Rose & Dominic

Travel information

We are currently

Description

Dominic, Rose, Sylvie (16) + William (14) an energetic and adventurous English Francophile bilingual family. We like simple living, healthy eating, exercise and working outdoors. We live in rural Normandy but until October 2016 we were living in the UK. We want to explore the country we have made our home and travel more widely in Europe when work and school commitments allow. We do not want to be just tourists. We love workaway - we can visit new places, meet new people and experience different ways of life. We want the kids to know that sustainable travelling comes with a responsibility to give back to others and to the environment and to understand that the most rewarding experiences do not come with an enormous price-tag.

We eat whatever food is on offer and are non-smokers and mostly tee-total. We are trustworthy, reliable and multi-skilled. Our children are friendly, reasonably behaved and accustomed to interacting with others of all ages. We are competent at caring for animals and love being close to nature and in the countryside. We keep our own hens, have been beekeepers for the last 14 years and have a range of practical skills and buckets of enthusiasm.

Dom is an experienced builder, his most recent project being overseeing the renovation of an ancient barn complex into five luxury holiday lets. He is good at putting things right, high quality finishing and finding solutions for troublesome issues. He has a fine eye for landscaping, drainage and digger work. He processes all our firewood and has his chainsaw certificate and currently he works at a sawmill. Vegetable gardening is a passion and we are never without home grown produce. He is an extremely knowledgeable and proficient beekeeper and he loves to teach others about these amazing creatures. Dominic is strong, calm and hardworking.

Rose is multi-skilled, a mother of four (+2 step-children) and family manager. She has had many jobs and is willing to muck in with most things. She is used to being the builder's labourer. She manages our hosting with workaway and warmshowers and also welcomes lots of family + friends so playing host and catering for large numbers does not phase her. She is a competent beekeeper in her own right and is handy with a sewing machine. She spends a lot of her time trying to keep the house clean and tidy, processing garden produce, making sure the bills are paid and that we never run out of toilet paper, not forgetting our appointments and most importantly organising our HOLIDAYS! She also is resilient, resourceful and has a sense of humour.

Sylvie and William are sensible, inquisitive, loving children who know that it is important to respect other people, animals and the environment. They also understand the importance of treating homes and possessions carefully as they have a value and that it is not always easy to replace things. We try to ensure they learn life skills so they are expected to help with cooking, housework and tasks outside. They are not perfect, which is a relief for us parents who are far from perfect ourselves. Sylvie has grown our of her drama queen phase and is now very self sufficient and confident. She is a talented artist and loves any sort of creative activity to which she brings her individual flair. She is a fantastic walker and loves animals and nature. William is full of energy and talks a lot in English and French. He loves to climb so proves very useful in the Autumn when he can be sent up the fruit trees for harvesting. He’s bright and loves nothing more than to conduct experiments and try out new inventions. He’s very independent spirited, makes brilliant scrambled eggs and can be relied upon to make cups of tea for tired parents.

In our leisure time we like to walk and explore the countryside, if we are lucky foraging for fruit, nuts and mushrooms. We can all ride bikes for fun but Dominic is mad for cycling and likes to go touring when he can. We like to read and listen to audiobooks and the children like to play games which they can occasionally persuade their mother to join in but put a jigsaw on the table and Rose won’t be able to leave it alone. We are strong swimmers but prefer wild swimming to chlorinated pools. We watch some TV and films and use the internet but we do not have social media accounts and the kids don’t have access to computer games.

Interests

Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn

Some knowledge of:  

Being an elderly companion

Life at a Farmstay

Eco Projects

Animal Care

Hospitality/Tourism

Language practice

Art Projects

Teaching

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Able to teach about:  

Gardening

DIY and building projects

Babysitting and creative play

General Maintenance

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Helping around the house

More details about your skills

Administration, Animal care, Beekeeping, Bilingual, Building, Childcare, Cooking, Cleaning, Forestry, Gardening, Landscaping, Maintenance, Organisation, Preserving, Renovation, Sorting, Woodwork

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent

More details about my language interests
This workawayer has indicated that they would be interested in sharing their language(s) or learning a new language. You can contact them directly to discuss this.

Find a language buddy

Age

50 & 52

Nationality

British

What else ...

We would like to use workaway as a more sustainable, educational and interesting way to travel with our children during school holidays.

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  No

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  Special dietary requirements
  No