Val De Neu Hotel Baqueira Beret

... What it does mean, we're not quite sure of yet. Still dealing with the shock and going over a few different options. All while kicking myself for not realizing this sooner. Only one thing is for certain - I'm not going to let this spoil our trip, and we're going to have to get cycling! (o.k., two things).

... but there are not enough condos for sale. So Brian has the wonderful undertaking of creating a house for a pig. His building materials are lumber and metal sheeting. And this isn’t just any house - it’s a DUPLEX!

The Pukin

While harvesting the garden before the first frost, I came upon the strangest looking vegetable/fruit I’ve ever seen. It was on the small pumpkin vine, but didn’t look like a pumpkin at ...

A gory day full of raw meat, but surprisingly it didn’t bother me. Some issues that have arisen when discussing the idea of setting up our own small holding with the attempt to be as self-sufficient as possible was whether or not we could deal with it. So far it doesn’t seem to be a problem.

We’ve stayed a few extra days at this farm with the anticipation of butchering day. Took 2 pigs to the abattoir ...

A side trip with the truck enabled us to get to areas we couldn’t normally access. Not that we would even attempt it on bicycles - vehicles are bad enough. Windy roads where motion sickness is a given, ‘oh ****’ handles are coming loose from repetitive strain, and a straight section of road lasts about 20m.

Our goal was a little damned in lake almost on the ...

On the hunt for wild mushrooms. A classic French activity is to scour the woods after an autumn night of rain and harvest he bounty of fungi that appears almost as if by magic. Quite the site to see an old couple emerging from the woods heavy-laden with overflowing bags of mushrooms from their top-secret harvesting grounds.

On the property is an area they call the ‘mushroom bank’. Walking ever so slowly back and forth, stopping ...

Finally the day that had been talked about all week was here. One little (not so little at +100lbs) wiener pig was in the sow park and needed to be moved to be with his buddies. He was only there due to a previous escape and was starting to get picked on by Shaft (the big black breeding boar). Time to get him out before he gets any bigger and more difficult.

Now catching a pig is not an ...

... place their weekly/monthly orders with her. She packages them up as closely as she can without wasting any cheese, and then they are taken around for delivery. The community here is just what I’m hoping to find someday. Where neighbors all know one another and trading is perfectly normal. The farm we're at trades eggs for milk. We even got a little triangle of cheese to take on our way.

Un petit TP de deux jours dans les Pyrénées dans le cadre du cours de Fonctionnement des écosystèmes. Bon...les écosystèmes du sud de la France étaient un petit peu décevant, mais les paysages étaient vraiment beaux.

La plus haute altitude à laquelle on s'est rendu : 2200 m

... forest parks. They are amazingly happy with natural springs, mud to wallow in and trees to uproot. Currently 3 parks are being used: the sow park (Winnie, Ella and Fatima as well as the infamous boar Shaft), the porker park has 8, and the wiener park has 13. All 3 sows are pregnant so those numbers will be changing very soon.

In addition to the ...

Today was the day to head into the mountains. Having never cycled in mountains before, I was quite dubious about the task. Especially considering my track record. So far on this trip, ‘hills’ have caused me great pain and anxiety. So in comparison, ‘mountains’ seemed like they might be a mite bit worse.

Pulling away from the bustle of city life, and the crowded together towns, it was quite refreshing to have ...