Help us settle into our new home while enjoying spectacular nature near Hella, Iceland

Infos

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  Description

  Hi! We are Diddi (Icelandic) and Editka (Slovak).
  
  We discovered workaway as volunteers when we travelled together for about half a year... we loved it and have been thinking of it ever since!
  Today we live in a modest little house on a 1.5 ha land just outside Hella, in the south of Iceland. We recently built* this house and moved here in 2021 with our boys Anton (2018) & Emil (2020).
  *(the contractors admittedly did most of the actual building!)
  We figured that since going as workawayers ourselves right now might be tricky with the young ones, why not play host instead?
  
  But, Let me just be straight with you guys: we are currently... overwhelmed!
  Between work, taking care of the kids' needs and vainly trying to chip away at the mountain of tasks, our battery is depleting!
  
  We aren't your quintessential A-type family, with 4 kinds of sporty outdoor hobbies and a full calendar of social events throughout the year.
  One might even say... that we vibrate at a significantly lower frequency than that! 😅
  
  We just wanted to move out here to get away from the trappings of urban living. It just wasn't doing anything for us!
  We much prefer to dig around in the dirt, build some benches out of pallets and spend plenty of time in a hot tub!
  We like permaculture and we really want to populate our land with plants, trees and lots of homegrown produce 😁
  We like second hand shopping and DIY solutions.
  Our trash can lid is ziptied on, since it broke off when the can blew away during a storm.
  Most of Diddi's shoes and boots have been glued back together at least once.
  The walking path and "steps" to our front door are just a series of europallets!
  Oh... and our whole family sleeps on a giant mattress on the floor of one bedroom!
  So, if this hasn't painted a picture, I don't know what will. 😆
  
  BASICALLY it comes down to this: we have plenty of house projects, outdoor building projects (largely involving reclaimed materials and budget solutions!) and gardening projects. We have about a 1000 ideas for things we want to do and on average, about half a day a week (if lucky) to dedicate any real time to doing them.
  
  We will feed you. We will caffeinate you (with quality, single source, micro-roastery coffee!). We will show you the sights. We'll give you all the juicy details of the local area for maximum enjoyment at the lowest budget! We'll lend you bicycles and even a car (if it's not at the mechanic's!).
  All we need is a couple of helping hands, to help carry some stuff, dig some holes, use the occasional power tool, cook some food or distract some children... so that we can chip away at the to-do list before we die of old age!
  
  Note that NO SKILLSET is prerequisite... except maybe having hands. We then figure out together what is the best use for your hands while you are with us ;)
  Having said that... some experience with forestry, gardening, carpentry, masonry, electrical wiring, plumbing, painting, cooking, cleaning or childminding is of course a plus!

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Pratique d’une langue

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Enseignement

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et projets de construction

  Baby-sitting et jeux créatifs

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  We speak Icelandic, English, Slovak and some Spanish. We are both quite interested in learning more Italian and are more than happy to practice with you if you are interested in learning any of the languages we speak!
  
  We know the local area and it's attractions quite well and will mark for you any places of interest that you would like to see. If you are willing to come pick one of us up from work (usually around 5 on weekdays) you could take one of our cars to sightsee.
  
  We'd love to talk about your travels and tell you about ours. Editka will certainly be able to tell you a lot about the part of Europe she's from and Diddi can tell you of Iceland and other places he's spent some time at.
  
  There is a great deal of topics that tickle our interest and we'd love to get into the gritty details! As has already been hinted at, we are interested in eco-projects, sustainable living, minimalism, good coffee, enjoying our family time and much more. Life is for learning and expanding on your knowledge and experiences. To us, this is true value and real wealth!

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  Projets impliquant des enfants

  Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.

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  Aide

  ** Some outdoor house projects **
  
  -Build a shelter around the main entrance (north side of house)
  
  -Build a support grid and connect drainage for our hot tub. We already have the hot tub shell and some reclaimed terrace material!
  
  -Build a terrace that connects to the hot tub.
  
  -Build our Dream-sunroom over aforementioned terrace 😁
  We'll probably require official drawings and permits, so this is a long term goal.
  
  -Improve outdoor lighting.
  
  
  ** Other building, gardening and landscaping projects **
  
  -Make proper walking paths around the house and land, using local material / cost-effective solutions.
  
  -Propagate trees (we have birch, spruce, pine and poplar), relocate/plant some trees into a shelter belt around the house. This place is windy!
  
  -Bring in a few trailers worth of mushroom compost with our 4x4
  
  -Build some raised garden beds for veggies w/grid for a tarp
  
  -Identify/create microclimates suitable for fruit- and berry trees/bushes. We want as much low-maintenance food producing plants as possible!
  
  -Bring in more "green manure" plants, groundcover and overall biodiversity.
  
  -Build a shed and attach our 4x2m lean-to greenhouse to it.
  
  -We have a massive 45ft container that we intend to partially berm into the earth next to our house.
  
  -Speaking of the container... it needs some serious organizing! Materials & tool storage, general storage, workshop, potato storage etc etc.
  
  -Pallet projects! Build benches, little toolsheds, shelters, garden houses and much more!! 👍
  
  -Improve soil condition and reduce erosion. We have access to plenty of organic material, garden waste etc... just need to haul it!
  
  -Set up compost stations. We've wanted to do this from the beginning, but... no time!
  
  -Wild harvesting herbs and berries! Mainly we collect the arctic thyme during summer and blueberries/crowberries in the fall.
  
  
  ** Earthworks **
  
  -Dig some drainage ditches around parking lot/roads.
  
  -Spread gravel into the bottom of the pond, making it shallower
  
  -When we get a circulation pump for the hot tub, we'll have to dig a ditch for plumbing!
  
  
  ** Some of the indoor projects **
  
  -We only have about 70m2 on the base floor plus some 30m2 sleeping loft. Basically: do what the tiny-house community does, but to a small-house!
  
  -Second hand furniture repurposing, build wall shelves from reclaimed wood; you know, that sorta thing!
  
  -The technical room houses the central heating, plumbing etc. Needs to be "Tiny-Housed" ;)
  
  -During construction, we painted the walls quite hastily. So... gotta do it again, but properly!
  
  -We want to apply floor coating in July when the kids are out of the house.
  
  -Furniture, counter tops and more surfaces need sanding/oiling/varnishing/deep cleaning etc
  
  -Need to apply sealant in wall/ceiling gaps and other places.
  
  -More house plants! We're talking trellises, hanging plants, wall mounted plants, kitchen herbs... the works!
  
  -Build a room in the sleeping loft to make the most of the space; for the convenience of workawayers and other guests ;)
  
  
  **Childminding, cleaning and help around the house**
  
  -Helping us with the kids!
  If you speak czech or slovak the boys will understand you perfectly. They understand some English by now, since they hear it on a daily basis! They've even learned to speak some, thanks to practicing with workawayers!
  
  Anton is whirlwind of energy (but a big lover of books) while Emil is a careful and sometimes sneaky (yet adorable) little guy.
  If one were to assign them each a spirit animal, Anton's would be some sort of chimp-labrador hybrid, whereas Emil's would probably be a cross between a housecat and a koala!
  
  -We really like the notions of Montessori and have tried to apply some of that, but not very diligently! We have simply not had the time or presence of mind, but anyone familiar with it, or other methodologies of homeschooling, unschooling etc. would be a great boon to us!
  
  -Other than entertaining the boys there is the usual household business... laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning; you'll find that mess and kids go hand in hand ;)
  
  -Helping us with kids in the pool... so we can swim and attend our [mental] health. We pretty much go to the pool ALL the time... so an extra set of eyes and ears would be appreciated!
  
  -Grocery shopping; Especially convenient for workawayers with particular dietary requirements or preferences... or if you simply wanna cook a particular meal!
  
  **Other stuff**
  
  -Going to pick up stuff while we're at work! We found that going to Reykjavìk on errands is something we'd just as well avoid. But perhaps you wanna go see the sights and don't mind e.g. picking up a piece of secondhand furniture along the way!
  
  -Last but certainly not least on this LOOONG list:
  Material scavenging! We're talking pallets and reclaimable wood, logs, stone, gravel, concrete tiles, grassturf, manure and organic materials, trees and plants, furniture and other second hand stuff (often free)...
  ...yeah, you get the picture 😅

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Icelandic: Courant
  Slovak: Courant
  Espagnol: Intermédiaire

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Italian Spanish Slovak English
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  Hébergement

  At present, we have a small room with a bunk bed, and a loft with a double bed. The small room offers privacy and - in the summer time - less brightness from the outside! We plan to section off the sleeping loft with a wall ;)
  
  The usual system with food is that we try to have a proper lunch but a light dinner. However, during working days we aren't at home for lunch, so this is mainly applicable on weekends and holidays I suppose!
  But the fridge will be kept well stocked and any food is fair game. You could cook yourself lunch, even cook enough for everyone to have, either for dinner same day or for next day. We don't mind eating something two days in a row!
  
  We don't have any particular food restrictions or preferences and we eat basically anything... although we can't guarantee that the kids will! Usually they have some yoghurt or something for dinner, so no biggie.
  
  Suppose we'll try to cook bigger batches of food (e.g. on weekends) so that there will be cooked food in the fridge that only requires reheating during the week.
  In any case, some arrangement can be arrived at that works for everybody ;)

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  Autres infos...

  We are near the UNESCO designated area of "Katla Geopark", near Mt. Hekla and the infamous Eyjafjallajökull. Several waterfalls, glaciers, glacial lagoons, the so-called "black beach" and more are all within an hour's drive from here. "The Golden Circle" is also just over an hour's drive from here as well, not to mention our personal favorite; the Reykjadalur valley's warm river... an actual natural hot spring that feeds into a river, creating one of the larger and more unique natural bathing spots in South-Iceland... possibly even all of Iceland!
  
  In the area where we live, we're a stone's throw away from a waterfall and a our land is adjacent to a forestry project that has yielded a few modest groves of trees and meadows, with crisscrossing streams and such. In the summer time we have a veritable orchestra of birdsong!
  
  In short, if natural wonders are your thing, we got plenty of nature to be explored around here! We'll provide you with map locations, details, tips and tricks to your heart's content. On weekends we might want to forego doing home projects and instead go for a drive to see the sights. Or perhaps one of us would go with you and kids while the other stays home to roll up the sleeves!
  
  We have two cars and a couple of bicycles (with plans for acquiring more bikes). We are slightly outside of town, about 3 km. There are some backroads that are quite enjoyable to walk which will take you to town without having to walk alongside the main road traffic. You can also go that way via mountain-bike, although parts of the path are rather sandy and not so compressed.

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  We have plenty of space for a campervan of any size!

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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