The French Country Challenge

Catch Up!

This year was more or less a bust, garden wise for us.  Weeds took over while we were on vacation in California, and we were never really able to gain control again.  Sigh.  This makes me sad, but it is the way it is, so onwards and upwards.  

After thinking about it for quite some time, I think that we need to do something drastic to our plot.  This winter, or rather in a few weeks, we are going to rip it all out, the fence, the grass border, the little boxes where there were herbs at one point, and try to start completely over from fresh.  I think that years of weeds growing in that plot has made it hard to keep them at bay.  I am hoping that if we rip everything out and start over, possible covering it all with some compost or manure, we can avoid this problem next year.  We don't mind working in the yard, but weeding hours upon hours per day for a rather small plot (maybe 60m2), was a little bit too much, and not effective.  

So, we have found a U-pick place not too far from our house, and we went there this past weekend to get our halloween pumpkins, and some other veggies.  A local farmer made the rounds, house to house, and I bought enough potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic to make it through to next season.  Which means I bought a TON.  Our cave is full of food, and it is a really good feeling.  Something to remember and work towards later.  So, I think all I will need to buy are the occasional cabbage, leeks, and other veggies.  And some meat now and then.

In other 'garden' news, I think that we are going to get some chickens.  I am thinking 4 or 5, after all there is only 3 of us for the moment, and that is a lot of eggs.  I need to find some sort of a home for them, I am thinking of buying them an already built wooden tool shed, that you can get at the local do-it-yourself place.  We have a cement pad poured in the yard with an electrical outlet, so I am thinking that may be a perfect place for them.  For roosting, I am thinking about maybe wine crates.  Some hay on the ground and I think that it may be perfect.  Maybe a sodium lamp out there for the really cold evenings...  

As for the chicks...  Well, I am not sure yet.  I know that they can be bought at feed stores sometimes, and I even saw them on the news at a Truffaut (garden/pet center).  I am going to try to stay local, and I can't get much more local then my neighbor's place.  I know one of his hens had chicks a few weeks ago, I saw them running around.  So, I am going to try to ask him about it when I run into him next, but it may be a while because they never seem to be there...  I think that if he doesn't want to sell me some, he will at least know where to go to get some.  

Besides all of this news, Miss Lily, Bandit and I have been going on long walks everyday.  Very long walks.  Most days we get about 6-7 kilometers in, and I am feeling great, and I think we are all sleeping better with all the fresh air.  I just have to figure out how to get the rain cover on my stroller so I can keep the now freezing cold air off of her, because it is very cold out here in this neck of the woods these days.

Brocante-ing

I realise that some of you probably are not that into the brocante-ing (flea market, antiquing...) thing, but I think that I have just found something that I LOVE, and had to share.  There are many specific blogs out there on this subject - if you are interested let me know - here is just my point of view on the subject.

This past weekend we went to 2 different brocantes.  We were actually motivated to go because our gardener (I use this term loosely, our home used to be a vacation home and he was the caretaker/gardener and still helps us out often with different things, like lawn mower repair) and friend was running the saucisse and frites stand and told us he'd slip us some free fries if we stopped by.  And so, not being the type of people to say no to a free lunch, we went.

I have been wanting to go to the brocante now for a long time.  I have already been to a few, but was never prepared.  Never had cash to buy anything and was either super pregnant, or tired from work all week.  Lets just say that I loved it.  From the kids getting pony rides, to all the stuff people were selling, it was tons of fun.  A lot of it was junk.  Old cassette players, telephones, really really used clothes...  But there were a few gems...

I came back with three items.  One pair of never worn sandals for Miss Lily for next year, that I bought for 2 euros.  One little cupboard with the key(!) and glass doors that used to be used to keep one's jam until it was eaten.  (This item is going to be used as a jewelry holder for me).  And...  the cutest little Frenchie school desk for Miss Lily.  Someone, at some point, put a piece of lineolum over the top of the desk, but peeled back it looks great.  So I have to sand it all down, oil it up I think as the wood looks and feels really dry, and then seal it.  And then put it in my office so that we both can 'work' at the same time.  It is too dark to get any good photos at the moment, but I will take some asap and add them in.  Anyone want to venture a guess as to how much I spent?  We can play a game in the comments, I'll answer all guesses with 'more' or 'less' and the winner gets a prize...?

I do feel like this is going along with my goals of consuming less.  I am not buying anything new, just reusing things that others don't want anymore.  And it is way more fun than going to the store, you have to look for the treasure amid all the junk.

(Oh, and wearing your cowboy boots leads to interesting experiences.  I got invited by 2 old men to the local, and new, Line Dancing club.  And anything horse-related was pointed out to me by the sellers...  Next time I may wear sandals, but tromping around in those fields, my boots were sure nice!)

Picking up the slack

 
Poppies in the wheat (?) field.  I think that they are going to cut the wheat soon, and I hope that I am home when they do to get some photos.  I love the machinery, the dust, the farmers, all that goes along with it.  Last year they got to the field in front of my house at dusk, it was beautiful!

Since Laura is off on her vacation, I am going to try to pick up the slack on my end of things.  I am not sure how this will work, since Laura has to push my posts through, but I think she might have the time now and then!

Our garden was looking great.  Salad, fennel, radishes, and carrots starting to poke their way through.  And then the tomatoes came in.  And sadly, it appears that the fruits are too heavy for the plants and the sticks I propped them up with and everything is flopping over sadly at the moment.  According to my Dad, who I usually turn to for this type of advice, it might be too late to do anything.  The plants themselves are, apparently weak, and if they broke or opened during the mighty fall, there just might not be a lot to do, they might all die off!  Needless to say I am a little bit upset.  I didn't get as much even planted this year, so I was really hoping to have those tomatoes to makes some sauces, eat in salads ect. 

In California we use what we call cages to help hold the plants up.  The cages are a cylinder of wires, with wires also running horizontally every foot or so, so the plants can lean on them.  My parents manage to get tomato plants 6 feet tall, and even taller with the cages and with just 6 plants or so have enough tomatoes to keep them in sauces for the whole year, not to mention all the eating of the tomatoes that we do while in season as well.  In France, I have never seen these cages.  I have seen these curly sticks that people use I guess, but they seem kind of feeble compared to the wire cages.  So I am off to the hardware store when the baby gets up from her nap (praying that they are open on Mondays, which is probably NOT the case, but I have to go see anyways, in case they are!) to try to find a solution.  Some of the Papy's in my village seem to make some sort of stick and string contraption.  I might have to stop and check it out more carefully before leaving.  A good rule of thumb in my book is if the old folk are doing it, there is probably some good reason behind it.

I am trying to talk my husband into chickens.  Our neighbor has quite a few, and I love it when they are out of the run and cruising around his yard.  I was super excited the other day while out on our walk to find that one of the hens had about 10 little babies running after her.  I think he could be talked into it, but I need to find a way to salvage our vegetable plot before.  You know, prove that I can handle what I already have on my plate before taking something new on...  

*Testing out the new car seat.  Excuse the rug that needs to be vaccumed.  Country houses are a little dirty I think from all the in and outs.

Rain, rain go away!

Or at least please lessen up a little. 

As Laura mentioned we've been having really strange weather.  Rain pounds down for about a half an hour a few times a day, and out in my neck of the woods we even had some hail yesterday.  Needless to say I haven't been out watering due to this, but I also haven't been out to check on my plants in a few days...  I think that I am scared.  I don't want to head out there to an utter disaster (plants sprawled out on the ground, things washed away in all this water), so I have been avoiding going out altogether...  Not the best strategy, but one nonetheless. 

In other news, Miss Lily does not like prepared baby food.  She prefers what her Mama makes her.  We went to the south of France to see my in-laws, and I bought jars of baby food to take with us for her to eat.  And she didn't like them that much at all!  I think that I am raising a petite gourmande... 

Babies and Such

First of all, let me start with my humble apologies for not posting that often...  Wearing all these different hats is starting to wear this mama down, and every once in a while one ball drops...

I am not sure who all is reading this, and don't know if there are people with babies, or soon to have babies that read this, but I thought I would post about it anyways.  Please keep in mind that I am far from being an expert, but I do have one baby so this pretty much reflects my personal experience.

Having a baby can be pretty pricey.  But there are many ways to keep the cost down, all while doing what is really best for your baby, and for Mom. 

We bought Miss Lily a crib when she was born, but most nights she ends up sleeping snuggled up against her Mama.  Breastfeeding a baby means always being ready for a feed.  Many night feeds past a few months of age aren't really for nutrition, but to check in with Mama and make sure she is still there.  Co-sleeping is a debatable situation in the United States and Western countries.  I don't say that you should or shouldn't co-sleep, although studies show that co-sleeping is ONLY safe when Mom is breastfeeding.  (Look up Dr McKenna if you are interested in those studies, or check some articles on Kellymom.com). 

The biggest cost saver with regards to a new baby is breastfeeding.  My baby was exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months, and I plan to breastfeed her until she is one year old, in addition to the solids we are starting to introduce and some water.  I believe that I read somewhere that the cost savings of breastfeeding until one year is upwards of 1,200$. That is just counting the formula.  My baby has never even had a runny nose.  Another benefit of breastfeeding is losing the baby weight quickly.  I think that I was at my pre-pregnancy weight about 3 weeks post-partum.

Another thing we do, which I think saves us a pretty penny as well, is no baby food.  I mean Lily eats food, but all food that I prepare for her.  I am hesitant to introduce pre-made baby food, as I can never find a list of ingredients on the jar, and I would like to know what is in it before feeding it to my girl.  It seems to me to be really important to introduce food one item at a time, so for the moment we are just on different pureed foods.  For example, pear-sauce, sweet potato, applesauce, carrots, ect.  Once you are sure that individual foods do not cause any sort of a reaction, they can be mixed together, for example, sweet potato/carrot.  I am holding off on milk products (yogurts, cheese, ect) as well as flour for a while just to be sure she is ready to digest them and to avoid allergies if possible.  Her teeth are starting to come in so as she is allowed to eat more things, the plan is to slowly get her used to adult food, just cut into teeny tiny pieces, or watered down.  For the moment I puree/prepare what I am making for her, and I have been using an ice cube tray to freeze individual portions.  Once they are frozen, I pop the cubes into a ziploc, and just pull them out one or two at a time and reheat.  I am excited for my apples, quinces and veggies to come in, so I can not only make her food, but have grown it as well!

Another thing we do, is cloth diapers.  I admit to not using them 100% of the time though.  If we are out and about, we use disposables (I don't want to end up carrying around a dirty diaper all day!), and over night we use a disposable as well, but probably 50% of the time I would say we use cloth.  It isn't that big of a deal really, and it means our diaper budget is cut in half, and we are doing something good for the planet. 

Another essential for us at least is a car-seat.  I think that this is an item to buy new, and a top of the line one as well.  No pinching pennies on this purchase, unless you can buy one during the sale season.  Perhaps finding one from the previous year on sale.  But it is worth it to do some research, sometimes the only difference one year to another is the color or something equally minimal.  In that case, no harm in buying last year's model on sale!

As for all of the things people say you need, well, we really have very few of them.  I have a stroller, but she prefers to be carried in the Ergo or scarf, I just have one little seat/chair for her, a crib, and a changing table.  And that is really about it besides some toys, and for the moment I am happy because even those we've kept to a dull roar.  I try to avoid Made in China toys; I would rather pay more for fewer toys, but have nice wooden ones made in the Jura of France...  But that is just me maybe.  We do not have a swing, we use a hand-me-down high chair.  A lot of Miss Lily's clothes come from Costco or Target in the US, and now that it is brocante season in France perhaps some will come from there as well.  I am hanging on to everything for now, as she is likely not going to be our last and hopefully all of our stuff we can use again!

I would love to hear any feedback or questions anyone has... 

Disclaimer: We are human and we did recently splurge though...  On a pair of sunglasses for this summer for Lily...    

Computer = Saved, Among other news

Or at least according to the lovely Apple Genius that left a message on my phone yesterday!  I was expecting a 5-7 day wait as they told me when I dropped it off, but it appears that they are making a real effort on their customer service stuff; because not even 24 hours later it is fixed, functioning and nothing was lost according to them!  While this is more than great, now all I want is my computer back!  And trekking the 78 kilometers into Paris on a combo of car, train, metro and back, all while either carrying a baby or pushing a stroller seems a little daunting to me.  So I am going to try to convince my husband to do the dirty work for me and go pick it up!  Then I will be back in business on both of my blogs, and I will send off hundreds of photos to print, and back-up my stuff!!

As Laura has told you all, the weather took a slight turn for the worse out here.  And while Laura's plants are covered, mine aren't.  What can I say, I have a baby that likes to nap on her Mama, and has been teething as of late and all she wants to do is nurse, nurse, nurse.  I did run out to the plot this morning to check on things.  It seems even the tiny bit of rain we had seriously encouraged weeds to pop up all over the place.  So I have some serious work to do.  I just hope my husband gets home a little early tonight and can do the bath time thing while I get the weeds out, and perhaps some of the plants covered a little... 

Now that I have a car though, we have also been cruising the countryside quite a bit with my little posse (meaning me, Lily and Bandit; the latter two in the backseat while Mama navigates her way around, without GPS thank-you-very-much! although it is not that hard out where we live).  I have been invited to participate in a photo contest for the region by someone who follows my Flickr page (let me know if you are interested, I will publish the link), so I have been trying to get some good images for that as well.  I just can't wait to get my computer back to see the photos is real size - the LCD screen on my computer is going to start causing damage to my eyes soon!

Exciting things to come folks, I tell you!

Good news from the USA

First of all, it looks like we are going to be able to fly home as planned.  If we had to be stuck somewhere, I would like to be stuck at my parents', but I would be happy to make it home to our boys.  After all they are the ones alone, working on the house and yard while us girls are living a life of leisure in the US.  The Bandito will be happy to see us, as will my husband!  We are hoping that the volcano keeps its activity to a dull roar until we make it back over.

Secondly, it looks like Michel is going to be (finally!) preparing my veggie plot tomorrow!  Hopefully I will make it home to France in time to start looking after it so no weeds grow in it!  I've consulted some with my Dad - my parents always have something growing up in their garden (right now it is artichokes and rhurbarb -, and they don't put anything in the ground until mid-May, which is what it looks like I will be doing once I get everything going.  I am just glad to hear that I am not as far behind as I thought I was...

I've been on a gluten-free diet here as well.  How unfun!  My Dad just figures that since he has to go gluten free, all of us should as well!  So we eat lots of meals over rice.  Chicken stir-fry over rice, chicken with a wine sauce over rice, ect, ect, ect!

More soon, it is hard to find time between all the running around we do, and visiting with family and friends...

Back in the USA

After a fairly daunting flight back to the USA, we are here.  We made it, baby Lily did ok, once she got over the old man sitting next to us with the beanie over his eyes.  I think that jet lag is going to be no big deal for her, as last night she already slept really well, but in her Mama's bed...  The crib my sister and I slept in is set up in my room, so hopefully at some point here she will at least start her night in the crib, but if not then that is ok too.  Mama doesn't mind sharing!

While I am here I am planning on doing a few things that are not that easy to do in France.  I thought I would make a list here, for a reminder...

1) Buy some books for Lily.  France has amazon.fr where I can order English books for her, but I love, love, love going in a bookstore and looking at books, turning the pages before buying.  Any ideas for kiddo books besides the usual?

2) Watch and take notes about what my Mom cooks.  My Dad is gluten intolerant, so my Mom has to come up with some pretty creative meal ideas.  What I like is that it makes me think outside of the box some.  It also means no processed snacks (pretty much everything pre-made has gluten), so anything we eat here is homemade, from scratch, to avoid gluten.

3) Ask any ex-pat, and they will all tell you, as good as the food in their adoptive country may be, something from home will always be missing.  While I am home I am planning on having a Reuben sandwich (Which I know, has gluten, but oh the pastrami and sauerkraut!!!) and also I am hoping to eat something Mexican (in California we have some pretty good Mexican food), and hopefully at Riva's on the Wharf in Santa Cruz.  I already know what I am going to order, scallops and shrimp in a spicy sauce with peppers and pepper jack cheese.  The only question now is, do I get the healthy rice with that or the fries.  Oh, and I forgot to add, a lemonade to drink with that.  

4) Some shopping for Miss Lily is in order as well.  I want to fill out her wardrobe up until size one-year, maybe a little longer depending on what we can find.  It is cheaper and easier out here than in France, so I am going to try to find some good stuff for her. 

5) And maybe find some pants for me as well.  I am under my pre-pregnancy weight, but what is weird is nothing fits the way it used to.  Kind of like my body morphed a little or something during the pregnancy. 

And that is really all.  Nothing too exciting, and I think that my list is already in order of importance but I think one of the items will be crossed off today, maybe even two.  I am feeling in the mood for a sandwich and some book shopping and those two places are right next to one another...

Ashley's List

First of all, my apologies for my absence.  Things have been crazy around here, and I seem to juggle several different hats at my house (Mama, baby-watcher, baby-feeder, baby-food source, house cleaner, dog walker, gardener, translator, English lesson-giver), and every once in a while something has to give, or I don't get any sleep at all. 

I liked reading Laura's list yesterday and it gave me some ideas.  I am going to make a list of goals, some long term, some short term.  Some of my goals are going to be the same as Laura's, some are different.  I am going to include whether it is a long term or short term goal in my list though, because I don't want to feel overwhelmed right away with a really ambitious list.  I look at my changing lifestyle as an evolving process.  It isn't something that is going to happen overnight, but I do think in a year or two I will be in a totally different place then I am now, and this is what I want.  Making changes that I can keep, that is my main goal.

Ashley's Lifestyle Change List

1) Start and keep up a veggie garden (goal for this year).  This is on its way to happening.  I've got the space and motivation.  I love my parents' veggie garden, keeping this in mind is keeping me on my goal of having my own.

2) In the same 'theme', I want to make all, or most of, my baby food (goal for this year).  I've looked at the stuff at the store, and it is expensive, and there is a TON of added ingredients.  Even the rice cereal is full of, well, stuff that is not rice cereal.  (I am considering skipping the rice cereal and just starting with sweet potatoes ect).  My baby is still breastfed, so according to what I have read that should be her main source of food for awhile still, but there is nothing better for her then homegrown, homemade baby food when the time comes.

3) I would like to can and preserve fruits and veggies as well (goal for this year). (Laura, let's get together and do this, ok?  I have a camp stove burner, we can even do the messy stuff outside...)  I have already done applesauce, and tomatoes, so I kind of have the basics down, I would like to start to work on things a little more complicated as well.  I include jams in this.

4) Keep up my compost (goal for this year).  I am pretty good during summer and spring, but I hate taking the scraps out when it is raining or cold.

5) Chickens!  (Long term goal).  We have the space for laying (or even eating chickens, although I am too big of a weenie to actually whack them.  If I did do eating chickens, they would have to live separately from the laying ones, which will probably have names, and I will have to find some papy out here to go lop their heads off and pluck them for me I think).  But my main goal would be laying chickens.  This will cut back a little bit on my compost, chickens LOVE table scraps, but the eggs would be worth it.  Now to convince my husband...

6) Like Laura, I am trying to cut out processed foods (general goal, if it gets broken from time to time, that's ok too, I am not striving for perfection, just to be better overall).  I want to make our own snacks and have them be more fruit and veggie based.  I do drink a coke every now and then, but I don't drink coffee, so I need the caffeine boost every once in a while.  No one is perfect!  And I hope at some point to cut it out even more.

7) I am not buying any more cleaning products (when it happens, it happens goal).  I think that with vinegar, salt, lemons, and some savon noir (more on this soon, it is a miracle natural product), I can do pretty much all of my cleaning.  And it is safer for crawling babes.

9) No more gel douche either.  Like Laura we are down to our last bottle of shower gel, I think, and to replace it I have just bought some good old bars of savon de marseille.

10) Make my own laundry detergent.  I am just waiting to run out of what I have for this.  Once my last bottle is done I am going to experiment.  I have soap nuts, savon de marseille and all I need for this, I just have to do it! 

11) If we ever have a house with more land, then I would like to tend to my own goats as well.  In the mean time I might try to find a farm that will sell me milk so I can start to experiment with my own cheese.  From what I have read, mozzarella and ricotta are fairly easy to do.

12) Buy from local people as much as possible.  If I grow my own veggies, or even just a part of them, I would like to buy meat from local people if possible.  I am reading a rather disturbing book about the meat industry, so I would like to find some local people.  I know for sure there are local chicken and pork people.  I might try to find a red meat person as well for my carnivore.  I also have a honey lady that lives down the road, and a papy that does veggies.  

13) Another kind of silly goal I have is for me to do more of our yardwork.  When we were both working all day it made sense to pay someone else to work in our yard because then we could just relax in it during the weekends.  Now that I am home, even just half an hour a day would make a massive amount of difference.  

14) I would also like to collect some rainwater for the veggie garden.  Our water consumption has gone down since last year, thanks to now having a 'real' shower.  I miss our huge bathtub, but showers are shorter and use less water, I try to cut down on water usage as much as I can.

15) This sounds silly coming from someone who just bought a new car, but this year I am going to try to buy used (or handmade) before buying new (or made in China).  And if I do buy new, it will be after a lot of research.  I would rather buy new if I have to but made in France, or at least handmade.  I am going to try to avoid things made in China.  Wish me luck on this one with a kid.  I plan on trolling Etsy a TON to find good, homemade things.

That seems fairly ambitious for now, so I think that I will leave it at that.  Looking back on the list it is mainly about being more self-sufficient, and cutting out as many intermediaries as possible.  From meat to toy purchasing, I would like to be as close to the person who raised, or made the things I buy.  To support local people, become involved in my community and to be completely conscious in how my money is used.  I would rather support a lady in the middle east that sews shirts, then buy one made in a sweatshop in China.  I would rather see the pigs I am going eat out in a field munching away on greens, then hear that they are being fed other pork by-products and kept in cages their entire lives.  How we spend our money has a big say in how companies produce and create things.  And I want to be part of this process.

Waiting on my car...

I can't wait to have a car again.  Being car-less is not all that fun.  My husband works more-than-long-hours, so he is not really in the mood when he gets home to go shopping for gardening stuff.  Nor can we really, because when he gets home everything is closed!  Saturdays are spent running errands that I can't do during the week, because I am sans voiture.  And our errand-running time is rather limited due to a 5 month old baby.  We can usually just get done what we need to before we need to run home because Miss Lily has hit her limit.

Spring has definitely arrived though, and my potager is now becoming a large priority.  With a little luck, seeds will be bought this weekend, and things will finally start to fall into place.  I have a big list of locals I want to go see once I do have a set of wheels again, including:

• chicken farmers: both to buy chickens for eating and eggs, as well as to get the scoop on having my own.
• the local pork farmer: he sells meat directly to particuliers, so I want to see how it works and how much he charges.  I might look into buying a freezer if he gives good deals on bulk purchases.
• goat cheese person: I've only seen this guy advertised in one place, so I am not sure if he is even still around, but goat cheese is my favorite, so if he is still around I would like to go try his stuff out.
• veggie farmer: When we first bought this house one of the ladies took us over to a local grandpa's, who grows veggies almost year round in a giant greenhouse.  Although my goal is to grow a lot of my own, when I can't, it could be my go-to place.  I am also interested in checking out his system.  As far as I remember he also sells eggs, and it is not that far from my house, so I think a win-win situation for all involved. 
• The other local place I know of, that I could check out, although we don't use tons of honey, is the local apiculteur (beekeeper).

Purchasing from these people won't make me more self sufficient, but it will help local people in my community make a living.  It will also make me more involved in my community and I will be able to see how the animals are raised, making us more conscious of our wastefulness.  I am excited, and can't wait to get my new wheels to be able to do these things...

Things are busy here at Chez Ashley otherwise.  I have finally gotten some work at home jobs, so it is looking like I won't need to go back to work.  I haven't been posting a lot, but I am trying to find a way to balance working from home, baby raising, out of town guests, and the usual house cleaning, cooking and such, which is proving to be a bit of a challenge.  Once things fall into place, and I get a steady routine going, I think that I will find more time to blog, and hopefully have more content...