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Hey, it's us, Lin and Alef. Ah, and let's not forget our two kids Indi and Jona (9 and 7 years old). And of course our flock of chicken, 2 sheep and 3 horses.
We're a happy family of 4, originally Dutch, living a rich life close to nature in Normandy not far from the Mont Saint Michel. By March this year we'll have moved into to our renovated and slightly enlarged traditional stone farm house a few kilometers from the beautiful coast just South of Granville.
For the past 2 years we've already worked hard on bringing the fields near the house back to life, creating vegetable plots and generally turning our piece of land into a paradise for plants, animals and people. We have a lovely forest with a little stream right next to us and in just 10 minutes we're on the beach.
We're not new at this. We used to live 10km East of Amsterdam and there too we turned an old abandoned farmhouse into a vibrant place full of life. We did this in close cooperation with the local community and many Workaway'ers (the reviews are from that time). Together we set up vegetable plots, made cider, baked sourdough bread, raised sheep and pigs and did a fair amount of construction work.
In The Netherlands, we had the most amazing time and cherish all the wonderful moments of joy and sharing of stories over home-cooked meals with fresh food. Due to asthma we moved to France end of 2019 and we took all the lessons learnt and memories of a great time with us. The move worked out, the family is fit and sporty as ever ;-).
Alef is dividing his time between setting up the homestead in Normandy and running a company selling products for rainwater harvesting that requires an occasional visit to The Netherlands. Lin keeps herself busy with the gardens, lots of community work and the care for the kids and the animals (sheep, chicken, horses that is).Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre
Projets artistiquesAide avec des éco-projetsJardinageBricolage et constructionS’occuper des animauxAide dans une fermeCuisine/repas pour la familleAide à la maisonEntretien généralEchange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre
As we are originally Dutch but now located in France, you'll be immersed in a nice mix of cultures and we hope you bring your own to the table too. For us, having people over is like traveling ourselves a little bit ;-).
We've moved away from life in the last lane. Alef was a startup entrepreneur and Lin a scientist in veterinary public health. Going from hi-tech and science to homesteading, we can offer you some unique perspectives and ways to wean yourself off of the consumerist society. There's many practical skills too, ranging from construction to making sourdough bread, ginger beer and apple cider and from setting up chicken coops to starting veggie beds, there's lot to learn.
One is never too old to learn so we're eager to improve on many fronts, some of which you might be able to help us with.
We speak Dutch, English and French so if your idea is to improve either one of those languages, that's also something you'll take away.
Last but not least, if time permits, we'll take you out to some of the sites around the area that are not very well-known to tourists and if you feel like, the Mont Saint Michel is not too far away either.Projets impliquant des enfants
Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.
Aide
Sharing the local and simple life, that's what we've been up to so far and with the start of our new project, we'll continu to do just that.
There's a huge list of things we'd like to do over the next few years, with different priorities and timelines. Having said that, although we're pretty structured when it comes to setting goals, we are also flexible so if you feel you like to add something to the list, feel free.
Here's just a random list of things we'll be doing over the course of the next few years:
* Building a solar dehydrator for herbs and tea
* Building an outdoor run attached to the chicken coop
* Extending and maintaining the vegetable patch, herb garden, orchard and green house
* Building a tipi platform and structure for friends and family to stay in
* Scything the field
* Building a wooden tool shed to replace the old defunct chicken coop
* Creating a wooden deck around the house
Apart from that, there's always some chores available, weeding here and there, removing some brambles (there's plenty of those), cooking, cleaning. But don't be afraid, we'll always stick in a big project to get that sense of achievement by the end of your stay.Langues
Langues parlées
Anglais: Courant
Hollandais: Courant
Français: Intermédiaire
Italien: Intermédiaire
Espagnol: DébutantCet hôte propose un échange linguistique
Our kids are bi-lingual and would happily teach you some French or Dutch. Speaking English with them would also be great for them.Hébergement
You'll have your own room with a separate entrance attached to the main house. Bath room (shower) access is shared with the kids (that are usually away on weekdays from 08.30 to 16.00 except for Wednesdays).
Autres infos...
We try to live a healthy life, spent lots of time in the kitchen, bake our own (sourdough) bread, cook from scratch, always using fresh ingredients. We're still busy setting up our own veg beds, so for now food mainly comes from organic stores and farms around the area. It'd be great if you can add to our healthy lifestyle and bring your own recipes, tips and tricks!
In terms of surroundings, we're immersed in nature but not too far away from tourist hotspots such as the Mont Saint Michel (15km as the crow flies). The beach is 10 minutes away and the cities closest by are Granville and Avranches, both at about 10 minutes by car. Walks and short hikes long the forest stream and to a beautiful old water mill can be done right from our home and the long-distance trails GRR 223 is running close to our place too.
Getting to our place is best done from Rennes or Granville, where we can pick you up. Depending on where in Paris you are, Rennes is anywhere from 1h40m to 2h20m away by train.
We have bicycles available for you to get to the beach or to town (if you like mountainbiking, take some shoes with SPD cleats, there's wonderful trails right next to our home) and we're heading into town almost daily to drop off the kids at school.
Last but not least, if you're inclined to get in touch with us please mind the following:
1. On diet; while we have a very health diet, I have to mention that we are NOT a gluten-free household (the freshly baked sourdough bread has lots). Breakfast is yoghurt or porridge with some added fruits, lunch varies, sometimes simple sandwiches, sometimes a nice long hot 3-course lunch and occasionally we'll treat you on a 'menu ouvrier' (worker's menu in a nearby restaurant). We do try to eat as local as possible, so there's no avocados every day ;-). Do let us know if there's any dietary considerations, that way we can accommodate.
2. We take on people for a period to 10 days to 3-4 weeks. We feel this works best for us and alternate having people over with relatively quiet periods in between.
3. If you're interested in staying at our place, we do a Skype/Zoom call to get to know each other a little bit and only then confirm a stay. We feel this makes all the difference in making the right decision, not just for us, but also for you.
4. We have an absolute zero-tolerance policy when it comes to drugs. Also, we are a non-smoking household and cannot host smokers.
5. We will ask you to leave a copy of your passport upon arrival (we have a printer so can make one for you). We like to have some info on hand in case of an emergency.
6. We have two kids almost 7 and almost 9 and there's usually more visiting throughout the week. 80% of the time kids are happy and smiling but occasionally things are not moving along smoothly for an hour or so. Kids are grumpy and loud occasionally. We just want to let you know that our kids are too :-).
7. We will welcome you as part of our family and we expect you to act like that too. This means we try to share meals as much as possible but if you're out for the weekend or evening, that's of course fine.
8. On cellphones; we try to limit cellphone use in the house. No cellphones and screens at the dinner table and preferably not around the kids.
9. We have spent time on presenting ourselves in as much detail as we can on workaway.info. We expect you to do the same, so if you consider getting in touch with us please make sure you have a complete profile that tells about yourself, your interests and your motivation to do what you're doing. Also tell us why you want to volunteer at our place specifically. We very much appreciate a personal message.
10. In terms of a schedule for the day: we usually start work around 08.30 to 09.00 and continue until lunch time, around 12.00 to 12.30, aside from a coffee break of course. After lunch there's usually a small bit of work to be done as well and at about 14.30 to 15.00, it's a wrap.Informations complémentaires
Accès Internet
Accès Internet limité
Nous avons des animaux
Nous sommes fumeurs
Familles bienvenues
Espace pour garer des vans
Our place has plenty of space for you to park your motor home or campervan.
Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?
Deux
Nombre d'heures attendues
Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (30)
Tineke helped out with everything that was needed; lots of weeding, planting out seedlings and picking herbs and flowers to dry for herbal teas. She also took care of our animals, kids and kitchen!
Our kids loved Tobi and proposed that if Tineke ever wanted to… read more
It was amazing hosting you as our first workawayers in France! Thank you so much for helping out in the garden (weeding, sowing, transplanting seedlings, prepping for new herb beds, moving stones and wood out of the terrain, etc etc), but most of all for your pleasant company. It was great having you around, with your "up for… read more
As it was our first work away, it was very important to us to feel comfortable around the people we would be staying with - which is exactly how Lin and Alef made us feel. From our first messages, Lin and Alef were so helpful, offering advice, sending… read more
Super impressed with Gina. Such a young, independent, girl traveling by herself through Europe. We had a great time working with Gina and two other workaway'ers we've had in May. We've worked a lot in the garden, she cooked for us on several occasions and thanks to Gina we can now sell herbal tea straight from… read more
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Exactitude du profil:
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Échange culturel:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
Tineke helped out with everything that was needed; lots of weeding, planting out seedlings and picking herbs and flowers to dry for herbal teas. She also took care of our animals, kids and kitchen!
Our kids loved Tobi and proposed that if Tineke ever wanted to… read more
It was amazing hosting you as our first workawayers in France! Thank you so much for helping out in the garden (weeding, sowing, transplanting seedlings, prepping for new herb beds, moving stones and wood out of the terrain, etc etc), but most of all for your pleasant company. It was great having you around, with your "up for… read more
As it was our first work away, it was very important to us to feel comfortable around the people we would be staying with - which is exactly how Lin and Alef made us feel. From our first messages, Lin and Alef were so helpful, offering advice, sending… read more
Super impressed with Gina. Such a young, independent, girl traveling by herself through Europe. We had a great time working with Gina and two other workaway'ers we've had in May. We've worked a lot in the garden, she cooked for us on several occasions and thanks to Gina we can now sell herbal tea straight from… read more
Jona picking chamomile and shaping bread with me, Indi with her bodyboard, Lin riding Figo. The pictures do our time with Cassidy… read more
But that doesn't capture how much we loved having you around! From working hard to get the job… read more
Thanks to Caroline we now have a 4 different tea mixes to sell. Ranging from Petals from the Polder to Very Berry, they're all good! She also helped around the garden and she also really got along really really well… read more
Kidding aside, if… read more
It's even better when these people are likeminded individuals sharing a passion for living a simple and sustainable life… read more
We've had many Workaway'ers in the past, but there haven't been many with whom it all felt so natural. The interactions with the kids, eating a meal together, enjoying a… read more
We had a great time with him and loved having him and his friend around. Ranging from weeding the veg beds, to setting up new wind barriers and the never ending task of cleaning up after… read more
The location - stunning and perfect for exploring. It is close to Amsterdam and public transport (train and bus) and on the outskirts of the gorgeous town with bars, pubs and restaurants. Amsterdam castle is walking distance. Bikes to use to explore.
Accommodation - The space you… read more
A super relaxed yet hard working couple, with endless patience and not afraid to pick… read more
DJ helped us out in countless ways and always did that with joy and without any complaints, even though sometimes the work was a bit tedious and the weather wasn't always the best we have had... Ranging from… read more
Blair and I came to the Netherlands not really sure where we were going or what was going to happen and Lin and Alef's place in Muiden was the best place to start. While we came at a busy and difficult time for the family, they made us feel incredibly welcome and were super… read more
Of all volunteers we've had, I think Blair and Nicole came at the worst possible time with the house in total chaos.
We were in the middle of the renovation of the outside of our house and this project proved to be more challenging than we thought. Moving from their own comfy bedroom to the lounge, and then up to another… read more
Other than that Robert is just great to have around and we had some good fun… read more
I can't believe I never got around to writing a review for Sasha!! That's really shame after having enjoyed his staying with us soooo much.
We're still looking at the paintings he did for us every single day; some of them are framed close and hung close to the kitchen table; the cell-phone-free-zone one is having by the entrance to the… read more
While reviewing our profile I just noticed we totally forgot to write a review for Gareth!! Inexcusable, because we had such a great time with Gareth and so did the kids.
Jona just mentioned Gareth the other day and Indi still very vividly remembers getting back from Muiden, sitting on Gareth's neck, him riding his skateboard.
Aside… read more
Erin and George stayed with us for a bit more than two weeks and apart from all the work (prepping for the annual Summer party, baking numerous cakes, drying kilos and kilos of apples, making new veg beds, cleaning out the green house, moving a ton of wood and a lot more) it was… read more
It was so nice having you around. From being super nice to the kids - they absolutely adored you - to all the hard work (from… read more
Where should I begin?
Maybe from the beginning when Alef picked me up from the bus station (super nice!) and there was a spider right by my face as soon as I got in the car... Haha. Just one of many spider friends I had the… read more
We were in the middle of Summer when Rebecca was here and so there were many small chores to attend to and part of this was probably the worst job of the… read more
The town and the farm are the definition of "gezellig", they are a super family with a lot of stories and two adorable kids who are great guides and cooks. I had never helped out in a vegetable garden before, but it was fun to harvest potatoes with happy cows next to me and a… read more
It was nice having Gabriele over. Neat and tidy and friendly to the kids, he finished the things we asked of him and didn't complain to participate in the daily chores either.
Although I tried to put up a serious challenge,… read more
For this reason I going to write in spanish… I don’t want more mistakes ;)
Realmente han sido unas semanas de ensueño junto Alef, Lin, Indi y Jona. Si empezamos a hablar del lugar, no podríamos imaginar un lugar mejor para vivir, rodeado de naturaleza, con unas vistas impresionantes… read more
During the period this lovely family was here we got a lot of work done, with main achievements being the… read more
It was our first workaway experience and we enjoyed it a lot. Honestly we didn't get why they call it WORKaway, because there wasn't any real work but only interesting projects and celebration of the complete tasks :) Alef and Lin are very intelligent people with a RIGHT point of view to our… read more
When we first drove up to the beautiful organic homestead with a stunning old farm house, and the Muiderslot (castle) in the background surrounded by the green fields with cows scattered throughout, we didn't yet know what the name meant.
Within the first few hours of arriving at Alef and Lin's place, we were introduced to Jona… read more
Before… read more
We're already missing you a lot and so are the kids. Jona was knocking on the bedroom door this morning yelling your names. He's still not used to the bedroom being empty. Of course we have new people joining quite soon, but they'll have to work hard to fill the gap you've left.
Paula and Gabriel are great people to have… read more
Of course the most hilarious story he made up in his time here as a Russian spy (yeah really, his cover wasn't that good at all, although he… read more
During her time here We eased our way into Summer which is the season of maintenance and keeping the place going… read more
We did some weeding around the property, cleaned and organized the shed, built a… read more
We just had a blast. After two days, Indi started calling Ashley 'her other mama', a feat nobody has accomplished so far, and I would be surprised if anybody will do again any time soon… read more
We learnt and did a lot during the two weeks in the beautiful little town. Everything we did as a team with Alef. fixed the green house (painting, glass cutting, sanding), put netting around the trampoline and jumped with Indi, made an edible teepee, weaved a garden bed, and… read more
We always try to make people feel at home and Shaun and Keely fit right in, hanging out with little Indi and Jona and taking… read more
They quickly became part of the family, churning out great Italian dishes, sharing stories over the the dinner table and taking care of Indi and Jona when needed.
Volunteer-wise it's been absolutely great to share two weeks with Noemi and Sergio as well. From… read more
Right now, I'm looking back at the period Nathan has been staying with us and can't do a lot else than smile! Nathan is a great guy to have around, has a great sense of humour and is very disciplined in… read more
THIS FAMILY IS AWESOME! (Long answer below)
I love them, they have all been happy sine day one. I have had amazing conversations with both Alef and Lin, even Floris now and then. The food, is all top notch (Y) Nothing… read more
Im so pleased with this first big experience with workaway. Netherlands was great, but it was because of this great family that took us as part of it!
It felt so nice to see all the little changes that we made in so little time, and all this great meals that Alef can cook as if he were an expert… read more
First to work-related stuff: we finished several great projects together such as a custom blackboard in our kitchen, a three-stage compost station and several raised herb beds. Once he got the basics he went right at it and continued on his own when I needed to be in the office for my regular Monday… read more
While I remember this family, including Floris (their loyal and sleepy dog) I look to my finger where the paint I used to cover the wall in Indi's room insist to stay (the purple one).
Maybe in a few days this will be gone, and me and my boyfriend… read more
I'm not the only one… read more