Learning from the many folk we’ve entertained here and in Australia, the following request was sent out to our regular guests:
We’ve set out some core principles that should apply to any guest: we want them to be safe, happy and comfortable; we’d like to avoid damage; we need to be able to separate our work time; we’d like to encourage shared social experiences for everyone; and we want the experience of Warland Farm to have its own feeling, delightful and different from life elsewhere. Of course, we hope that our personal ethics about good, real food and treading lightly on the Earth are respected.
This gives some reasoning behind the following comments:
– we’d prefer to not have junk food in the house beyond the biscuits, malt loaves etc that we provide
– we’d like everyone to be reasonably sociable when they’re in the house, eating and loafing about together
– unsupervised rambunctiousness should occur outside the house
– we’d prefer kids in bed at an agreed time and for them to hand the Internet over to the adults at that time
– we expect guests to be prepared to entertain themselves, for the most part, exploring our wonderful farm and valley while we do what we need to
– we’re always happy to share the farm work of the day and to teach basic skills where we can
Generally, we have free time up until ten o’clock, when everyone meets for morning coffee and we decide who’s doing what, with whom for the rest of the day. Dinner is in the early evening and is a social occasion for everyone who’s at home.
There are always extenuating circumstances, of course, which we will try to accommodate provided they are explained.