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22 Jan 2025
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Description
Hello! My family consists of my husband, Matt, 3 year old daughter, Laurel and an autistic man named Calub who has been living with us for nearly 17 years. We are a laid back, fun loving, adventure seeking yet solitude enjoying bunch. We live in a rural part of central Vermont on 101 beautiful acres. Our land is mostly wooded with about 12 open acres in which we use as pasture for our horses and we have a gorgeous swimming pond and are surrounded by the lovely green mountains. We love where we live!
We are off-the-grid with solar power and a back up generator so we have plenty of power to run our place year round. We aren't homesteaders per say, but we try to be as self sufficient as possible in that we maintain our own property year round- cutting and splitting firewood to heat our home, lots of mowing and weed whacking in the summer and then lots of snow blowing and shoveling in winter. We have a vegetable garden we could alway use help with and have plans to expand and we keep honey bees. In the summer there is also a lot of horse pasture maintenance, maintaining and fixing fences, mowing, manure removal, etc.
We absolutely love the peace and quiet our property offers and the lovely views make it a dream come true. We are located on a dirt road which makes us a bit remote and requires four wheel drive to access in the winter time. Winters at our place certainly require some grit and work ethic to get through, but with the right outlook and work ethic its magical. For those who seek solitude, like winter adventures (think skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, snow blowing and shoveling, etc) its a great place to be.
Summers are unmatched with lots of swimming to be done right in our very own pond, hiking or biking all the trails near and far, canoeing in the many lakes and pond, or go out and find culture in the nearby towns and small cities. I'm happy to teach you about horses as well and you'll have an opportunity to ride under my guidance. Vermont has much to offer the outdoor enthusiast and it is a clean, quiet, friendly, beautiful and unique state!
We are about 20 minutes from the nearest year- round grocery store and town with shops. We have a few "neighbors" (living .5-2 miles away) who are great friends, but not many people live out near us which can be isolating at times but glorious if you like solitude and beauty.
Last but not least, our pets! In the house we have 2 sweet dogs, Lily and Daphne, who are sisters from the same litter, born in 2021. They are a mixed breed, coming from a rescue in North Carolina and are good girls. They are used to roaming the property and do a good job alerting us if anyone or any critters are near by. They love to go for walks in the woods and swim in our pond. We have 2 cats that go in and out, Honey and Archie. Archie is getting old and has a few medications he needs daily.
We have 2 personal horses and a mini horse, then sometimes we have extra horses for boarding and training, that just depends on the season and demand. Our horses are Larkspur, a 21 year old friesian cross, Thunder an 11 year old mustang, and Thorin an 11 year old mini horse.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
House sitting
Interests
Events & social
Self development
Movies & TV
Music
Carpentry
Dancing
Sailing / Boating
Water sports
Team sports
Yoga / Wellness
Adventure sports
Cycling
Beach
Vegetarian or vegan
Sustainability
Farming
Pets
Plant care
Gardening
Animals
Mountain
Outdoor activities
Winter sports
Nature
Hiking
Camping
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are happy to teach Worlkawayers any of the skills we have about off-grid-living: training horses, general horse care, maintaining and fixing pasture fences, gardening, vegetarian cooking, fire wood, building projects, mowing, tractor work, painting, weed trimming, pond maintenance and swimming in summer and cross-country skiing, snow shoveling, snow blowing with tractor in winter.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
For spring, summer and fall help that is not petsitting (while we are present), 5 hours a day, 5 days a week.
Spring is always full of projects like cleaning up after winter- raking, trail clearing and maintenance, conditioning horses, outside painting, pasture clean up and maintenance, pond raking. Planting garden and fruit trees, taking care of our daughter, horses, dogs and cats. Clearing a place on property for setting up a few campsites for a teepee and/or tiny cottage.
Summer is a continuation of spring things- Gardening, pond raking, splitting firewood, building projects, lots of mowing and weed whacking, maintaining horse and hiking trails and making new trails, help taking care of our daughter, horses and pets.
Fall- Stacking firewood, help with horses, getting ready for winter; putting away summer things, raking leaves, planting garlic and cleaning up garden, building projects, fencing repairs, trail clean up, help taking care of our daughter, horses and pets.
Petsitting while we are away on vacation:
Our ideal pet-sitter will be dynamic. Our dogs will need to be fed twice daily and go for walks and the cats are pretty easy but Archie needs medication which is not hard to do.
We have horses (generally 3-5 at at a time, depending on season) that will need care too, so someone with horse experience is a must! Depending on the season depends on what care is involved for them. In the winter its mostly throwing out hay, checking water and making sure the animals are healthy and some shoveling of snow and sanding- about 1 hour of time a day.
To take care of the animals that live in the house its about 10 minutes of time morning and night. Plus of course letting the dogs out to use the bathroom and exercise. We did not like for them to be inside longer than 6 hours at a time. We do have a friend that lives close-by who can help with all our pets if needed.
For winter pet sitters: The winters are unpredictable but Workawayers should be prepared to deal with the elements- cold temperatures (the average in Vermont is 22 F/-6 C, but it can get much colder) with snow, wind and sometimes rain that creates ice. Because of the rural location and that we live on a hill, the work after a snow storm can take 3-4 hours. This work will include shoveling snow on the decks and using the tractor to snow blow the driveway and sometimes throwing out sand if the driveway is too icy. If that isn't a good option we could hire a person to come to plow & sand in the winter. We'd also need someone who could keep the wood stove going for heat in the winter and be able to pay attention to our solar system and problem solve if needed with any and all other farm/home owner issues that might arise unexpectedly. Generally the solar/generator system works very well. A vehicle with snow tires and four wheel drive is necessary for winter travel here in Vermont. We possibly could provide a vehicle for someone who has a valid driver's license.
Summer time pet sitting is easier in general and maybe takes 1-4 hours a day depending on the what's needed at the time. The above mentioned animal care plus mowing the lawns, watering plants inside and out, and light gardening.
Petsitting hours: 1-4 hours per day
* However, if we are in need of a pet sitter it is because we will be away from home for an extended time. So we will need care for our animals every day for at least 1 hour but it will depend on the weather and circumstances of that day.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
Depending on the season and if we will be home or not there will be a room in our house available (winter). We also have a small cabin that could be available depending on season.
The last option for warmer months we have plans of setting up a teepee, canvas tent and/or tiny cabin in the future for 2025.
Not sure how food would work at this time but we are vegetarians and so will only be providing vegetarian items (we eat dairy and eggs). Workawayers are welcome to join us for meals!
What else ...
We are about 40 minutes to the capital of Vermont, Montpelier, which has cultural activities and shops. We are surrounded by beauty with limitless outdoor activities to do like hiking, canoeing/kayaking /paddle boarding, fishing, mountain biking, horseback riding, disc golfing, swimming, museums, art, skiing in winter, etc. Happy to assist with areas of interests, just let me know!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have Starlink satellite internet which works pretty well in our house only
Space for parking camper vans
We have a few options for parking but will not be able to offer electric hook ups as we're off the grid.
Can possibly accept pets
Other pets can be evaluated on a case bu case basis. Our dogs sometimes aren't welcoming to new dogs. All pets must be able to get along with dogs, cats and kids
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
