Homecoming

I am My Father's Daughter

I found a pair of overalls in Sweden, while searching through other people's stuff at a thrift store and it brought back long forgotten memories of slipping on overalls for cow herding on our Minnesota farm.

 15 year old Wendy bringing the cows home-Summer 1971.

I recently read a quote by T.S. Lewis and it felt very appropriate to my farm homecoming.

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. "

Can a person go back to childhood and become all the things they were supposed to be, not the person others wanted them to be? Exploration will serve me well as I move my life forward arriving where I started.

Even in Paris the overall is celebrated.

For the time being

For the time being we continue to live in our holiday gîte rental.

We interview numerous recommended artisans of various professions and keep hoping one of them will say "Yes we can start on the remodel of your home this year", rather than the usual, "Yes we can start on the remodel of your home next year, October 2025." The scope of our project combined with current work schedules makes the various trades hesitant to commit, particularly since they will take the whole month of August off.

We had foolishly hoped to move into our property (the BIG HOUSE) this July.

Necessity is the mother of invention and that prompted us to came up with the bright idea of remodeling one of the less-worse, smaller, older buildings on the property.

Welcome to the Bergerie

The "Bergerie", as it's called, is where the lonely sheep herder lived, perhaps his fluffy flock as well.

This will be home for the time being.

The ever present mold, whole bug villages, trash, dead whatever’s, cobwebs and damp has to be overlooked if we are going ahead with this, our new brilliant plan.

To get started we just have to beat a path to the structure through the over and under growth, add some plumbing, electricity, bathroom, kitchen, heat, and we are in business! What’s not to love about our next camping spot!

Airbnb would have fun with this one "Come and stay in an Old World Bedrock Lodging oozing with charm, reminiscent of Wilma and Fred's home on the Flintstones".

The previous owner turned the Bergerie into a man cave enlarging the original structure to store his reading material.

I say that tongue in cheek because his over 1,800 books in Spanish and French line the shelves giving us the opportunity (laughter required) to carefully look at the books deciding on their future.

Giveaways, keepers and throwaways start forming columns and very soon the two words, opportunity and carefully, no longer remain in the equation.

Mission Possible-Gers addition

Mission Impossible becomes Mission Possible. Transform an old rotted, smelly dilapidated sheepherder's hut with annex mouse infested library into an enchanting living space.

Those romantic European Home Fixer-Upper shows should be knocking on our broken glass door.

Let me introduce the team of extraordinary artisans, experts in their field.

Gardener-Pierre Maillac

Vegetation is removed from around the house to give access to the outside walls and prepare for patio sunset viewing. Papyrus is burned in a symbolic gesture of rebirth (and clearing out a dead plant).

Project Coordinator-Stone Mason-Framer-Flooring-Insulation-Team Simsek

We were thrilled when we met Sinan Simsek through a referral. Sinan is exactly what we needed to advance our cause. Working with his father, Jalil and 2 brothers, Fatih and Yavuz , we speed up our book processing caper so they can have access.

Stonemasons are particularly interesting artisans who have been around since cave age when people learned how to create materials to bind stone, mud, or straw together to make shelters and homes. Our most iconic buildings, churches, fortifications and monuments are made by stonemasons, one of the oldest trades in civilization.

I always loved working with stone for selecting client's countertops, fireplaces, flooring and bathroom walls in our interior design firm so this is a treat to re-engage.

Our stonemason picks away the outside stone surface to remove the old aggregate, and other layers added over time for quick fixes.

Mortar mix is used to fill the gaps between the stone for a unifying and healthier wall covering. Mortar is a combination of cement, sand and water mixed with a colored sand. The filling dries over time to a golden glow, gray or light beige depending on what you are trying to achieve. The walls need several weeks without rain to dry to their final color.

Roofer-Yannick Cazzola

An important person in the remodel of any French home is the roofer. The health of the clay, red-tile roof needs to be maintained.

Removal of the leaves, moss, debris, replacement of broken tiles starts in earnest after weeks of waiting for the rain to stop and Cazzola's much-in-demand crew to show up. Even the snakes living in the roof tiles put on a show.

I love seeing men on our roof. It's a skyline I will never tire of knowing our tiles are getting updated. The tile toss is a skill to be admired.

Electrician-Marco Almeida

Marco is the brilliant electrician who will spearhead the transfer of power via underground cabling to give us outlets, lighting, appliance setup, connectivity and bring us into the 21st century.

Plumber-Raphaël

Raphaël will bring the wonder of modern sanitation in the form of a toilet and shower to our Bergerie or small house on the hill with Kevin's help.

We have yet to find a disguise expert to carry out future capers for our team of Mission Possible-Gers addition. We do have enemy agents in the form of wild boars who may subvert our project by their skillful uprooting abilities. Oh and the bees, that's for another addition.

Enemy Agent: Sanglier - Wild Boar

My clay wild boar creations.

Sanglier - wild boar are a problem in the Gers.  They ravage through the countryside in packs digging holes, uprooting fences and becoming a road obstacle causing car accidents. Their increase in population is a man-made dilemma. 

Hunters losing medium size prey chose to augment the wild boar population by breeding male wild boar with domesticated female pigs. They got what they wanted - a “cochonglie’ (cochon+sanglier) pig+wild boar at the expense of over population with this new hybrid.

Wild boar normally have 4-6 boarlets but pigs have 8-10 piglets and the hybrid adopted the piglet mode which increases the wild boar population every year.

We view them from time to time crossing the road or scurrying off into the underbrush.

The local farmer Yannick LaClotte asked if he could hunt around our property as a small pack has been sighted. He returned the following day with a gigot of wild boar. Luckily one of our friends cooked it up for Youssef as I am a well known non-mammal eater.

Puits-Wells

Our well cover was missing so we hired Gilles Laffon to make one to keep anyone from falling in.

Youssef is certain there are treasures buried in the well. The common practice when any one of the invading armies: Romans, Visigoths, British, Vikings and Germans approached a farm, hide the family treasures in the well.

Sourcier-Water Diviner

We had a diviner, Geronimo, come to the farm to scout out water sources. Our well is dry but I am certain there's water in the well, somewhere.

Geronimo's "gift" has been passed down to him through his father. He used a silver watch to confirm that there is well water. You can see the watch swinging in the first photo near our well. Rocks are added into his hand until the watch stops swinging indicating the depth of the water source by the number of rocks. 17 rocks = 17 meters deep.

We found another deeper source much larger which runs quite a distance in another area of the property. Next step, should we need a water source other than the water tower, is to drill through the bedrock until water is reached.

All hat and no cattle

I love this saying by our Wyoming friend Lael, "He was all hat and no cattle". Our local farmer Mr. LaClotte has cattle and no hat. Wild boar hunting was top of his mind because he was releasing his herd to pasture and he didn't want his fencing disrupted by wild boar.

The breed is the lovely Blonde d'Aquitaine. They are extremely curious as we pass them daily on either side of the entry to our property. Our road is a long entry and the farmer has the right of way to cross our road with his cattle to access pastures.

The Two Bulls

There are two herds on either side of our driveway. Each herd has their own bull. Often they stand on each side challenging each other with loud moos and grunts digging the earth.

I tell them to chillax and stand down. There's plenty of cows to go around.

Spring Blooms

The distinct smell of lilacs bring a flood of childhood memories. It's amazing how a scent can transport us to our past where we can picture ourselves and those around us in the location where they occurred.

I am thrilled to have 4 lilac trees. I tried to plant them in California but no success because temperatures didn't get cold enough. Here I found 4 trees some nestled in overgrowth and set them free to perfume the air and make my heart sing!

Another interesting tree is the Judas Tree which is also called the European Redbud. We see the dark pink and light pink flowers adorn these tall trees and as with the wild cherry trees, the flowers create a beautiful petal shower and carpet of fallen buds.

There is a myth that the name Judas Tree came from Judas Iscariot (he was one of the 12 disciples and betrayed Jesus' location) who hanged himself from a tree of this species, causing its once white flowers to turn red.

May 8th

V-E day here in France, which means Victory in Europe, celebrates Germany's unconditional surrender 79 years ago. Fource's mayor and city officials lead a parade to honor the occasion complete with jeeps.

Gentleman Farmer Youssef

Youssef became the proud owner of his first pieces of equipment to tame and maintame. Yup new word, maintame the property.

A Karcher (power washer) is indispensable anywhere for maintaming. Second piece was the débroussailleuse (weed wacker).

Today he purchased a used riding lawnmower that was on the property from someone who "looked after things" for the owner.

Testing the "new" lawn mower.

I am amazed at how much equipment is needed to maintain a property of this size. We hesitate at buying a lawnmower versus a tractor with mower, but our terrain comes in all levels so it seems both might be needed.

I got my driving permit by learning to drive on a tractor at 14 years old. Another gentle reminder of arriving where I started.

So we visit tractors for sale.

Last Thoughts

I am my father’s daughter.

My father, Harald, in his overalls visiting Our Ladies of the Milk Cows.