Pinch me, I'm dreaming!

Wow, I'm not even sure where to begin. So much has happened since my last post, yet it feels like no time has passed at all. All expectations I had for my current farm were completely blown out of the water; and it may be no surprise to some of you that I've decided to prolong my Italian adventure and remain at Azienda Agricola Arpisson. 

The farm, Azienda Agricola Arpisson, is quietly and impressively nestled in the Gran Paradiso National Park above the adorable yet touristy, mountain town of Cogne. We get to enjoy the beautiful panoramas of slowly melting, snow peaked mountains, including that of towering Mt. Blanc, every second of the day. A combination of mountainous green fields and forest make up most of the fifty acre farm land that the goats have free roam of the cows whose boundaries are constantly changing thanks to portable electric fences. There are about forty milking goats, twenty caprette (young goats), thirty cows, nine monstrous-milk driven vitelli (cafes), eleven oce (geese), chickens and lots of cats and kittens running all over the place. It's unreal. And yes, they all have names (minus the vitelli who are still awaiting their unknown fate...).

The milk producing goats currently share a stable with the cows and get milked by hand twice a day along with the cows. After the goats get milked, which usually takes about two hours, they are set free outside (one lucky wwoofer gets to accompany them) then we begin with the cows. The cows are milked by portable milking machines and also usually take about two hours to milk and they are also let outside after the milking. Normally, I milk both the goats and cows and currently have very sore hands!!

This is when the real fun begins! Think about it. About seventy animals share a stable in which they spend the night and pass part of the morning. It gets pretty dirty and needs to be cleaned every day. At first, naturally, I was A LOT grossed out but after two hours of scraping, shoveling and bucketing up poop and pee (and having these things splashed in places the should never be splashed) I learned I had to get over it real quick and eventually did. It's inevitable that someone has a good poop story to share by the end of the day.

Cheese making occurs every day, goat and cow, specifically Ricotta, Thom (and another kind I can't remember at the moment) along with yogurt and the most delicious butter one has ever tasted! Other daily jobs include feeding the vitelli (which usually turns into a giant milk bath battle), cleaning the other stalls that belong to the caprette and vitelli, washing and salting cheeses in the cellar, changing electric fences, working in the garden and various tasks that come up at random.

Attilio and Gabriella are the two owners of the farm and make every day with it. I try to keep up with them but let me tell you, the life of a dairy farmer is tough. They are never ending machines that love what they do and chose this path because of their for animals and nature. The days are long (6:30am to 12:30am) and the work is never ending, but I love it. And the best has yet to come. July 6th we move all animals up to a high Alp mountain pasture called Arpisson, an hours walk from the lower farm by trail, where we will remain until the end of summer. All the chickens, geese, cats, food and supplies will be taken up by helicopter as there is no road to Arpisson. Life will go on more or less the same although with more impressive views and a bigger backyard consisting of the most beautiful wild flowers whose smell is carried with the wind, rivers made of glacier melt and towering mountains patiently waiting to be climbed. It's impossible to do justice to its beauty and I wish so badly for everyone to experience it as I do. 

Quick description of some photos: all photos of animals were taken down at the lower farm. The barn, cheese cellar, and house are also at the lower farm. Attilio and Gabriella live in the house, wwoofer's quarters are above the barn. The rest of the photos are at Arpisson. In one you can see the house from afar; the cow stable on the left, goat on the right, latteria and cheese cellar in the center, kitchen behind and our bedroom in an attic like room above the kitchen!

OK, hopefully I'll get some more pictures up of Arpisson and my fellow wwoofers soon (two English girls, an American couple and an American man who are all great!!). Tomorrow I'm off to the Dolomites for four days of adventuring then back to the farm! Love to you all, hope everyone is well! And don't forget, you all can drop me an email every now and then... I would be OK with that ;)

Ciao ciao!!