Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: pets

Completed House Sits – Ojai, CA (November 18th to December 7th, 2018)

Every house sit Mark and I complete constitutes a chapter in our book of life. They are all different and compelling, whether it is because of the location, the house, the owners, the pets, or all of the above.

I just loved this crisp mountain view every day

Mark and I committed to our most recent sit in Ojai while we were traveling for a few months in our camper and didn’t plan on house sitting too much anymore. The home owner had contacted us in February, asking whether we’d be interested in a three-week sit in the fall. I had been vague – sure, we’d be interested (we had heard nice things about Ojai and being in Southern California that time of year is not a bad choice), but it was way too early to commit. She checked in with us every couple of months and in August, we bit the bullet and decided to be there, after confirming our 11ft high camper could park in the driveway.

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

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

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

In Memory of Darwin, Our Cute Boy

My Wednesday post this week is a bit different. First, it is even less wordless than usual. Second, the WordPress theme does not resonate with me. “It’s Not This Time of Year Without..” is supposed to be the topic of our photo(s). The one thing without which my holiday season could never be complete is … my husband, Mark. I know this sounds cocky and very unimaginative. And, I am sure he would not appreciate being the center of my blogging attention this week, having his face (or both of ours) splattered all over this page. He already cringes when I take photos of him and, this week, I just happen to create a 2017 calendar for our parents and my oma with a different photo of us livening up every single month. 🙂

Why does the holiday period not resonate with me? Continue reading

A Day in the Life of a House Sitter – Heath, MA

This is the third 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 and the second one reported on our days in Kent, CT for three winter months.

Every house sitting assignment is different and the tasks, requests and expectations depend on the house, the property, the owners and the pets. Some home owners require you to do some yard maintenance, water the house plants or collect the mail; all of them, naturally, expect you to keep the house tidy and “return” it as clean as you found it or better. Usually there is at least one pet to take care of, which means setting food out once or twice a day, making sure the water bowl is always filled with clean water, taking the dog(s) out for daily walks, and sometimes administering medicines or brushing the animal. Although not every pet owner expects it, Mark and I have the tendency to shower dogs with love, attention and company. It goes without saying that a responsible house sitter is prepared to take the pets to the vet or emergency room when necessary and reports general issues back to the owners, while trying to fix or solve problematic situations. And yes, sh*t happens.

Jenny loves the front porch

Jenny loves the front porch

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WW – Morning Scenes

I have decided to post photos of past travels in general and our eight year sailing adventure on SV Irie in particular for Wordless Wednesdays. I hope you enjoy them. Also, I can’t do completely “wordless”, but I try my best with “almost wordless”. 🙂

This week’s Daily Post photography theme is “morning”.  Since Mark and I live everywhere and nowhere, our morning looks quite different depending on which place we call home for the time being. Here are some morning photos of the past and the present…

A morning along the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway), heading south to Florida with Irie

A morning along the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway),  taking the dogs ashore

A typical morning from Irie in Huahine, FP - front view

A typical morning from Irie in Huahine, FP – front view

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D is for Dogs

Day 4 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

It might come as a surprise to some of you to read about dogs in relation to being a nomad. How could you roam the world with dogs in tow? It is definitely possible, if you put them first and if you find the right transportation methods. People close to us know how much we loved our dogs (and others) and that we would do anything to make them happy, never leaving them behind. How did we pull that off? Continue reading

Meet the Animals – Our pets for Three Months in Kent, CT

For three months, Mark and I will be living in the roomy, comfortable house of an ex-rock star from the sixties and seventies (think Woodstock) and a renowned and accomplished artist (think ceramics, paintings), while they are seeking warmer climes, exchanging art for accommodation.

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Greenwich, CT: October 27th – November 13th 2015

Living large!

Mark and I are spreading the word about our inclination and availability to house sit for people needing to leave their home and pet(s) for a little while, either for pleasure or for work. When we brought this up to our brother-in-law a little while ago, he agreed it would be a good idea for us to move into his cottage while he went on a two week vacation. He is the caretaker of a beautiful property in Greenwich, Connecticut and lives on-site. The Manhattan-based owners of the domain were equally pleased with our suggestion to watch the cottage (the main house is set back on the property), the dog and the two cockatiels.  We were not in charge of the property by any means, but kept an eye on things, taking action whenever something would go amiss. It would be our second house sitting position, not too long after the Gloucester one. Continue reading

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