United Kingdom
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We are a small family composed of myself, my partner Sarah & Herbert, the Boxer dog. We're in our late thirties (not Herbert obviously!). Sarah returns to London for half the week where she teaches Yoga and Ballet to children and adults. I live full-time in Somerset working in property renovation (which includes working on our place).
I spent most of 2018 renovating The Cottage, and we moved in for Christmas 2019. It was originally built in c1850 and has been a labour of love to restore, modernise sympathetically, and furnish it almost completely with 2nd hand/vintage furniture & fixtures.
Our home is situated in a tiny, peaceful village called Limington, on the Somerset, Dorset border. This brings many benefits including the nearby Somerset Levels to the North and the rolling hills towards the Jurassic Coast to the South. We have a church and a pub in our village, and a number of friendly neighbours.
Gardening
Building
General Maintenance
Cooking / shopping
Help with Eco project
Help in the house
We would like our guests to share in the life we have begun to create for ourselves here in Somerset. Our priority above all else is to live an enriched, loving and peaceful life. Sarah and I have both explored some of the more extreme areas of spirituality, as well as therapy, and have both come to the conclusion that the answers we have been seeking are far simpler, lighter and closer to home than we previously were willing to concede. We do a little yoga, che gong and meditation in the week, and invite guests to join in as little or as much as they wish.
We love cooking and sharing food with others. We have found sitting around the dining table, talking about all manner of things, a really enjoyable and enriching exchange with our work aways.
We are looking for help with the garden and work on the outbuildings. The garden work includes: preparing beds, planting, mowing and working in the meadow orchard. Most of this work we anticipate to be reasonably simple and I have a couple of friends who work as landscape gardeners that we can call on for guidance.
Cottage & Outbuilding work - whilst the main section of the cottage is complete and nicely habitable, there are a lot of smaller tasks/snagging we would like help with e.g. repairing cast iron guttering, installing a water butt. We plan to renovate the outbuildings which will include repairing the tin roofs, inserting insulation and painting. These jobs ideally requires someone with intermediate skills/experience in DIY, joinery. Just let us know if you have building experience on your initial message, it's not essential.
English. Sarah also speaks some Italian & German
Our cottage has 2 spare rooms. One with a double bed and the other a cute bunk-room. There is a family sized bathroom for these 2 rooms with a large shower. Sarah and I are both veggie, so we offer vegetarian meals to our guests. We usually ask guests to share in the cooking, even if it's just to help cut veggies. There is a nice pub in our village serving all the classic English meat dishes if guests need to get their meat fix. You are welcome to use the kitchen, though most meals will be provided.
We usually have all meals together, though guests are welcome to do their own thing. Lunch is usually a salad with sandwich/cheese/fruit. Supper is normally a hot meal and something sweet afterwards! We invite guests to join us for some yoga or che gong in the morning, before work. It's usually only 15mins. And sometimes a meditation at the end of the day. These practices are very much optional for our work-aways.
There is wifi and guests are welcome to log onto it and do emails and watch films etc. We have a TV and usually watch a film or two in the week, anything from a trashy romcom to one of Sarah's more avant-garde cinematic choices!
There is a resident dog at the house. He is a Boxer (medium sized dog) called Herbert. He's very good natured and loves to play. He is also a very good listener, if you need some animal therapy and unconditional love : )
Any other questions just ask.
There's lots to do, depending how adventurous you're feeling. That said, this is also a lovely place to slow down and do very little, especially if the sun is shining. In the village there is a pub serving all the classic English pub dishes with a beautiful pub garden looking out over fields. There is a pretty, old church at the other end of the village which you're welcome to visit either during or outside of a service. There are lots of lovely walks from the cottage, we have an OS Map you can borrow with all the routes shown. We have bikes you are welcome to borrow to go further afield. There are a number of stunning market towns worth a visit such as Sherborne and Castle Cary. Montacute House, a large National Trust house and gardens is close by. There are also nice little foodie places serving good coffee and interesting dishes not too far away. We have some interesting friends involved in some of the more traditional jobs of this region including Cider making and specialist Joinery. There are plenty of books you are welcome to borrow during your stay and a guitar, usually in tune!
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
More than two
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
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