, but just the same wasn’t too bad. They hooked up these tubes for measuring the amount of milk each goat gave, collected some into a smaller tube for the lab, and typed all of the data onto a laptop in the milking parlor. Instead of immediately hooking up another goat after milking another, we had to wait for the large tubes to be changed. Otherwise, milk would get mixed and both the components and amount of milk from each goat would be unknown. I worked some more on the cement wall and as of now there are only three more layers of the last wall to do! (I wonder what the next task will be once this is done?) Between yesterday and today, I helped again feed, milk, and chase the goats. I say chase here because there are always young goats that love to escape and then run around in the barn. If they leave the barn, they linger for not even a minute and then run back in the barn. These goats are nothing like the cows; they(the goats- most often the young ones) are extremely curious wherein they will stare at you all day long, try to eat your clothes(so yes I have been “accidentally bitten”), and run everywhere jumping on hay or sneaking in the milking parlor when they’re not supposed to. Cows on the other hand: calm, cool, and collected … sort of. Still, goats are quite silly and annoying when you’re trying to finish a task with several mouths yanking on your clothes.

Luckily, we finished work around 7:15 today and the rain had stopped.  Therefore, I went with a run and Antoine came with me. We had to have run about 2.5 miles in our 22 minutes, wherein we then returned to stretch, wash up, and eat dinner. I was extremely happy for dinner: boiled potatoes, steamed cabbage, carrots, leftover green beans, and broccoli and then boiled eggs and sausage. I ate everything but the sausage. For dessert? Blueberry yogurt J. Here in France dessert is often yogurt, but sometimes something else (what we consider dessert). Well off to bed! Bonne nuit! (Good night!)

Finish vacation and then back to milking the .... GOATS?!?

So the rest of my weekend was filled with … rain :P . Saturday it rained ALL day, but we still all enjoyed ourselves. It turned out that Rozenn’s brother came with his wife, son, and wife’s cousin. Our day involved cooking, eating, playing cards and Rummikub, and talking/telling stories about the past. It was a great day even though we didn’t get outside. Sunday was equally as rainy and windy. So, I went with Rozenn, David, and the girls to the pool! There was a heated pool for the little toddlers, one a bit cooler for laps, and then the main pool: it was heated with fan-like waterfalls spouting out, an area with a fast current – “the river”-, and a seating area with warm hard jets for massaging your back and small cold jets on the seat, in the pool. There was even a slide, and I’m not talking kiddie slide; you could find this at an amusement park it was so long. This place also had a sauna, cold pool for blood circulation, and who knows what else, but that cost extra. The rest of our Sunday included eating lunch with the family and leaving immediately after to avoid traffic. That evening, I helped Rozenn make crepes and then was picked up by Nicolas wherein he dropped me off to my next destination the following Monday.

So now I’m on a farm until Friday evening with goats, rabbits, and a horse. There are 400 goats to be milked, 10 billy goats, and then several young males or females. The milking is definitely not like that of cows. For instance, each goat has only two teats and a smaller udder. In milking, we use one machine per three or four goats. Since they’re not sent out to pasture like the cows, we don’t need to clean their teats so milking is simply hooking them up to the system, manually detaching it, and reattaching to another goat.  The whole milking takes about 1.5-2 hours to do. I must say, goats are a funny animal: they’re very curious and always try to eat anything they can get their mouths on. And that includes your clothing.  So since this is a goat dairy farm, the family of course drinks goat milk. I had it for the first time this morning and it was good!(Not sure if I prefer goat’s or cow’s milk yet … might be cow’s milk, but I’ll decide at the end of the week). The ~30 rabbits here are grown for meat; I feel that the French eat more rabbit than we do, and I still have yet to try it. Their one horse, Royal, used to race, but now spends her time in the pasture. She was a birthday gift for Ervey(the father here) a few years ago and it’s told that she rides fast, so I won’t get the chance to learn how to ride her.

Yesterday I started work immediately after Nicolas dropped me off. I helped Frederick (oldest son of 25) feed the goats and clean up the barn a bit. I also helped dehorn a few goats. For this, imagine a wired cheese slicer, except make it stronger and that’s what you use to dehorn goats. Frederick cut them while either Ervey or I held the goats. Around lunch time, I went to his house to eat with him and his girlfriend, Jessica. Afterward, we had a little break and then went to go work on their cement wall, for the hay barn; this included me, Frederick, Ervey, and Antoine(youngest son of 15). After a café break, around 5:45, we left to milk the goats. In the meantime, Frederick was working on the cement wall some more. Once we finished work for the day, we came back to the house for dinner. That’s when I met Kristin(mom) and Laura(daughter of 23). They both work with chickens, at another location. The mother is quite unique: she loves to chew your ear off and absolutely loves to cook. I think she made 4 meals and a dessert or two last night- not that it was all for dinner... I guess I’ll find out what was tonight?

This morning I started work around 7:25 wherein I helped milk, bed, and feed the goats. I also helped with some more cleaning and cement-wall building. I’ll tell you, there’s a lot of work to do here. It’s great, but I need a good break every once and a while. Ervey also showed me the garden with lots of zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, lettuce, cauliflower, leeks, green onions, and more! (I can’t wait to have a garden of my own- I’ll have lots of fruits, veggies, herbs, and flowers<3) Soon we’ll probably continue with the wall and then milk the goats later on. Today and tomorrow morning there’s someone coming to check and see how much milk each goat gives. You know what that means: a LONG milking process. Might try to steal a nap before I miss my chance. Before I forget, I can’t promise pictures because it seems that the internet here is slow so you’ll all just have to wait! A bientot! Until next time!

Vision!

One of the caves on the farm - for poire and cidre

Didier with his barrels of fermenting Calvados

Me trying to get the calf to eat

Patrick et moi sur le bateau! (on the boat!)

Our 14th of July aperatifs

Foie gras anyone?

Marine(Rozenn's sister), Bruno, and me

Me in a wetsuit! Haha.

I made it up!

One of the boats sailing on the ocean

Our July 14th moon-lit sky

If you look hard enough, you'll see a large strawberry cake in the center, on the top shelf. That's what Rozenn bought everyone for our lunch dessert :)

Our set table for lunch today, out on the terrace

Pork next to our catch from yesterday (makerel)

David with our other catch from yesterday

Tasty Little Treats of Life

Sorry for the delay! I’ve been busy J. This past Sunday was spent touring the mini towns nearby.  One of them was really pretty with flowers and bridges around a lake with paddle boats. There was also a casino, big white church (the look was typical for marriages), huge spa, and several small shops.  Monday and Tuesday were spent mostly lounging around.  I did get a chance to milk the cows, but it only took about 30-45 minutes because of the size of the milking parlor with reference to the number of cows; 6 places twice for 40-45 cows. Since it’s not apple/pear season, there wasn’t much work to do. Tuesday night David came to pick me up. What do you know - I was going back! (to the Baule!!) I spent the night at Rozenn’s and David’s wherein the next day we left for la Baule. We got here around 5:00pm. I figured we would just have dinner and lounge around – not quite. Happily, we(David and Patrick(Rozenn’s Dad)) went on the boat to cast the fish net. We spent a while on the ocean because we had to go to two harbors to fill the boat with gas, as the first one was temperamental; it did not want to accept our card.  When we got back we had dinner, with Rozenn’s parents here this time.  Since there were fireworks at 11pm, we killed time by playing a round of Rummikub. Then, Patrick and Renee(Rozenn’s mom) took the mo-ped, while the rest of us took bikes, to the beach. The firework show lasted about 20 minutes and was trop chouette!!(too cool!) When we were looking for a spot to watch the show, we had to step through several crowds of people and passed tented restaurants situated on the beach. What an experience that would be: to enjoy dinner on the sandy beach, watching the colorful bursts of light in the sky.  The beach itself reminded me of my vacationing back in Florida when every Wednesday and Saturday night crowds of people would come to the beach. Except they came for the drums and dancing. Still, I was taken back to that memory on the warm, lively beach with my family.

Thursday was equally as eventful: in the morning we went to the grocery store to do the shopping before they closed at 1pm, for France’s Independence Day is July 14^th.  While everyone was cooking and setting up for lunch, Rozenn and I went out to the ocean for some fishing on foot. As the ocean was low, we crossed until we reached the middle(of the semi-circular beach) where we started fishing. This fishing included groping for shells in the sand in about a foot of water; we found more large shells this way! We even found two starfish, which I decided to take this time(sorry starfish!). They’re currently DRYING outside. Not even a half an hour later, we returned back to the house in a higher sea level; in the beginning it was up to my belly button but upon our return, it had reached my chest (5-7 inches?). For lunch, we started with champagne and finger foods, followed by foie gras, BBQ’d chicken wings with fingerling potatoes and leftover ratatouille, cheese and bread, and a rhubarb tart for dessert; I will never get tired of French food! (Even though I do miss cooking my gourmet Americana food). No later than 30 minutes, we all took the boat out to check our fish net for any surprises(as that’s how it truly is: you check for treasures). We ended up catching two fish: a ballista/trigger fish and a mackerel. We cast the net again for the next day. Then … we went water skiing!!! I’ve only experienced “water boarding”(snowboarding on water as I forget the name) and it was about 3 years ago with only 2 failed attempts. So I chose the easier route: water skiing – and I made it up too! Of course, the longest time was a little over 10 seconds, but still! Once we returned back to the house, we all took showers and lounged around until dinner. As a personal request, we ate tomates farcies and corgettes farcies(stuffed tomatoes and stuffed zucchini)! They were bursting with flavor, as they were stuffed with sausage and herbs.

After our ever delicious dinner, Rozenn, David, the girls, and I took bikes to the town for the carousel. We then simply walked around, looking at all the little shops. The girls played a bit in the arcade too, paying for a bottle of bubbles with their tickets. We took a detour on our way back to listen to as well as dance to some live music. With 10 minutes to 11pm, we returned back to the house to watch the firework show on the terrace. There were several shows taking place in the middle of the ocean(remember at night the ocean is very low) so that everyone could see a “Happy 14^th of July” firework show.

So far today I know that we’re eating the shells that we caught yesterday and I believe the two fish. We’re also going to reel the fish net back in. Furthermore, tonight I’m going out with Rozenn and David to a restaurant with some of their friends! It’s going to rain tomorrow so I’m going to try to go for a run; hopefully I’ll have time!

Last Picture Post? (For now)

Look at that chocolate art!

In Saint Malo: bottom: macaroons ; top: chocolate

The beach in Saint Malo. You can see the trees that help to break the force of the waves.