Paris & Rome



On top the Eiffel Tower

The last few weeks have been complete chaos. I find it hard to go back and blog about things that happened a long time back. I know, two weeks isn’t very long but the amount of things we’ve experienced makes it hard to sum them up.  Having said that I’ve decided to give a brief description about Paris and Rome and share a few of my favorite pictures.

Paris was short and sweet! We spent only two nights in Paris leaving us not much time for touring. Our top two things to do were The Eiffel Tower and The Louvre Museum. If time permitted Lucas wanted to see the Arc de Triumph, which we did get to see the night we arrived. The next morning we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower which was remarkable. I do have to say I did not find it romantic one bit! It was the best view of Paris we could ask for, but not romantic. After our climb to the top we immediately headed to the Louvre. Top on our list was to see the Mona Lisa painting. Both Lucas and I were not impressed with the painting. We’ve seen so many amazing pieces of art that make the Mona Lisa look plain and boring. The bullet proof glass, ropes to keep you at a distance and mobs of people around didn’t help much. However, we were impressed with the Louvre. You could get lost in the museum it’s so huge! We spent a few hours there and didn’t see close to everything they have. That evening when it was dark outside we headed back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up. That I would put in the romantic category. It’s so huge and they do a great job lighting it up, it really is beautiful. Throw in a couple meals, a lot of walking and that about wraps up our Paris trip.

 

 

Outside the Louvre Museum. Immediately after taking this picture we got drenched by a heavy rain fall

 

Rome is another story! We spent 8 long & expensive nights in Rome. Most of you know we had plans all along to meet my family in Rome for my cousin Michael’s Ordination as a Deacon. One of the best parts of Rome was having someone else do all the planning. My aunt Theresa put in a lot of work to make our week in Rome an experience we’ll never forget. We saw many churches, art work, the Pope, Coliseum, and of course the Ordination! Theresa also had a few day trips planned where we got to see things outside of Rome. We ended our busy week with a relaxing trip to the ocean on our last day. We sat on the beach and soaked up as many rays as possible on the beautiful sunny 85 degree day.

 

Saying goodbye to my family was a bit emotional knowing it’s going to be a while before we see them again. Although after such a busy schedule of touring we were ready to get to the next farm in the relaxing country side of Italy. What we didn’t realize was all that touring would make us soft for our most labor intensive, slave driving farm to come.

Lucas & I at Michaeal's Ordination in St. Peter's Basilica

Lunch in Assisi with the Fam



Walking the cobble stone streets in Assisi

 

Milking, Castration & Chemicals

The farm we’ve been at the past month in Ireland has been a big disappointment in the farming area. The goats were the main thing that attracted me to the farm. In the description on the WWOOFing site they said nothing about the 300 acres they farm commercially for cereal crops. We could have possibly never even seen that area of the farm if it didn’t happen to be harvest time.
 

Here the goats are being milked by machine

My goal for this farm stay was to learn as much as possible about goat husbandry. I feel rather content with what I’ve learned in that area so far. Although, there is a lot of things I would do differently myself. On the first day we arrived (which was a Friday) we were put to work immediately. I was given the job of cleaning out the pig pen then & every morning thereafter, along with feeding the three kid goats three times a day fresh goat’s milk. That first evening Dominic (the father) recruited me to help him make ice cream (using goat’s milk of course). He was trying to perfect his pecan flavor. Along with ice cream I learned how to pasteurize milk & make yogurt. I also got the job of picking peas and blanching them for freezer storage. Something I have never done before and am happy I learned how.



I'm feeding the Kids

 



This is Jack

One day Dominic asked if I would like to see how to castrate a goat. I said, “Yes, of course.” I’m usually up for just about anything. I asked a few questions about the process and he said it’s very easy and the goat hardly makes a fuss. I should mention we are talking about my favorite goat here that I named Jack. He instantly became my favorite out of all the other goats because he was so sweet natured & friendly. Let me tell you, hardly makes a fuss was the understatement of the year! The poor guy screamed out in agony! To make matters worse we had to do one side a 2^nd time because it didn’t work properly the first time. I was absolutely horrified! Jack wouldn’t come near me after that for two days. I think in the future I will leave any castration jobs to Lucas.

 

The biggest reason we’ve been disappointed with the farm is because they aren’t organic at all. Due to the harvest Lucas was busy the first two weeks working really long hours with the lads. He didn’t mind at first because he was learning how to drive big tractors & work machinery. After about a week the long hours starting getting to him and the excitement of the big tractors wore off. Slowly he grew more and more agitated with the way they do things. We had no idea big farmers spray their entire crop with herbicides to kill everything so that it will dry out to harvest. After they harvest the grain and make their bales of straw they give the fields another dose of round up to prevent any weeds from growing. They also use artificial fertilizers along with animal poo fertilizer. After much discussion Lucas and I agreed it was good for us to see the operations of this farm. It’s only made us more passionate about living an Organic lifestyle.
 

Lucas driving the tractor

 Chemicals aside I do need to say that we did grow very fond of the family. Dominic & Fionnuala are the Mom and Dad with four children Diarmead (21), Fiona (20), Rosin (17), and Osin (15). They were probably the most entertaining family we’ve stayed with yet. It’s unbelievable how very different the four kids are. Dominic and Finnoula are great parents and are raising them all to be beautiful people.

Me milking Tayto

Dublin

                                                                       

We’ve had to spend 5 days in Dublin due to a gap in our schedule between farms. When we arrived on Sunday we went to a pub the hostel recommended called The Brazen Head. This ended up being the oldest pub in Dublin. We shared a bowl of Traditional Irish stew and watched the Ireland football playoffs while I experienced Irish coffee for the first time. We learned quickly that any drink that has Irish in front of it means alcoholic.

 

Monday we went to the National Gallery to see Caravaggio’s famous lost painting “The Taking of Christ”. Lucas’ father Jeff is a big fan of Caravaggio and has been educating us about Michelangelo Caravaggio. To see this famous painting in person was remarkable. It’s very dark, busy and confusing to the eye at first glance, however the longer you look at it the brighter it becomes and more detail you see. Although it was in a crowded gallery full of art it stood alone in our eyes.  We look forward to seeing more of his work when we're in Rome. After the National Gallery we went to the Temple bar district where all the classic Irish pubs are. We ended up in Temple bar itself where an Irish band was playing. Seeing a traditional Irish band was top on our list and this particular one was fantastic.
 

 

Since we were spending so much time in Dublin and there isn’t much to see (other than millions of pubs) we decided to book a day tour to the West coast to see the Cliffs of Mohr. This was something I wanted to see but was a bit skeptical that they would just be some cliffs that the Irish hype up to make money off tourists. I couldn’t have been more wrong! There was something very magical about the Cliffs that I find hard to describe in words. We also got to see a farm as part of our tour which was kind of cool. The farm land has been in the family for 300 years, It’s been rightfully owned by them for the past 80. The best part of the farm tour was learning about the traditions they have. They still use farming methods that their ancestors used 300 years ago. With big farming in the modern world today knowledge that was once passed down is being lost. We hope to continue learning about these family traditions on our next farm.



Here we are at the farm we toured on top a mountain like the one behind us. It was very windy!



 

It’s been really hard being in Dublin without my family the O’Connell clan. We’ve made so many happy memories celebrating our heritage together that I wish every one of them were here with me. It’s also been hard not to go crazy buying all my gear for the next St. Patrick’s day.



Blaeneinion

 

 

We’ve had the pleasure of spending the month of August in Wales at a Conservation project in Artists Valley. Our host and The Project Manager Sharon Girardi have been such a pleasure and joy for us to volunteer for. Committing to spend a month at someone’s home who you’ve never met before can be quite a scary thing. It could not have worked out better for us thanks to the love and generosity Sharon has shown us.

 In just a short 3.5 years Sharon (with the help of many volunteers like us) has planted 15,000 native broad leaf, nut bearing and fruiting trees. She has also created a beautiful space around the grounds nearest the buildings with berry hedges and raspberries that are great for making jams. They have planted a 2.5 acre orchard with Apple, Pear, Cherry Plum, Chestnut, Walnut, and many other varieties of trees. Within the orchard there is also has space laid out for camping. There are laying hens in a large enclosure that produce the most beautiful brown eggs.  We can’t forget the two sister beavers that were introduced to the grounds just last fall and are thriving.  I am amazed at the amount of stuff Sharon and her volunteers have accomplished the past few years. And yet there is still so much more to do. Her long term goals are to continue to create the forestry on her 75 acres with native trees while trying to become as self-sustainable as possible using the principles of Permaculture.

 

Above is the gazebo & to the right the chicken enclosure 

 

One of the big projects that I have been working on is to get the Holiday accommodations up and running.  Aside from donations the Holiday flats are the only way to bring in money to fund the overall project. There is a holiday cottage which is a little more posh, The Beaver Lodge that is a bit more rustic, and lastly a family room for B&B customers.  They are all quite nice and very affordable. The views alone are worth the stay!





Above is a picture of what the forest looks like naturally



 

Here is a photo of an area where they felled all the trees then planted Sitka Spruce which is not native to Wales. Nothing can survive around these trees. This would also be called Mono Cropping.

Lucas and Fredrick (Frenchman WWOOFer) have been doing a lot of building this past month. They put a “green” roof on the wood store which will later have live plants living on top, built a beaver hide for visitors to hide in while spying on the beavers, Lucas put together a very neat donation box, and now they are digging the holes for the footings of a poly tunnel. All of which have turned out beautifully!

 

Aside from all the sweat and hard work we’ve put in the last month Sharon has won our hearts to her cause. Trees are being felled all over the world for human use without thinking about the long term affects to the environment. Sharon has a solid plan to re build the forestry on her 75 acres for future generations of humans and wild life to enjoy.

 

If you would like to read more about the project or make a donation to Blaeneinion there is a Donate button on the site.

www.blaeneinion.co.uk



To the left you can see the Beaver Hide that Lucas built, in the center is the dome for growing vegetables & to the right is the house & holiday flats.



Aldermoor Farm

We are packing our bags again getting ready to travel in the morning to our next farm. We are becoming very good packers, I must say! I am reflecting on the past two weeks at Aldermoor Farm thinking about what we’ve learned and how we’ve grown.

 The thing that stands out to both Lucas and I the most is one special day when Dave(the farm owner) got a call about a swarm of Bees that needed to be rescued. He asked us if we would come along to help. This is something I have read about and we’ve both seen in a documentary about Bees. Swarms are great for Bee Keepers and people who want to become Bee Keepers because a swarm of Bees is trying to decide where their new home is going to be. With some work and a little luck we can coax them into a hive we want them to make their new home. It’s also great to capture a swarm because they aren’t always in the most convenient place for the property owner. This particular swarm was in someone’s front yard that is allergic. We packed up our bee gear and headed on over. Following are the pictures of the process we had to follow for a successful transfer.

 Lucas & Dave geared up & ready to go

Dave gently cut down the branch that the Bees were swarming around

He then gave the branch a good shake to try to get the bees to fall into the basket. It's most important to capture the Queen Bee.

He quickly turnes the basket over so they will crawl inside. Once inside we wraped the basket up in the sheet with the bees inside to take them home.

Once they are home you then have to try to find the Queen Bee and get her into the bee box so that the other bees will follow. This ended up being tricky & the Queen wasn't being very coroperative.

I believe I’ve said this before but Lucas and I both really want bees in the future so any experience we get with them on our travels is only going to help us to be successful bee keepers. After this experience we both feel we have gained the knowledge and confidence to collect our own swarm.

I think I look really goofy in a bee suite

Golden Square Farm

We are wrapping up our two week stay at Golden Square Farm in Stockland, England. We have both enjoyed our time here very much. Our accommodations are in a trailer that we share with a French man named Amaury who we call “The Frenchmen”. We have all grown quite comfortable in each others company. When we first arrived he would wash the breakfast dishes as soon as we finished eating, which lasted about 2 days. Lucas washed the dishes for the first time today only because I said I was on strike. They use the phrase “That’s woman’s work” often! (In a very affectionate way of course) Dishes aside it has been great being at a farm with another WWOOFer.

Kath and I went to pick up 4 piglets. They were a little shy when we got them home.

Our hosts Kath and Rob have been awesome! Kath is extremely outgoing and friendly, always smiling. Rob is a little more reserved, but still very nice. They are both great cooks, which is a bonus after our last farm! They have two adorable little girls Tabitha 5 and Jamima 3. The children finally warmed up to us just in time for us to leave. We got lucky with this farm because we (The Frenchmen too) are the first WWOOFers they’ve ever had. We can tell to because they treat us like you would a guest or family member. Farmers that have been taking on WWOOFer’s for 20 years make you fend for yourself more. I suspect after a summer of “entertaining” they will lose some of their enthusiasm.

Rob and Kath have owned their farm for only 1.5 years so they have a lot to do. They have a holiday house they just finished remodeling and have their first bookings this summer. On the farm there’s sheep, piglets, ducks and chickens. We can’t forget the 3 cats that are pretty much worthless since they bring mice INTO the house to show everyone. With being such fresh farm owners they have a lot to share about how they have done things, how they may have done things differently and what they still plan to do in the near future. Rob, Lucas and Amaury have been busy with “guy” stuff. Lucas built a flint stone wall, picnic table, and composting box. Then there’s the big project they’ve been working on all week where they rented a digger and tore up the back field to build a composting septic system. It was a lot more complex than it looked to the “woman’s eye”. The guys have been working hard digging dirt and moving lots of rocks with machine and by man power. This was made much worst by the constant cold rain which has caused a soupy muddy mess. I don’t want to complain but we have been stuck in a constant cold rain since we left Germany. We’ve had only a hand full of hot sunny hours.  Lucas was always saying how England would be cloudy and rainy but I chose not to believe himJ (he added that bit). Having the guys be busy has been a great break for me. I’ve had the two weeks to be a big help to Kath with getting some final things ready for the holiday flat, cleaning and doing things around the house that she just doesn’t have time for. To be honest I will take any job indoors just to get out of the rain and cold.

Lucas on the digger

Being on this farm has changed some of our thoughts for the future. Originally we thought I would stay home and man the farm and children while Lucas worked full time. That idea has changed a bit after seeing that Rob stays home and takes care of the farm and children while Kath works 3 days a week. That’s opened my eyes to the idea that I could continue with my massage business while Lucas stays home to farm. After seeing the labor and skill that goes into building a self sustainable life, Lucas may be the more efficient person to do that anyhow.

The stone wall Lucas built with the help of everyone else, collecting rocks & stuff

Our next stop is a small Island on the southern coast called Isle of Wight. We hear the island is absolutely beautiful. The farm is owned by a Chiropractor and her husband. The thing that drew me to the farm beside the thought of an adjustment is their healing garden. Another dream for the future I have is creating a beautiful healing garden where I can do massage. I hope to learn a lot there!

Here is their web site

www.ntc-animals.co.uk/

London

 We only had 2 1/2 days to pack all our sight seeing of London into.  Lucas’ Dad Jeff is very knowledgeable on the history of London. Therefore he sent us an informative email about all the major sites and gave us a brief background on them along with where they were located and how to get there. Thanks to him I had a very thought out plan on what we were to see each day. J Although I planned for us to be a little more ambitious than we were and we just didn’t get to see everything we wanted.  We rented a “cheap” room in an apartment right by Victoria Station which is a huge tube and bus station centrally located. It was about 4:00p.m. Tuesday by the time we got all settled and hit the streets. We first had dinner at a restaurant boasting Great Britain Food!! The food was good enough but not spectacular. We later learned all the restaurants that say Great Britain Food on the front are part of a large chain with the same menu. After fueling ourselves we headed straight to see Buckingham Palace. It was closed by the time we arrived so we didn’t have the option to go inside. We took some excellent pictures and moved on. A few blocks away we located Westminster Abbey and the famous clock Big Ben. Again, both closed so we took pictures and continued on our way. Next we saw The London Eye which is a giant Ferris wheel, maybe the biggest? I can’t remember. We looked from across the river and agreed we would come back another day to ride it. We then walked a few more blocks to Trafalgar Square where there was a huge monument called Nelson's Column. Also in the square is the National Gallery, of course closed as it was now getting pretty late. Our feet were starting to get sore so we started back in the direction of our room. We hit the sheets early with our next jam packed day ahead of us.

We set out early and took the tube to The Tower of London, which isn’t a tower at all. It’s an old castle that they called The Tower because at that time it was the tallest and largest building in London. You have to pay to get in, but then you have the option to take a free guided tour. Our tour guide was awesome! I over heard someone say that they’ve been on many tours there and this guy in particular was obsessed with all the gory things that have happened in the castle. We enjoyed all the stories very much. We got to see right where many famous people were beheaded then buried. He also told us in great detail why they were beheaded. We got to hear about a beheading that went badly because the axmen was a drunk. He kept missing the guy’s neck so it took him 8 blows to finally sever his head. They then do something to the head to preserve it and so the crows won’t eat it and put it on a spike on top of the London Bridge for all who enter London to see what happens to traitors. Isn’t that fantastic!? Just think what society would be like today if we just chopped everyone’s heads off. I bet we wouldn’t have so much debt. We ended up spending a lot more time there than planned. We saw the Queens Jewels which were inside, along with old armor and swords and things. We got to walk the castle walls where the guards used to keep watch for anyone attacking the castle. Both Lucas and I agreed The Tower of London is one of our favorite places we visited in London. After leaving there we walked in the direction of the Great Fire Monument where they mark where the fire started in 1666 that burned the whole city down. That was basically just a large tower that you could walk up to the top. We weren’t feeling that enthusiastic at the time so we moved on down to road a few blocks to St. Peters Cathedral. I guess it’s one of the largest cathedrals in the world. It was quite huge. They charged a pretty penny to get in so we didn’t go inside. If we went inside everything we wanted we would be out of money and flying home tomorrow! I can’t believe what they can get away with charging for these things! After the Cathedral we took the tube back to our room to take a quick nap and get cleaned up to have a nice dinner out.



The clock Big Ben on the right. I forgot the name of the bridge

Our last day to tour we got up early to figure out our train situation for getting to our farm the following day. Then set off back to the Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the Guards. We weren’t aware that the Queen was going to be there so it was a mad house! We couldn’t see any of the guard changing ceremony although we did get to see the Queen! The masses of people were a big bummer so we hopped on the tube to head out to the Camden markets. This was something I read about and really wanted to do. We parked Lucas at a Local Pub so I could go out and shop the markets on my own. That took us right up to dinner time where we just grabbed something cheap in the market and headed back to our room to rest our feet a minute. Lastly we decided to squeeze in a ride on the Eye of London. It was a perfect blue sky day and we were on it for the sunset. We couldn’t have planned it better!

Our three days in London were exhausting, but we loved every minute of it! We didn’t get to see nearly everything we wanted but both agreed we would like to go back again sometime in our lives. It’s a great city with much to see and full of friendly people.



Me & Lucas in front of Westminster Abbey