Help with collaborative family projects on the Wild Atlantic Way, County Mayo, Ireland

Details

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  Description

  Welcome to our rural smallholding and woodland on Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way in the mountains by the sea.
  
  Myself and husband Paul are in our 70's, both retired. We grow food for the table, manage the land for carbon-sequestration and restore mountain habitat for wildlife. The nuts, fruits, wildflowers etc. are harvested to make natural medicines.
  
  Marie trained as a sculptor and worked as an art teacher and practicing artist in London. Subsequently she got involved in fiber arts including quilting, weaving and spinning. We have spinning-heels and looms for our visitors' use, and equipment for kniting and crochet.
  
  We include our guests on out outings and are keen to introduce visitors to Mayo to the wonders of The Wild Atlantic Way. There are hiking and biking trails nearby on The Great Western Greenway. There is traditional music and arts festivals locally (we attended The Heinrich Boll Festival last weekend on the beautiful Achill Island, and live traditional music in the Westport pubs and cafes). Mayo is rich in World Heritage sites as well as its exquisite coastline, with wold-class surfing. Our weekends usually include hikes in the mountains.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Elderly Companionship

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Interests

  

  Hitchhiking

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Water sports

  

  Nature

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Technology

  

  Sustainability

  

  Self development

  

  Farming

  

  Culture

  

  Photography

  

  Plant care

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Carpentry

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Books

  

  Art & design

  

  Mountain

  

  Hiking
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Mayo is famous for its live Celtic music in local pubs. Fairs and festivals Workawayers would enjoy include a celebration week of Mayo's Dark Sky Park (November), an annual Salmon Festival in Ballina (July), an International 4-Day Walking Festival in Castlebar (June). Mayo is strong on craft and art exhibitions and workshops, especially traditional crafts of spinning, weaving and dyeing, and we have equipment and knowledge at your disposal to learn and practice these skills.

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  Help

  We welcome volunteers with commitment to "reduce, reuse, renew" in daily life to minimise environmental damage. You would help with our sensitive management of a small-holding including household tidying and meal-preparation. All tasks are clearly explained along the way and activities done together with Host.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Italian: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  Marie learned to speak "an teanga beo" (the soft tongue - Irish) in school many years ago. Paul learned Russian as a young man and remembers a little. We both 'get the gist of' French and German though have no formal schooling in either language but are always eager to learn and curious about European language roots.
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  Accommodation

  Your own bedroom in small Irish cottage with comfortable clean single x 2 or 1 double bed. Access to shower, bathroom, washing machine. Meals x 3 daily Monday to Friday. Our weekends tend to include family, friends, and outings including organized mountain-hikes or festivals so weekends do not include "sit-down" cooked meals but we happily provide packed sandwich lunches and lifts for our Volunteers to trail-heads for hiking trails (Nephin More, The Nephin Range and Ireland's "Holy Mountain", Croagh Patrick) or the many Blue Flag beaches for swimming and surfing.

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  What else ...

  There are local buses, bike-hire outfits and taxis locally and we offer lifts to local towns each week - Castlebar, Ballina and Westport - for shopping and cultural events. Coaches from Dublin Airport, Shannon Airport and Knock International Airport are within close reach and we are happy to pick up Volunteers by arrangement.

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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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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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