Nature & living simply in Sammatti, Finland

Details

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  Description

  HELLO - You want to have a peaceful experience in the middle of nature?
  
  Me and my daughter live in the middle of a beautiful forest, very close to a lake and we have 2 small houses. One of them is built on wheels and that one I´ve built myself.
  
  The things we´re focusing on this spring :
  
  - We have a peaceful situation now - there are no super urgent missions and there is space to focus on more peaceful life. In garden we´re gonna plant more and more perennial edible plants that support a whole ecosystem of pollinators and eventually will take over the land, so that not much weeding and tilling is neede, but the garden will give food on it´s own. Of course getting this started is work, but a huge part of it is done now and we´re nt gonna expamnd the area this year, just focusing on adding variety and amount of plants and taking good care of the ones who are alredy growing, so they can exmand and thrive.
  
  - Then we have a beautiful yurt, which haven+t been up for a few years now, and now the plan is to build a transportable platform for it, so that we can put it up again! I promise you - you´ll algo get to sleep in it, if you can help us to build it! The best news is that the design and part of it is done already, so the rest of it should not be too difficult! Perfect work on springtime outdoors!
  
  - We can also get creative and make a few simple firewood shelters to stack next years wood (whis is already also done). These kind of projects I love - we can use recycled materials to create something simple and beautiful - totally stressfree projects! And maybe even make a few birdhouses or somehting like that out of the left over planks.
  
  I would say maybe 90% of the work here happens outdoors.
  
  What we have acomplished so far with the help of all our lovely friends and volunteers for example : A tiny sauna built on wheels - that´s one of the thingswe´re most happy about! And the best thing is, so many people contributed! I will never forget them! It´s almost fully built from recycled and left over materials, so it is also almost free!
  
  Then we have established pretty good gardens on the yard with a lot of help from volunteers! We have also made many finishing works in my tiny house (which is also on wheels and movable with a tractor)! I have also had the privilige to recieve singing lessons, yoga classes, massage, acupressure, haircut, and other kind of special talents people have brought over when they´ve come here! So wow! It´s been great (mostly)!!
  
  What are your gifts? What are you good at and what inspires you? What would you like to bring in?
  
  I value a lot if people bring in their own energy and inspiration! I value if you can complete a task and after bring the tools back to where they belong. I appreciate open communication and having a clear agreement on things. It is very handy if you can jump into the flow of our life and take care of things in a family way! This way things usually flow the best!
  
  What I would also currently like to learn is something about videomaking and other IT-skills that would serve me in creating my one-woman business. I am not at all tech-savvy, so very simple and easy stuff please! (I have Mac, but been considering changing - recomendations welcome!)
  
  We are located really in a forest. There are some summer cottages around, but considered this is just an hour away from Helsinki, it´s pretty rural. Yet we are just 10 minutes by car from the 2 closest villages, which are also reachable by bike.
  
  We are Malla 43yo - natural gardener, doula, Zen Coaching practitioner and - and mother of Hilla 11yo. We really love to live here in the nature and be creative, collect wild food and grow what we can, make music and meditate and make fire in the evening.
  
  This kind of lifestyle requires living in motion. It means learning to relax while you do somehting. We cannot count every sigle action as work, cause basic life needs some maintenance from everyone. One needs to take into consideration that for example if you come in the heating season, there was already a lot of work behind that we have firewood. So for you to bring that firewood into to the house and be able to heat the house and enjoy the fire is a privilige, something to recieve with gratitude, not somethign to be considered work. Just to have the basic awaness taht living simply sometimes means efforts for being able to live simply, and enjoying it while doing it. Resting in the doing, being present while doing. And yes, God knows I have many learnings still myself in this - by no means I am any kind of guru in this myself either!
  
  Anyway, I wish you have some experience in meditation, yoga, presence, spirituality, being, nature, authenticity and this kind of things, caus ethen we can connect better. I don´t need any gurus, just simple open humane and humble people who are honestly what they are. We are all just friends on the camino!
  
  So if this sounds like a dream deal for you, when you write me, please be specific and tell us why would you like to come especially to our place. Tell us what kind of works you would like to do? Tell also are you prepared for outdoor work and aware of the weather conditions of the season? Tell me about your diet requirements. Tell us about your relation to The Great Spirit - of how ever you may connect with the Big Mystery of Life.
  
  I get many messages, and many of them are from people who never red my profile. I don´t have unfortunately time to respond all of those. Feel free to ask again if this really sounds like something for you!
  
  We have a cat, so not for allergic people. No alcohol, drugs or cigarettes. Please don´t use chemical cosmetics over here. We will provide natural soaps and shampoos and lotion. And please no fragraces at all. No deodorants, parfymes, etc. This is a odourant free environment, cause I am really sensitive to that stuff and cannot handle it in my home. You are lovely as you are - natural!
  
  We do not have a shower, except a simple camping shower outdoors, we have (a very cool and recetly built) drytoilet only outdoors as well. We are heating both houses with fire and they are warm and cozy - yes also in the winter!
  
  We can have 1-2 people over here at a time. The best would be if you can stay a little longer, like about 2-3 weeks is quite optimal stay often, some have stayed a few moths!

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet

  House sitting
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  Interests

  

  Sustainability

  

  Self development

  

  Plant care

  

  Music

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Books

  

  Art & design

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Blogging

  

  Writing

  

  Hitchhiking

  

  Performing arts

  

  Photography

  

  Languages

  

  Gardening

  

  Winter sports

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Carpentry

  

  Animals

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Nature

  

  Camping

  

  Sailing / Boating

  

  Dancing

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Hiking
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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

  If you like to learn about simple life - how to live in nature and outdoor life - here it is! If you like DIY - we have built the tiny house ourselves and we create things as we go along.
  
  Presence and meditation is also essential part of our life, as well as non violent communication and practising genuine connection to ourselves and each others.
  
  I play charango and harmonium - quite simple - and I would love to share music if you play also, especially medicine music and such spiritual music interests me mostly. We can learn form each others!
  
  There is a guitar, piano and an ukulele in the house as well.
  
  If this kind of things interest you - Welcome!!!

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  Help

  Most of all when you come, I would like it to be some kind of family vibe where we make it work in the best way for us while you´re here. It´s best if you can step into the team as you are and understand that there can be different flows on different times. Sometimes there are more handy stuff where we might work together, sometimes I need to focus on my other works, and greatly appreciate if you can take care of tha daily things, so life flows. My life laso looks very different on the weeks I spend with y child than without.
  
  
  We are creating a sustainable garden that grows perennial edible plants with minimun effort. How ever that means some effort in the creating phase, so that the perennials find their strenght and can take over unwanted weeds. It´s all about the balance. This can be very interesting to someone who's into natural gardening, permacultute and no-till. That´s also why help in April - May is very welcome, cause tahts the time to start gardening season over here. How ever with this kind of garden there are tasks from April to October. If you have studied some permaculture or similar and/or would like to learn / share something about natural nordic gardening - welcome!
  
  We like to do everything finding natural ways - respectfully in harmony with nature. It is great if you have been working with earth and natural life before - and like to use your body and creativity. The tasks are not physically very demaning or heavy - but it´s good if you are used to working with your body and like to get your hands into natural tasks! :D
  
  I am aiming to build a platform for my yurt soon as well, so if you like carpentry, thats awesome!
  
  It´s very cool if you also like to create food!! Mostly organic and vegan / vegetarian foor is available - it is local when ever possible. The lake close by has plenty of fish, if you like to go fishing. I have gear and a canoa.
  
  I am quite flexible with things, and yet I expect you to also take part to the daily tasks, like cooking and cleaning, which are not part of the helping hours. Some poeple like to count hours, some just like to join the daily flow. What ever is your style, open communication about your needs, plans and ways to help and what you wanna do outside the helping time as well as what ever needs to be said, is highly welcome and encouraged here. If you find it challenging to communicate about something, please let me know and I´ll support you. Here we always wanna know what´s true for you, and it is safe to share your needs.
  
  Depending on the time you come, you will get your own ancient, yet modern logghouse cabin or maybe the yurt of the tiny house depending on availability. We are living in the tinyhouse ourselves most f the year. Usually cooking for all happens in the logghouse, cause it has running water and fridge. Breakfast we sometimes like to take as familytime especially when my child is here and eat in our own hut and you can also start your day in your own way and have breakfast your style. If you meditate or do yoga, we can share some morning practise.
  
  It is good idea to come with woolen underwear, especially in the winter, but I wear that stuff all year around, except June - July - August, can daytimes go witout. Also woolen socks and a woolen jumper can come handy also in the summer.
  
  Bring your own working clothes. I give you working gloves.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Finnish: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate
  Portuguese: Intermediate
  Swedish: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  I would love to practise my portuques and spanish. I am quite fluent with spanish, portuques is a bit rusty, since I havent been speaking it for a while now.... I can offer to teach finnish if you´re really into it and proactive with your learning.
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  Accommodation

  Usually you can stay in the main cottage. There is a double bed upstairs, which can also be sepataed into 2 separate beds. It is one big space with a upper loft, so there are no separate rooms. Kitchen is in the same space. We all use the kitchen, but mostly the house is yours.
  
  If you like to sleep outside, you can sleep in a hammoc or in a tent (Bring your sleeping bag). Here is super lovely to sleep outside! Very peaceful!
  
  Sometimes it might be that we have another helper (if you also come alone) and in that case you can share the house. Let me know in advance wether you would prefere to share it with someone else or would appreciate more your own space. If you come as a couple or two friends, then I dont take other helpers at the same time.
  
  We don´t have a regular shower or bathroom - only outhouse drytoilet and camping shower that can be used outside. Of course we also have a sauna now that is the best way to get clean and the lake is just 5 min walk away and possible to swim in. I know this is not for everyone, but absolutely perfect for us and for anyone intereted in living more simply and sustainably and also an inspirations for those who might want to find more economic and ecological ways of living!

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  What else ...

  This area is really the best of Finland - I would say! There are a lot of interesting people around - mostly families with school age or younger children. There are some get togethers in the village every now and then. This is just 1h busride away form Helsinki and Turku also - so you can get here very easily both from ferries to Turku or Helsinki or the airport.

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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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  Can host digital nomads

  We´re completely on our mobile intenet, but you an get a sim-card about 25€/month for yourself with unlimited internet and calls.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  There is space for a camper. We've had people with campers before.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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