Help us take care of the animals and daily tasks around the house while discovering the area in Vlezenbeek, Belgium

Details

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  Description

  We're a couple of Earth dwellers, on a path to re-connecting with earth and all of its creatures, with old and new energies and bodies of wisdom. We are fluent in Dutch, English and French and, together, we offer a reasonably good level of Italian, Portuguese and German, as well as some basic Spanish. We have a relatively big house and garden which we love to open up to fellow travelers of this plane, who seem to be finding their way more and more to this place. That is how we came to know about Workaway.
  Our house has 3 floors, 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It is surrounded by greenery and, over the course of 8 years, our garden developed from, basically, a lawn, to an edible garden with a relatively wide variety of trees, shrubs and fruit/vegetable beds. We share the premises with one beautiful cat called Rastaman and one irresistable little white dog called Tasja, as well as 5 chickens (Goldie, Blackie, Billie, Plume, Ripple) and 1 rabbit (Aquarel).
  Behind the house is a 90 m2 shed which Walter, the man around the house, rebuilt and provided with a roof and floor, as well as windows all around. Our project was to turn this place into a multi-purpose room for sounding, yoga, meditation, lounging, ... However, things came to a halt with the passing over of both our remaining parents, followed by Walter falling ill and losing most of his mobility, strength and energy. Our multi-purpose room slowly turned into a storage room covered in dust. After several years of stagnation and adjustment to new and sometimes difficult circumstances, over the past year, a new flow came into our life, attracting all kinds of experiences and travelers spending some time here, most of them expressing nothing but awe and enthusiasm about the potential of this place for communal living and temporary/longer-term dwelling, time and experience-sharing. This kindled a fire that had stayed present in both of us and, at our pace, and with the help of like-minded people, we managed to finish this project to its full potential and have been hosting workshops of various sorts throughout 2024.
  Just prior to Christmas, we welcomed 2 more dogs into our family who didn't have anywhere else to go, one of them seriously ill, but we're planning to have him back up his feet shortly. They're two adorable creatures listening to the names Snow (age 5 months) and Darcy (age 7 years).
  Over the course of the last two years, Walter's mobility gradually decreased and we felt it was time to start looking for another place to live, one that would require less attention and have fewer steps and staircases to move around, both inside and outside. Christmas 2024 not only brought us 2 extra companions, but also a new place to live from the summer of 2025 onwards.
  Said that, we'll be happy to continue hosting workawayers in our oasis near Brussels at least until August 2025 and possibly until the end of the year even. However, our needs have somewhat changed. The kind of help we require will mainly be related to helping to run our household, i.e. going to the organic self-harvesting farm to get vegetables, preparing meals and cleaning up afterwards, walking the dogs and taking care of the animals in general, and, towards spring and summer, helping out cleaning up the garden and preparing the big move so we may leave behind our beloved place to the next earth dwellers who wish to call it home for a spell.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  House sitting
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We live just outside Brussels, the capital of Europe, a cultural melting pot in itself, with easy connections to Gent, Bruges and Antwerp, as well as Amsterdam, Paris and Cologne. Although close to the hustle and bustle of the city, with a wide variety of cultural offerings, our house is surrounded by meadows and farmland and feels like it's in the country side.
  Apart from learning about DIY and permaculture/natural gardening, we can help with language learning, are open to going on outings with our guests, if time allows. For those eager to learn about healthy, intuitive and eco cooking, your landlady will probably have a couple of talents one can learn from and the two of us combined have knowledge to share about a wide range of subjects and we're always eager to learn from others.

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  Help

  Basically, helping out running the household in all of its facets
  - Being part of the household, taking care of groceries, meals, tidying up, etc., when and where needed
  - Going to harvest vegetables at the local CSA-farm and processing them
  - Walking the dogs and caring for all the animals, including cleaning the hen house and such
  - Tidying up the garden, trimming trees, mulching cuttings, mowing grass and such
  - Helping out with small DIY projects
  There's an opportunity to learn about a wide variety of subjects, including natural gardening/living/food processing/cooking/healing etc. The idea is to learn lot by doing and to gradually become independent, able to take care of certain things on your own.
  We'd love to have a chat with you about what we have to offer to one another prior to your stay. Feel free to send us a message including your whatsapp number so we can get in touch.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  Dutch: Fluent
  German: Intermediate
  Portuguese: Intermediate
  Spanish: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  Interested in improving Portuguese
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  Accommodation

  A bedroom in a big house; spacious common areas; a shared kitchen; 3 bathrooms/showers; a shared terrace and garden.

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  What else ...

  For candidates with allergies, please check if our zoo doesn't present a problem (cf general description)
  As stated, we're close to the city, but the feel is that of the country side. There is a bus stop at a 5' walk that will take you to Brussels-midi (South) railway station in 25' (De Lijn bus R42), and the metro (MIVB/STIB Line 5 terminal Erasmus) is 15' away on foot, which will connect you to anywhere else in and around Brussels city, allowing for ample opportunities to venture into town and beyond. We're situated in Pajottenland, which is well known for its beers, good food, Gaasbeek castle, walking and cycling routes.
  To many people, just spending a couple of hours sipping a glass of something reading a book on the glass-roof terrace is a way to enjoy a sunny afternoon.

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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

  There's wired internet (ethernet via TP Link). WiFi is available during office hours only.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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