Farm Girls!

Upon our arrival at the train station in Vichy, there were signs for 4 different exits in opposite directions. We chose one and tthenjust waited. We were soon approached by a small woman who asked, "Are you by any chance Iolani and Kelsey?". Our eyes lit up and we gave a sigh of relief.
Our host, Janita, is a sweet woman from New Zealand, so we didn't have to keep  trying to get by with the few words in French we know. She's a yoga teacher, a mom, a grandma, and a great cook. Her husband, Peter, is from England. He's one of those do-it-all men (like my daddy).
So, Janita drove us through the town of Vichy and then out into the country (about a 30min drive). When we came to the house we saw that we were very far from any other civilization, and surrounded by beautiful farm lands. The house and barn were built in the 1880s and then Peter has fixed up and modified it in order to match their needs. Solar hot water heater, sun room, big gardens, a big well, lots of animals, etc... all these things help th em live a pretty self sufficient life way out here, working very little for others due to the small amount of money they need to live.
Janita showed us our room and then told us to just explore. So, we dropped our bags and ran outside to "explore". We met the dog, the 3 cats, the horses, the cows, the 4 ducks, the chickens, saw the insane amount of apples they were drowning in, the gardens that were suffering from the rain and overgrown by weeds. At 18:30h Janita offered that we go with her to the yoga class she had to teach. It was very different from any yoga either of us have ever done, but none the less, it felt great! We ate dinner at 20:30h, and then just sat and talked for another 2 hours.
The next morning Kelsey and I woke up at 11:30, got dressed quickly, and then nervously went downstairs, worried that our accidental sleep in was going to be a bad first impression.  But to our relief Janita just laughed and said that the jetlag must have finally caught up to us. She showed us the section of garden weshould start on. We weeded for about 3 hours and then were called to lunch. In the afternoon, we helped Peter with a dump run,  and then, not knowing what to do next, collected apples and started peeling, coring, and slicing them for applesauce.
They days have gone on like this: We wake up at 9ish and get our own breakfast, and then get to work. At 14h we all sit down for lunch, and then get back to work afterward. Dinner is usually sometime around 19h, and then we sit and talk or play card games until 22h. Our work so far has consisted of , harvesting apples (and then doing something creative with them), harvesting potatoes, weeding, cleaning up a trash pile, canning applesauce, and simple helparound the house.
It's pretty easygoing, and very reasonable! We haven't had any real problems with our hosts, and I hope it continues like that! And Kels and I have continued to try to figure out the best way to make this work between the two of us.
Today we've had a pretty relaxing morning so far: woke up at 10h, showered (for the first time since Paris), ate a big breakfast (applesauce and muesli, and apple crisp left over from yesterday), and nnow we're getting ready to run 8km into Lapalisse to watch Peter's football (soccer) team play a game!
Enjoy the pics! I'll post again soon! ...or maybe Kelsey will!
♥Iolani