United States
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Micheal and I are a retired couple living outside the Austin, Texas area in the lovely old Texas town of Wimberley. Our home is on 1.2 tree-shaded acres, with some raised vegetable beds, a few flower beds, plants in pots, and mostly natural plants as ground cover. We are always in need of help maintaining the yard and gardens, especially in the summer when watering is required almost daily. We also need help with the house, maintaining the exterior of the house, and all those normal tasks that come with home and pet ownership. Right now we want to refurbish the stained woodwork, including cabinets and trim. In the warm months, we constantly need help weeding some flower beds and parts of the lawn. If you speak French, that would be an added bonus as I would love to practice my rusty French language skills.
Our dog, Gemma is a Briard, which is a large, shaggy French herding dog. Look up the breed online to see them. Gemma is sweet and easy. Normally you would not have any responsibilities for Gemma. However, if we go out of town for a short trip, then we would ask you to feed, water and take care of her.
Our household consists of myself (70) and my husband, Micheal (71). We manage to stay busy most of the time, though we also enjoy sitting and talking on our back porch or by the fireplace in the living room. I love to garden and try to grow some my own vegetables. Cooking is another favorite activity of mine, and wine is my favorite beverage. Micheal is an avid reader. He is a former art teacher and sometimes dabbles with 3-dimensional art. We both love music and enjoy dancing at some of our wonderful old Texas dance halls. We have taken our workawayers to Gruene Hall to hear some local bands and to see that people do actually wear cowboy boots and hats in everyday life.
Micheal and I have traveled extensively in Europe since 2005. We love the cultures and slower lifestyle of many European countries and seek to incorporate them into our Texas life. We have enjoyed having workawayers from all over the globe both here in Texas and at our house in France. We are still friends with most of them, and have even had a reunion with several workawayers who were at our house together.
For accommodations we offer a guest suite with a queen bed or possibly a twin bed, if you are single,. The bedroom has access to a full bath. Our common areas consist of an open living/kitchen/dining area, covered porches, large front and rear gardens. We have full household fast internet and TVs in the living room and bedrooms.
Our most successful workaways are not clock-watchers. They are people who want to help us do what we are doing. And this kind of attitude is ALWAYS rewarded. I am flexible about hours to help. I prefer to purchase what you want to eat and you can prepare breakfast and lunch whenever you want to eat them. When we are here, we enjoy evening meals together and convivial conversation. Sometimes I cook and other times our workawayers cook. It's been great to sample foods from other cultures. Our household rule is that those who cook do not have to clean up so we hope you are the kind of person that is willing to pitch in with normal household tasks such as kitchen clean up and taking out the trash when needed. We prefer that workawayers stay two weeks or sometimes more, though I will consider a week minimum on an individual basis.
If the above sounds appealing to you, please get in touch.
Language practice
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
There are numerous opportunities to explore this area of Texas, which is the Live Music Capitol of the World. The lovely little town of Wimberley (suggest looking it up on internet) has a river and large creek for swimming, a vibrant artist community, and is close to two major universities: Texas State University and University of Texas at Austin. We have a quaint town center with lots of shops and restaurants, a hike and bike trail, and two of the most famous swimming holes in Texas: Jacob's Well and Blue Hole. Hamilton Pool, an amazing natural grotto, is about 45 minutes away. This area has many wineries, distillers, and artisan beer makers to sample, as well. San Marcos is an interesting college town where you can float down the San Marcos River in an inner tube, or shop in the huge outlet mall.
Austin boasts the largest Mexican free-tail bat colony, which lives under a bridge downtown and delights viewers with their nightly flight to catch insects. It's also the capitol of Texas, and the capitol building is the largest in the US, with a beautiful rotunda. Spend a few nights in Austin's entertainment district, where you can hear all genres of music 7 nights of the week.
San Antonio is the home of the Alamo, where a famous fight for Texas' independence took place in 1836. Built in 1718, it is one of the oldest buildings in Texas. After visiting the Alamo, stroll along the famous River Walk, which runs all through downtown. Mission Trail has the oldeest structures in Texas, where the Catholic monks attempted to convert the native Indians.
I like to think of workaway as an investment in the future - future understanding of other cultures for both the homeowner and the workawayer. I have hosted approximately 50 workawayers, both in Texas and in France, plus Micheal and I have been workawayers in Germany and Austria. Thus, we can appreciate what it's like to come into someone's home, try to get settled and establish a working relationship in a relatively brief period of time. We have made many friends worldwide through this program. In fact we have had "workaway exchanges" where a workawayer has come to our house and then we have been workawayers at theirs. That was a truly great experience for all parties. We hope you will feel the same about your experience as a workawayer in our home.
We can decide on your work schedule together, which days, hours, and times to help. If you prefer to help several long days then take several days off, that's okay, too. During your free time, I am happy to help you get to some nearby sights or into Austin, San Antonio, and San Marcos.
It's important to me that you enjoy your time here and get to accomplish some of your goals for traveling.
I am not a micro-manager so it is important to be a "self-starter" with initiative. Also it's helpful to see the daily tasks that need to be done and do them. We operate like a family: everyone pitches in to make things go smoothly. We treat this property and contents with respect and care. I am here to help insure that future generations can continue to enjoy my home and land. If you have similar values and work ethics, then this may be great fit for you.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Intermediate
This host offers a language exchange
English, French
We offer a large, fully furnished bedroom with a queen bed and full bath. The bedroom can accommodate a couple or two individuals as long as you are willing to share the bed. Or we can put a trundle bed in that bedrooom for two individuals. The bathroom is occasionally used by dinner guests, though that is rare. The house has an open living/dining/kitchen area with wood burning fireplace, and a utility area containing a washing machine and dryer. There are covered porches on the front and rear of the house where you can relax and enjoy seeing deer and other wildlife that graze in the yard. Wimberley has several great places to swim: Blue Hole and Jacob's Well and Cypress Creek. There are many places in San Marcos to float on the river in inner tubes. Please look up these towns on the internet to get a good sense of our community. Live music is everywhere, and it's a treat to take our workawayers to a local country dance halls to see C&W dancing and listen to some great music.
It's important to have a warm and harmonious atmosphere in our home and in which to work. I strive to make this a most pleasant and welcoming home in which to live and to complete the various projects. Normally we enjoy a discussion around the table during dinner. We love it when our workawayers share in meal preparation or fix a meal from their culture. Our household rule is that whoever cooks does not clean up; so if I cook, normally the workawayer(s) would clean up and vice versa. In the living area, there is a TV with internet capability, and the internet is generally reliable and fast throughout the house. The bedroom where you would reside is on the other side of the house from ours, and is relatively private. If you want to work another job while you are here, there is a desk available and a WIFI-capable printer, plus high-speed internet.
Please let me know if you are interested in participating in the activities required, while enjoying this lovely area of Central Texas.
This is a fantastic area to explore. It's only 35 minutes to Austin and an hour to San Antonio. It's a great place for relaxing and/or you can enjoy the busy city life of Austin. So, this is an interesting place to spend some time - not touristy. Instead, experience the genuine small town Texas life. There is almost no public transportation in Wimberley, so having a car would be a great benefit, though not required. We do have an extra vehicle which we allow workawayers to use.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
We have high-speed internet, and a work space (small desk). I have a printer/scanner/copier with WIFI connections. The workawayer bedroom is somewhat removed from the common area so it's fairly quiet and private.
A camper van can stay in our driveway for a maximum of 7 days.
I can accept workawayers with friendly dogs, who will get along with our dog, Gemma. Gemma does not like cats, so no cats are allowed.
Two
25 hours/week-
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