Sheldon

Sheldon!

After my pleasant trip in London, I went back in Honiton , but no in combe farm (like I said previously, I decided to leave the farm)  and the father (jammie) of a  nice family was waiting me to go to Sheldon, 10 miles from Honiton towards North.

It was very different that Combe farm, because… it’s not a farm!! It’s more like a big house, with a big garden, some chickens and 2 pigs! They call this “smallholding”! there was no others woofers, but there were 3 children and they were very kind even if  I did not meet people of the same age of me!

My accommodation was a beautiful mobylhome (very big, with everything to cook) at the bottom of the garden, so I was quite independent to do what I want, but the problem I had not so many  things to do!

So, I had been here for about a month, to work 6 hours per day and 5 days per weeks! So many differents jobs to do, because there was the usual work (cut the hedge, feed the chickens, do the weeding) but also some work a little more interesting:

-repair the roof of the stable

-paint the roof and the walls of the house

-destroy the walls and take the isolation off of second floor

The father rebuilt the inside of his house himself, so lot of different jobs to do inside and he taught me lot of small things to be more efficient when I work and it was very instructive for me to help him in these big tasks, and it is very pleasant to get feel useful even if some time I was a little awkward in my work!

They gave to me the means and the tools (very good tools) to make my job well like the famous old jeep and its trailer to make a big pile with the branches and other rubbish in the middle of the field to burn every things after

I had nothing special to do the evening, so I helped Max (the oldest kid, 13 years old) every day with his math, and otherwise, just I played with the children, watched the tv, read a book, and wasted lot of time on my laptop!

I am just a little disappointing they did not kill the pigs (they have planned to do it) but I think they have waited for one or two weeks more for its become bigger! It would have made me a big dinner, and I wanted to see that!

But to resume it was a lovely family, helping me for everything I need to ease my stay, sharing their pastime with me and thank to this I had a wonderful stay!

London

I left combe farm the first October because I though I did all the different job I could do, and I was bored,I did the arround of the farm (I saw all I wanted to see), and the works was not hard but just boring, and not very interresting (to clean the stable,to do the weeding,to repair the fencing (the best job I have had...)) so I went for a short stay to London which was very very pleasant!

Thank you!

But without money (because I have had a little problem with my computer) we did just the free stuff, and the free stuff were... the museum! We have visited the British museum and the Natural History museum and, surprising, it was interresting and not too much boring (may be because someone read for me the information about the differents object!)

The Van Gogh's Tournesoles will be for the next time... !!

Yes, I am in a museum!
Natural History museum

Trafalgar square

a mystery, how can they stay like this all the day?

Combe farm

When I have arrived to Combe farm, there was no word to qualify the landscape and the hotel at the top of the hill because it was so …

And it was only the beginning, there was a show wich was organized in the farm : about 100 peoples came to see the different horses and their foal! So all the stables was cleaned, the horses brushed and everybody  weared nice clothe!

But unfortunately, all was not like this…

Outside it was very beautiful, inside it was an other story:

The kitchen was so dirty and messy, the same for the living room and for the office! Nobody did the housework, never! And nobody cleaned the table or put away the food in the fridge (not very difficult to do…) so the result was a real carnage: flyes everywhere (even in your cup of tea, delicious), all the food was outdated, and often, it rotted in the fridge, or somewhere else (the records it’s for a bowl of soup:  about 20 days in the fridge, and I left before that someone take it off…

a picture of the kitchen

The morning at Combe farm could also be very… awfull! No heating in the bedroom, and the windows have been broken, so it was very cold the morning and very noisy (so many cock!!)! Each morning, you had pee of cats on the floor, and each morning you walk into!

the room for 2 or 3 woofers...

the cats were the king in the farm!

But ofortunely, the people was nice: the manager (mickael) shouted me (or someone else) all the time for nothing, just because he was stressed, He had not so much patience! There was also a drunk guy (Mike), one week he was nice and the next week… it was different ambiance… so there were some arguments the morning between Mike and Mickael …

results of an argument one morning!

I said lot of bad things, but now I keep some good souvenirs, there were lot of woofer who came and left all the time, sometime very nice woofers so we could played cards together, or drink a glass somewhere, visited city (like Exeter)  etc…

And even, Mickael and Mike were very nice when he did not shout me or when Mike was not drunk!

And I have to say a big thanks to Carrie for her wonderful cook for the diner!

The project

After a very long summer and some problems, I decided it was time to learn English, and the best solution for this and probably to leave in England !

I planed to stay 4 month in a farm in south-west of England  next to Honiton (map Honiton) to look after the horses, chicken and cows!

 So I am currently in England for all the first semester (I hope) and you will be able to follow my trip and experience across this blog!