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A year off work, we don’t mind if he does!

June 2022 started with good news !

Karyo has been given the green light to take a year off work!

We had the idea that he should apply a few months ago. We are loving house sitting so much and really want to travel further afield. The problem is, when time zones differ by more than a couple of hours it gets difficult for Karyo to stick to the UK 9-5 work day.

Over the last few months he has had many conversations with his manager and filled in numerous forms. We have been on tenterhooks since then waiting for the permission to be granted (or worse, denied)!

Thankfully, the decision went the right way and his year off work is to start officially in July but as he still has some holidays to take, from mid June he found himself free from the shackles of work.

It is not possible to exaggerate how delighted he is!

The sun is shining, and from mid-June to mid-October we have managed to secure six back-to-back house sits in Brighton. This means that we will now be spending this summer at the seaside.

With Karyo now having no work commitments we are looking forward to it more than ever.

After Brighton, we then hope to leave the UK for a few months to take full advantage of Karyo’s new found freedom. I am already searching for house sits world-wide. – Watch this space, the world really is our oyster!

House sitting in June

To end our run of house sits in the north of England we left our house sit in Leeds then, for June, we headed first to Barnsley. After Barnsley it was back down south, this time to the seaside resort of Brighton. As house sits go they really could not have been more different.

Barnsley

This was our first ever paid sit. It was also to be one of our most difficult sits to date.

We had been contacted via a house sitter Facebook group. The home hosts had recently moved from Scotland to Barnsley for work but now needed house sitters for twelve days. they were returning to Scotland to get married.

When they moved to Barnsley they brought with them their two dogs, two cats and a horse!

Unfortunately, finding rented accommodation when you have so many pets is really, difficult. When they did eventually manage to find a landlord that would accept pets the house on offer was only small. As their choice at this point was literally take it or leave it, they accepted.

The house is now temporary accommodation for them and their mini menagerie whilst they settle into their new life in South Yorkshire.

The home hosts were really lovely and the house was spotlessly clean so we had no complaints there. However, with two largish dogs and two cats it felt really overcrowded. The horse is kept in fields close by so was one less thing for us to have to worry about.

The weather during our stay in Barnsley was lovely. Luckily for us there were patio doors opening up from the living area to the garden. This meant that we were able to have the doors open all the time allowing all the pets easy inside/outside access. The extra space this gave us made the sit much easier. It would have been really difficult had we all been crammed indoor for the duration of our stay.

The Pets

The two dogs here were both elderly. Honey was fit and healthy, unfortunately, Bella was more frail. Deaf, almost blind and had alzheimer’s.

The difference in their needs made looking after them difficult for us. Honey needed lots of walks and exercise but Bella really hardly left the house. She was most happy wandering around the garden in her own little world. We found this a little distressing to see at first as there was no way to settle her. She just walked back and forward for hours on end until she tired herself out. Then she slowly lowered herself down like the old lady that she was and slept.

When she woke the cycle started again. This, plus the fact that she had little appetite was worrying. It was a sad situation. The home owner was aware that Bella was coming to the end of her life and it would probably not be too long before they would have to make the difficult decision that no pet owner ever wants to make.

Because of Bella’s condition it meant that we had to split up most of the time. One of us staying at home with Bella whilst the other went out walking Honey.

The cats, Loki, a moggie and Rupert, a ragdoll were both very independent and much easier to care for.

Rupert never left the garden. Loki was younger. He waved goodbye in the mornings then returned on hearing the rattle of his food bowl in the evening.

The house sit went quickly and was fairly non eventful. It was only for twelve days and nicely filled a gap for us. The care required for the pets was more than we are used to. However, as we were getting paid this time we couldn’t complain.

An accident!

The stay had gone smoothly and I was doing my normal last clean before we left. The kitchen was tiny, probably the floorspace to stand in the kitchen was little more than a metre square.

The flooring was vinyl. Grey, with a pattern that made it look torn in places. I,(foolishly in hindsight) run the hoover over the vinyl. The suction was too strong and caused a small tear!.

You could hardly tell, and had it been our own home I would have added a dab of glue and forgotten about it. As it wasn’t our own home though, I had to confess.

This is one of the major drawbacks of permanently living in some one else’s home. Every small accident that most people would not give a second thought to becomes an embarrassing occurrence that we have to admit to.

Luckily, in this instance the home owner was very understanding but all that night I was kicking myself.

‘Don’t hoover vinyl’ is now added to my ever growing list of ‘do’s and don’t do’s’ to avoid accidents in other peoples homes.

Train ticket trickery!

The dates of the Barnsley sit ending, and the Brighton sit starting, overlapped by a couple of days. We decided that Karyo would leave Barnsley first and then I would go to meet him in a couple of days time.

However, before leaving Barnsley I had to navigate the national rail ticketing system.

Having left the education system proudly clutching two ‘O’ levels and a solitary CSE trust me, this is no easy task!

Brighton is well served with train stations. It an impressive six to choose from. Brighton central, London Road, Preston Park, Moulsecoomb, , Falmer and Hove.

For me on this occasion Preston Park was most suitable although I knew that both London Road and Brighton were both within easy walking distance.

I checked trainline a week before my date of travel. Preston Park was the most expensive (£138), London Road came a close second (£116) but Brighton central was a clear winner (£60). From there I could then catch another train from Brighton to Preston Park for £4.

So, I could go Barnsley – Preston park for £138 or Barnsley to Brighton and then Brighton to Preston Park for £64

Obviously a no brainer. I bought my ticket to and one week later started my mammoth five hour train journey. Barnsley-Sheffield, Sheffield – London St Pancras, London St Pancras – Brighton, Brighton – Preston Park!

The journey went well and I was soon on the London St Pancras – Brighton leg of my trip. As I knew Brighton was the final stop I did not have to keep an eye out for the stations we were passing so settled down with a book to pass the time.

Engrossed in my book, I half heard the train announcement that the next stop would be Preston Park. Not sure that I had heard correctly, I glanced up at the visual display.

I had heard correctly. The train taking me to Brighton was stopping at Preston Park ( Don’t forget, Barnsley-Preston Park was £138). This was one stop BEFORE Brighton, the station I had purchased my ticket for because it was much cheaper (Barnsley to Brighton £60)! – making it £78 less expensive to go one stop further.

Slightly bewildered, I grabbed my things and jumped off at Preston Park £78 and 20 minutes better off!

Beware out there- It’s a ticket pricing minefield!

Brighton House sit number ONE of six

After our short stay in Barnsley arriving at Brighton was, quite literally, a breath of fresh air!

We have not been to Brighton for many years and the moment I got off the train it brought back memories of how much we love this city – and we have four months worth of house sits here to enjoy.

This, our first of six confirmed sits in Brighton, was another first for us.

It was the first house sit that was as it says on the can – just the house with no pets to care for. This was great for us. It meant we had less responsibility and more time to get acquainted with the city.

The home we are staying in is really interesting. It is large and comfortable with a lovely secluded back garden. Inside, it is filled with art, collections and items that the home host has amassed throughout her life.

She is obviously very well travelled and has photographs all over the house of her all over the world including places not many have visited including North Korea!

The lady still travels regularly which is the reason she has house sitters. To be able to go away with the knowledge that her home and its belongings are being well cared for in her absence.

…and the good news, she has already invited us back for another month in September!

It is early days yet but have a feeling this is going to be a good summer.

Meeting other sitters

Meeting other sitters has started to become a regular thing for us and June was no exception! We were contacted by a couple of international sitters that noticed that we were in Brighton and, as they were too asked us if we would like to meet.

We agreed a meeting spot by the pier and were delighted not only to meet Marcella and Antonio but also their super cute dog, Leonardo who travels everywhere with them.

Marcella is Argentinian and Antonio is Spanish. Like us, they have been full time sitting for a year and loving the lifestyle. Both are still currently working remotely but are hoping to reduce their working hours in the very near future.

We had a great afternoon with these guys and loved sharing and comparing stories.

It was interesting to see that having a dog of their own did not make it impossible for them to become house sitters themselves – There really is a place for everyone within the house and pet sitting community.

Where next?

Well, as we have only completed one of our confirmed house sits in Brighton we will be here for a while yet.

In July we have two more booked – I’ll let you know how those go next time!