Information du profil
Évaluation d'hôte
100 %
Last replied
18 avr. 2024
Taux de réponse
100.0 %
Usually responds ≤ 9 jours
Feedback
52
E-mail vérifié
Badges (2)
Infos
Description
I am looking for a volunteer to help out on my 10 ha farm/smallholding with the maintenance of the farm, the house, the garden and from time to time with animal husbandry tasks.
Apart from a menagerie of dogs and cats I, Nina, am the only one in the household. Originally from the Netherlands, Dutch is my native language, but I am fluent in English and speak reasonably good French. If you want to learn French, I would be happy to speak French with you, although at times I may have some difficulty expressing myselve fully in French, and will probably end up speaking English.
I have always been very animal orientated and my five dogs and four cats live in the house as part of the family. Furthermore I have many alpacas, as well as two ponies, a donkey and chickens. It is therefore imperative that a volunteer who comes here is an animal lover, as well as a non-smoker.
Members of the public can visit the farm to learn about alpacas and the different stages involved in the transformation of their fleece into spun yarn and felt.
I am fully vaccinated against COVID-19. For my own protection and that of my clients I cannot take volunteers without a valid pass sanitair (COVID vaccination passport)
Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre
Jardinage
Bricolage et construction
S’occuper des animaux
Aide dans une ferme
Aide à la maison
Entretien général
Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre
Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre
Having lived here for many years, for those who are interested, I will be happy to share our cultural and culinary experiences of the Netherlands, France and Brittany. For those who want to learn new skills, I shall be happy to share my knowledge of animal care (I am a (retired) veterinary surgeon) and what I have learned myself about farming. I also practice the craft of wool transformation and would be happy to teach a volunteer to spin, felt, dye wool, machine knit, etc.
Aide
As this is a working animal farm, as well as a tourist attraction, there are chores to do around the farm all year through (fencing, mucking out stables, maintenance of paddocks and equipment, etc). At the moment the main priority is the garden, as well as maintenance and repairs around the farm.
The garden is always in need of attention. Hedges and some trees may need to be cut back or felled. All of this is physical work, although not hard. I have petrol power tools and use tractor power for the really heavy work!
At all times I can use volunteers with farming/gardening experience as well as building skills. I have some little projects that I would like to see realized. which may involve bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing, and plastering.
Sometimes you can also be involved with the alpacas, and help with the training and husbandry tasks (clipping claws, etc) or with sorting out the fleeces, which is great and easy work for rainy days!
So if you think that you may be able to help, please get in touch.
Langues
Langues parlées
Anglais: Courant
Français: Courant
Hollandais: CourantCet hôte propose un échange linguistique
I like to exchange with volunteers on languages. I am interested in picking up the basics of other languages, especially Irish and Spanish
Hébergement
The accommodation is limited to two guest rooms. The smaller room is very light and has a beautiful far-reaching view over the valley. The second room is larger and has a television. Both rooms have WiFi access.
Bathroom and toilet are shared, but only a few steps away from both rooms.
I will of course provide all the meals. I bake most of the bread and make my own yoghurt and try too eat healthily with produce from the garden, fields or hedgerows whenever possible. But I am not vegetarian and have only little experience with vegetarian cooking. However, if a volunteer wants to share his/her culinary experiences and help out with the cooking, this would be greatly appreciated.
I am sorry but I cannot cater for restricted or complicated diets.
Autres infos...
The house ls located in a beautiful area in the heart of the National Parc of the Monts d'Arrée in Finistere, where there is lots to see and do. The house is set on a hill, with far reaching views over the Aulne valley and the Montagnes Noires in the distance.
The surrounding countryside has a wild beauty with both woodland and moreland within walking distance. The footpaths start at the gate of the property.
The towns of Brest and Quimper are both only a 30 minute drive away, as is the sea with it's sandy beaches. Our town has a railway station, with several daily connections to the major towns in Finistere and to the rest of France via the high speed rail link.
Due to this central location it is an ideal place for tourists who want explore this part of Brittany, be it by train, car, bicycle, on horseback or on foot. For volunteers without their own transport I can provide bikes or take them to the nearest rail or bus station.
The region is rich in history, with traces of occupation dating back to the bronze age. The strong celtic identity and the revival of the traditional Breton music and dance is evident in the many village festivals that take place nearly every week during the summer months.
Informations complémentaires
Accès Internet
Accès Internet limité
Nous avons des animaux
Nous sommes fumeurs
Familles bienvenues
Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads
internet connection adequate for streaming music, videos, films etc
Espace pour garer des vans
There is plenty of space for one or more campervans.
Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux
Only dogs who get on with other dogs, cats and lifestock. We would have to ask someone to leave if his-her dog chased our cats or alpacas.
Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?
Un
Nombre d'heures attendues
Average about 4 to 5 hours per day; hours and times may vary from day to day, depending on the weather, visitor bookings, etc
Feedback (27)
I instantly felt welcome and enjoyed working in the garden and helping with clipping all the alpacas nails.
Nina kindly took me to some nearby towns and cities during my stay including Quimper and Brest which I thoroughly enjoyed exploring.
Overall it was a great… read more
When possible she would also make sure I could see the surrounding towns and sights. It is a lovely part of the country.
Her place is quite incredible, I really enjoyed helping and spending time with the animals.
Nina is very knowledgeable, take the time to ask… read more
Feedback
Ce sont des évaluations supplémentaires en option lorsque les membres laissent un feedback. La note moyenne pour chaque option est affichée.
Exactitude du profil:
(5.0)
Échange culturel:
(4.9)
Communication:
(5.0)
I instantly felt welcome and enjoyed working in the garden and helping with clipping all the alpacas nails.
Nina kindly took me to some nearby towns and cities during my stay including Quimper and Brest which I thoroughly enjoyed exploring.
Overall it was a great… read more
When possible she would also make sure I could see the surrounding towns and sights. It is a lovely part of the country.
Her place is quite incredible, I really enjoyed helping and spending time with the animals.
Nina is very knowledgeable, take the time to ask… read more
Nina and Annie are very welcoming and kind persons, I enjoyed every days I spent with them, learned a lot about the alpagas… read more
She also worked in the garden clearing brambles,… read more
After one month with Nina, Annie and all the family the return in the world was difficult !
January is not the best month to do a workaway in Brittany because the rain but it was really a pleasur to help them and to « work » with the alpacas and to live with their beautiful animals :
The king She and the kind Tessa, the lovely cats… read more
The meals were varied and tasty - try the nettle soup if you can, it… read more
She had no previous experience with the larger animals like the alpacas, but she showed no hesitation in moving amongst them. She picked up the handling skills very quickly. She… read more
As a person she's friendly, calm and unobtrusive, and makes no special demands, dietary or otherwise. She is the perfect guest.
As a worker she is happy to work independently and on her own. While she was with us she cut back a huge overgrown hedge, which was hard work and required her to use… read more
She also did some clearing of weeds in our garden, and made an excellent job of that.
Julia has been a… read more
Nina taught me how to spin yarn with both spindle and spinning wheel, which I am… read more
Love the alpacas, donkey, horses, cats and dogs
Two of the the dogs were so big that kids coukd have ridden them!
Hope i brought some light into your jungle (garden!) and the plants are happier for it
Keep well
Hope to to see you again very soon
Roger
If… read more
While he was here he has worked tirelessly at clearing… read more
She loves to cook, and has treated us to some fabulous chinese… read more
They're both very very nice, relaxed and welcoming people who let you feel at home from the beginning and laugh a lot.
There are many animals on the farm and I loved working with them. I learned so much about the alpacas, Nina showed me how to handle them, do… read more
He got on well also… read more
It was an amazing learning to me . I stayed there only a week, however Everything was much better than I have imagined . I can start talking about nina, she is really a lovely, very kind, calm, and a good person and loves what she does. I learnt a lot of things about alpacas from… read more
They were great hosts, and we're very accommodating.
They are very kind, gentle, and relaxed people.
It was a great balance of work and spare time. They let me borrow their bike so I could check out the local villages in my spare time, and dropped me into Quimper in the weekend so I… read more
This was my first Workaway experience and I couldn't of asked for anything more, I enjoyed every minute. I stayed for 2 weeks but that was not long enough.
They will go above and beyond to make sure you have a good stay and to make you feel as… read more
He is also an extremely good worker: clever, diligent, responsible and very hardworking. Electrics are his trade, but he is also very handy in making things from wood. He made for us, amongst… read more
While he was with us he made good work by cutting back a laurel hedge, that had grown out of control. He also is a good driver; he took my mother out for doctors appointments, and did not mind at all having to wait, sometimes for a long time.
I have no… read more
I highly recommend working for Nina and Annie.
In all things he has been very helpful and has shown good initiative. The tasks we asked him to do, he did… read more
Jos already described the daily routine very well. (Including the crêpes experience - have a look at his text for more useful… read more
They have lovely animals - many dogs, many cats, a few horses and of course the alpacas! If you don't like animals this is not the place for you!
The food is very traditional and filling - my last night we enjoyed… read more
We hope to see you again Jos. Keep in touch and good luck… read more
During her stay with us Layane has experienced the worst of the Brittany weather, and as a result we… read more
