Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Category: House Sitting (page 7 of 9)

My Rock and Roll Months (Without the Blood and the Sweat)

March 24, 2016 / / 8 Comments

One of the best things about house sitting is the interesting people we meet. When Mark and I applied for this current house sit in Kent, we did not know much about the owners. Once we were pre-screened for the “job”, Mark had a phone conversation with them to set up a meeting (I was in Belgium at the time) and to find out if they were reasonable people. 🙂 Then, we did a quick Google search for Steve Katz and Alison Palmer, and learned that they were both accomplished artists. (I will share Alison’s main website in my next blog.)

Steve and Alison (Photo courtesy Steve Katz)

Steve and Alison (Photo courtesy Steve Katz)

“Alison and I are both jealous of each other’s careers,” Steve said, when we met him and his wife, last fall. Continue reading

A Day in the Life of a House Sitter – Kent, CT

March 18, 2016 / / 6 Comments

This is the second blog in my series “A Day in the Life of a House Sitter”. The first one described an average day during our two week house sit in The Villages, FL last December.

House sitters can mostly stick to their own schedule while taking care of somebody’s home while the owners are on holiday, a sabbatical or a business trip. As long as the owners’ pets have a happy life, while they are away. The pets – two dogs and two parrots here in Kent– are our priority. Of course, we also watch the house, run a few errands and communicate with the owners about anything that comes up or needs attention. Most of the time, we live our own lives in our “borrowed” home and enjoy the company of our “borrowed” pets. In our current situation, we also appreciate the inspiring vibe created by the home owners, who are accomplished and well-known artists. I will get to that in a future blog… Continue reading

Finding Our Next House Sit: Check!

February 21, 2016 / / 3 Comments

Over the last couple of months, Mark and I have seen some attractive house sits in the south and the west of the United States, but also in Mexico. We were personally contacted and invited to house and pet sit in Belize and in Nevada. The offers sounded very attractive, but Mark and I decided that we would spend another summer in New England. The advantages? Continue reading

Keeping Our Cool on Valentine’s Day

February 15, 2016 / / 2 Comments
Happy Valentine!

Happy Valentine!

It is Sunday, February 14th, 2016. Mark usually gets up earlier than me and therefore takes the dogs out. Today, I jump out of bed as well, to join him. Not because it is Valentine’s Day, we don’t really care about commercialized holidays, but because I am curious about something I have never experienced before. The media have been hyping it up and we have been keeping an eye on it as well: today is by far the coldest day in decades, and certainly in my whole life… The lowest temperature was scheduled at 6am. Mark and I joked about it last night, but refused to leave our warm bed this early for the sake of possibly freezing. It is 8am now and, based on our weather information, it is still pretty darn cold outside: -12°F with a wind chill of -34°F (-24°C with a wind chill of -37°C)!!!

“Are you ready?” Mark asks, while the dogs are wagging their tales and I finish putting my winter coat, wool hat and walking shoes on. Mark wears our one set of winter gloves. My warm pockets do the trick of protecting my hands.

“Sure,” I say. I’m always ready for a new and exciting experience. Continue reading

Living in a Winter Wonderland

February 13, 2016 / / 2 Comments

It started snowing about a week ago. The forecast predicted about an inch in Kent, CT, but when we woke up on Friday, everything was covered in a thick layer of snow, about five inches of it. Our fridge was empty and we had planned to go grocery shopping for the weekend, since we expected visitors on Saturday. Our low-to-the-ground Prius, however, was comfortably parked in the garage and not up to the task of driving over a relatively steep, long and submerged driveway. Luckily, the snow plow arrived early afternoon, so we could still set out to the stores of New Milford, about a half hour away. By the evening our fridge was sufficiently stocked again. We are a little more vigilant now, when snowfall is predicted.

Ice fishing in South Kent
Surrounded by snow
The snow plow came, then it snowed a bit more overnight. Mark loves the shoveling exercise and wants to make sure we can leave any time.
Snowy yard
Looks like perfect icing on a cake!
We keep the footpath to the front door shoveled. It is a very easy chore.

Continue reading

How to Find the Right House Sit?

February 9, 2016 / / 10 Comments

When Mark and I talk about our current lifestyle of house and pet sitting, people always ask how we find all these places. Unbeknownst to many, there is a whole community out there of people who house sit, are looking for house sitters or make money with the house and pet sitting concept. There are Facebook pages, forums and blogs about house sitting and the model has been introduced all over the world. Continue reading

Parrot on the Catwalk (videos)

February 7, 2016 / / 3 Comments

Every morning, dog Mickey and parrot Koo Koo go for a walk on the landing together! The voice you hear is Koo Koo’s.

Then, Koo Koo plays with his favorite toy for a while. It is a hairdryer attachment that the house sitters from last year left for him. Mickey watches from a safe distance. 🙂

 

The Scoop about Parrot Sitting

February 4, 2016 / / 2 Comments

I love this part!

When Mark and I arrived at this house sit in the beginning of January, ready to care for two different-sized dogs and two African grey parrots, we had no experience with birds (and with little dogs, but that is another story). Well, we actually had taken care of two little birds before, but cockatiels are small and barely require – or request – attention. And, they sure don’t poop as much! Continue reading

Living in Nice Houses… for FREE!

January 27, 2016 / / 9 Comments

I have always been a frugal person, to be able to travel. As a school teacher my wage was nothing to write home about and after leaving Belgium indefinitely in the summer of 2003, well…let’s just say that I would be ecstatic if I could earn minimum wage. But, selling a few articles a year, just doesn’t cut it.

Continue reading

Snow-ish Walks

January 18, 2016 / / 2 Comments

The first snow of the season had fallen. It was time for our morning walk, to sniff the air and the scents, to stretch our legs, and to take care of business. When I opened the front door, a cool breeze entered the house. Mickey lifted his chin, took in the white surroundings and decided he wanted nothing to do with it. I convinced him to at least walk down the steps. That brought him to the closest bush. After lifting his left leg, he immediately turned around and sat at the door. Waiting… Henry, on the other hand, loves the outdoors, snow or not. He took off into the bushes, tiptoed in the snow and returned when he decided he’d had enough.

Snowy yard
Can I go back inside now?
Henry stands guard

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