Create gardens and a tiny house near the Pecos Wilderness of New Mexico, USA

Details

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  Description

  Hi all! We are a family in beautiful Pecos, New Mexico, about 30 minutes outside Santa Fe. Our home is in a fairly rural area close to the Pecos River and the Pecos Wilderness area, where people come from all over to fish and hike. This is also a popular area for mountain biking, so if you are a biker, you should probably bring your bike!
  
  I am an older mom of two kids, age 13 and 16, and I also have host daughters from Afghanistan who come and go. We are busy household with school and extra activities such as Shakespeare Theater rehearsals, and school events. The kids' father works as a solar installer during the week and works on projects here on weekends. During the week I work part time, garden, and do various home improvements. We are very involved volunteers for Afghan Scout Relief Fund (ASRF), and do as many fundraising and educational projects as we can to help Afghan students access education. We also may do speaking presentations at churches, libraries, or other places to raise awareness of the dire situation for girls in Afghanistan. We also have three dogs: an older spaniel, a young Jack Russell Terrier, and a lively and loving hound/border collie cross.
  
  I am a Biofield Tuner, which is a type of Sound Therapy. I use special tuning forks in the body's electrical field to help people heal from trauma and emotional overload. During the day I often have a client or two, and I ask anyone home to be quiet while I am working. In the late afternoon I do kid stuff and make dinner. School is pretty far away, so I end up doing a lot of driving. I cook all organic food. Some of us are vegetarian and some eat meat., but the focus is on healthy eating, and we generally don't have processed food around.
  
  Our home is old and needs quite a bit of work. It is on a half acre, with lots to do! Our main focus right now is finishing a tiny house which is actually turning out to be not-so tiny! We would appreciate help from volunteers who are interested in gardening and/or building and finishing work like flooring, finishing bathroom walls, installing bathroom fixtures, painting, plumbing, and so on. Currently we're digging a trench to connect the water and septic. You would work with Kit on the building, and with me on the gardening , non profit stuff and things like making jam from the fruit we grow. Sometimes I can work side-by-side with you, and sometimes you might work on your own, but we can teach you if you are unfamiliar with the tasks. Kit knows all the pre-tech tricks from living off grid most of his life. It's pretty quiet here, but we enjoy family-oriented, enthusiastic self starters! Here are some things on our list:
  
  *finishing the tiny house in the backyard
  *kitchen cabinets
  * finishing walls in downstairs/painting
  *some plaster repair
  *painting a couple of rooms
  *creating forms and pouring cement
  *making a walkway
  *garden nurturing, weeding, watering, and pruning, which is ongoing
  *harvesting, and preserving fruit and veggies
  *making compost- watering, turning, keeping it hot
  *cutting firewood
  *gathering manure for the compost pile
  *general clean up and organizing
  *welding a balcony railing and spiral staircase
  *dog care, walking and playing
  *your creative input is welcomed
  
  Let me know what skills and interests you have! Our priorities are building and gardening skills at the moment. There are many things I can teach, especially around gardening, jam and other food preservation, and my kids' dad can teach building and "fixing" skills.
  
  The kids' dad is a great builder and has a store of knowledge for building, electrical, and general fix-it. We hope to finish the tiny house by August, so we are in a push to complete it. It's looking beautiful so far!
  
  I want to be clear that work and kids take up a bunch of my time, so although I can work together with a volunteer part of the day, some days I have to get you started and then work and return. I would love to host a pair of friends or a couple who can share space and work together to make it fun and enjoy companionship when I'm engaged or running up and down the road getting my daughter to and from work- she doesn't drive yet!
  
  This is not a paid position, because we are volunteers ourselves with the Afghans and pour a lot of effort into that. However, for people who are enthusiastic and need to make some money, I can help connect you with people who need work done if you'd like to do odd jobs in the Santa Fe community in your off-time.
  
  We are interested in your ideas and innovations!

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Teaching

  Light gardening

  Creative DIY projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Light maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet

  House & pet sitting
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  Interests

  

  Politics / Social justice

  

  Vegetarian or vegan

  

  Pets

  

  Self development

  

  Charity work

  

  Plant care

  

  History

  

  Books

  

  Languages

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Writing

  

  Performing arts

  

  Animals

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Nature

  

  Camping
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We live in a historic rural area near the Pecos Historic site, which was a Native American pueblo community that later became colonized by the Spanish, who built a mission there. The area remains a historic site, and the two cultures remain a part of our community, which is largely Spanish, and Catholic. We welcome people of all nationalities with loving, open hearts. Nearby Santa Fe is one of the most famous art centers in the United States and has many museums, art galleries, and theaters. It is famous for it's pueblo-style architecture and iconic art history.
  
  My husband spent most of his life living off grid as a wilderness rancher, so you can learn a lot of skills from him. He can make or build anything with basic tools... though now we have lots of tools on the building site!
  
  We are also quite active in supporting Afghan students who are transiting to the US for education, and you can become as involved as you want in that program. For instance, you could fundraise or help prepare information for presentations or cultural events. My host daughter can teach you about Afghan customs and food, or teach you some Dari. She is Muslim, so you could learn about her customs from her.
  
  Additionally, we are learning Spanish, so welcome Spanish-speaking people so we can practice! We are also happy to help those learning English refine their language skills.

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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

  I listed the projects we're working on above. Right now we're really jamming on the building project and organizing. We really need a housesitter for dogs and garden June 20 through 23 when we have to drive to Houston to have my daughter's visa interview for Spain.
  Skills and qualities we appreciate are: Be friendly, honest, and personable, and understanding with kids. Willing to use a shovel, get dirty, and do mundane chores like weeding and digging. Innovative- we value your ideas and follow through! Be a friend of dogs! Building skills stupendous! Organizing abilities fantastic! Artistic nature would be helpful. Happy in nature and out of the city, because we're a half hour drive from Santa Fe. Able to work alone, with other volunteers, or with your pal if you came with someone. Respect for and connection with Nature is a real plus. Since we have kids, we prefer not to have smoking, vaping, etc around the house. Last but not least, we welcome people who clean up after themselves and leave things tidy.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  My kids and I are very interested in improving our Spanish, if there's an opportunity. My daughter is going to do a year of school in Spain starting in the fall, so we really welcome Spanish speakers for some practice time!
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  Accommodation

  At the moment we can offer a beautiful upstairs room in the house we're building, a loft in the main house, or tent camping if you prefer. The bathroom is in the main house. We use a different one although we share the laundry and sometimes the tub, which is in yours. We also welcome you to use our sun room, dining room, kitchen, and patio. We have 2 kitchens, so there is ample space. We have Wifi. We occasionally do movies in the living room, and we like to play cards and games. We have a piano, drum, violin, ukes, and various percussion instruments.
  
  Since we are a family home, it is important to know that our days start pretty early. In summer early morning is the best time to work outside. This is a family home rather than a party place, so please, no alcohol, smoking, vaping, or recreational drugs.
  
  During the days when I have clients, I need to ask for quiet during my sessions, and I will post a schedule of when that is.
  
  Depending on your eating habits, we will often eat together, though sometimes you might cook and eat on your own. I provide quality vegetarian ingredients and eggs, and you can get creative. When schedules allow, we can collaborate and share creations. You will have your own fridge, stove, and food prep area for anything you wish to make. I provide staples, we have the garden, and if you want anything specific that I don't keep on hand, you are free to bring your own. We do ask that you provide a healthy example for the children and keep processed food and sweets to a minimum in the shared space!
  
  We share in clean up, dishes, sweeping/mopping the shared spaces, and cleaning the bathroom etc.
  
  We look forward to meeting you and having some fun together!

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  What else ...

  For time off, you can walk to the river and fish, or swim if you are brave enough to go in the cold water! If you have a car or bike you can get to the nearby little lake or to the historic site or monastery, or you can bike to some fantastic mountain bike trails in the Forest with jumps and long looping trails. The community is friendly and the tiny town center and river are within walking distance from our house. There are many places to hike and explore up the river in the wilderness, including high country lakes, if you are a backpacker. During the winter the Santa Fe ski area is within reach if you have a car.
  For many places of interest, it takes a car. If you choose to venture into Santa Fe, there is a hostel there and public transportation for exploring the city. That's a good place to hear music, go to museums, events, theater, and restaurants. When I am going anyway I am happy to take riders along, but I don't make special trips. There is a bus that comes to a stop about 10 minutes away twice a day, and I am happy to take or pick up people from the bus stop as long as the timing doesn't interfere with clients of kid's pick-up schedules.
  
  If you stay here during days off, it is a great place to watch the stars, meditate, go to the river, walk with the dogs, work on art projects or other creative things, or read. Pecos is a pretty quiet place!
  
  Kit will be working on the building project on Fridays and weekends, so days off will be during the week. We plan on 2 days off and work about 5 hours during each of the other 5 days. If you want to do a longer explore around the area or backpacking, we can arrange your schedule. The rest of your time is your own to explore!

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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

  We welcome digital nomads. I do turn the Wifi off at night though for sleeping in a low EMF environment though, and the best wifi is in the main house shared space. Occasionally the wifi can be

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets

  Apollo (1 year)

  Apollo is an exuberant young 50 lb hound/border collie cross. He is enthusiastic but very kind and sensitive and loving. He loves to play and run and snuggle!

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