Maybe Next Year

We belong to two housesitting sites;  Housecarers and Mindmyhouse.  Both have sent us on interesting stays.  The way is works is simple.  We have an ad, with pictures and information.  The homeowners post ads with when and who they are need to housesit.  We answer the ads and sometime, Viola!, we have a housesit.

Then there is the other way around.  A homeowner contacts us, directly, with an offer.  Sometimes it works, as with two sits last summer.  More often than not, it doesn't.  Not because we don't want to go, but usually because it doesn't fit our schedule or budget.

We have had to turn down two sits so far this summer.  One on Cape Cod, which came about from a recommendation of friends in Nice, because of a schedule conflict.  The other was just this week; a month in The Netherlands.  We checked flights. We checked our budget.  We checked our airmiles.  We considered hitchhiking.  Ok, just kidding about that last one. The bottom line; we just could not swing it.  So, a note back to the homeowners, thanking them for the offer, perhaps a different time.

It always leaves us a little down when this happens.  All the missed possibilites; new animals, new places, new friends.  Ah, well, maybe next year.

The Dogs of France

The French love their dogs.  They range in size from little bitty to humongous, but they are all well behaved and well groomed.  We have enjoyed watching the dogs on our many visits.  The owners attempt to be unaware of us admiring their dogs, but we often get a smile after taking their dog's picture.  We have also found that the dogs know we are "dog people", even if we don't speak French very well. 



Tres chic in a red sweater.

Beautifully groomed and recently brushed;  how else do you keep a dog so white?

This lovely lady was at the local brochante.

Even the dogs love Le Tour de France!

Greyhounds seem to be everywhere. Correction!  Bill tells me this isn't a Greyhound, but a Pharoah Hound.  Well, that explains why he didn't look exactly right for a Greyhound. 

Big, hairy dog who loved to be rubbed.

These two were playing together, even though they were with different people.

Boxers are a very popular dog in France.  Who doesn't love boxers?

Fox Terriers are one of our favorites.

Housesitting Sneezes

The view out our bedroom terrace.  While we haven't found any nests in the tree, there are always different birds sitting in it.

When we accept a housesit, we really don't know everything we are getting.  For the sit here in Nice, we didn't even have pictures, just a recommendation from folks we had stayed with before.  This was not a bad thing, as the apartment here is lovely, a penthouse with a terrace, large rooms and wonderful views in all directions.

Looking through the kitchen doors into the dining room.  Our bedroom is the door beyond.  All the doors are mirrored, which visually increases the size of the rooms.  The kitchen is reflected.

What we couldn't have known was the allergic reaction we both have had to the cat hair.  The cats are gorgeous, but they have extremely fine hair. So we have spent the better part of a week cleaning, washing slipcovers and pillow covers. Vacuuming every surface we can reach.  It has helped, as we are both better, but still cough a bit, as well as being congested.  We have decided to vacuum every other day to prevent a build up of hair.

The front terrace being used as the dryer. Although we have a tumble dryer, the rack works very well.  There are two lemon trees on the terrace, as well as several different herbs.

We have stayed with many cats over the years, but this was a first for both of us.  Will we take cats off our list of pets?  NO!  Besides, these two are affectionate beauties.  What's a bit of sneezing compared to that?

Who Me?  I wouldn't make you sneeze!  It must be the lemon trees.

Home Again!

At the Nice Airport, there is a parking lot for Depose minute; Kiss and Fly.

It took 19 hours from the time we left the hotel in Roissy until we walked through our front door in Tucson, which is pretty amazing when you thing about it.  The flight was over clouds from the time we left Paris until we landed in Dallas, except for flying over Greenland! 

The east coast of Greenland with the first glacier to be seen.

This glacier is huge!  I loved the way everything looked so pristine.  The sun made the ice and snow sparkle.

Even though it was midday, the sun is so far south, the mountains cast long shadows.

It feels good to be home.  It will feel even better when we adjust to the time change!  There are still two weeks worth of posts to do on our wonderful house sit in Nice, so stay tuned.

Thanks to American Airlines AAirmiles, our round trip was only $199.20  for BOTH of us!

Fluffy and Sparky

Hello, my name if Fluffy.  Would you like to rub me?

There are two cats who live in the house with us.  We haven't seen them much, as they are outside cats.  There have been signs of their activities though; bits of mouse and voles in odd spots.  I think Sparky is the hunter.  Fluffy is very old and moves too slow to catch anything.

Sparky is camera shy.  The only way I could get a picture was to feed him.  He is solid black with bright yellow eyes.

Sparky has been spotted daily, as he sleeps upstairs by the shower room during the day.  He is also very good at letting me know he wants more canned food. 

Fluffy at the kitchen door.

Fluffy has been more reclusive, at least until Friday.  Thursday evening we heard a horrible yowling noise, which we took to be something getting attacked.  We found out later, part of the cry was from a fox.  Love YouTube. I stepped out on the back porch and called both cats, but neither came.  The next morning they were both in the house being unusually friendly.  We took pictures of them, then went about our daily routine.  That afternoon, Fluffy was still in the house.  As she turned to walk away from Bill, there was dried blood down one leg, starting near her tail.  On closer inspection, there was a 1 inch gash!  She had already cleaned the wound.  We called the owners, the husband being a doctor.  After many questions and descriptions, it was decided to let her be.  Wounds made by animals are not stitched, and gashes are usually not stitched after 6 hours.  Who knew?  We did keep both cats in the house that night.  If a fox was after Fluffy, it knew she was injured and where she lived.  She has stayed in every night since.

Are you sure you have already fed me?

One of our worst nightmares is having a pet die while in our care.  There is nothing we could do about a wild animal killing Fluffy, it's the nature of things, but we would still feel badly for both animal and owner.

If Fluffy wasn't so fluffy, she would be a very small cat.

Today is a beautiful, sunshiny day.  Chocolate and I saw Sparky in the lane when we went for our walk.  Fluffy is not as stiff when she walks.  Her fur is nice and clean.  She is still staying close.

Travel Day

Le Tour Eiffel
March 2008

We are flying to Paris from Phoenix via Miami.  We aren't complaining about the drive or the connections since the flight only costs $10 for both of us. That's right, it's cheaper for both of us to fly to Paris than for one of us to go to the movies in the evening.  I love using AAirmiles with American!  Did I mention it's only $10 for both of us?

Au Revoir Tucson!  Bon Jour Paris!

Packing for Three Months

Everything really will fit into a carry on size suitcase.

While it's not difficult to actually pack, deciding what exactly to take is a challenge; especially when you are packing for more than 3 months.  We have checked the long term weather in France and England.  We have checked the averages in both places.  This year, unfortunately, has a been the year that has broken the averages most everywhere.  So we pack layers.  You've heard it all before.  Tank tops that can go under  shirts that can go under sweaters that can go under raincoat.  Top it off with a lovely scarf and surely you won't freeze if the weather turns cold and blustery in October.  It's difficult to wrap ones brain around this when you are in the desert where the high today is to be 109*.

Mary's Packing List for Three Months to fit in 1 carry-on size suitcase.

Clothing
Pair of jeans
2 pr slacks
1 skirt
1 dress
3 tank tops
9 blouses/tops  Most of these I can wear the tanks under if it's cooler.
Night gown
5 pr undies, 5 bras, split half slip
3 pr black sock, 3 pr footie socks (to wear with MaryJanes), 3 pair short walking socks, 1 pr hose
Cardigan sweater
Goretex coat with hood  (folds into it's own pocket)
2 beautiful scarves
Tech style running hat, there will be dogs to walk, so this will keep my hair and the sun or rain out of my eyes.
Merrill walking shoes
Clark MaryJanes
Belt

Miscellaneous
Travel hairdryer with plugs for EU and UK packed in the case.
Vitamins  Enough for the entire stay, to ensure I have the right ones.
Toiletries, all the usual items  I bring a hangup ditty kit, just in case the bathroom is small, but it's only lightly packed.  The bottles and such go into ziplocks, just in case they leak. Only bring a small containers, as everything will be available in Europe. Except Crest toothpaste, which I haven't found, so a big tube of Crest.
Wash puff

Odd stuff
Cooking apron
Extra photos of us in case we decide to go somewhere we will need a Visa.
Journal
Pair of extra reading glasses
Money security neck pouch

On our travel day, I wear a pair of jeans, a tank top with a blouse over, and a pair of Clark leather walking shoes. I carry a hooded sweatshirt for couple reasons. The planes on trans-Atlantic flights are often cold. Most importantly, it won't fit in the suitcase.  I have a tendency to be cold, so one more layer is great.

Bill's suitcase is similarly packed.  He will have different maps and a couple of guide books, as well as our French traveling pocket knife and the corkscrew. He packs his own apron, wash cloth and a stone to sharpen cooking knives.  Only on one of our housesits have we found sharp knives. He carrys a backpack with the small electronics: chargers, cameras, GPS with it's holder, and his prescription medicines, enough for 120 days.  We won't be gone that long, but just in case there is an emergency. Remember last years volcano?

We always take our laptop computer.  In addition to all the computer gear in this case, we carry any important papers we will need while traveling, the cell phone and charger, and my small bag of jewelry.  I carry a purse that is small enough to fit inside the computer bag in case we take a plane (EasyJet) that only allows one carry-on.  There is a CPAP machine in it's own carrying case.  We put our ziplock bag of carry on liquids, 3 oz. or less!, in here for air travel.

We pack our suitcases several days in advance.  Squeeze them shut and find that after a few days they have compressed nicely and are no longer so tightly packed as to explode!  Both suitcases are carry-on size, but will expand if we buy something wonderful to bring home.

Loki does not like for people to pack suitcases.  It means they are going somewhere and he isn't.
He really hates for the pack not to be together.

New Camera

Blackberry bushes taken through the window in Sacramento.

Bill laughing at me learning how to take pictures.

Bill and I have different ideas as to picture taking.  He is more artistic.  I like to show what is going on.  When I write in the blog and then try to find a picture, it doesn't always work. Solution?  Buy my own camera.  It is a Nikon Coolpix L24.  It uses the same software on the computer and the same download cable as Bill's fancier Nikon.  It will do all sorts of things, or not.  The most important option is I can turn the flash off easily.  There are lots of places where a flash is not welcomed.

Ready for dinner in the back yard in Sacramento.  Tamales! 

California Here We Come

Time to put the finishing touches on our projects; followed by cleaning, laundry and packing.  It's off to California on Wednesday until the end of June.   We have a house sit in Sacramento for distant relatives we met through Facebook!  They are going to Greece while we take care of their Springer Spaniel, Toby.  I'm sure a good time will be had by all, just in different ways.

This should be a fun house sit, as we used to live in Sacramento many years ago.  Our daughter was born there, but we left before she turned two.  A lot has changed in the intervening years.  There's a renovated Crocker Art Gallery to visit.  The foothills to the west of town now have wineries.  And I'm sure the traffic has not improved a bit!

Packing will not be the same as for our overseas trips. We are driving our car, which means I can take extra shoes for gardening, heels for going out to dinner, an extra pair of sandals.  When we fly, we only take one carry on size suitcase each, a bookbag backpack for meds and electronics and I carry the laptop case. No extra room for spare shoes!

Found Another House Sit!

We have found another house sit that fits inbetween the one in France and the one in Shropshire.  It's in the Cotswolds of England.  The house is called Little Pickwick.  A house with a name, now how cool is that?  We will be taking care of a border collie, who looks alot like Mollie in Cornwall.  Plus, two cats and their garden.  The pictures look wonderful. 

Another first; we will be flying into Luton, England on EasyJet, a cheap airline, that actually advertises themselves that way.  Even with paying for our two suitcases, and the addition for paying by credit card, and paying in pounds sterling, it came to $211 for both of us.  Much cheaper, and faster, than the train to the ferry and the ferry to England.

I still need to book a rental car for our time in England, as neither homeowner has a spare for us to use, but will wait and do that closer to the time.  We are looking another house sit for September and October.  We would like to be farther south, back on the Continent, say, south of France, Spain, or Italy.  Some place where fall will be a little longer in coming, since there is not much room for cold weather clothing in our carryon size suitcases.  

House Sit Found!

After what seemed like endless searching, we finally have not one, but two house sits!  The ads were posted on the same day, along with a third one, so I applied for all three.  Quickly heard back from two, each party liked what we saw, and VIOLA!  house sits!

The first one is in Carrieres-Sur-Seine, France, with a cat named Dasha.  This is on the outskirts of Paris, so we will be taking the train into the city to play tourist.  We have already booked our tickets to fly into Paris, using our American AAdvantage Miles.  Total cost for the two of us:  $10!  

The second house is in Shropshire, England, where we will be staying with Ziggy Stardust, a Cob Pony, and her friends.  Ziggy has quite a lot of friends, so it will be a busy stay.  For this sit, we will be renting a car, as the home owners are taking theirs on holiday with them. 

There is a bit of time between these two, where we could fit in a sit, if we find one, or go ahead and ride the ferry to Dover, then tour around eastern England and the Midlands before arriving in Clun.  We will continue looking for another house to care for during September into October, as we can't book our flight home until after October 15, when the rates go down.

Looking, Looking, Looking

We have been looking for housesits for this summer.  We are booked through 6 July.  We would really like to go to Europe, but so far, no luck in finding sits.  Since we will be traveling on our free airmiles, the longer we have to wait, the less likely there will be a flight available.   Catch 22.  

On The Lookout!

Our house sitting site, housecarers.com, is starting to have ads for later in the summer.  We are booked until July 6, so we are pleased that sits for after that date are starting to come up.  We have applied for one in Switzerland, and hope it works out.  Of course, we always hope it works out!  Keep your fingers crossed!

House Sitting

We have been members of housecarers.com since 2006. (You can visit their website by clicking the link in the sidebar.)  My sister sent an article on house sitting  from AARP. It sounded like fun, and as we were without house, we decided to give it a try before settling down.  Even though we have now settled down, we are still house sitting.  It is a good way to see the world without the expense of hotels.

When we joined housecarers, we were a bit hesitant to apply for sits.  Silly us.  There are those looming questions.  What if we don't like the place when we arrive? What if it's not as represented?  What if their pets don't like us?  What if?  What if?   We finally decided to just chuck the What ifs? and go for it.  After all, we were just house sitting, not buying the place!

So far, we have not been disappointed.  Sometimes, it's different than our expectations, such as the Ireland sit where the homeowner never left.  But the houses and the pets have all been good!  Don't know why we worried about the animals not liking us, it has never happened.

To apply for a house sit, we send a reply to an ad, telling how we would fit their needs.  We have always had animals to care for, so they are the focus of our reply.  Most people wouldn't worry about leaving their houses, but their pets are an entirely different matter!

When we hear back from an interested homeowner, the negotiations start.   We send references, they send pictures.  Sometimes, we communicate over the telephone, but most of the time, it's by email.  Is this overly trusting?  Maybe, but Bill and I always go with our gut instincts, which have not failed us yet!

For our first housecarers sit, we paid a security deposit into a joint savings account, as well as paying the utilities.  We got back the deposit, with interest.  Since then, we haven't paid a deposit, and probably won't again.  We have only paid utilities one other time and it was a long term sit, which we felt was fair, plus we had the use of a car.  It balances out.

So if you want to spend quality time in one place,  stay long enough to get to know the area, shop like a local, and see things not in the guide books, give house sitting a try!

Santa Sightings

For several years now, Bill has been mistaken for Santa, Pere Noel, Santa Claus.  Different countries, different names.

Maybe it's the twinkle in his eye that makes them Believe!

The first that was really memorable, was at the kick off party for the Leukemia Cup in New Orleans.  The honored patient was just barely 3 years old.  When she spotted Bill, during one of the speeches, she pointed at him and shouted, "Ho! Ho!"   At the after regatta party, she was again there, but this time much deminished by chemo.  She was in her Daddy's arms, when she spied Bill.  She reached out to gently touch his beard, and softly said, "Oh, Ho! Ho!"  Everyone nearby had tears in their eyes.

Visiting the Eiffel Tower, March 2008

In France, shortly after Christmas, we met a very small girl walking down the sidewalk in front of her parents.  She saw Bill and immediately started speedtalking in French.  The only words we could clearly understand were Pere Noel.  The parents were aghast!  until Bill leaned down and said, "Bonjour, Mademoiselle!  Joyeux Noel!"

The same day, we were followed by a group of boys, about 8 years old, around the market place.  Finally one of them summunded the courage to ask, "Ete vous Pere Noel?"      Bill smiled and replied, "C'est possible."  Brave boy ran back to his pack, excited explaining what has happened.  They all stared, eyes wide, then stood up straight and looked on their best behavior.  Better to be on the nice list than the naughty one.

Sometimes he's just Uncle Bill explaining how the camera works.

The response in Ireland was a little different. It was the parents who noticed Santa! Shopping at Tesco in Ballymoney, a man with 2 little ones in the shopping cart, pointed at Bill as they passed, "Look, even Santa has to shop for groceries."  Wide eyed wonder!

Even Santa enjoys a pint.

In the large pedestrian area of Belfast, we past a father and son seated at an outdoor cafe.  The little boy spied Bill, then looked at his father, who said, "Look, it's Santa."  At this point he caught my eye, I smiled and mouthed, "Yes", with a thumbs up.  The little boy was so very excited, looking between his father and me.  The father, who was behind his son, mouthed, "Thank you!".  Bill never noticed all of this as he was busy window shopping.  Getting ready for next Christmas?

Then there were the 20-something men on the street in Dublin.  One commented as we walked by, "Hey old man, do you know you look like Santa?"  My response?  "Better watch it guys, you may end up on the Naughty list."  Even as adults, there was that look of "Oh, NO!"

Yes, it's fun hanging out with Santa.  Does that make me Mrs. Claus?

The Way Foreward

After 3 years, I'm back. I found I could not continue writing about New Orleans and our experience walking out. Suffice it to say, we made it. We made it back 6 weeks later to clean out our house, (5 weeks), gut the insides ( 1 day with the services of 2 brothers and their crew), and sell it to a friend. By January we were packed into a trailer, which we had to off load into a truck cause our pickup would not safely pull it, and headed to Pennsylvania. From there, we spent 6 months in Penn Yan, New York on the edge of Kuika Lake at some new friends cottage. Visited back in Pennsylvania with our daughter and son in law. Spent another 6 months house sitting in Virginia.

Now we are house sitting a couple of times a year, when we find somewhere interesting to go. So far we have been to Hillsborough, NC, twice, Ashville, NC, Webster, NY, Tesse Froulay, Normandy, France, Tucson, AZ. and Launceston, Cornwall, England.

We spent last winter in Amarillo, TX, remodeling a bathroom for a Bill's sister. From there, we moved to Tucson AZ, where we are buying a house with our daughter and son in law. This will give us the freedom to travel without having to worry about our home, and give them the freedom to go while we watch their 3 Great Danes.

We have tried to put Katrina behind us, but even so, she crops up when one of us will ask, "Did ??? survive?" At this point the bulk of our belongings have been in boxes for over 4 years. Although I made a good list when we were cleaning out, it's still been a long time since we have seen things. We are looking forward to moving into a new home and unpacking.