Area: Connacht

Has old-fashioned courtesy been consigned to the rubbish-dump? Any hope at all that workawayers could spare 30 seconds to reply to messages?! I am an artist/writer/photographer living in a smallish bungalow situated 1 km. from a 13th century walled town with very narrow streets! Bhind my house is a 1-acre field with a stable where my Shetland pony, Flicka and my donkey, Kassie live – though they do visit me unexpectedly now and then! I would really like to find a helper who would spend some time grooming the equines and teaching them to walk on a lead-rein with a soft bit. I have three cats, Lulu (aged 12) who spends a lot of her time in the stable, Kiwi (4) and Siog (Gaeilge for ‘fairy’), the baby, both of whom spend most of their time in the house with access to a walled courtyard for fresh air. My day is usually taken up with painting or designing in Photoshop, recording or mixing audio projects in my studio, writing my weekly columns for a local newspaper and a national magazine, taking and processing photographs and playing my beloved Takamine EN-40. I have lots of other instruments in my studio.

Area: Provence Alpes Azur

We are a family with two children aged 7 and 5, a daughter and a boy. We have a nice house in a touristic small town, with a swimming pool, not far from Avignon. I am interested in getting the children used to other cultures and to english language: I am looking for an english speaking woman to spend a few hours a day teaching them english in an informal way, or taking care of them. I speak fluently english.

Area: North Rhine Westphalia

Our family: thats me - Maria- and Emma (12), Frieda (10) an Hannes (8). We live close to the city-centre of Essen- and in the middle of the heart of the so called "Ruhrgebiet"- lot´s of cities around, lots of cultural events and probably the most open minded people in germany. I have an institut (I´m training social workers in case management and Community Organising) and work a lot in the house (where we also live).

Area: Oregon

I am 64 recently divorced living alone on 26 acres of land in the Willamette National Forest. We are on the border of a Three Sisters Wildlife Preserve and 12 miles from the Three Sisters Glaciers on Horse Creek which flows from the glaciers into the McKenzie River. I have traveled to Egypt, Indonesia, Turkey, Peru and Mexico and would like to visit Spain & Italy. I work with Shamanism and have a Shamanic-Buddhist perspective on life. My son lives in Portland and is 32 years old and single ranked 4th in International Championship tournaments as a heavyweight Shaolin Kung-Fu contender. Currently only animals on land besides the wildlife is a 12 year old German Shepherd. We have a retreat for small workshops 18 -25 and also serves the general public with a Cabin, Outdoor Kitchen and Sauna-Bathhouse family gatherings.

Area: Wales

We are a 10 acre smallholding in mid Wales. Two homes -myself Jules and husband Nick in one, and my daughter Rebbecca, and son in law Woef in the other. It`s a beautiful place - woods and fields full of wild flowers, a ceramic studio (available to those interested) a polytunnel with veg, gardens and a tree nursery (see website ). There are always lots of renovations to do, new plans and ideas, good conversation and laughter. We cook great food (one house vegetarian) and brew wonderful beer, so lots to do if it`s raining. We have no livestock at the moment, only 4 wonderful dogs - and a frisbee.