Profile information
Host rating
80 %
Last replied
7 Feb 2024
Feedback
33
Email verified
Badges (2)
Details
Description
My Mother, a healthy 94 year old and I, live in a eco modern build with a huge garden and a cafe and shop. We've been here a few years now, but are new to country living. We are urban souls in the countryside, and loving it.
My business is a small cafe with a shop selling vintage dishes. I'm open on the weekends serving fresh local products with a special emphasis on herbs all grown in my garden.
We have an orchard, a potager, loads of herbs and slowly developing a large flower garden as well. I am keeping a large area wild and our gardening in the potager is following principals of permaculture. We just recently got some chickens and a large part of the land is rented to a farmer for his cows. We have a cat and so animal life is something we really enjoy.
We are an eccentric creative pair from London and Canada, needing a helping hand with garden, small building projects, painting, decorating etc. I'm also in need of keen tastebuds to check out my culinary on-going research for the cafe!
We are in an unassuming but fascinating part of the country, located between Paris, London and Brussels. The historical context of Flemish and English relations with the French make for rich cultural stories, architecture, cuisine etc etc. The land is dedicated to farmland but adjacent to a stricking coastline. We are in the middle of the Seven Valleys, giving a varied landscape of hills, plateaus, valleys, rivers, foress, next to a coastline of vast sand beaches, dunes, cliffs, pebble beaches.
The estuaries of Canche, Authie and la Somme's nature reserves, attract visitors from all over. Equally we have all around us, some beautiful villages, towns and cities. So be it historical interest, natural outdoor activities, chic and sexy town life, it's all happening!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Elderly Companionship
General Maintenance
Help with Eco Projects
Help around the house
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
This is an area with a fascinating cultural heritage to start. I am completely bilingual in French and English and we are in the middle of a small French community. We are equally connected to many English people who live in the area.
Our project involves cooking, eco, and sustainable gardening. I am an experimental cook and keen to develop an original and healthy cuisine for my cafe. The garden is a working garden which will serve the cafe. We regularly go to the local market. These elements should bring a convivial, tasty and interesting involment with food production. I ran a fine food shop and cafe in London and now looking to set up a smaller but more niche and eclectic commercial experience.
We are both well traveled and have keen artististic interests particularly in painting and photography. My Mother has painted and drawn her whole life and the house if filled with her work along with works by local talent.
It's an opportunity to live in an ecological house, designed by Greek/London architects, built by the oldest wood construction company in the area. This combination of attributes being a bit of a rarity in these parts, means the house is going to be a model house.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We are looking for help with
GARDENING: setting up vegetable gardens, trimming and pruning edges and trees, clearing and digging.
SMALL BUILDING JOBS: Outdoor steps, shed, greenhouse.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Accommodation
We are offering a double bed/bedroom with it's own bathroom, ideal for a single person or a couple. We also have an open concept studio space with double bed, with wet room on same floor. We have loads of camping space.
What else ...
There is a wealth of activities in the area to satisfy interests in culture, nature, history, urban entertainement. The public transport is limited, but we have a car, a bycicle, and there are trains for journeys a little further afield or local stops.
This is our start with the Workaway program and we are looking forward to the exchange. We are easy going versatile people. We have friends in the area who are with the program and have had the pleasure of meeting many workaways.
We have lived vicariously for a while through our friends and now ready to enjoy the exchange for ourselves.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (15)
We were welcomed in their splendid house, sharing with them an every-day life full of joy, laugh and inspiring conversations. We had plenty of… read more
Amidst COVID restrictions and endless rain, we managed with these two lovely people, to get through all sorts. Firstly they cycled all day to get here, and needless to say in mud and rain and with the stress of a curfew....this was the first indication that these two are troopers. The… read more
Roberta worked easily at all tasks given and always with good attitude. I’m seeing the results everyday and more than happy.
Having a Workaway is always more than just completing the jobs at hand, and the… read more
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
We were welcomed in their splendid house, sharing with them an every-day life full of joy, laugh and inspiring conversations. We had plenty of… read more
Amidst COVID restrictions and endless rain, we managed with these two lovely people, to get through all sorts. Firstly they cycled all day to get here, and needless to say in mud and rain and with the stress of a curfew....this was the first indication that these two are troopers. The… read more
Roberta worked easily at all tasks given and always with good attitude. I’m seeing the results everyday and more than happy.
Having a Workaway is always more than just completing the jobs at hand, and the… read more
Movie time was fun and I especially enjoyed it when we were all drinking tea while drawing/getting frustrated by our sudoku ;) Thank… read more
Katharine is the best cooker I have met in Europe, especially her biscuits with Nick’s jam. I enjoyed every meal, REALLY!!!!! She knows that I love sweet and dessert, so even she got the cold she still made a cake with… read more
I don't exagerate if I say that Katharine is by far the best cook on earth (and its surroundings). And June, oh June!! what a charming and magical lady you are !! Brilliant, funny and owner of a fantastic british… read more
spent there.
I soon found out that the house and the garden itself was like a magical place for me, I felt safe and didn't need to get out from the house because I was… read more
