United Kingdom
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03/10/2020
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I am Abi, I live with my daughter who is four and our kitten Rosemary in a wee cottage in the North East of Scotland. We live within walking distance of our family small-holding, which is currently being worked on by various members of the family. I am an organic farming student and also a TEFL English teacher, teaching students online. This year we hope to increase our flock of hens, as well as get started with goats on the family plot. My undergraduate was in Sociology and Anthropology and I have a great interest in socialising with people from all sorts of places. I am an active member of the local community in the Huntly area. I sing and plan to start attending the local folk clubs when they are running again. We like spending time outdoors, going on walks and day trips in the surrounding area. My daughter attends the local nursery in the mornings, and we like spending time with friends or being at home in the afternoons. At home my daughter loves playing games, doing jigsaws, drawing, watching films, singing, dancing and playing with our kitten.
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Babysitting and creative play
Help with Eco Projects
Help around the house
Animal Care
My main ethic in life is living sustainably and in a healthy way, and I enjoy sharing ideas and practices around living and eating sustainably. I know lots of folk songs! You might be interested in attending a folk club. I come from a family of writers and artists and so you can see the way they live at the family small-holding. We are always involved in different projects, from making some shelves out of old pallet wood to making upcycled dolls from scrap fabric! I make bread, crackers, grow my own veg, and am learning to make goats cheese. I can show you lots of nice places in the area which have natural or historical interests. The town of Huntly has a castle, a community orchard, a farmer's market and various community events we can be involved with. My approach to parenting is very much about spending time outdoors and in nature, and being enaged with the child, and this is a positive thing to experience - I think you will learn a lot from engaging with my child - she is very interesting! Also if you are learning English I am a trained English teacher and love helping people with this. As an English teacher and an Anthropologist, I love sharing stories and ideas from different cultures. We also have quite a few books, for children and adults, both practical and fiction.
Your main role with us will be to spend time with my daughter while I get on with things around the house and do work on our small-holding. You will have mornings off and then from 12 you will be spending time playing with and entertaining my daughter. She is very sociable and requires a lot of interaction from adults. You will come with us to the small-holding and sometimes you will also be involved in helping with the garden and building projects we are working on if necessary, but mostly you will be doing childcare.
We have a three bedroom, centrally heated cottage so you will have your own room with a single bed. I don't have the heating on all day long though, so a few jumpers might be necessary sometimes. We have a kitchen, seperate living room, and bathroom with shower. We also have a small back garden.
We can provide vegan or vegetarian meals if required. We are not vegan or vegetarian, but we source local and organically produced animal products as much as possible. I will cook most of our food although you are welcome to cook from time to time of you want to.
The two nearest towns are Huntly and Insch - both have train and bus connections and are 15 minutes from our home, so we can pick you up in the car. On your days off we can help (within reason) with transport to local sight-seeing trips, for example the local distillery or the Huntly Castle.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
More than two
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
