August 28,
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| Hair Done |
Hi All,
I just wanted to put some photos out and tell those on the US east coast that I'm thinking of you. On the way from Paris to Laroque where our farm is, Les got his hair cut and beard trimmed. He was ready to work in the heat!
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| Before |
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| A real French barber |
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| View from nearby hill |
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| Namua at Dinner |
The two other WWOOFers (Deniesse and Jessica) picked us (Michael, Les and me) up from Laroque and drove us up the hill to a beautiful family farm with gardens, chickens, 4 dogs, many cats and some bees up the hill.
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| #1 son Steven and Michael |
Namua is the maven of the farm and cooks us SPLENDID vegan meals. She is very passionate about those who do not have the power or voice to make the kind of choices that we do that affect the world, and she does her best to nourish those she touches with the least harm she can manage. She makes her own soymilk, dog food, bread every day, and delicious sauces including a yummy garlic mayonnaise and a sauce to imitate cheese on pizza made with sunflower seeds, tamari and nutritional yeast, with a little water.
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| The farm house (see the little trailer on the left? That's where we stay) |
Her three sons are here: the eldest erects and strikes tents for tourists in Italy and he used to write music, the youngest is a lifeguard at a campsite pool, and the middle one had some head injury in a terrible car accident and since has been a bit odd, in that he comes around to eat and drink and sits in his car and plays rap music and smokes most of the day. He and his mom have a strained relationship, and his social skills are very low. I don't think he's dangerous.
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| Jessica |
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| Michael and Jessic |
Our jobs on maintenance have included emptying the compost toilets and bringing in the sawdust to put over the feces, cleaning windows, the frig, oven, sweep/mop the floor and "Hoovering" the pool. We also water the lower and upper garden every night and day. The other team has been emptying one caravan (camping trailer) of books (Namua has a business selling books), and building a chicken coop out of old pallets.
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| Turnip the cat |
Michael and Jessica went to market on Saturday to sell books. While they were there, I made bread and soymilk, fed the chickens (the rooster pecked me!) and collected eggs, along with doing laundry. This morning I also fed the dogs and cats, helped to do the morning dog walk, and have been sorting some of the books that have been moved into a shed.
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| He helps weed |
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| ...and kneed |
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| Big Ben (I keep calling "Luke" from the EW neighborhood) the dad dog(?) |
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Freya, the mom dog
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| Up the hill, a church ruin |
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| "Penguin" the Rooster |
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| Hiking up the hill |
Two more WWOOFers will arrive Tuesday and we will find out what to do in the olive groves then. Les and I are planning to take a day and go to the ocean maybe Thursday? Friday? It's a pretty great way to spend a sabbatical, I must say!
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| Building the coop |
Two more WWOOFers will arrive Tuesday and we will find out what to do in the olive groves then. Les and I are planning to take a day and go to the ocean maybe Thursday? Friday? It's a pretty great way to spend a sabbatical, I must say!
I am loving this experience!
