Busy Highland Family Need Extra Hands

About the workproject

We need 3 volunteers

We are a family of Cathy, (40), John (38) and little boy who is 7 years old and home-educated. We live in a beautiful little cottage slap bang in the middle of a nature reserve.

We like to have 2 helpers so friends are welcome to apply, alternatively we are happy to take 2 single travellers - but please be aware you may need to share a sleeping area with another helper (who we will ensure is the same sex and similar age to you.)

We'd also be delighted to take a small family and priority will be given to families with children of a similar age to Leo.

We do not take helpers without seeing pictures, so if you do not have photos on your profile, please let us know your Facebook page or other.

Our home is small and so unfortunately you won't have a bedroom but will be sleeping in the office during winter or in a tent in the garden in warmer weather. You will of course have a warm bed and access to the house 24 hours a day though.

We have a big kitchen, sitting room (with X-box, WiFi and dvds) and big garden as well as of course plenty of amazing countryside so you are definitely not going to feel cooped up. We also have a bath with unlimited hot water at any time of day - which is apparently a bit of a Helper's luxury lol!

All meals including picnics for your days off are provided and of course you can have access to games / books etc. just make yourself at home with us.

Ideally you'd work about 24 hours a week with Tuesdays and Thursdays off (but this is not set in stone, we can be flexible.)

We need help weeding the garden, looking after Leo, keeping the house clean and assisting with Cathy's messy-play business. The other jobs we need help with are many and varied but could include:
Dog walking
Decorating
Gardening
Repairing outbuildings
Cutting wood
Cleaning out poultry
Berry picking
Beer / Wine making
Jam / pickle making
Laundry (lots and lots of laundry!)
Assisting at sales / promotion events
Or whatever needs doing that day, we need someone to fit in with whatever needs doing, often we don't know til that morning!

This is a placement for a flexible, confident person who is fine spending time alone and does not need detailed instructions to get on with a task.

We are a long way from anywhere, the bus stop is over a mile from the house and the buses are not all that regular so please only apply to stay if you like walking and the countryside!

We have animals including a dog and cats who live in the house so you must be comfortable around them.

Our house is difficult to get to on public transport, especially with a big bag, however, if you get yourself to Inverness airport, train station or bus station, we will pick you up and drive you home.

If there is anything you'd like to know about our family please get in touch, we look forward to hearing from you and you can add us on Facebook if you wish.

(Parents with a small child more than welcome.)

We usually not take vegetarians or vegans, as we do eat our own free range, ethically reared poultry. However, if you are a vegetarian and not offended by this, please feel free to contact us.

What you can gain from us (other than English practice): Country skills.

We are trying to be as self-sufficient as possible and grow our own food wherever possible. There will be opportunities to plant, grow, tend and harvest foods. Poultry husbandry. Occasionally there will be the opportunity to learn how to prepare a small animal (rabbit, chicken etc.) for the table if you want - obviously this is not something you have to witness and for the most part our diet is vegetable based.

We also forage and can share our wild food hunting skills, for greens, mushrooms and berries.
We make jams, chutneys, beers, wines etc. and would love to share these skills.