Franklin County

I needed a bed.... The car sleeping was cold and uncomfortable and I was getting lethargic. I arranged a Workaway for my last few days with Devona, a single, working mother with a hobby farm - 36 acres of woodland in the mountains of Virginia. 2 fat, free roaming horses, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 8 chickens, 2 guinea fowl and an organic vegetable patch.

The setting, once again, was idyllic. My job was cleaning. She asked me to deep clean her 5 bedroom house in 4 days of 3 hours a day work. She has a specific diet and preferred not to feed me as well in exchange for 5 hours of work. The house was very clean and I realised immediately she was highly strung, high maintenance and a narcissist. I don't use that word lightly. She has a lot of rules in the kitchen connected to her food allergies which are definitely more in her head (health anxiety as a coping mechanism for stress).

I met another young, Italian volunteer called Emma. She was pretty, darned miserable. She said she had ADHD and autism and was scared of Devona. There was an age, culture and language barrier at play. But also Devona could be snide or simply insulting with a smile on her face.

Devona also works from home, a full-time job which requires long haul travel. To be honest, I had a lot of admiration for what she has achieved and accomplished in her life, and her stress levels were understandable. Sadly, her stress spilled over to cause discomfort to others. Emma had had an unpleasant 5 weeks and was counting down the hours to leave, a few days after me.

I laughed to myself because I couldn't believe my luck. From one middle-aged, psychobitch Joanne bullying a vulnerable teen Addison in a stunning setting to another. I know it's no accident of the universe.

I can get on nicely with Devona, ignoring her faults and focusing on her qualities. It helps that we are a similar age. I decide I will not allow the tensions in the air to ruin my last week of my trip. Day 2 however escalates into a full blown shouting match between Devona and Emma, and I have to intervene to stop Emma from being kicked out.

It took a few hours and a lot of (my) ears being bashed to get Devona to calm down, and by the 3rd evening, harmony was restored to everyone's benefit, even if, understandably, from Emma it was a bit of self-preservation acting. Both thanked me for sorting it out. A new career in conflict resolution, methinks? I

I did do 5 hours a day so I could supervise Emma and most of the house did actually get done, including exterior walls, sorting the basement and using a toothbrush on the skirting boards.

It was really cute to have the horses wander up to the kitchen door if they wanted a snack. One of the dogs, would stay out all night, barking.... warding off black bears and coyotes....much appreciated. The other dog would run out of the house in the morning to eat all the chicken eggs before being collected by the humans :-)

Emma's last job before she leaves is to harvest Devona's pumpkins. They look gorgeous.

The woodlands and mountains are still full of autumnal colour..... Every blink of my eye captures peak radient beauty of mother nature. I am very still inside, calm. Not joyous, not sad. I know it's because my trip is ending imminently and with all the chaos in recent times, I haven't had the space to process anything, let alone, face up to my return.Read more