Single mom and daughter available to love your home, garden and pet(s)

About this sitter

We are an animal and plant-loving Mother-Daughter duo, though I sometimes go solo. I'm Jenny, a single mom in my 40s, and my daughter, Kaya, is 8. She's a dancer who spends a lot of time training and practicing (pretending) to be a Veterinarian. Her current pets are our Cat, Izzy, and a whole bunch of bugs (which she lovingly keeps in a terrarium); her dream is to have a koala sanctuary. Our last dog, Huxley, passed when she was 5.
I own and operate a home daycare out of our home in California. I started working in childcare when I had my daughter, in order to be able to stay home with her. Prior to that I divided my time between house and pet sitting and working as an organic chef. I love gardening and have a booming fruit, veggie, and flower garden.
I grew up with nomadic parents traveling around the world, which was amazing, but wanted Kaya to have stability and predictability in her earliest years, which has suited her well. She is one of the calmest kiddos I know. And now that she's older, we're ready to spread our wings!
All in all, I have 20 years of experience house, pet and plant-sitting internationally, 3 years of which were back-to-back long-term house sits of large estates. One of them had an extensive collection of tropical plants that I cared for a year, twice, while the family built a second home in Bali.
We are homebodies and prefer to stay close to home base, and get to know the local area well rather than venturing out on lots of longer excursions. Our ideal sit would be somewhere beautiful, in nature, with either dogs, cats, goats, sheep, chickens, or any other furry creatures. But we also love cities and are open to a whole range of opportunities. Personally, I love large properties with many plants to care for. I’m also happy to help with installing edible gardens if that’s something you are interested in!
We love meeting new people and animals, and are hoping to find an amazing opportunity this summer, anytime from mid-June to mid-August. We are hoping to find something for at least the entire month of July, ideally near a beach with warm water for swimming, but we are flexible. Mountains, jungle, etc are great too!

Edit: Unfortunately my daughter's passport has been held up, so it's looking like, at least for this summer (unless the passport issue gets handled fast), we need to focus on places that don't require US passport: USA, Canada and Puerto Rico. However, we will be available with two passports in hand to go anywhere in the world for the following dates: Sept 30-Oct 14, Nov 17-27th, Dec 16-Jan 5, Feb 16-26th, March 30-April 14. And then next summer, we would love to do a long sit somewhere far away, from June 7th-mid to end of August, so for a bit more than 2 months.

Why they want to house sit

When I first got into housesitting some 25 years ago, it was a way to not pay rent and live in very nice homes. It was not something I did to travel. Most of my young adult life was dedicated to non-profit work, and I founded two of my own non-profits, so I was not financially abundant, and yet I like to live in beautiful environments. I was very lucky and have lived in some extraordinary homes and even one castle. One of my first long-term house sits was when I'd just moved to Boulder, Colorado to go to Nutrition School - I was staying with a friend and put a hand-drawn flier in a tiny little organic food market. The next day I got a call and that same day solidified a two year house sit in a mansion right at the base of the flatirons. Nowadays my interest in house sitting is to be able to travel with my daughter and share with her my love of the world, while meeting new people and getting lots of animal cuddles. Because I own my own business and have people who can cover for me when I travel, I am quite flexible. As a single mom (no child support) living in one of the most expensive areas of the US, I can't afford expensive travel, so this is a way to make it work as a win win for all parties. I've had excellent luck, and hope that it continues!

Their experience

Very

What can they bring to the assignment

I can bring my experience caring for homes, pets, plants and any other affairs that need handling. I once stopped a house I was sitting from burning down (one of the workers who'd come for routine inspection accidentally left a paper manual on top of the broiler in the basement, which caught fire). At another long-term sit that was over a year in length, I collected tenant rent-checks each month from all the properties the couple owned in town, deposited them, and kept up to date records. I have lots of experience traveling internationally and maneuvering in foreign cultures. I'm happy to manage any staff at a property, like gardeners, handymen etc, and I really love getting to know the locals wherever I am. I speak English, French and some Spanish, but would love to improve my Spanish. I used to speak much better, but am out of practice!
I love keeping up homes, and making sure that when the owners return, they find things just as they left them if not better.
Integrity is very important to me, and I believe that my high level of integrity is why I get so lucky with the opportunities that come my way.