A Parsec of Possibility: Green Acres is the place for me.......................

I love being a farmer's helper! And Michel does too! Who woulda guessed?

However, after 2 weeks on the farm, I am confident in the knowledge that I could never be a farmer. I don't mind the picking of poo and the hard work - it is that you never get a break - not even on the weekends. I love weekends too much to give them up.

That being said, we are having such a good time, we have committed to stay until the end of February.

But now for the 411 on where we be:

The Players
David (human) - married to Angela, an retired electrical engineer, now the main maintenance guy on the farm and a lover of long walks, especially with Frankie.

Angela (human) - married to David, the alpha to the alpacas, a cat and dog lover and the person who knows all the steps to make the alpaca fleece into yarn.

Frankie (thinks she is human but is a dog) - Frankie is a collie and is an integral part of the running of the farm. She believes that all HelpXers are merely placed on earth to play ball with her. She is such a good dog that you can't help but love her. She also has the saddest puppy dog eyes that it breaks your heart.

Harvey (cat) - like most cats.......we are only here to serve him at his whim. He is also an extraordinary hunter. Almost daily, he brings his prey into the kitchen (maybe still alive) and proceeds to eat it. I generally have to walk out of the kitchen as the crunching sound kinda freaks me out. One day, after he had is "treat", I had to point out that there were remains on the floor ......apparently he didn't want to eat the intestines.

Ralph (cat - aka: Fat Cat) - he has the easy life. He is not as prolific a killer but is a great eater.

Ralph brings home the bacon!!

Chickens with No Names: There were 2 chickens when we arrived but one died last week.........it's ok though, I had only met him once so we were not close. The remaining chicken went to the neighbors' friends who live on the Isles of Scilly in St. Agnes. The chicken got to fly as hand luggage to get there! But she will live a life of tranquility as there are no natural predators for chickens on the Isles of Scilly. Lucky girl!

The Alpacas
Aurora (f) - Huacaya (pronounced "wa-kai-a"), herd leader of the girls, white/faun colored

Tabitha (f) - Suri (their coat is different from Huacaya and more prized), white/faun colored, mother to Cenicienta.

Cenicienta (f) - Suri, daughter to Tabitha, white/faun colored. Tabitha and Ceni (for short) are very close.

Orla (f) - Huacaya, black colored but with spots of discoloration (this is considered a flaw), mother to Gitana.

Gitana (f) - Huacaya, dark brown, daughter to Orla. They are not as close as Tabitha and Ceni.

Luna Lana (f) - Huacaya, white/faun colored and the cutest looking of all the girls.

Brilliance (f) - Huacaya, white/faun colored, the last to get anywhere and probably considered the least attractive. However, she is my favorite because she actually lets me touch and pet her.

Brilliance - Brilli to close friends - like me!!!

Asteroid (m) - Huacaya, a gelding, white/faun colored and a real bully. You have to be aware of where he is all the time because he may decide to run at you or try to intimidate you. The other day, I was walking in the field (about the 4th time that day) and I looked up and there he was, running at me. I shouted at him to stop and held up my hand and he stoped a couple feet from me but continued to "posture" to let me know who was in charge. He got sold this past week and will be moving to his new home in the next couple of weeks.

Cappucino (m) - Huacaya, stud, white/faun colored and the eldest of the boys. If Asteroid wasn't so pushy, Cappucino would probably be leaders of the boys.

Flecki (m) - I don't know his full name, just his nickname. Huacaya, a gelding, milk chocolate colored. He was sold at the same time to the same people that bought Asteroid so he will be leaving also.

Tolstoy (m) - Huacaya, white/faun colored. The prettiest/fluffiest of the boys.

Principe (m) - Suri, brother to Ceni and son to Tabitha, white/faun colored.

Interesting Alpaca Facts

Males and females are kept in separate fields so the boys don't fight over the girls and so there are no unwanted pregnancies.
They are "communal" pooers which means they have "poo patches" in their fields where they all go to the bathroom - makes picking poo easier.
Female alpacas can get pregnant at any time but it takes 11 months for her to come to term.
When they are stressed, the herd members hum to one another to try to ease their stress.
They spit - so far, not on me or Michel!

Daily Schedule
The rythem of life is busy but slow at the same time. It runs something like this:

7:30-8am - get up and get ready - this really doesn't take much - it's throw some water on your face, brush your teeth, put on long johns and multiple shirts/sweaters and head down for breaky.

9am - Head out to work - Mitzi helps Angela feed/clean up after the girls - Michel works with David doing odd jobs (fixing fencing, preping a gate for hanging, fixing broken tools, etc)

10:30am - stop for tea

11:30-12 - Head back out to work. Usually odd jobs for both Michel and Mitzi

1-2pm ish - Stop for lunch.

2-3pm ish - Head back out to work. This is usually when we work on the hedge. Imagine the wonderful stone walls that Cornwall is known for. Cover it with trees of many sorts, bramble, bracken and fill it with animal holes. Now make the vegetation grow out from the wall about 5-7 feet. Our job is to cut all this down to reclaim many square feet of field, help get rid of the animal life (badgers, rabbits, moles, voles, etc) and make it easier for David to use the tractor to manage the fields.

5-6pm - Head back in to start supper.

8-9pm - Finish eating dinner and start relaxing (aka: watching the Vicar of Dibley)

Weather
Cornwall weather in the winter is constantly changing - from raining to drizzling to mizzling (a misty drizzle). It does stop from time to time but it is never far away (only mear minutes or hours - never days!). The majority of the time there is some kind of cloud cover but just last week we had two days that were predominately sunny - very exciting! You get used to it though and English people are as preoccupied with talking about the weather as Canadian's are.

Farming Fashion
The standard uniform when working is a full rain suit. It is just much easier rather than carrying the gear with you and changing in and out of it when it stops/starts raining.

Michel and I like to wear fleece long johns underneath to stay toasty warm. Like mountaineering, layering is very important. Most days, I have on a t-shirt, wool turtleneck and a light fleece sweater.

I can now understand why Wellies are such a big thing here. With all the rain, there is mud everywhere and it is the only way to keep your feet dry.

Getting ready in the morning is also easy because you only need to slap on some deoderant, wash your face, brush your teeth, don your attire and you are ready to rock and roll.

Here, I sport the "no rain pants" option as we are about to head into town to do some shopping. Life is great when you get older and don't care what you look like. However, some fashionistas may note that my lovely tartan wellies match the green of my coat.......a complete accident!