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A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: pet sitting (page 2 of 3)

House Sit Chatter – Behind the Scenes

February 6, 2017 / / 27 Comments

A few weeks ago, when Mark and I were still taking care of Herk and a pool in Rocklin, CA, we faced housing insecurities for a period of four weeks. After not finding suitable listings, we were getting a tad antsy, only a couple of weeks out. Would we be homeless between our week-long house sit in Fairfax, CA and two-month assignment in Sebastopol, CA? What would we do for four weeks? We couldn’t afford staying in a motel for that long… Luckily, some other options started to appear.

Bay in Laguna Beach

“Do you think I should apply to that two-week house sitting job in Lacey, Washington?” I ask Mark as I am reading through the assignment again.

“Sure. Why not, we don’t have anything else at the moment,” he replies. “We have nothing to lose.”

“OK,” I say. I write a nice letter, explaining why we would be the perfect sitters for their two dogs and hit the submit button, thinking how an 11-hour drive and weather that is even colder than Northern California are not ideal. Continue reading

Rocklin, CA: October 14th, 2016 – January 10th, 2017

January 20, 2017 / / 41 Comments

After every house sit Mark and I finish, I write a quick overview for my “Completed House Sits” category. This allows readers to get a feel for our particular assignments and offers potential home owners insights into how we would function in their home, and care for their sweethearts. It also brings conclusion for me, saying goodbye to our temporary pet(s) and the place we called home for a bit.

For this three-month house and pet sit in Rocklin, California, Mark and I drove across the country and left the New England area indefinitely. I recently wrote about a typical day in our lives as house sitters in Rocklin, so I won’t repeat myself. We enjoyed our stay in a comfortable house with all the amenities we could wish for and in the company of a great pooch.

Herk is a very sweet and cute dog to care for. Continue reading

Mark and Liesbet’s 2016

December 31, 2016 / / 29 Comments

2016 has passed in a jiffy. The older you get, the faster time flies. I am a firm believer of that “theory”.

In October 2015, Mark and I started our life in the United States. We applied for my green card (for the 2nd time in ten years; the 1st one, obtained in 2008, was “returned”), which I received five months later. The process for that took a tad longer than writing these two sentences! We began house sitting, expanded The Wirie business and I decided to write a book. A month later, I created this blog and an initial outline for said book. In December, we escaped to Florida for warmer weather.

2016 is our first full year of house and pet sitting in the US. The business has been successful and much easier to “handle” than from a sailboat in the middle of the ocean. I worked hard on my blog, trying to keep up a schedule of three posts a week. In April, for the A to Z Blogging Challenge, this became one a day! I worked on my memoir, which I will write more about on Wednesday, and we took care of a bunch of sweet, entertaining and smart animals. Continue reading

Are We Lost?

November 21, 2016 / / 37 Comments

I have mentioned before how Mark and I love our current lifestyle of house and pet sitting… The variety it offers, the different areas we experience, the wonderful pets we get to adore and take care of, the low cost, the comfort and conveniences of living in a house, the adventurous aspect of packing up and moving every few weeks or months. Yet, there is one, big, not to be underestimated negative aspect when committing yourself to full-time house sitting. One we only slightly realized while in New England, but that has bubbled up since we have been in California. Every day, it appears to become stronger: we are feeling lost! Not so much in a literal way as in “we don’t have our own place to live in and don’t feel like we belong anywhere”, which is true as well, but we knew this ahead of time when choosing this lifestyle. No, I mean socially lost. Mark and I don’t know anyone wherever we temporarily live and that does not seem to change for the better. We are isolated. Continue reading

Few Words Thursday…

March 31, 2016 / / 0 Comments

… because I missed Wordless Wednesday yesterday

… because this photo deserves a blog post

… because it sums up the good times we had, hiking the dogs we pet sat for three months (we will miss them)

… because tomorrow the “Blogging from A to Z Challenge” starts, and that means a bunch of words every day! 🙂

Resting on the top of a hill with Henry and Mickey

South Kent, CT: January 3rd – March 30th, 2016

March 30, 2016 / / 13 Comments

Mark and I can hardly believe it, but our three-month house sit in South Kent has finished. We picked the owners, Steve and Alison, up at the airport of Hartford yesterday and met their newest family member: sweet and precious Paco, a stray puppy from Mexico. It was quite a shock for him to fly on a plane, meet new people, feel the cooler climate, drive an hour and a half in the car, discover his new home, and get acquainted with his new brothers Mickey and Henry and feathery siblings Koo Koo and Tutu. All in a time span of 12 hours. He is adjusting well and will have a fantastic life in Kent, and so will their pet sitters next year! 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

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

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