Beekeeping and gardening in Stange, Norway

Details

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  Description

  Hello and welcome to an Norwegian experience 😊
  My name is Agnete. I am 58 years old and due to health problems I am not working but staying at home for a regular basis. I am the type that is always having new plans and ideas, and since you will be spending most of the time with me, you will do various tasks regarded to the house and garden. I am an outdoor person, and gardening will be our main thing from the snow leaves until it shows up again. I am interested in learning new things, and next I want to learn about harvesting and use of wild edible plants and permaculture growing.
  
  From summer 2018 I started as a beekeeper, having my own bees, but none of them are at home. If you are allergic to bees or afraid of them you do not have to come along at all. Otherwise you are welcome to come and watch.
  
  The household normally contains myself and son Øyvind, 32 years old. Øyvind just moved home after 11 years on this own, and do have his own rythm according to sleeping hours, meals etc, so he will not be part of our daily routines.
  
  In a separate apartment in the house Camilla lives. She is a nice and quiet person, and we hardly see her, you will just hear her sometimes.
  
  I love travelling and meeting new people. Winter 2018 I spent in Australia as a workawayer myself, and now I love bringing the world and people to my home. This is a vegetarian household, and if you are not already a vegetarian, you will be when you are here :) Besides being a vegetarian, I also tend to the healthy lifestyle, so there will not be any junkfood around. If you can not live without candy, sodas and ice cream you just have to buy your own.
  
  Also going to cafe's and restaurants you have to be self sufficient while my money can't hold it all.
  
  For your free time please tell me your wishes and I will try to help you. I am occupied three evenings a week so be prepared to have some time on your own. I will also spend days/evenings kayaking and if you are not already trained in kayaking I cannot be responsible for your safety so I am sorry that you cannot come.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  This is a calmer part of Norway. We do not have the high mountains and the deep fjords. This is a more wavy landscape, but we are situated along the largest lake of Norway, Mjøsa. This is in the middle of farmland, with several organic farms in the area. Around the house it is open and airy with fields, fields and fields, but you will find the forest just a small biking trip away. There are several good opportunities for walks and for biking.
  
  On a personal plan I am happy to share with you my benefits from life.
  I can teach you vegetarian cooking, vegan cooking and about Raw Food.
  I can teach you hobby gardening and how to grow and maintain your own veggie garden and greenhouse.
  I do both knitting and sewing on a sewing machine. I don't do it much and mostly wintertime, but if you are very eager we might have a look at it.
  
  Lots of time is spent with the bees, and you are welcome to come and learn it along with me.
  
  Spring, summer and fall, according to the weather we will sometimes go sleeping outdoor in a hammock.
  
  In wintertime we will go skiing and hiking with snow shoes.
  
  And please bring your swimsuit whatever time of year :) You might feel a slightly pressure to come along swimming, even ice swimming 😁

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  Help

  This is not a farm or a big house, just a ordinary house with a ordinary garden. But....with all my plans and projects... there might be more to do than you can imagine ;)
  
  The bees have the highest priority. You will mostly do cleaning, building and repairing of equipment, but can come along watching while opening the bee hives. Early fall it will be collection and extraction of honey.
  
  In spring I would like help in the garden. I love to grow, and I want to spend most of my time outdoor. My main interest is all edible, both from the vegetable garden, greenhouse, bushes and trees. My philosophy is to get as much out of it with as little effort as possible, but I am not afraid of hard work and I always have some new projects.
  New is that I'm trying out hydroponic growing, but it might mostly be indoors at wintertime.
  
  In fall I would like help harvesting from the garden and the forest. We are picking berries. My garden has raspberries, plums, cherries, apples, pears...etc. and we will also go to the forest to pick berries. I usually pick above 100 kilos of fruit and berries to put in the freezers for the winter.
  
  Wintertime is when my health is getting worse, and I am closing down for a quiet life.
  But during spring and late fall, and on rainy days I would like help cleaning and painting indoor. The house is made of all wood, and after some years it would be nice with some color. We are painting with Livos, natural paint blended with beeswax so it will not harm your health.
  
  Besides this it would also be nice with some help with regular housework and cleaning. It's also maintenance that is too boring doing alone, for instance cleaning out and organizing the storage room...

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Norwegian: Fluent
  German: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  If you are here to learn Norwegian we will speak mostly Norwegian, depending on your level, and just translate to make things clear. Otherwise we will speak English all the time. I would like to learn some German while I understand some and can speak just a tiny bit. I would also like to learn some Spanish if you have the patient to teach me some.
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  Accommodation

  Your bedroom will be a smaller room with two single beds. If you are a couple you can put them beside each other to make a double bed. It contains just beds, a closet and a chair.
  You will share the bathroom with Øyvind.

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  What else ...

  Your free time is your time and if you give me your preferations I will help you planning. From the house there are busses running for school early morning and mid afternoon, but both busses and trains are to be found at Stange 3 km away.
  
  Distances:
  Stange: 3 km away. Stange is just a small village, but is has what we need for the daily life.
  Hamar: 12 km, and 10 minutes by train from Stange. Hamar gives whatever a city has to give.
  The airport of Gardermoen is 50 minutes away by train.
  Oslo: 120 km, some less than 1,5 hour by train.
  Lillehammer: 1 hour by train and one hour by car.
  The shores of Lake Mjøsa: 3 km.
  
  I will not lend you my car but I do have a bike for you.
  
  Several nice hikes, both in the open landscape and in the forest near by. Biking trips are easy since there are no real steep hills around. In wintertime it is possible to go skiing, cross country and slalom. Cross country is not as far away and will be a free activity. For slalom we have to go 1,5 hours, and it is quite expensive so I hardly do it.
  And we will go hiking on snow shoes.
  
  All year you can come along swimming in Lake Mjøsa, also wintertime :)
  
  Please google....
  The Hamar region:
  visit-hedmark.no
  visitnorway.com - and then Hamar
  tripadvisor.co.uk - and then Hamar, Norway
  
  
  For a longer trip, if you want to rent a car you are also able to go to
  Dalsnibba - Geiranger - Trollstigen - a roundtrip made in two days.

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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

  If you are coming in a camper I have space for you to park.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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