Simple living on a farm in Ariege, Pyrenees, France

France

Favourited 808 times

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Feedback
30
Last activity
13/01/2021
Nº of Facebook friends
645
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2021

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Description
UPDATE SUMMER 2018
hello everybody, I'm not currently teaching regular yoga or circus classes as I am focusing on transforming the grange for winter habitation. Still plenty of opportunities do do your own training and participate in random 'jams'.

UPDATE WINTER 2018/2019
Hi there all, I am looking for someone responsible to house sit for winter. Needs to be someone responsible and able to use own initiative living remotely on a small holding. Don't hesitate to get in touch and we can talk possibilities if you think it might be something for you.

I live on 10 hectares of land at the foothills of the pyrenees in a small hamlet of 8 houses with my property bordering a wild forest including chestnut, ash, oak, acacia and cherry.
During the summer months I teach weekly classes in Acroyoga and Iyengar yoga and have an outdoor aerial rig where i teach tissu and trapeze. Part of my project involves transforming a grange to create a living space for myself and a big, light, warm, welcoming place where we can practice all year round yoga, circus, music and numerous others creative activities. I grow most of my own fruit and vegetables and collect hazelnuts, walnuts, mushrooms and wild herbs from the forest. I cut my own wood. much of the wood used in the construction has been harvested from my forest and cut using my friends mobile saw mill. I have 10 goats, 4 sheep, 5 ducks a dog and a cat and friends graze their 3 horses. Foix is 12 minutes by car. there are spare bikes and wifi if you have your own computer. For accommodation there is one caravan or camping in tents.
As my title says I am into simple living. I have no running hot water. To wash i have an outdoor fire bath or i heat my water on the gas and take a bucket bath outdoors. I enjoy and take pride in eating fresh food from the garden and prefer to be creative with dishes with what i can source locally than going to the supermarket.
i am big on 'hugelkulture' beds and love to see a good layer of mulch in the garden.
I am working on a solar shower and the run off will be filtered by a reed bath with the overflow going to my duck bath and then vegetables. i am careful to use only natural products for washing and cleaning.
It is great if everyone can participate in cooking and daily tasks of maintaining the space such as sweeping and general tidying. If you are not confident in cooking don't worry, it is a great opportunity to learn as all the ingredients are so fresh and tasty you can't go wrong and we will help.

Current and ongoing projects include; construction; laying a floor, insulating with sheep's wool, installing windows, stone work and lime rendering. Installing a grey water filtration system with reed beds. vegetable growing, land clearing and forest work. longer term projects include mosaic and mass rocket stove.

I am Australian and speak English and French. I live alone but with locals often dropping in, friends staying and other helpers about.

any questions do not hesitate, i look forward to hearing from you.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Help with Eco Projects
Help around the house
Art Projects
UN sustainablity goals this host is trying to achieve
...
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What's this?
Help
construction; laying a floor, insulating with sheep's wool, installing windows, stone work and lime rendering. Installing a grey water filtration system with reed beds. vegetable growing, land clearing. cooking.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Accommodation
caravan or camping.
A little more information
- Internet access
- Limited internet access
- We have pets
- We are smokers
- Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
5 hours / 5 days per week

Photos

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Feedback left by and about host (30)

15/08/2018

Left by Workawayer (Lara & Issam) for host

I stayed at Cat's home for 9 days. It's quite an beautiful area there in the middle of the nature and I loved it sleeping and living in the caravan. Most of the time I did hard physically work with the wood because of the short summer in this year.
Actually I expected working more with the animals and doing acroyoga. Anyway she was attempted to go… read more

(Good )

20/06/2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Lucy & Megan)

Lucy and Megan are fun, easy going, motivated & capable. They helped me with several projects including building a fence and getting my raspberries under control. I am super grateful that they could work on the presentation of a document for me with their graphic design skills, great ideas and very professional, thank you ever so much !! We… read more

(Excellent )

20/06/2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Salóme)

It was a real pleasure having Salome stay and I felt very lucky having a visitor from Iceland ! Salome is a poet and I enjoyed her readings very much. Our time together flowed easily and Salome was a great help to me, I can easily recommend her. Thank you Salome for your lovely company, all my very best wishes to you.

(Excellent )

28/12/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (jason & Camilla)

I spent a lovely few days with Jason and Maya when they stopped in on their way through to Portugal. Together Jason and Tais, who was also staying at the time, did a marvelous job weeding and mulching my fruit trees. I enjoyed Jason's company and as he is used to living and sharing space with others it meant that time as a group flowed easily;… read more

(Excellent )

17/10/2017

Left by Workawayer (jason & Camilla) for host

My time with Cat was short and sweet, and I would have loved to stay for longer. She is great, and has lots to teach, especially on growing and simple living. I loved the location, and enjoyed walking through the woods collecting chestnuts, followed by lots of chestnut peeling in the evenings! The animals are awesome, especially little Jara the… read more

(Excellent )

15/09/2017

Left by Workawayer (Sam) for host

I stayed over a month at Cat's place. When I arrived there were 3 other workawayers, but soon I ended up alone. The place is really amazing! I felt very close to nature, exactly what I was looking for. I stayed in the caravan she has in her garden. At night you hear the wild boar close to you, on my evening walks I encountered deer, this place is… read more

(Very good )

31/07/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Garikoitz)

I really enjoyed having Gari to stay and it feels like another great friendship has been ignited through workaway. Gari was easy to live with and there was a lovely calm rhythm to the days we spent together. Gari did a beautiful job finishing a wall working with wood and insulating with sheep's wool, he helped me with some irrigation repairs, we… read more

(Excellent )

04/07/2017

Left by Workawayer (Garikoitz) for host

I spent two great weeks with Catherine. I liked feeling conexion with nature through simple life: washing myself in the water source, using wild plants for food (natural and simple wonderful food) and talking with Cat about wild plants, history and culture.
Cat was very kind and helpful. Indeed she wanted to help me to be fine. For example she… read more

(Excellent )

31/07/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (sandra)

Sandii stayed with me for a month and it was an awesome and lovely time and i definitely feel like i have a new friend. Sandii is strong, fit, dynamic, mature, capable, sociable, fun and has a super positive energy. Sandii had a good overview of my project and could foresee what needed to be done and make suggestions for how she could help out.… read more

(Excellent )

29/06/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Henry)

How lucky I was to have Henry fly in on his motorbike and dance in my trees !! a professional tree surgeon Henry took great care sculpting two very old trees, a cherry and chestnut who's branches were towering over my bergerie. A technical and dangerous job which he executed beautifully. His expertise, precision, efficiency & acrobatic maneuvering… read more

(Excellent )

29/06/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (aley)

I thoroughly enjoyed having Aley to stay and can highly recommend her. Aley is dynamic, energetic, fit and strong. She is well traveled, has been involved in some interesting group projects and has experience in simple and sustainable living. Aley is an excellent communicator and took time to ask details of what tasks involved, she is efficient… read more

(Excellent )

23/06/2017

Left by Workawayer (aley) for host

I spent two dreamy summer weeks on Cat's land, and it is a veritable slice of paradise. In one word, Cat is a badass; she lives simply and consciously, has every tool you could imagine and cooks delicious meals from her garden. She is a warm host and just an all around cool person.
I worked mostly in the garden and it was physical and satisfying.… read more

(Excellent )

02/05/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Ryan)

It was totally my pleasure having Ryan to stay and I am very grateful for all the help he gave me.
Ryan stayed with me for more than a month over winter and in that time we did an amazing amount of work particularly in the forest. I found Ryan to be very practical, strong and capable and at the same time very respectful and sensitive. He is a… read more

(Excellent )

16/01/2017

Left by Workawayer (Ryan) for host

This was my first workaway experience and I'm very grateful for Cat to have me there and put trust in me. Ended up staying over a month in all. A beautiful location and a great site and project with lovely trees and hills around and some great animals with the ducks quacking about in their baths, goats with their beards hunting for ivy and some… read more

(Excellent )

19/04/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Silvia)

Silvia was absolutely brilliant at helping me get my place back into shape after winter, we gave it a real spring clean !! Silvia told me how much she likes to organize and went on to arrange things in the kitchen and workshop with meticulous detail. Silvia also helped me cleaning out the front of the building, unblocking a drain, getting rid of… read more

(Excellent )

02/04/2017

Left by Workawayer (Silvia) for host

I spent only 5 days with Cat but I had a great experience!
Its the perfect place to relax and be in contact with the nature, forget about all the stress of the city...get healthier in body and mind!
The delicious meals of Cat made me feel very good with my body; sleeping in the caravan was so great because of the contact with the… read more

(Very good )

19/01/2017

Left by Workawayer (Sally & Martin) for host

We really enjoyed our time with Cat. It was great as she really hned in on our skills and used us to make something we love doing...Compost bins! This time a double with new design. She was warm, welcoming and flexible. Unfortunately due to being winter no across yoga but hopefully next time we visit. Wishing you all the best Cat. X x

(Excellent )

11/11/2016

Left by Workawayer (Amanda Pauline) for host

I was 7 days part of Cat's everyday life and I enjoyed it very much. Cat has so many great ideas and projects im her head! Everyday was different and in the end of the day being happy about the progress we made, the physical work we did, was always a good feeling. Having delicious veggies from the garden for Lunch, enjoying working with the hands… read more

(Excellent )

20/10/2016

Left by Workawayer (Fanny) for host

My boyfriend Ben and I spent a week at Cat's and it was a short but great time there! We were 5 workawayers at the same time which was pretty hard to organise for Cat, but we all got along very well and managed in the end to do a lot of work in only 5 days. Ben and I replaced some old posts and added a second layer of wire around the fruit trees,… read more

(Excellent )

12/10/2016

Left by Workawayer (Lina) for host

We (Lara and Lina) spent two wondrful weeks at Cat´s peacful place! We really enyoid beeing close to the nature, with a great view to the beautiful mountains. It was great to be part of Cat´s simple lifestyle and to help her to realize her dream.
You can feel really good at her place. The animals are so cute, they all seem to love humans.
The… read more

(Excellent )

30/08/2016

Left by host for Workawayer (Lina)

Iina and lara spent almost 2 weeks with me. they are lovely girls who are very mature for their age. Lina is exactly as she says in her profile, excellent at working in a group and seeing the needs of others, we can easily tell that she comes from a big and loving family. While here they helped with various tasks, they oiled my balcony, cleaned… read more

(Excellent )

13/09/2016

Left by Workawayer (Sebastian) for host

Place is amazing, goats are very friendly, dog and 1 sheep also, ducks are very funny, the forest is there you dont have to walk more than 2 minutes, the meals are really very healthy food, salad with flowers and more vegetarian and organic food.
work can be diferent all days. Foix is a nice town, you can go making hitch hiking is to easy.
Cat… read more

(Very good )

05/09/2016

Left by Workawayer (Marta & Joan) for host

Catherine is a nature lover and we spent nice time with her. We enjoy it the stay and the place it was wonderful! She cooks her own rise vegetables and makes an excellent nettles infusion!

(Excellent )

30/08/2016

Left by host for Workawayer (Lara)

Lara and Lina spent almost 2 weeks with me. they are lovely girls who are very mature for their age. Lara has an infectious laugh and is kind and considerate. While here they helped with various tasks, they oiled my balcony, cleaned the roof of my grange which involved working at height on a scaffold, stone work and lime rendering, they removed a… read more

(Excellent )

28/08/2016

Left by host for Workawayer (Sophie)

sophie was a great help and wonderful company. as she says in her profile she has a positive attitude to life. she came at a time when i had finished some big team work and was in need on catching up on some paperwork and personal car maintenance etc.. she was capable of working alone and was thorough in her work. sophie helped me weeding my fruit… read more

(Excellent )

24/08/2016

Left by host for Workawayer (Taina & Vitor )

Taina and Vitor were lovely guests and fantastic helpers. All the work they did was to a very high standard. they took care and were very able to take instructions and advice. They showed initiative in their work and it was marvellous how they could vision the whole project and foresee what needed to be done. They were well organized and i think … read more

(Excellent )

22/08/2016

Left by Workawayer (Taina & Vitor ) for host

We stayed for 12 days with Catherine. She pick us at the train station, and take us to her land.
We sleep in the caravan ans was really cosy. We have good time toghether, working, cooking, doing Yoga, going to the city also, for a tradicional dance festival. About the work, we did exactly what the description says, help layering the floor,… read more

(Very good )

06/10/2015

Left by Workawayer (Caren & Javier) for host

We spent only four days with Cat but they were really productive. It was really great that we got to spend some time with animals that did not fear humas, as Cats relationship with them is very special. We helped her out organizing the grange and in the work shop. She is a very energic, desicive person, and it is great seeing how her project… read more

(Very good )

25/06/2015

Left by Workawayer (Alexander & Julia) for host

Staying with you gave us the possibility to experience a simple way of living with all the difficulties but also all the joy it may bring. Thanks for welcoming us like friends. We enjoyed working with you thanks to your energy, your ambitious plans and your interest for our ideas. It was great to see the garden grow and to say hi to the new… read more

(Very good )

04/12/2014

Left by Workawayer (Laura) for host

I spent just four days with Cat, but had time to help create two Hugelkultur beds in the garden, ready for planting veg come Spring.
I was left to work fairly independently some of the time, which was nice, but shared lovely meals with Cat and even got to go to two acro yoga classes she gave!
It was lovely staying in the caravan, and I'd be… read more

(Very good )

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