Fit and active mature couple - flexible, adaptable and open to any challenge, and pet-friendly

About this sitter

We are a mature and responsible married couple, semi-retired from our Further Education teaching careers. Since reducing our work commitments we have started a small property-development/rental business, and our aim is to do something different, interesting, and possibly adventurous during the UK winter time (although not necessarily exclusively winter). We assure you of our conscientiousness, reliability and commitment to treating your home as we would our own.

Why they want to house sit

Having met several people who have been involved in house/pet sitting activities and who have recommended the lifestyle to us, we were keen to try it out for ourselves. We want particularly to spend the UK winter months away from our home,(preferably in the countryside, however remote; although we also love city life). Having said that, we would consider assignments at any time of the year if the location was right and we were available. House sitting appeals to our sense of adventure whilst allowing us to remain in touch with friends and family, which was difficult and frustrating at times during our African experience, as described below.

Their experience

We do have plenty of house-sitting experience. Our most recent house sit was 4 weeks from December 2018 in a small town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Andalucia, Spain, where we took care of 2 feisty cats. This followed a sit in Deganwy in North Wales where we took care of a lovely little dog in December 2017. Before that we spent September to November 2016 in Epsom, UK looking after 2 cats, 5 rescue hens and a small house close to Epsom Downs. This was immediately followed by 6 and a half weeks in a small hamlet in the high Pyrenees. Here we lived in a large renovated farmhouse where we were responsible for the care of a cat, a border collie who loved his walks, and 2 horses. Prior to that in May 2014, we minded a little dog in a converted barn in the village of Mobberley in Cheshire, followed by a stay in a cottage in Addingham in the Yorkshire Dales. In September 2014 we took care of a remote renovated old farmhouse in Galicia in NW Spain, where we had one cat and a vegetable garden to look after. In April 2014 we completed several house sitting assignments on the tiny island of Vieques, off Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. Each house was in a fairly remote hilly area of the island and one house was a small, off-grid casita where we had no electricity, solar power or mains water. It was challenging to cook by candle or lamp light, hand pump water from the rain water collection system, and to keep the greenery hacked back to prevent the casita being swallowed up by the jungle, amongst other things. We had previously looked after this casita for 3 months in early 2013 and were asked to return by the owner in 2014.
In January 2012 we completed a successful 4 month assignment in the S of France where we were responsible for the care and maintenance of a cottage and gardens in a mountain village in the Languedoc, plus the welfare of one cat.
In August 2012 we spent 3 weeks house and cat sitting in Bristol, UK, and 3 weeks house-sitting in Knutsford, Cheshire since then.
Our most challenging adventure howeve rwas during the winter of 2010 - 2011, when we spent 6 months, from Oct to April, managing a backpackers’ campsite/eco-lodge on a remote mountainside in Northern Malawi, Central Africa. This was a very ‘hands-on’ experience, and during this time we were responsible for all aspects of running the site. We lived under canvas for the entire 6 months (which we loved) – even throughout the appalling conditions during the rainy season. Our duties included: managing the staff; keeping provisions stocked up for the vegetarian restaurant and bar; playing host to travellers from around the world; looking after chickens, ducks, pigs and dogs; cooking on an open fire on cook’s day off, and tending the ornamental/vegetable gardens (amongst other things!). We became quite adept at negotiating 4-wheel drive vehicles round steep, scary hairpin bends on treacherous mountain tracks.

What can they bring to the assignment

We feel that the many challenges we faced during our time in Africa and the Caribbean, plus the ‘softer’ duties of the S of France, Spain and the UK, have prepared us for any assignment. Aside from these occasions, we have extensive experience of garden design and maintenance, both ornamental and vegetable growing. Being involved in property development means that we are multi-skilled and practical, therefore DIY or property maintenance would not present too many problems for us. This line of business has also helped us to appreciate many different styles of home and to give them the care and attention they deserve.
We are willing to care for most domestic pets. We have been cat owners for many years and we are in tune with their needs and ways. We have experience of dogs too, and other livestock, and would welcome any such opportunity.
We are both car owners who enjoy driving, and we have full, clean driving licenses. Neither of us smoke and we are both fit and well and not taking any medication. We regularly cycle, and we walk/hike extensively, particularly when we stay at our caravan in North Wales. We have properties in Cheshire and no longer have any pets of our own to care for.
We do not charge for our services, but we would like to incur as little expense as possible for ourselves during a house sitting assignment so that we can keep our property development business afloat for the rest of the year.
We are particularly interested in house sitting for longer periods, or several concurrent assignments, as we are available from November to April, although these dates are flexible and we are not averse to sitting at any time of the year.