Italy
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From mid - februarior 2021 + March I'm looking for a couple or family of maximum 4 that wants to stay at my house and help to take care of the dogs.
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====Prerequisites====:
- willing to stay her alone
- experience with dogs, but you can't bring your own pet, just to avoid tension and unpleasant situations (unfortunately we have not had good experience with applicants that brought their own dog, either the dog was not sterilized or for example dominant).
- I'm looking for an independent couple that travels together and likes to spend the winter (or at least one month) in the Sardinian country side
- you need your own car
- you need to be handy and able to solve small problems that could arise with electricity and water (sometimes during strong winds we can have power cuts, and sometimes a filter of the water pump might need to be cleaned
====Conditions====:
- only housing is provided, there's a wood stove to keep you warm, plenty of wood and electricity. Food is NOT provided, when you finish the gas bottle for cooking and hot water you buy a new one.
- you can use one of the 2 bedrooms, the other one stays closed for our own use. We will come around for a few days every now and then.
- wood for the stove is provided but you need to cut it in smaller pieces yourself (chainsaw is provided, repairs on the chainsaw not).
- we leave you the house clean, we'd like you to keep it clean and leave it clean for the next people
- if you want to work on the terrain there's always bushes to be cleaned, we are open to discus the possibilities of compensation for your work.
- minimum stay one month
- I will stay with you for the first 2 - 3 days to explain, show you around and get acquainted with the dogs
- Teresa will come over every now and then.
- frequent contact with me
- dog food is included
- take the dogs out for a walk every single day (for the dogs see description below)
- monitor the dogs and take them to the vet if necessary ( I will hear from you what the problem is, and contact and pay the vet)
====THE DOGS====:
We have 3 dogs, most likely you'll have to take care of only 2. There are 2 medium sized ones, both males, Mesh and Scivu (Scivu is castrated) they are both, mix terrier and the third is a sterilized female mix border collie and Sardinian sheep dog, Zara.
Scivu is a bit bossy, but Zara is definitely the leader of the pack. They are both from end of 2015, Mesh is the underdog he's a couple of years older.
Zara is very fast and agile and likes to run a lot. Scivu likes to play a lot and asks for your attention, he likes to play rough chasing games wit Zara. Mesh keeps more to himself and likes to cuddle up to you in the evening.
All are well educated and used to walking on the leash. Zara is very protective and doesn't allow strangers nearby, with a little bit of patience however when she gets used to you you'll start to discover that she's very affectionate.
Mesh & Scivu like to keep you company, Zara is affectionate and needs some cuddles to but only for a short while.
Have a look at the photos of the dogs and the house.
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OCTOBER - NOVEMBER Olive picking in a beautiful valley close to the east coast of Italy
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For the end of October - beginning of November 2022 I'm looking for people that want to help out with harvesting the olives, I can't accepted families due to limited space.
Our small farm is not commercial, it's too small for that, at the same time it's too big for a hobby, the only thing we get from the grid is electrical power, we have to take care of our own water, sewage and the road to get here. In other words we don't make money with this project and we have to put in a lot of passion and love (which means hard work), in our spare time to get stuff done around here. So we don't exploit you as cheap labor and we ask of you to share our passion for living an independent lifestyle. Cultivating a terraced slope to provide olives, almonds, fruit and wood for the stove is part of that.
I am a Dutchman and I have been living in Sardinia from the year 2000 years on a small olive farm. The olive farm is situated in a beautiful cultivated valley surrounded by mountains, close to the center east coast, and 6 km out of town. Besides olives we have a lot of almond trees and some fruit trees like prunes, figs and apricots.
The valley is covered in vineyards and olive groves and only few families live here. The closest town Dorgali has 9000 inhabitants and the beach is 15 km away, on the other side of the mountain, there are plenty of hiking possibilities, the Gorropu canyon is one of the best known hiking trails around here. Then there are the famous walks to Cala Luna and Tiscali, you can reach the start of these walks in 20 - 30 min by car
The house has a kitchen, living room, bathroom and two bedrooms that are all on the same floor and the wood heater is in the center. There are beautiful sitting areas outside that overlook the valley and the mountains where you can lunch outside on sunny days.
Don't be afraid to come in autumn and winter because November to April is a beautiful time of year here as days are crisp in the morning and can warm up to between 12 and 18 around lunchtime, the views in this time of year are crystal clear. In winter there is always enough to do outside, so no lack of fresh air.
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cooking italian dishes based on vegetables from the season.
Learn all about olive cultivation and olive oil.
Discover that eating vegan meals is quite an adventure.
We are looking for people that collaborate with us, and that outside of the working hours do not create extra work for us.
We need a team of 3-4 volunteers for picking olives, either singles or couples, important is that everybody helps out with the work and with the general household tasks. This means first of all cleaning up after yourself ;) , people that are used to other people cleaning up after them should not apply. We ask people to be present, (not day dream) and help out instead of play guests and create work for us.
Be prepared to "work away", not "holiday away".
By using this site, you get the possibility to look in other peoples life through helping them out, through the act of sharing their tasks and in this way get a broader perspective on the world and on your own life.
We ask you for 4,5 hrs of work per day on the land and take part in the normal household chores on top. We take two days per week off from work so you have time to discover the area, on the days off we still provide meals and if there are household jobs you're still invited to help out. For both work and household tasks we ask people to observe how we do things, and concentrate on what we ask them to do and finish doing it, in other words we ask people to be present and help out instead of play guests and create work for us.
In return for your help, we take care really well of you, we give you a warm and comfortable room and the common living spaces (living room, bathroom, kitchen and terraces) are orderly and clean. (the dogs are always around to play and try to turn things into a mess, but we like their company and clean up after them every day)
So far so good. However, we find that a lot of people are distracted and leave the tools and other stuff lying around the house and the terrain, often they don't put things back where they find them, and for example only wash part of the dishes and forget to clean the kitchen top, or light the wood burner without sweeping up the mess they just made. Who's supposed to clean up after them? Me? Maybe they think their mum came wit them to clean up? Who knows..
So to save both of us embarrassments like this, if you did not have a good laugh about what I just wrote, don't apply to come over and help us out :)
In the olive - picking -season (November) and throughout the whole winter there are plenty of things to do around the house and terrain so help is welcome.
Besides picking olives we try to cultivate a vegetable garden, we have a lot of different fruit trees like figs and peaches that we use for making jam.
Some of the things I need some help with is:
- cutting grass and shrubs
- light building jobs in wood around the house.
- EVERYBODY HAS TO TAKE THEIR SHARE OF HOUSEHOLD CHORES, OUTSIDE OF WORKING HOURS, JUST LIKE IN EVERYDAY FAMILY LIFE.
During the picking days we expect you to work from 09.00 - 15.00 with one hour for lunch, this is 5 hours of work. We work for 3 days, then take one day off. In the afternoon you have some time off to go to town or go for a walk on your own or with one of the dogs or go for a bike ride.
In the common spaces we expect you to help with the normal household chores, like sweeping the floor, cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom. We also expect you to keep your own sleeping quarters clean. So when you come you get a clean place and when you leave you leave it clean.
In short, we are looking for people that collaborate with us, and that outside of the working hours do not create extra work for us.
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Bedroom in the house, possibly shared with another person.
Independent room next to the house that can be heated, but without bathroom.
The farm is 6 km out of town, you can hitchhike to town which is easy around here.
The area is excellent for hiking, mountainbiking and climbing. We have mountainbikes for your use.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Due to the conditions of the road you'll be able to get here only with a van - camper.
More than two
5 hours a day, 5 days a week (2 days off)
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