Saturday, July 23 - A bientot to the straw houses!

I am up early so I would be able to say au revoir to both Pierlo, Marthe, and Joe.  I had packed almost everything the night before and hope to take a walk before Sandrine comes to take me to Bagnères.  The day starts out very sunny, unlike recent days where we have worked in light rain and gray skies.  

Here's a squash I haven't previously seen.

I use a screwdriver to try to remove the debris from my boots, not relizing that the bottom of one of the boots has become detached.  I finally get most of the dirt and stones out.

I clean the caravan as best I can as it gets pretty dusty and dirty with the kind of work we do.

I don't eat breakfast except for coffee as I plan to eat a big breakfast once I got to Bagnères.

I don't feed the chickens either as there still are many of the black grains on the stone driveway.

The larger rooster tries to get my attention but I tell him to eat the dark colored grains.

Finally I move my suitcase out.

Then I go up to the second floor of the straw house and sit for a time reading and looking out on the splendid view.

I think of all I've learned - not enough to build my own house, but how to live in a community of workers from different backgrounds plus participate in the life of two French families, each with their own customs.  I thought I was flexible when I arrived, but I think my flexibility has greatly increased as I became part of this exciting project of eco-architecture.

My hat is off to Pierlo and his family and Dominique and her family for making all of us feel welcome.  Later this same day I met a couple of French women in a laundry in Bagnères and after I told them of my experience, they both wanted to see the houses where I had worked.  Unfortunately the time available took us only as far as Dominique's house where she chatted for a time, explained the project, and invited us for tea.  I wish my new friends could have also visited Pierlo's house, but since one of them takes care of her aging mother, we could not go the extra distance to make that visit.

I hear from Wwoofer Joe, that Pierlo's family is now living in the house and that Joe helped to put the bales of straw into Dominque's roof.  Thank you again to everyone with whom I participated in this exciting venture.

The dirt will wash off and the hands will heal, but the experience will never leave me!  You see, its's not always the locations you dream of visiting, the adventures you hope to have, or even the images you take away in your mind and on film - it's really about the people you meet.

Hélène

And when I arrived in Paris, I was happy to find this café at the end of my street.  Though I haven't eaten there yet, it reflects my attitude here in Paris and forever.

Friday, July 22 - Part XV - 2 straw houses

Early in the morning Marion reports she has found that some of the chickens have been laying eggs in the neighbor's barn.  Originally there was no place close to the house for them so they began straying up to the barn.  Then Pierlo build a little chicken coop just outside the house and the chickens have been laying their eggs there.  But Marion thinks there should be more eggs than there are, so she goes up to where they used to lay them and finds one of the hens sitting on a nest.  What sneaky chickens!

When Marion looks in the nest, she finds about a dozen eggs!  She leaves two and takes the rest for us to eat.

Here's the dominant rooster fleeing with some of the other chickens.

Well, I got up here so I must be able to get down!  Et bien, je suis monteé ici, je dois pouvoir descendre! Je viens d'apprendre comment créer des accents en français avec mon ordinateur Apple!

When I arrive, I find Marion sitting on Robert.

Upon arrival at Dominique's, we find part of the other crew has already begun work.  The others have gone off to the market to do the week's marketing with Patrick.

After lunch we do some gardening and I find a spider in the woodpile.  I also slide down into a hole but the grass protects me from harm.  Anyone good at spider identification?

And finally there is a "party" to celebrate the new level the house construction has reached.  Magda provides the beer and because all three of us who live at Pierlo's are leaving, everyone is exchanging e-mail addresses.

This time Ma rides up front with me as there are some tools in the trunk.  Pierlo warns me that she will try to climb up in my lap.

She inches up a little more but I feel like she is hugging me good-bye.

We stop to see the veterinary as there was a minor incident during the day where someone dropped by at Dominique's with her daughter.   The youngster, about 7, didn't seem to know how to interact with Ma who is indeed very gentle.  It seems that Ma doesn't like little children as she was abused when she was a pup.  Apparently the young child insisted on playing with Ma when it was obvious Ma didn't want to play.  Apparently Ma snapped at the little girl but the skin was not broken.  Since the woman made a fuss and just to be safe, Pierlo wanted to get a blood sample so that if any action were taken, he would have proof that Ma was healthy.

These were the flowers in the vet's garden.

There was a pickup gram of ball while we were waiting.

At home the chickens looked hungry.  Sometimes Pierlo didn't feed them in the morning as there was a certain type of black grain they didn't like to eat but was good for them.  So he waited until evening to feed them.  The only problem with this method was that the hungry chickens would sneak into the garden and eat the just ripening tomatoes.  I was sad to report that several tomatoes had been partially consumed.  Death by pecking!

When Pierlo feeds the chickens at night, I notice he feeds them by hand.  One reason is that the non-dominant rooster doesn't get enough to eat if someone doesn't stand in the middle of the flock to separate him from his larger rival.  I have been feeding them by hand since Ana left and find that each day they come closer and one has even begun eating from my hand.

Marion didn't care much for the "ugly" one, yet it is she who is the most bold.  She eats right out of my hand.  Her pecking is pretty hard, but never really breaks the skin.  When Marion sees me feeding them by hand, she decides to try as well.  But the other chickens are not as adventuresome as Mademoiselle "ugly."  In fact, there was talk of ending her earthly existence to take her place as the main guest for lunch, a guest who would in fact feed the family.  I said I had experience as a child killing our chickens, but somehow we never get around to ending Miss Ugly's days.

I didn't say a formal good-bye as I would see Pierlo in the early morning when he took Joe and Marthe to the plane and train, respectively.  Then Sandrine was to pick me up later in the morning to drive me to Bagnères where I have reserved a hotel room for a week.