Birthday

my homemade birthday cake 

I celebrated my 26th birthday on the farm. Normally I'm with family and/or friends on my birthday; this was the first year I was on my own and not particularly excited about it.  But my host family made a big effort to make sure I enjoyed myself, so it ended up being a pretty fun day after all.  In the morning we went to Cluny for the Saturday market and shopping. This was my second visit to the town, and I found it even more beautiful and charming than the first time.  We stopped at a patisserie/chocolaterie for coffee and pastries. You know when something looks delicious, and then you taste it and are disappointed? This was not one of those times.  The pastries all looked so amazing that I was expecting to be let down, but oh my god it was one of the most delicious things I've ever put in my mouth. Ever. I really want to go Cluny again just to try more pastries from this patisserie.

In the afternoon I relaxed around the farm - played with the kids, watched a movie, etc. Karan gave me the TV remote for the day so I actually got to watch TV and a movie (I Love You, Man - it's pretty funny). The boys are usually playing Call of Duty from morning to night, so just having a break from the sound of machine guns and exploding bombs was a birthday present in itself.  For dinner, Karan made an American-themed dinner: hamburgers, onion rings and potato skins. For dessert there was a home-made cake. It was all really good! I received cards from all of the kids, and they made me a plaque and a necklace. Needless to say it was different from how I usually celebrate my birthday, but I had a great day!

American-themed dinner: hamburgers, onion rings and potato skins

Around the farm

A typical day starts around 9 AM - first I water the plants in the poly-tunnel and then go back to the house for breakfast. After breakfast I do whatever tasks Karan asks of me - usually weeding, watering/feeding the animals, or working with the animals. Around noon we break for lunch, and then in the afternoon we do more random jobs or just relax.

Except for a few standard tasks, the work on the farm changes daily (which I love). Today a group of children from the local school came over (they walked! on busy roads! in high heat! that would never have happened at any of my schools) to look at the animals and compare the differences in their fur. Yesterday a prospective buyer came to look at one of the alpacas so we had to catch Romeo, make him look beautiful and get him into the holding pen. Just a few examples of what goes on around here.

And now, here's a tour of La Bergerie:

the house

Aggie, the basset hound

the great danes - Dixie and Gaia

inside the poly-tunnel

grapevine

beets

tomatoes

garden #1 - fennel, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce

garden #2 - overgrown with weeds (in the process of being de-weeded); snap peas, carrots, potatoes, beets

chickens

 pigs

the llamas 

the donkeys - Tabitha and Eeyore

in the alpaca enclosure - putting a harness on Romeo

Joseph leading Romeo

the llamas want to see what's going on

leading Romeo to the holding pen