Trainee Millionairess Available To Guard Your Pad And Make A Fuss Of Your Pets

About this sitter

I am 64 years old (67 now but the rest of the sentence doesn't make sense if I put that in :-) but my friends think those digits are the wrong way round. I am self sufficient, logical, practical and conscientious. I am happy for you to contact me via my email or WhatsApp should you wish.

Why they want to house sit

I have been house sitting for more years than I care to remember (about 19 up to press) and enjoy the new experiences and meeting new people that comes with the job. Plus I like the principle of exchange. For doing the usual things a home owner would do I get the use of their home. PLEASE DON'T ASK ME TO PAY TO HOUSE SIT. I give you my time, my considerable experience, my good will and I promise to keep your property and possessions, including your pets, safe and cared for to the best of my ability at all times all free of charge. For your part, with the exception of food, I expect all bills to be paid and services such as internet, t.v, etc that are connected or fitted in the house to be made freely available. If you had to pay for 24 hour live-in security and house/pet care from a professional company, you would be paying a great deal more than just the usual household bills. Swings and roundabouts... We get a free holiday, you get the above mentioned live in security and care for free. Fair dinkum as the Australian part of my family would say.

Their experience

LOTS! Besides all the usual stuff, I have sold a house near Ely in England for the owners and a beautiful Norwegian style wooden house in Spain for its owner; I have looked after new born goats in France; de-ticed and groomed enough hair from a bear of a campo land dog to reduce him to half his size, also in Spain; I have walked a spoiled but smart Jack Russell on Brighton beach on Christmas Day whilst watching the astonishing spectacle of hundreds of starlings settling down to roost under Brighton pier; I have watched a stunning silent electrical storm light up the skies over southern France then sat at midnight beside a man-made lake a few miles away from there and watched a meteor shower with the Pyrenees as a backdrop. In the Alicante basin in Spain, we had what I think could be the longest rumble of thunder ever. Certainly the longest I ever hear. I listened for 35 minutes solid whilst it rolled and rumbled and tussled with the lightning. Then I fell asleep. Well it was about 4:30 in the morning...
I was in Spain for about 7 years and came back in January 2020. I started a house sit near Great Yarmouth in the middle of February that year. It should have been for 2½ months but actually lasted a year and 8 months. As I said, I'm flexible. The four dogs and the parrot in the photos, plus a cat, were my charges at Yarmouth and I miss them but it was time to move on. I did a sit just north of Newcastle in the beautiful Northumbrian countryside with Lindisfarne just an hours drive away. I've wanted to visit that place for years and at that time of the year, no grockles :-) I won't be missing the chance fulfill that wish. (I didn't get there so that is still on the To Visit list when my camper conversion is done). The last sit I did was near Crewe looking after 3 French rescue dogs, all nervous and wary of strangers but we got on swimmingly after a few days so that was a success.
Now I'm available again until the end of March when I'll be off on my travels in my new camper van.

Do I love house sitting? Oh yeah!

What can they bring to the assignment

I treat everything as if it were my own and I am very careful with my possessions. I no longer ask for references from my sits because I have been doing this for so long that many of the people I sit for are repeat offenders and those who are not will give me a reference should I need it. That said, I try not to bother them because I prefer to meet the homeowner myself, either in person or via the internet. This is usually sufficient for them to decide if I am what they are looking for. I don't have a police check. Not because I am a master criminal and have a record as long as the proverbial arm but because these things are not worth the paper they are written on. You have to be Al Capone not to get one so I steer well clear. (Plus paying the nice policeman £10 for a useless piece of paper just because it has his stamp on it rather sticks in the craw) As I was told by my Dad when I was learning to drive, 'when it comes to overtaking, if you're not sure, don't.' Good advice. So to paraphrase him, if you like me, take a chance. If not, don't. I promise I won't be offended. It's basically the essence of agreeing to hand the keys of your kingdom to a stranger so of course, if you're not sure, don't.
But I am good at this house sitting thing ;-)