Cows and a broken car

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This morning we were back in the barn at about 7:30 feeding the cows and collecting eggs from the chickens. Em has a ball with a small pitchfork just right for her.

Outside, they are just starting to collect some of the early grass for next season by mowing the lawn with a mower attachment for a small excavator. It made me nostalgic for a bit as it looked like great fun.

Last night there was a small incident with our car – one of the ladies leaving the house reversed into it and damaged the front wheel and suspension. It didn’t look too bad but it would need repair before getting back under way. It is very fortunate that Myriam is French and also speaks German and English as this made communications with Renault (back in Paris) very easy. They have arranged for a tow to the nearest garage and will sort out repairs as quickly as possible. The truck arrived this morning to take away the damaged car so hopefully it will be repaired within few days.

So, being unable to drive anywhere, we took a walk up through the forest. It took a bit of coaxing but we managed o get Em to walk all the way up to where the snow had not yet melted away. We played for about an hour or more making small snowmen and snow angels. There were some cars parked off to the side that looked like they might have been left there all winter as the snow was piled up around them. Further up the track there was a timber contraption that turned out to be a deer feeding station. I don’t know if they are wild or farmed but it is a huge wilderness area across the tops of all the mountains. The forest is also used for small scale logging and there are several stockpiles of cut timber.

After getting quite soggy in the snow, we made our way back to the farm and spent the day relaxing and playing games. Em has taken a real liking to Uno and knows the moves to make although we haven’t taught here the scoring side of it yet.

Feeding the cows at night again was of course Em’s favourite part of the day and I think Myriam is enjoying seeing her delight.

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Photos

The Cowshed
Lower floor is the cow stable and the top two floors are for storing the winter feed.