house sitting

House sitting in Scotland.

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019 by Sue, posted in house sitting, Scotland

I was very lucky to land a 3 week house sit in Scotland this last May in a little coastal fishing village called Portnockie. Taking care of a beautiful border collie named Jesse ! So, as anyone reading my blog could see I was also in Ireland. My 3 posts previous to this are about Ireland. I had decided to make a 6 week trip of it. Spending 2 weeks in Ireland and 4 weeks in Scotland. Loved both countries. Here is the house I stayed in in Scotland with the adorable dog Jesse who was very sweet and smart and a great walking companion . Also, a couple photos of the village and the view from my bedroom window . Ocean was just across the road.

Portnockie is a very small , old fishing village in an extremely beautiful location. The coastline is beautiful and rugged in parts. Crumbling castles hanging off of cliffs. Green, green hills all around.

The owner of the house left me a car so I was able to see quite a bit altho many days I just enjoyed a long walk along the Moray trail which runs 72 miles along the beautiful Scottish coast.

People in Scotland are so friendly and helpful. Anytime I ever asked for directions or some information , whoever I asked would go out of their way to help me out.

The house sit was small but nice. Right across the street from the cliffs that go along the beautiful Moray coastline and a super sweet beach to walk on as well.

Having a car was great as I was able to explore some cute little villages along the coast and would sometimes run into surprises , such as ancient crumbling castles, ancient graveyards and such.

I loved Scotland and will be posting more photos and info about it in next post.

Santa Fe, New Mexico house sit.

January 22, 2019January 24, 2019 by Sue, posted in house sitting

Santa Fe is known as the City Different and within one visit, you will know why. Santa Fe embodies a rich history, melding Hispanic, Anglo and Native American cultures whose influences are apparent in everything from the architecture, the food, the art and on. Remember, we’re seated at an elevation of 7,000 feet, so come and partake of 320 sunny days per year.

Santa Fe is definitely one of the most unique cities in the U.S. It kind of feels like you are in Mexico. Adobe houses are the standard and Coyote fences. Turquoise Jewelry, Chiles , spicy southwest food, Very old historic building abound. Beautiful area as well, surrounded by mountains.

So, I was very excited to get a month long house sit in Santa Fe for the month of January. Started out good , however I was surprised to see so much snow and such cold temperatures. Apparently it is unusual for Santa Fe to get this much snow. Of course I am only talking 5 inches in each storm that has passed thru since I have been here , however Santa fe is not prepared for snow. I don’t think they have but a couple of snowplows and most people do not have snow tires on their vehicles.

I am taking care of two lovely dogs named Chispa and Bean in a cute , colorful house very near to downtown Santa Fe.

When I arrived the whole downtown was lit up with Beautiful and colorful Christmas lights !!!

I did get to town to wander around and look at all the lovely Indian Jewelry and lots of great shops in Santa Fe and do a little hiking with the dogs before I got sick. I also made it twice to 10000 waves. A very nice spa . https://tenthousandwaves.com

Then I got sick. What I thought was the flu turned out to be Pneumonia so I have now been stuck in the house , feeling totally crappy for about 12 days. Actually , starting to feel somewhat better and my time is ticking out. I hope to d0 some more sightseeing in the next 2 weeks that I have left here. There are some small towns nearby that I really wanted to explore. So, hopefully will make another post soon about the small, eclectic, artist town of Madrid. Meanwhile , here are a few more photos of beautiful Santa Fe.

Housesitting and Incline Village sit.

July 19, 2018July 20, 2018 by Sue, posted in house sitting

For about 2 years now I have been full-time house sitting . Some of the places I have house sat at are Lake Tahoe Ca., Truckee Ca. , Edmonds Washington, Vancouver Washington, Portland Oregon, Fort Bragg Ca. , Nevada city Ca., San Miguel De Allende Mexico.

Edmonds

Truckee

Edmonds

Nevada city

San Miguel de allende

Fort Bragg

It has been a whirlwind and taken off like I never thought it would. I have become increasingly in demand. There is a big demand for house sitters out there. I get my house sits around my hometown Truckee, Ca. and Lake Tahoe area by word of mouth. Some of the out of town sits are also by word of mouth. Some thru websites . I have taken care of Chickens, Rabbits, Dogs, Cats and fish.

One of my current house sits last month was at Incline Village , an upscale town on Lake Tahoe, Nevada . Very beautiful area but then anyplace on Lake Tahoe is beautiful. Incline just happens to be one of the more expensive towns on the lake to buy a house. In fact there is a home for sale right now in the area for 70 Million dollars. Yes, that is right. Wow!!

In Incline Village I watched Noble the Golden Retriever and Rascal the Bunny. In fact I am going back at end of July for another 2 weeks at the same house. Both sweet pets. Lovely home with great views.

Here are some photos of my house sit up on a hill in Incline Village overlooking the lake . Taking care of Noble the Cream Golden Retriever and Rascal the bunny .

view from front entrance.

Side of house view

Noble

Swinging chairs inside house to look at views

Rascal

Lake Tahoe most always has amazing sunsets.

fireworks from the house on 4th of July

Did some beautiful hiking while there in Incline off of Mt. Rose Highway. Mostly along the Tahoe Rim Trail.

The Tahoe Rim Trail as a 165 mile thru hike or can be enjoyed as multiple day hikes with amazing vistas, high alpine lakes, meadows and peaks along the way that always make for a rewarding experience. These are some photos taken along the Tahoe Rim trail.

Will post soon about some of the pets I have taken care of and other house sits.

December 4, 2017April 16, 2018 by Sue, posted in house sitting

When I started this journey in June I had thought about getting an RV and traveling that way. Then I got on Trusted house sitters.com Sorry, But I am trying to learn to add links with no success. If you want info on this site message me. I can send you a link. In fact if you want to sign up then please do let me send you a link as I get some free months if you sign up.

I had already been taking care of people’s pets in my own hometown and I added these references onto my profile on Trusted housesitters and immediately I secured 2 house sits in Washington. While there I picked up 2 more. Most of the house sits I do here in my local community are paid sits. But, to travel and house sit there are several websites with listings that are based on trade. The listings on some are worldwide so nice way to find a house sit in a new local. You watch the house and you get to travel to a new area and have a place to stay for free. Of course the price for that is usually watching some pets.

I must say I enjoyed all the house sits I got from Trusted House sitters. And , now I am back in Truckee for awhile doing some house sits here. You see, I need to also make some money so can not do all year round free sits. But, it is a nice way to see a new area once in awhile.

My first sit was in Edmonds , Washington for 3 weeks. Lovely family , beautiful location and sweet pets. I took care of 2 cats, 2 rabbits, and 9 chickens. Realy enjoyed it there. Edmonds although a suburb of Seattle is quite quaint and lovely. Walking along the shoreline and watching the boats and ferries is great. From there , after a week camping at Olympic National park Olympic National park. Washington I had a week long sit in Monroe , Washington. This was with Shift the 4 month old cat who looked like an adult cat. Maine coon. This sit was interesting in that it was in an RV . Very nice RV about 40 feet in length. Parked in a nice park along a river with pool and hot tub. Not bad at all.

From there I took a bit over 3 weeks off and went camping in Montana Glacier National park. Loved it ! Also went to Polson Montana is my kind of town. Loved that area as well. The problem I had a lot this last summer was that so many places where smokey due to the terrible amount of forest fires in the Western United States.

So, after getting tired of camping in smokey areas I decided to see if I could pick up a short sit on my way to a 5 week house sit in Vancouver , Washington with Hermione. I got a 4 night sit in Portland with 2 dogs, a cat and 2 chickens.

From there I went to my longest sit of the summer which was 5 weeks in Vancouver , Washington with Hermione , a little Corgi dog. I loved it here. Close to Portland which is a fantastic city , yet far enough away to be a bit quieter. The house was an old , large house with a fantastic garden !!! So much food in the garden. A perk of that job. Hermione was little corgi girl and such a doll. Really enjoyed taking care of her.

All in all it was a great summer. I saw a lot . I stayed in some lovely homes. Took care of some awesome pets. All of which I become attached to !! At the end of each house sit I would feel kind of sad to be leaving my new little furry friends.

Now I am in Truckee, California ( my hometown !) doing various house and pet sitting jobs . Have been here since mid October and will stay till January 24th.

I did go to Nevada city , California for a 2 week sit. Another lovely area !! Realy liked it , the house and the kitty ! In fact I may do my next post about it.

January 24th I take off to do a 2 month house sit in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico ! Yea!!! I got this one thru a friend. So, excited to see that part of the world.

Over all , I really like this house sitting business. I do still think about getting a small RV or camper van so that when I just want time on my own I have a home. Tenting is okay but a camper would be preferable. And allthough house sitting is a nice way to travel , you are taking care of pets and so it is not all free time. I want the camper or RV so that I can take free time when I want . Overall , I think it would be a great mix to house sit some and RV travel some.

Below are some photos of my various pets I took care of and places I stayed from this last year . Hover your mouse on any photo for a description. If you want to see any photo larger then click on it.

Edmonds