Cabbages and beets - Friday - Normandeliere

Time to introduce you to Maas, a loyal friend and helper.  Last year sometime, I saw part of a national dog show and remember having seen some Beaucerons, not a breed I knew anything about.  Here in Bretignolles, I learned that the Beaucerons are excellent herding dogs.  They are very loyal, but it is preferable to train them to have only one master.  Since David is the chief herder of the Normandeliere goats, it is David who took Maas to training.  Sometimes Maas is a little too forceful with some of the goats who get out of line, but when David speaks to him, he obeys.

Here is Natalie again with Melissa to start a new day.  Melissa is anticipating her daily ration of butter.

And for me the new day brings a new job - first driving the tractor with the hoe attached to chop the weeds beginning to appear between the rows of beets.  These beets as well as the cabbages I helped plant, gives the goats a welcome addition to their winter ration of hay.  David had again asked me drive the tractor while he sat behind to see that the blades were doing their job removing the small but noxious weeds.  

We didn't get much done as soon it was time to stop to prepare lunch.  It was decided that in the afternoon Helline would drive the tractor and I would take on the job of using the hand-held hoe the next day to make sure the weeds close to each plant were removed.   Now all that remained was for me to hoe the field of beets right next to the cabbages you can see behind me.  I can tell you that if it looks like pretty long rows, it was!  This was just one of those jobs David just didn't have time to do.  He was profuse in his thanks for my taking it on.

It was not difficult, but as I looked across the field, I knew it would be a hot and tedious task.  In half of each row, the soil is so hard it is sometimes quite a chore to differentiate a stone from a piece of soil!

When I had finished a few rows, I stopped at the far side of the field where the beets are planted and used my telephoto lens to check on the goats in far pasture.  A couple of them noticed I was looking at them, but the rest kept munching on their semi-dry grass caused by the present lack of rain.

I also checked on the cabbages.  The watering had not been completed and many still looked as if they wouldn't make it through the hot, dry spell.

Time for another lunch so Helline has picked a huge head of lettuce.  Food is simple here, mostly from the garden - lots of zucchini, rice; plenty of apples, plums and especially bright red cherries.  Everyone snacks on the fruit throughout the day.  

There are also plenty of onions and of course they also have garlic in their garden.  Wine is served at the main meal anywhere from 1:30 to 2:30, whenever work in the fromagerie is finished.  It's the cleanup of all the molds, cases, milk cans that takes a lot of time after all the cheese has been molded and some set in the cold room to age.  There is also the planning of how many cheeses (and exactly what kind) have been sold so that the right number of each can be made to replace those that have been sold at market.  It is usually David who does the cooking as he finishes the milking job before Natalie can finish all the work involved in the cheese making.  Sometimes he goes in to help her finish the cleanup.  After lunch everyone has some quiet time and then of course, for David and Natalie there are other tasks to do before milking again at 5:30.  One of these tasks is running the tractor with the hoe on the back to keep the weeds out of the beets and cabbages.  The next day I would continue with the hand hoeing.

But this afternoon I had been invited to visit Natalie's painting class in Sables d'Olonne, a much larger town (more touristy as well) about 1/2 hour from Bretignolles.  There is a fishing port there as well as many sailboats.  Sables d'Olonne is actually, in terms of tonage, the 4th largest port in France!  Near the end of my visit to Betignolles, Odette and I joined an early morning tour of the fish market (in a later blog).  Below are some of the sailboats docked near where we parked the car on the way to the painting class.  There is a pedestrian walkway closed to motorized vehicles so we had a bit of a walk.

This was my first look at the beautiful beach.  It was the finest sand I have ever squeezed between my toes (I took a walk after my drawing was completed).  It is quite a popular beach because of its fine sand but you can see that the hoards of tourists have yet to arrive (July and August).  We leave the car about a 7-minute walk from the apartment where the painting lessons are held.

There is a merry-go-round there, but it is not a very old one.

There is also a swimming pool

with salt water.

It looks inviting, but being based in Bretignolles, I would not be able to swim here.

This is the view from the apartment used for the painting class.  It is owned by Christine's (the artist who gives the lessons) parents.  Most of those in the class started about 10 years ago and all are accomplished painters.  I had only planned to draw as I had brought few supplies with me from the States.  The last time I had done any drawing was one of the years when I took a group of Lasell students to Mexico.  I wondered it I would be able to make good use of the 3-hour class.

The apartment is an old one (2nd apt in the picture).  I was told that many of the old apartments have been torn down to make room for more modern structures.

I'm not sure what kind of vehicle this truck was, but I found it quite cute.  In the background you can see the two lighthouses that will appear later in my drawing.

Here again is the view from the terrace of the apartment showing one of the lighthouses I put in my drawing.

Below is the scene I tried to recreate in my drawing.

The house in the center of this picture also appears in my drawing.

And here is the youngest painter at work.

Everyone is working on something different.

And here is Christine who started out as Natalie's teacher.  They became friends and would spend the next 4 days hiking together with other friends in the Pyrenees, quite close to where I would be going on June 29th.  Christine was very helpful in getting me started.  She gave me a "window frame" and helped me transfer the dimensions to my drawing book.

Below Natalie hasn't quite decided on her next project.

Before starting my project, I take a closer picture of the beach area.  I know I need to pick some simple project that I could complete in under 3 hours.

And here is my finished project.  Christine stopped by a couple of times to give me pointers on perspective, especially the point at which the sea meets the sky.  I'm afraid I am quite out of practice!

At home again that evening I took a picture of one of Natalie's paintings made from a photograph of herself and her daughters.  Quite accomplished, wouldn't you say?