So, we have survived week one of the WWOOFING experience, intact, happy, rather relaxed and even a bit sunkissed! It feels like we have got the hang of the place we are living in, have got to know the family and how the house runs which is probably the key to making sure the experience is a good one. The old rambling house turns out to be one full of surprises - Xavier had his own marble business and in fact the kitchen and bathroom have some amazing bits of marble "furniture" (sinks etc). There is also an amazing power shower (also in marble) and Wifi in the house, two things that just seem to make life a little nicer. Also makes me realise what I consider to be some of my own comforts (Andy has just said he didn't really notice the shower). The food I would say is unusual and things are often eaten day after day until they are finished, a bid to not waste anything, which in general had not been a problem as there are usually several things on the go at once. I think I am rather lucky being a veggie as the French are not renowned for embracing vegetarianism, but it has not been an issue at all here.
So it is a little bit like a womble palace where nothing seems to get thrown away or wasted (hence the stuff everywhere type feeling - yes, and I am one to talk!) but also with quite a few creature comforts. The central heating doesn't work, but there is a lovely log fire. And we have been so lucky with the weather - lovely and hot every day (except the first one where I spent the morning gardening in the rain). We also have the room above the kitchen above the fire which makes it quite cosy. The bed is warm and I think generally we have everything we need.
Our hosts are easy to get on with and we have discovered that they are happy to share a glass of wine with us (lucky my aunt and uncle gave us a box of wine to take with us!). We have spent a couple of evenings chatting to our hosts after the kids have gone to bed and getting to know them a bit better. It is a really good feeling to break the ice over a few glasses of wine and make each other laugh (even if it is often over our use of each others' languages). I get the impression that for France their choice of lifestyle is way out there, but actually from a UK perspective they are not so unusual, apart maybe from living in such an isolated space.
So, what have we actually been doing? Well, between us Andy and I have harvested green beans, parsely, mint, apples, walnuts, chestnuts; collected a load of fire wood; erected a few hundred metres of various types of fence - wire mesh, barbed wire, electric wire. There are 2 donkeys and sheep on the land - these all seem to have the function of mobile lawn mowers and generally seem to take care of themselves. Andy and Xavier also built a wood shed for all the firewood. We have also washed up, cooked (I did a Nepali curry yesterday) and generally helped round the house and looked after all the kids(sometimes pretty hard work). Tegan has been mostly playing (with/alongside or without Elise and Lucien), but also helping us to gather fire wood, apples and walnuts. She has had her monents of feeling a bit insecure and hasn't had so many daily sleeps, although has been sleeping well at night. She can say merci and bonjour and despite the fact she calls Lucien "Lucy" and Elise "Ellen" she seems to get on reasonably well with the children.
We found time for an afternoon off yesterday afternoon where we went down the 14 hairpin bends to the local village of Sarrancolin and the village up the valley of Arreau. Both very pretty places, particularly so in the sun. In fact the majority of the week has been bright blue skies and in this weather the mountains and view from here looks absolutely amazing. We have the whole day off tomorrow so we may go exploring a bit further afield.
It is definately not that easy living in someone else's space, but it seems like we have worked out how we fit in to a greater or lesser extent. Tegan seems happy with the large amount of places to play and things to do and is starting to settle into the way we are managing out time. It is quite different having so much time to spend with her, but definitely a positive thing. We showed her photos of all her grandparents today and she named them all without hesitation, and didn't seem upset, so it probably feels a bit like another one of our crazy holidays to her.
And onto week two..........
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The end of week 1
So, we have survived week one of the WWOOFING experience, intact, happy, rather relaxed and even a bit sunkissed! It feels like we have got the hang of the place we are living in, have got to know the family and how the house runs which is probably the key to making sure the experience is a good one. The old rambling house turns out to be one full of surprises - Xavier had his own marble business and in fact the kitchen and bathroom have some amazing bits of marble "furniture" (sinks etc). There is also an amazing power shower (also in marble) and Wifi in the house, two things that just seem to make life a little nicer. Also makes me realise what I consider to be some of my own comforts (Andy has just said he didn't really notice the shower). The food I would say is unusual and things are often eaten day after day until they are finished, a bid to not waste anything, which in general had not been a problem as there are usually several things on the go at once. I think I am rather lucky being a veggie as the French are not renowned for embracing vegetarianism, but it has not been an issue at all here.
So it is a little bit like a womble palace where nothing seems to get thrown away or wasted (hence the stuff everywhere type feeling - yes, and I am one to talk!) but also with quite a few creature comforts. The central heating doesn't work, but there is a lovely log fire. And we have been so lucky with the weather - lovely and hot every day (except the first one where I spent the morning gardening in the rain). We also have the room above the kitchen above the fire which makes it quite cosy. The bed is warm and I think generally we have everything we need.
Our hosts are easy to get on with and we have discovered that they are happy to share a glass of wine with us (lucky my aunt and uncle gave us a box of wine to take with us!). We have spent a couple of evenings chatting to our hosts after the kids have gone to bed and getting to know them a bit better. It is a really good feeling to break the ice over a few glasses of wine and make each other laugh (even if it is often over our use of each others' languages). I get the impression that for France their choice of lifestyle is way out there, but actually from a UK perspective they are not so unusual, apart maybe from living in such an isolated space.
So, what have we actually been doing? Well, between us Andy and I have harvested green beans, parsely, mint, apples, walnuts, chestnuts; collected a load of fire wood; erected a few hundred metres of various types of fence - wire mesh, barbed wire, electric wire. There are 2 donkeys and sheep on the land - these all seem to have the function of mobile lawn mowers and generally seem to take care of themselves. Andy and Xavier also built a wood shed for all the firewood. We have also washed up, cooked (I did a Nepali curry yesterday) and generally helped round the house and looked after all the kids(sometimes pretty hard work). Tegan has been mostly playing (with/alongside or without Elise and Lucien), but also helping us to gather fire wood, apples and walnuts. She has had her monents of feeling a bit insecure and hasn't had so many daily sleeps, although has been sleeping well at night. She can say merci and bonjour and despite the fact she calls Lucien "Lucy" and Elise "Ellen" she seems to get on reasonably well with the children.
We found time for an afternoon off yesterday afternoon where we went down the 14 hairpin bends to the local village of Sarrancolin and the village up the valley of Arreau. Both very pretty places, particularly so in the sun. In fact the majority of the week has been bright blue skies and in this weather the mountains and view from here looks absolutely amazing. We have the whole day off tomorrow so we may go exploring a bit further afield.
It is definately not that easy living in someone else's space, but it seems like we have worked out how we fit in to a greater or lesser extent. Tegan seems happy with the large amount of places to play and things to do and is starting to settle into the way we are managing out time. It is quite different having so much time to spend with her, but definitely a positive thing. We showed her photos of all her grandparents today and she named them all without hesitation, and didn't seem upset, so it probably feels a bit like another one of our crazy holidays to her.
And onto week two..........
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