Help with the animals and garden in the beautiful Beira Litoral, Portugal

Details

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  Description

  Hi ,my name is Alex I am Portuguese ,my husband Julian is English and we live in a large slightly rundown 18th century manor house near to Anadia in the centre of Portugal with our extended family of dogs (8 currently) cats (7) & guinea pigs (5)! We moved here from Somerset in the UK in 2020 just before Brexit and have been gently renovating the house and trying to tame our 8,000 m of quinta with varying degrees of success ! Not being quite as young as we thought we were we would appreciate some help with our animals and the garden and possibly with a little DIY in the house !
  Our village has a main line station (Aveiro/Coimbra line ) ,cafes and shops and is about 2 kilometres from the town of Anadia which has all the usual amenities .
  We usually speak English at home as Julian is a VERY slow learner where language is concerned !
  You would have your own bedroom and bathroom , wifi and obviously free meals if you like my cooking !
  Open to an individual or a couple or even a small family (talk to me ! we have another bedroom ) we would like about 25 hrs of help a week and a minimum stay of 2 weeks if possible .
  We have ample gated parking on our land if you happen to have a vehicle .

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  From our village station (500 meters from our front door ) you would be able to visit both Coimbra ,the oldest University city and Cultural centre in Portugal and Aveiro ,the Venice of Portugal with its historic churches and canals and amazing seafood restaurants around the fish market .From there you can go on for a weekend visit to Porto or Lisbon ,I can help with the timetables !
  If you are independently mobile the seaside at Mira or Costa Nova is only 25 minutes away or you can explore the villages and vineyards of this area known as the Beira Litoral famous for its 'Spumante' wines and roast pork !
  If you want to learn some basic Portuguese , I will teach you the rudiments of shopping and ordering coffee and cakes (only the most important stuff obviously !) Julian will be happy to help beginners improve their English conversation or help with written work if needed .

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We would like help with feeding/caring for our animals and with trying to train our unruly ,funny and loving dogs !
  The garden side of things might include cutting lawns ,trying to establish a vegetable patch or hacking through the undergrowth to free up some fruit trees ! Green fingers would be handy but not essential , we are not brilliant ourselves in that department . . . . . . . .
  Help with the house could vary between holding a ladder while Julian clears the gutters to wielding a paint brush so previous experience though nice is not essential .
  Unfortunately we are not teenagers so we do sometimes need a bit of help when trying to do things on line . . .

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Portuguese: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  Your bedroom has been freshly renovated and is fully furnished including a new double bed and lots of drawers for clothes etc. your window looks out over our large courtyard with its lawn and surrounding barns . The bathroom has just been completely refitted with a shower over a large bath , a toilet and washbasin . I will provide all the bed linen and towels you might need for your stay .
  Being an 18th century manor house things tend to be a bit random when it comes to modern living . . . . a large sitting room which you are welcome to use connects the bedroom and bathroom and an octagonal room connects this side of the upstairs to the staircase which connects to the back garden or the living room/kitchen depending on which way you turn at the foot of the stairs !
  We tend to live in the kitchen most of the time and this is where the dogs live when they are not racing around the back garden or trying to escape into the woods at the back of the house to chase the rabbits . . . .
  If you are happy to eat with us (and the dogs) you are most welcome but if you prefer to cook for yourself that doesn't represent a problem for me, we can work the cooker in shifts ! We do have a dishwasher and two washing machines , one for the animals and one for the humans ( we have the nice new one !)

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  What else ...

  I do tend to adopt rescue animals . . . but I also feed the street dogs in Anadia and around.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  Our wifi is temperamental due to the thickness of our stone walls but our router offers a reliable connection if you are happy to sit near it in the downstairs sitting room ! A Ukrainian friend lived with us for 7 months and continued to work online successfully last year .

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We can accommodate almost any size camper van in our large gated and locked garden parking area !

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We do have a lot of animals living with us so any pets must be sociable and neutered ! contact me to discuss any proposed pet visitors so I can let you know how our lot will respond etc. Our large garden does have a completely fenced ,theoretically dog proof area (2 meter high fence) which one of ours has tested almost to breaking point . . . . .

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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