Profile information
Travel information
I am currently
At home
Description
I have many interests and talents in the areas that you as hosts are requesting on the Workaway site. I have years of experience that can be applied anywhere in the world; from working with animals, to carpentry, gardening, cooking, canning, technology, and even being certified to teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL certified). Refer to my Skills section for more details.
I am a retired Wildlife Biologist and Director of Technology. I thrive on manual labor and being outdoors. I am VERY healthy and I attribute that to my love of walking an average of 6 miles a day in addition to the manual labor that I perform living off our land here in New England.
I am a hard worker, which anyone who knows me will attest to. No matter what the task at hand may be, I am sure I can work with you to figure it out and perform the job….all while enjoying it, laughing, and struggling through the process together.
I live to travel and I love meeting new people and learning new cultures. I also work hard at learning languages as I enjoy it and out of respect for those whom I am visiting. Learning a language is a big part of my travelling.
What am I most interested in? Everything unique and different. I am a lifelong learner and curious about everything. Curiosity is my teacher.
Interests
Music
DIY & crafts
Culture
Carpentry
Animals
Sustainability
Pets
Outdoor activities
Nature
Mountain
Languages
Hiking
History
Gardening
Farming
Cooking & food
Camping
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Beginner
Icelandic: BeginnerMore details about my language interests
Would love to find someone to converse in either French or Icelandic online or via phone just for practice.
Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn
Some knowledge of:
Life at a Farmstay
Hospitality/Tourism
Languages
Being an elderly companion
Able to teach about:
Gardening
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Eco Projects
Animal Care
Helping with Computers/ Internet
Teaching
Helping around the house
More details about your skills
I have many applicable passions and experiences so I have chosen to list them in bulleted form here for ease of reading according to your interests and needs.
ANIMALS: I have had a love of animals since my birth, they say it is in my blood. My bachelor’s degree is in Wildlife Biology with a minor in forestry. I have worked on mammalian and avian studies, as well as in the field of forestry. I loved it. But I had to go back into technology and became a Director of Technology later in life in order to help support a family of five. That is done, our children are raised, and I am now retired. Since retirement, I have joined TrustedHousesitters and now Workaway to feed my animal and travel addiction, and I am loving it. I have taken care of many animals since the age of ten, and now I am making up for lost time.
FIREWOOD: Our small house is heated 100% from the firewood from our land. I do everything from running the chainsaws, to chopping the wood manually with a maul (although I have and know how to use wood splitters), to stacking the wood. Yes, I love the quiet and physical labor of chopping wood by hand!
CARPENTRY: We restored our 200-year-old house, which unbeknownst to us was post and beam once we gutted it! I was the contractor for the restoration of the house and became a certified de-leader to deal with those issues. We reused the old wood from the original house wherever possible, even the old lattes from the latte and plaster walls have made a couple of very unique ceilings for us. The carpentry I performed included laying wood floors and carpet, installing hardwood on a ceiling, lattes on two ceilings, and wide pine boards in the cathedral ceiling: installing sheetrock, taping, mudding, and painting walls; building the hearth from bricks from the old chimney; prepping for and installing cement board for a tile bathtub and shower; installing all of the door and window trim; re-roofing and restoring the screened-in porch... I could go on, but I believe that is enough for now. I am not a licensed carpenter nor do I pretend that I can do plumbing, electric, or initial framing for a whole house. But I know and can do a lot; while knowing my limits.
GARDENING: I have built and maintain about a quarter acre hügelkultur garden, all of which I till and work by hand with simple hand tools and no machinery. Yes, it is a lot of work; but I love manual labor and do not appreciate the expense and frustration of technology that seems to persistently fail me. Keep it simple.
CANNING, FREEZING AND COOKING: To give you an idea of my love for canning, I canned over 800 pounds of tomatoes last year alone. I freeze and can the vegetables from our garden and the fruits from our trees and blueberry bushes. Regarding cooking, I cook for an elderly couple on a weekly basis. My husband and I also cook outside over an open wood fire whenever possible for three out of the four seasons here in New England. I bake everything from our bread to deserts, etc. Plans for making an outdoor oven are still in my dreams.
TEFL CERTIFIED: I am certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language. I have volunteered teaching English to adults and love the exchange of teaching and learning languages.
Age
65
What else ...
I am currently learning French and Icelandic (probably low intermediate level). I know very little Spanish from school, Swahili from being in Kenya for 6 months. It’s a slow business learning languages for me, but I give it my all out of respect for those whom I am visiting, and I am truly interested in languages.
Some more information
Smoker
Driver's licence
Allergies
NOSpecial dietary requirements
NO
