Responsible and caring homebody who loves pets and plants

About this sitter

Greetings, and thank you for viewing my profile.

A young-at-heart native Californian, I am responsible, healthy, and super appreciative of kind and clear interactions. No smoking or drugs of any kind, I occasionally sip alcohol, mainly eating sustainably. Not one to chase the nightlife, I do enjoy museums and concerts in capitol spots. But mainly I love relaxing at home.

There is true pleasure in caring for a place as it cares for me. I have a background in stewardship, nurturing plants and animals and even people, receiving a deep connection in return. Outdoor time is important to me, since much of my day is spent in reflection or focused on a computer (studying and writing, researching and exploring). That’s why I enjoy moving meditations outdoors, to get fresh air and connect in with the earth and sky.

In the last decade, I have traveled extensively. Before that, I had a home base with pets and gardens and would often lend a hand for neighbors’ environs while they were away. That was a long time ago, years before Mask Time. When the world seemed to shut down, I flew back to California and hunkered down for the pandemic. Before and since, I have lived in Asia and Europe. Eventually, I married my European companion; that union is now being dissolved. I have been spending the last two years in quiet reflection and am now well-rested to move ahead into my new future. Being an active member of Mind My House is part of that, broadening my awareness of beautiful places on our planet.

Usually I enjoy being in a town or the countryside, yet I have thrived as well in vast Kuala Lumpur, visiting daily the monkeys and massive trees in its unique wilderness park. As a resident in Chiang Mai, I would regularly bike to the city’s edge, then hike the monk’s path to the forest temples. When living in New York and San Francisco, and especially my hometown Santa Barbara, I would balance urban ways with camping and hiking, cycling and swimming. To bask, whenever possible, in water. To hear the subtle rustle of leaves as a breeze meanders through the window from a cluster of plants and trees. I am beguiled by the rhythms inherent in Nature’s song. These are the ways I would be engaged, staying at home with your loved ones in my care.

Why they want to house sit

I am keen to know our planet better, and love lingering at a locale, which I have been doing lately on the shore of the Adriatic Sea. Lucky me, I first enjoyed a long-stay as a university student in Vienna, living in a villa far out in the wine district during the first semester, only to move into the old city during the second. Initially I was among an extended family, then with an elderly couple of noble ancestry. It was fascinating, how different those two experiences were, how they shaped my idea of getting to know a place via a dwelling rather than a hotel.

In subsequent years, I found that a brief hotel stay never gave me a sense of place as did residing in a local's home. Even with wonderful sprees two decades ago as a ghost-writer for the New York Times’ travel columnist, I was treated with exceptional venues, but they could not compare to the relaxed grace of a home. And it is the latter I prefer, to discreetly experience a local's habitat, to be gifted with that perspective, and to care for it mindfully as if it were my own or that of a friend.

Because my traveling lifestyle in the last several years would not accommodate animals or plants, I have missed them in my life. I love to write, am working on a series of books, and I found out from a fellow writer about this sweet Mind My House community, how I can basically have both: see the world and stay in a living and breathing household at the same time. How grand that I can come visit and enjoy your loved ones, caring for them as if they were mine, overseeing, for a time, the hearth at the home you created.

It is with this intention that I have newly joined the Mind My House community. I have not been a member of any site like it, and my aim is to build a series of references here over time.

{KINDLY NOTE: Because I am in Europe at present, I could not arrange to get a U.S. police or F.B.I. report (which require a unique, in-person fingerprinting method). Soon I will be back home and will easily get the documentation, since I have a flawless, crime-free record. In the meantime, I am happy to pay $50 to any seriously interested homeowner, so that you can order and personally receive a background check on me, verifying that my history is blemish-free.}

In 2025, I welcome placements in either Western Europe or the USA or Canada.

From 2026 onward, I am very open to considering stays of weeks or more in most places on the planet. And I look forward to eventually welcoming a few of you to my little corner of it, too.

Their experience

Yes, I am very experienced caring for pets and plants and homes, mainly by caring for my own and my family's and friends'. A few times, I was invited to housesite via word of mouth, not via a site like this. Soon I shall have references from MindMyHouse. I am happy to supply landlord and landlady references from the times I have rented a home.

Growing up as the middle of seven sisters, it was I who cared for our dogs, first a Saint Bernard and later an English Setter. Our cats were a snuggle fest, and there was one I even taught (young) to go on walks with me. As an adult, over the years I would happily help out neighbors while they were away, sometimes visiting their house twice daily, or their critters would come plop with me.

My main photo here shows one such scene. I am seated with my beloved housemate (and dog-whisperer), a rescued Norwegian Forest Cat named Tomas Coeur de Lion. Tomas tamed our previously cat-averse Dobermann neighbor. The dog would not want to get off the couch to go home when they came to collect her!

For an elderly next-door neighbor cat (partner of the one pictured sprawling on the carpet), I would visit and administer pills or subcutaneous fluids when his humans were away. And I would feed their tropical fish and keep the tanks clean. Water their houseplants. Check that all was well with their property.

Way back then, before I started traveling at length, I moved up to a remote cabin in the Sierra mountains of northern California. The lease did not allow pets. The closest neighbors had a holiday home, and they let a local horseman use their ranch. He would bring his trail or pack horses on rotation, granting them a semi-wild month or more grazing in the huge pasture. And I eagerly volunteered (when he asked) to hay and oat them in wintry months, brushing them year round. Sometimes I would simply sit against the fence post and read, and one or two would saunter over and nuzzle, seeming to appreciate that they were being treated not as a beast of burden with me on their back, but as a fellow creature, well-admired. I am a good rider, though now I prefer to enjoy connecting with horses eye-to-eye.

While living near them in that old wood-stove cabin, I would occasionally stay with a very elderly neighbor in his or her home, relieving the caregiver, taking care of the pet and habitat as well. Being in such an isolated setting meant that I had to be keenly aware of and responsive to whatever might occur, without many options nearby. I loved it. And while I am a bit handy and very capable, I also know that professionals are best to call when extra help is needed for a structure or a being.

This resourcefulness was also an asset when I worked for Channel Islands National Park on large, unpopulated islands off southern California. Often there was only one other staff member on hand, usually many miles away. Driving visitors in a massive 4-wheel-drive passenger van on very steep, sandy roads required a focus on safety, for there were no mechanics or tow trucks to call. I will bring this same sensibility and respect for nature and property to your home, staying in touch to receive your recommendation to anything which might arise, proactively mitigating issues.

For a current reference, I am happy to refer you to the home owner of the penthouse I have rented the last two years, the seaside home of a professional couple who are away, raising their boys in Montreal. You will be given an excellent recommendation and can speak with the wife directly. Although it was not technically housesitting, I have enjoyed caring for their home. Especially when the roof started leaking!

Before that, before I moved to Europe years ago to marry, I was a renter in a household among four other independent, professional women. We shared a huge flat in San Francisco. The main lease holder had created a place for those who wanted to make their home a private haven, and he kept a room there too, occasionally visiting from his new homestead hours away. I often acted as his point person, such as staging a vacated room for viewing when a new renter was sought. When in need, I pruned and watered the garden behind that pretty Victorian house in the Haight district. I am happy to refer you to him, so that you can learn about my suitability first-hand.

For both of these most recent living situations (not a marital home), upon your request, I can ask them to supply a reference by email or phone. Again, I was a renter, but one with the mindset of an owner. An owner of a peaceful mindset.

What can they bring to the assignment

Mine is a responsible, nurturing nature, and I have an adaptable, can-do attitude. I am intelligent and intuitive, mindful to look for the easy and sensible solution. Mainly what I bring to your dwelling is a very caring homebody. Rather a hermit these last two years, I prefer spending time at home in gentle meditative activities, studying or creating on my laptop. Knowing that you know best how to manage your homestead, I would gratefully abide by the guidelines you set. The tasks I agree to will be honored as my top priority.

Wherever I am in the world, I love being in nature to balance out my inner life, taking renewing walks within the city or the country. Doing so with a dog or two makes it even more pleasurable. Or being in a field with horses, lullingly brushing them. Or combing your housecat(s). Truly, I adore being with animals, and they with me.

Even here in my current seaside locale on a long, wide bay, the wild dogs who roam the seashore (whom many fear) will often come bounding up to me with good cheer, or the shy ones will tentatively approach with their heads low, tails wagging madly, sensing it is safe to come near, finding they are petted and cooed to. The locals stare, looking on, amazed at the encounters and that I am not shooing them away. Or the green grocer across the street will pause with a smile and watch as one of his sleek cats, out of the house for a spell, will walk straight to me, purring and rubbing against my leg, letting me hold and pet her. Such a treat!

Songbirds and such which used to flock on the other side of this little town moved over to my tower this spring. During my two years here, I would escort those that got stuck at the top of the stairwell, guiding them to fly out through my apartment and balcony. Or I would rescue a wounded singer in the street, its buddies observing in the tree nearby, squawking initially to get my attention. They'd watch their friend revive as I sat there, speaking to it softly with encouraging words. I know it might sound fantastic, but they are very responsive to me and simply were not flocking here before the last few months. I used to visit and watch them in the trees south of here; now I do so from my sun porch. Doves or pigeons are here now, too, flying up regularly to stand on the eave, perching for some moments on the rooftop terrace, observing the various goings-on below. The best is a flock of swifts, which relocated here and dart around the building aeronautically with glee, seeming to prefer this new locale. So lovely to see. And hear!

Trees and plants and I also have a rapport, mainly via my walking meditations. Before the pandemic when I lived in Bali, I started greeting them telepathically, admiring them as individuals. That translates back to a home habitat, whether houseplants or gardens. As I do with the herbs on my balcony (please see photo), I use a quartz crystal tuning fork at 432 hertz, which subtly sends gentle heart-centered vibrations to the plants. (This may have been what attracted the song birds, and so I point it to them when I enjoy their flybys.) I travel with this nifty wand and can use it for your loved ones while you are away. It is win-win, for it bathes me in that lovely frequency as well.

I have cared for orchids and herbs and veggies, pruned roses and fruit trees, mowed an occasional lawn. I was fortunate to grow up with gardens at the edge of chaparral foothills in Santa Barbara, and my mother was deeply connected with the landscape she crafted, always with a gardener to back her up. One of them, a native Japanese-Hawaiian, remains among my most cherished of role models. I never gardened as a girl. Yet I was so in awe of him, for he was unassumingly gentle and sweet, humbly in tune with the natural world. The awesome peace he radiated impressed me beyond measure.

And so, as beloved Taki did at my childhood home, I would love to reflect a portion of that at yours. I will stay in good contact with you, preferring your input for any out-of-the-ordinary occurrences which might need attention. I imagine, however, that all will go swimmingly, and you will return to your home, stress-free.