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We are a family of four, with two girls under two and have recently bought a 20 acre property. We live just outside the gorgeous village of Adare. We offer accommodation for up to six people in a private thatched cottage on our property in exchange for help with upkeep on our home, and some light household assistance. If you have an interest in gardening or farming this is an oasis. We also have a charming rescue horse and two outdoor cats. The property includes an orchard, a large pond and a horse arena
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Yoga / Wellness
Outdoor activities
Drawing & painting
Music
Movies & TV
Farming
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We offer an authentic rural Irish experience of living in the peaceful countryside, in a safe gated property. We are five minutes from the tourist hub of Adare which is Ireland’s prettiest village and which has excellent transport connections to allow our visitors to explore. We offer accommodation in a thatched cottage which is an incredibly unique experience. As we live just next door to the thatched cottage we are on hand to provide insight into Irish family life and culture.
We have previously used the cottage as an Airbnb it is now closed for the winter season and would instead house guests from workaway.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Irish: Fluent
Accommodation
A three bedroom thatched cottage with two bathrooms. Two double bedrooms one is en-suite, one room with two single beds. Fully equipped kitchen and laundry room. BBQ and outdoor dining. Private gated entrance. Secure safe property
We get groceries delivered twice weekly and would be happy to provide ingredients for workawayers to cook for themselves in the cottage - as we have a newborn we are too busy to offer shared meals on a continuous basis but would occasionally love to break bread with our guests and welcome them to our dinner table
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
We have over 20 acres with plenty road access and lots of space for motor homes
We stayed with Nicola, Damien, and their family for a month, and we can say that the time we spent with them was wonderful. Nicola and Damien are great people, with excellent character, attentive, and very flexible. Not to mention Nicola's parents, who are fantastic, kind-hearted people who even gave us a ride to the city when we needed it.
In the… read more second week, we were also invited to participate in the pizza night at Zoe's birthday party, and that was really cool because it made us feel like part of the family, but I confess that we were a little embarrassed at first, hehehe.
Nicola was always very concerned, especially about our comfort, and always asked if we were missing anything in the house (which, by the way, is an excellent and very comfortable place to stay), and we noticed how attentive she was in the smallest details, because in a day-to-day conversation, when we mentioned that we liked pasta, she included that item on the shopping list.
Damien has a very busy life, but he always supported us and taught us how to do activities we didn't know how to do, always with a lot of patience, even though Luiz had a little more difficulty with English. Luiz and he maintained a direct line of communication on WhatsApp, which made this process easier.
As for work, we did a little bit of everything, such as: sweeping leaves because the property is very large and requires this constant maintenance, washing fences, cutting fallen trees, helping with gardening, cleaning the house on some days, and even helping a few days with the work to alter the heating system that Damien is working on. On these days, the work was a little more physical, but Luiz loved it because he operated a mini excavator and a demolition hammer.
With the exception of this last job, the rest was super easy to do, and we agreed with Nicola to complete the requested 25 hours in 4 days.
The house is a bit far from the village of Adare, and we needed a ride to get to town a few times. If the bicycles had had inflated tires, we could have used them a few times, but that wasn't a problem.
In the end, we can only thank the Varley family for the experience. We have a great affection for you and we say this from the heart.
We stayed with Nicola, Damien, and their family for a month, and we can say that the time we spent with them was wonderful. Nicola and Damien are great people, with excellent character, attentive, and very flexible. Not to mention Nicola's parents, who are fantastic, kind-hearted people who even gave us a ride to the city when we needed it.
In the… read more second week, we were also invited to participate in the pizza night at Zoe's birthday party, and that was really cool because it made us feel like part of the family, but I confess that we were a little embarrassed at first, hehehe.
Nicola was always very concerned, especially about our comfort, and always asked if we were missing anything in the house (which, by the way, is an excellent and very comfortable place to stay), and we noticed how attentive she was in the smallest details, because in a day-to-day conversation, when we mentioned that we liked pasta, she included that item on the shopping list.
Damien has a very busy life, but he always supported us and taught us how to do activities we didn't know how to do, always with a lot of patience, even though Luiz had a little more difficulty with English. Luiz and he maintained a direct line of communication on WhatsApp, which made this process easier.
As for work, we did a little bit of everything, such as: sweeping leaves because the property is very large and requires this constant maintenance, washing fences, cutting fallen trees, helping with gardening, cleaning the house on some days, and even helping a few days with the work to alter the heating system that Damien is working on. On these days, the work was a little more physical, but Luiz loved it because he operated a mini excavator and a demolition hammer.
With the exception of this last job, the rest was super easy to do, and we agreed with Nicola to complete the requested 25 hours in 4 days.
The house is a bit far from the village of Adare, and we needed a ride to get to town a few times. If the bicycles had had inflated tires, we could have used them a few times, but that wasn't a problem.
In the end, we can only thank the Varley family for the experience. We have a great affection for you and we say this from the heart.
(Excellent)
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Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Yoga / Wellness
Outdoor activities
Drawing & painting
Music
Movies & TV
Farming
