I know you are all chomping at the bit for a 2 Legit 2 Quit update with photos... as I am chomping at the bit to share the various adventures we've had over only the past few days! Unfortunately, I still cannot deliver on half of that wish - the camera cord is currently en route, so with any luck, we'll be able to post pictures next time.

Let me start off by saying that so far, after only about 5 full days of working/living on the farm, we feel incredibly lucky/excited/elated to have stumbled upon such a great place. Sure, the living situation has its own quirky moments here and there, but they certainly aren't anything to worry about!

So, here's the rundown: we live in a small town which is located in the Bas-Rhine region of Alsace (Northeastern France), and has a population of a mere 500 people. From what I could understand, I think there might be one restaurant here and a few scattered shops within the various farms, but otherwise, you need to take the train to Saales for light shopping, or to Fouday or Strasbourg for serious shopping. However, shopping isn't really necessary here on the farm, aside from cleaning and bathroom necessities, because we eat basically what is available to us here.

Our farm, as we all know by know, makes and sells cheese. We currently have roughly 8 adult goats, 4 teenage goats, and 8 baby goats, as well as 6 adult cows, 3 teenage cows, 2 kid cows, and 1 tres tres tres petit cow (born yesterday and brought to the farm 1 hour after it was born! ... more later). These animals are used primarily for milking, however, from time to time they are killed and butchered, and we sell the "popular" cuts of meat and keep the "unpopular" (a.k.a. the goods - heart, lung, head...) for ourselves. There are also 3 fat piggies (for eating), and from what I can tell, we are acquiring 3 horses as well (since the weather is getting cold, it's time to take them in from the 'park'). Oh - and don't forget the barn dog, Chousette (French for 'sock' - she's really adorable), the barn kitten Philou (yes, I found a cat that I actually like), 2 other barn cats that sulk around and we've been told "Do not like the caressing," and a very, very old dog who will be put to sleep soon (they didn't tell us his name because they didn't want us getting attached).

As far as humans go - first, there is Emmanuel. She's 22 and became acquainted with the farm when she WWOOF-ed here last January. When she was done with school, and after the summer, she came here permanently and has definitely become the 'matriarch' of the family. Gabriel is the farmer... he is probably in his forties and is a little cooky but very friendly. His wife left him last April, hence the need for Emmanuel to come back and take over. Emmanuel has described to me how much she has changed things since coming back - Gabriel went through some tough times, that's for sure. There is also Renee - Gabriel's 17year-old adopted son, who likes riding around on his deathtrap of a motorcycle and getting in fights with both Emmanuel and Gabriel! He stays out of our way, though, so that's good. I think he likes us because we smoke.

The house we're living in on the farm is actually quite nice - there is a main entrance off the road, but everyone uses the side door into the basement. When you first enter, you're smacked by a smell of barn mixed with stinky cheese - the main room in the basement is where we all keep our barn apparel and boots, but also where there are about 4 different fridges with various cheese in them. Just inside the main room is the office, where we sleep. It's a pretty decent-sized room with it's own space heater, it doesn't stink like the outside room, and we've got a few shelves to put our things (but mostly we're living out of our suitcase).

The first floor contains the kitchen (where most of the action takes place), WC, and a living room with a small dining area. Emmanuel sleeps on a futon in the living room, bless her soul.

The second floor contains Gabriel's room, Renee's room, and the shower.

For the most part, everything is clean! They have a dishwasher and a washing machine (no dryer though - gotta line dry everything), WiFi, a coffeemaker, and plenty of cheese. It doesn't get much better than this!

Luckily, Emmanuel speaks a little bit of English, so with her and our dictionaries at hand, we are able to communicate with each other and to Gabriel. Our French has already improved leaps and bounds since arriving. Owen is much better at speaking than I am, but I am better at understanding than he. Good thing we have each other.

As far as the work we're doing - it's been a little bit of everything! Lots of mucking out stalls (some of which probably haven't been cleaned since before the summer)... as well as smaller projects like foraging for busted apples and walnuts for the pigs to eat, sorting through the potatoes ("pour cochon ou pour moi manger!"), going to farms next door to herd cows to us... Owen has been doing a lot of extra cleaning around the barn. Gabriel is very appreciative of our hard work. I am anxious to learn more about the cheese-making: I got to spend one morning starting a batch of Munster with Emmanuel, and later in the cave (yes, they have their own cheese cave, boo yah!) wiping down and flipping various Tommes... I am hoping to have the whole process down by the time I get back to the states. Not that I'm going to start making my own cheese, but just to know, and to be able to help Emmanuel as much as I can while I'm here.

Meals have been interesting - breakfast is a cup of coffee (or two) and a slice (or two) of brioche. Lunch and dinner are interchangeable (usually around 1pm and then 8:30-9pmish)... lots of boiled potatoes, bread, sometimes a salad. Lots of mushrooms (champagne mushrooms are a-plenty around here). And then various random veggies that other farmers might bring us - like ginormous turnips, beets, and cauliflower. Oh - there was a large chorizo-esque sausage at lunch yesterday, which I devoured quickly with some mustard. And have I mentioned cheese? Every meal, a huge spread of cheese is put out - both from other areas and the cheese we make here on the farm. Literally hundreds of dollars worth of cheese plopped down on the table for every meal. It's absolutely a beautiful thing.

During our one night and one morning in Strasbourg, we ate very, very fine Alsatian cuisine - charcroute and sauerkraut and pates and terrines... mmm, tres tres bon. Owen and I plan on making a trip into the market soon so we can purchase a little bit more variety of food - we are overloaded with dairy and carbs, but not getting much iron, potassium, and vitamin c. Sounds silly to be worrying about our diet when we're doing physical labor for so many hours a day, but #1 I don't want to blimp up and roll away due to the huge quantity of cheese and potatoes in my stomach and #2 neither of us have any intention of getting sick while we're here.

Well, that's about the whole kit and kaboodle for now. Like I previously said, we'll be able post more frequently with pictures soon (I hope). We miss you all and please keep us posted about anything interested we're missing out on in the States (don't worry - Owen ordered NFL GamePass so he can still watch football live online).

-L & O