Help around the ranch and the garden during the spring and help around the home all year round in the Cariboo, BC, Canada

Details

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  Description

  We are a family of 4 living on an organic ranch in the beautiful Cariboo region of BC's Interior.
  We are looking for someone to help us with our daily routine, including caring for the kids, our pets/horses/farm animals, the garden and improving our home and our outdoor playground

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We live in a beautiful area of Canada where people visit from all over the world every year. The opportunities for outdoor activities are endless.
  The ranch we live and work on is certified organic and animal welfare approved, we take great care of the land and received the environmental stewardship award for that as well in the past (2010).
  We do not expect our workawayers to help us with our business though, we are only looking for help around the house, the garden, with the care for the animals and to help us with our too energetic, sporty boys.
  
  Workawayers can come along on hiking trips, go swim in the lake, come to the ski hills with us, ride their mountain bike or just breathe in the fresh air and listen to the birds or see a moose walk across the meadow.
  We love nature and spend as much time outside as possible. We also like playing games, sing songs or meet up with friends. Horsefly, the village we live in, has it's own little music festival in the summer (July usually) as well as lots of other things to explore.
  
  We try hard to show our guests and workawayers as much of our stunning area as possible during their stay. Workawayers are also welcome to use our little car to go explore on their own as long as they use our vehicle responsibly.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We are looking for help with bringing kids to school and picking them up after school as well as doing fun activities with them (crafts, drawing, painting, playing, music), not exceeding 4-5 hours per day. Help around the house and help to get the garden ready and expanded in the spring would also be highly appreciated. No formal training for that is required only being open minded and responsible, honest and kind would be expected.
  
  If you are into horses, art & music and outdoor activities it will be a plus, as we spend a lot of time outside, rain or shine!
  We are also looking for somebody to help us on the ranch (not including the business aspect of ranching); we mainly need help with anything in and around the house, including kids, animals including horses, gardening, fencing, stacking/splitting firewood, helping with home renovations and yard maintenance as well as projects like creating mountain bike trails, kids playground etc.
  
  Some projects we are planning for the next year around our house will include: hopefully finally finishing a storage room in our garage, organizing a garage sale, building a permanent woodshed/storage/carport/office building, spending more time riding and training our horses and hiking, biking, swimming, canoeing, going to music festivals etc... life is never boring here as long as you enjoy nature!
  
  During spring, summer and fall (sometimes even in the winter) we often have multiple young (or older) people staying with us at the same time. Often they come from Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France) and are students doing their practicum at the ranch. We also regularly host students from TRU in Williams Lake for their applied sustainable ranching and agriculture program. The language spoken at home (within our family) is mainly German as we try to keep it going especially for the kids to continue to be bilingual. Everyone in our household speaks English fluently though as we need it daily for work etc.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  French: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  Travellers can stay in a cabin either alone or together with another workaway/student. Whoever stays with us is looked at as being part of the family with all the duties a family member has to do. We always try to have meals together as a family which is extremely important to us.
  Our workawayers will always be included in our meals and daily routine as well as family activities if desired.
  We do eat meat (which comes exclusively from our own ranch), we bake our own bread and overall we try to live a very healthy lifestyle.
  The cabins are furnished with beds, table, chairs, the bigger cabin also has a fridge, coffee maker and electric board heaters. It sleeps 3 people. The smaller cabin is very rustic but cozy and has a little wood stove in it. It sleeps one person. Workawayers will have breakfast at their cabins, lunch either at their cabins or at our house. We always eat dinner together as a family including our workawayers, guests and friends or whoever is currently staying with us. There is a bathroom that workawayers can use in one of the main houses a few meters away from the cabins. If the cabins get too cold in the winter, workawayers can move into the main house if needed.

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  What else ...

  There is no public transportation available where we live. We have extra bicycles and are willing to share other recreational toys as well as a small car that travellers can use as long as they have an international drivers license and enough experience in driving (standard) as well as a clear criminal record check.
  
  The village of Horsefly is only a few minutes away, where daily necessities can be purchased. There is a local famers market held every Saturday from spring to fall. Post office, gas station are in the village.
  The next bigger city is Williams Lake, BC (airport, university, hospital, etc) and is one hour away by car (no public transportation).
  
  The region we live in is known for its breathtaking landscape, abundance of wildlife and endless outdoor opportunities. World known mountain bike trails, too many to count lakes, hiking trails, skiing, etc...as well as a vivid music and art scene with ongoing events throughout the year.
  
  If workawayers are looking for a place where they can hear the coyotes howl while they are having dinner, then this is their spot. If experiencing tranquility outside and after a day of busy family life sounds like an overwhelming feeling then we might not be the right fit.
  We appreciate clear communication about expectations and honesty in all aspects. Our family is busy with our kids, jobs, ranch etc. We try to do fun activities together as often as our jobs allow them (kids birthday parties, hiking trips, sightseeing trips, swimming, playing games, doing sports etc. )
  Workawayers with interest in sports like Tennis, Badminton, Horseback riding, Mountain biking, Swimming, Skiing, Snowboarding, Skateboarding, Soccer, Basketball are extremely welcome :-)
  Workawayers who are playing instruments like piano or guitar are also very welcome as we have both in our household.
  
  If workawayers have medical conditions that require close proximity to a hospital, we must remind everyone that the next hospital is one hour away and there is no family doctor available where we live.
  Workawayers must have their own health insurance.
  
  As much as we like having people around all year, as much do we enjoy family time as well. We ask everyone kindly to please respect our privacy as we will respect yours.
  Living together under one roof can have its challenges, but we want to make the experience a good one for everybody involved. We expect our workaways to help with household tasks like cleaning up after themselves, helping with dishes after dinner as if they would be at their own home. Workawayers are also responsible to clean their cabins after their stay and keep their bathrooms tidy so the next person can enjoy it as well.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  a motorhome or campervan can easily be parked at our house

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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