Wild Oddities of a Nature Woman is a down-to-earth blog that embraces Mother Nature and all living things in a gentle, sustainable way. Come take trips with me into the gardens, the seashore, greenbelt trails, wildflower meadows, on a sailboat, and into my kitchen. This summer, travel with me to the ancient county of Cornwall, UK as I volunteer on 3 organic farms in the place where my ancestors were born, lived, worked, and died.
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Tuesday, June 5 2018
Awakening at 5:45 AM to a hazy day - 58 degrees and going up to 63. Everyone is sleeping. They all came in at 11:45 PM from the pub. Sounds like they had a good time. Lots of birds singing, lots of quacking. Today my work consists of farm work. (No cooking, doing the chickens, or working in the shop).
An eco house built on the farm by volunteers
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A view from my window. The ocean is straight ahead.
Seeds sown the other day - lots of broccoli and other vegetables.
Lots of compost is made for this large farm.
Outside the Farm Shop we sell herbs plants that I hand watered yesterday.
It's 6:30 AM and time to get out of bed. I have been craving porridge for a week Andrew bought French coffee, yesterday. We had a TESCO delivery at 7:30 PM of lots of food to feed the WWOOFERS. to be continued...
Monday, June 4, 2018
June 4 2018 Bosavern Community Farm - Day 1 of work
I am having great difficulty uploading pictures and I have so many to share. The American girl is loaning me the correct adapter for the electrical connection. I am so mad I left mine in the upstairs bedroom at the last farmhouse I stayed at. I would be here with NO cell phone and no Internet.
I have bills to pay online tonight and my Internet is very important for this.
Started the day up at 6 AM and washed dishes in the sink, made breakfast, washed my undergarments, and hung on the line, early. At 7:30 AM I observed Bastian, from France, be instructed on his turn to take care of chickens. WHAT A JOB - 7:30 AM, 10:30 AM. 2 PM to collect eggs. It's a very long walk to 3 chicken houses. electric fences. Each door you open about 75 chickens jump out on you. You have to wheelbarrow weighed plastic containers of food to 3 different age groups of birds. Change water, scrub water dishes. If rain barrows are empty, you have to walk far on an old potato field with furrows that are covered with dock and other weeds and find the spigot. Give them water and check field for eggs hidden in the grasses. Then close the doors, lock the fences, and wash the eggs, then put in storage.
Once the kale was picked I had to weigh 200 grams per bag end seal them with a label, Same with freshly picked organic salad greens. I had to weigh 100 grams each and make a label and bag them for market. I made 25 bags of salad and only 6 of Kale. The broad beans and peas went straight into the farmer's market shop
We had lunch at 1 PM with tortillas made by the German girl, and leftover curry stew, rice, and cooked greens. After I got done bagging the food, Otta allowed me to retire at 4:15 PM instead of 5 PM. I did a lot of walking and work today.
There is a folk music gig going on in the Village tonight but my 2 big toes have purple discoloration underneath the nails and my feet are swollen. I feel very tired. I think I'll go down and have supper at 7:15 PM and stay here while the young folks go out. I'd be interested in seeing how the locals live and party, but my feet need some care. And I need a little rest. I never stopped all day except to eat.
Sunday, June 3, 2018
June 3 2018 - Safely arrived at Bosaverne Community Farm around 4 PM
David Trestrail kindly drove me from Probus to St. Just, and took me all around Hayle, Gwinear, and Angarrack. My grandmother Bessie Knight, was born in Angarrack. It was a darling little village. We took pictures of Great Grandma Minnie Trestrail Jenkins cottage at Phlebe Row - where a famous oil painting was done of her cottage. We tried Trevaskis Farms for dinner around 1:30 PM but there was an hour wait without reservations We decided to drive back to Hayle for a pasty at Philps, and we went to St. Gwinear Church, where my great great grandparents, Elizabeth and John Hendra, are buried right outside the church door. The church was built in the 13th century.
I am having great difficulty uploading pictures due to being in a very VERY rural area next to the Atlantic Ocean.
I regret leaving my international plug for connecting to electrical services up in my bedroom at Riverside Cottage and I cannot the bag of other adapters. When this lap top dies I may not be able to post daily journals. :-(
So I will sign off just saying this is about how I expected this community farm to be. YOUNG foreign WWOOFERS from Australia, France, Germany, England and one girl from America. I was supposed to share a small room with 3 girls on a bunk bed. But the manager, Andrew, Otta, his animal spirit name, kindly sensed I'd be happier in a room to myself with an old big 1873 farmhouse window opened for fresh air. I gratefully accepted and am sitting here now at 8:45 PM in daylight, writing this brief entry.
Tomorrow we walk to the village of St. Just and plant flowers in all the flower boxes in the village.
Dinner tonight was cooked by Andrew, a professional chef, and it was so delicious - a curry dish, salad, white rice, and homemade bread with country sweet butter.
I have a 14 day commitment, and God willing I will remember Harry's Trager messages and remember he re-set my brain back to factory settings.
Good Night to all.
My first meal at the farm.
I am having great difficulty uploading pictures due to being in a very VERY rural area next to the Atlantic Ocean.
I regret leaving my international plug for connecting to electrical services up in my bedroom at Riverside Cottage and I cannot the bag of other adapters. When this lap top dies I may not be able to post daily journals. :-(
So I will sign off just saying this is about how I expected this community farm to be. YOUNG foreign WWOOFERS from Australia, France, Germany, England and one girl from America. I was supposed to share a small room with 3 girls on a bunk bed. But the manager, Andrew, Otta, his animal spirit name, kindly sensed I'd be happier in a room to myself with an old big 1873 farmhouse window opened for fresh air. I gratefully accepted and am sitting here now at 8:45 PM in daylight, writing this brief entry.
Tomorrow we walk to the village of St. Just and plant flowers in all the flower boxes in the village.
Dinner tonight was cooked by Andrew, a professional chef, and it was so delicious - a curry dish, salad, white rice, and homemade bread with country sweet butter.
I have a 14 day commitment, and God willing I will remember Harry's Trager messages and remember he re-set my brain back to factory settings.
Good Night to all.
June 3 - Sunday - Traveling through N. Cornwall to St. Just with David Trestrail
Happy as a duck
Wet as a shag (cormorant)
As yellow as a Keet's foot
Thirsty as a gull
A temper like a fowl
As weak as a goose chick
Sick as a shag
Mazed as a curly (curlew)
Wisht as a winnard (red wing)
~ Cornish Sayings
Feeling tired but at the same time feeling concerned I did not have the energy yesterday afternoon to volunteer in the hoop houses. I was getting exhausted just trying to fight the exhaustion that came over me from walking through cemeteries. I must do the simple exercises Harry taught me (through Trager) to re-balance for the second leg of the journey at a community farm.
to be continued.
I leave my heart with the greatest affection and respect for the hosts of Riverside Cottage, Harry and Julie Dalford. I will never forget their kindness and strong presence ~ two remarkable people of great strength, determination, intelligence, love, and a mindful work ethic managing a pristine and sustainable organic farm.
And so I leave paradise behind and have the luxury and comfort of a ride by David Trestrail to Hayle, Gwinear, and St. Just. David's kind offer was a Godsend, really, as I never could have made stops along the way with all my luggage.
Wet as a shag (cormorant)
As yellow as a Keet's foot
Thirsty as a gull
A temper like a fowl
As weak as a goose chick
Sick as a shag
Mazed as a curly (curlew)
Wisht as a winnard (red wing)
~ Cornish Sayings
Feeling tired but at the same time feeling concerned I did not have the energy yesterday afternoon to volunteer in the hoop houses. I was getting exhausted just trying to fight the exhaustion that came over me from walking through cemeteries. I must do the simple exercises Harry taught me (through Trager) to re-balance for the second leg of the journey at a community farm.
to be continued.
I leave my heart with the greatest affection and respect for the hosts of Riverside Cottage, Harry and Julie Dalford. I will never forget their kindness and strong presence ~ two remarkable people of great strength, determination, intelligence, love, and a mindful work ethic managing a pristine and sustainable organic farm.
And so I leave paradise behind and have the luxury and comfort of a ride by David Trestrail to Hayle, Gwinear, and St. Just. David's kind offer was a Godsend, really, as I never could have made stops along the way with all my luggage.
Saturday, June 2, 2018
June 2 2018 - Trestrayle Farm, Camborne Mining, & Patio Lunch with Julie
10 PM A very long day. We are all tired but in different ways. Harry worked on a machine he rented to excavate an area that will be a huge hoop house. Julie worked with the ducks and chickens and many chores. We left for Trestrayle Farms and Camborne around 11 AM.
June 2 2018 - A Day Out With Julie
6 AM. Birds singing. Sun is shining. Julie & I are driving to Camborne, today. My grandparents were born there. We are buying Harry some brewing ingredients. We are parking at ALDIS and walking to the Brewery shop. It is also across the street from the cemetery where my Grandma Ruby Gill's parents, James Arthur Uren & Elizabeth Penpraze are buried at Camborne Church.
Camborne is a town in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove.
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