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To help fund our travels we let our apartment in Manchester and our current tenant had given us notice that they wanted to leave in mid-October.

With this in mind, after leaving Belgium we had hatched a travel plan that would get us back to Manchester at the right time to coincide with their leaving.

As we are hooked after our debut Eurostar journey last month, we planned to travel from Brussels to London using Eurostar again.

Then we would find a two-week house sit in London before heading to Manchester.

Once in Manchester, as our tenant was leaving, we could then stay in our own apartment for a while. Whilst we were there, we would do any minor repairs and cleaning that was needed and also find new tenants before we left.

It all sounded simple….. except for the fact that we had a house sit booked in Amsterdam throughout November! To say that our time was tight was an understatement!

However, with a bit of luck, if everything went to plan, we thought we could just about squeeze everything that we needed to do into the short amount of time we had.

Unfortunately for us, October was one of those months when nothing went to plan!

London

To start our run of bad luck, we could not find a two-week house sit in London.

I think as we are getting closer to Christmas, fewer people are going on holiday. This logically means that fewer house-sitting opportunities are available for us.

Eventually though, after sifting through unusually slim house sitting pickings, we managed to find two separate one-week sits to fill our time in London.

Not ideal because of the extra packing, unpacking, and general travel stress involved but, it’s all part of the ‘fun’ of this nomadic lifestyle we are living.

Looking on the positive, we got to discover two new areas of London.

London House sit Number One – Gerrards Cross

Gerrards Cross is an affluent town in south Buckinghamshire. Trains from here are very regular and can get you into central London in half an hour which makes it ideal for those commuting into the city.

It’s also on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, which is an area of outstanding natural beauty, so there were plenty of walks for us to explore whilst out walking the dogs in our care

The high street was conveniently walking distance from where we were staying. This was full of upmarket, mostly independent retailers, coffee shops, cafes, and restaurants and made a nice place to rest our weary legs after a walk with Daisy & Ralph.

The Home

The home for our house sit in Gerrards Cross was lovely, probably one of the most exclusive we have stayed in. It was huge and very private with a large garden surrounded by high hedges, ideal for the dogs to have an unsupervised runaround.

We were told that The Ozbournes (Ozzy and co) lived close by although I’m not sure if I would call that a selling point or not.

We arrived the night before the owners went on holiday. This was the first time they’d had sitters so were a little nervous about the whole concept.

However, having time to get to know us over a lovely evening meal that they had kindly prepared for us seemed to put their minds at ease and they left the following morning looking far more relaxed and looking forward to their holiday.

The Pets

The pets in our care for this sit were two beautiful cocker spaniels – Daisy & Ralph.

They were lovely dogs to be around, full of energy but also very well-behaved so whether we were staying home in the garden or out and about in the surrounding woodlands, the time we had with them was always a pleasure.

We were told they had good recall but as this was only a short four-night sit we didn’t want to risk losing them by letting them off their leash for walks.

Cocker spaniels have a reputation for being great until they spot a squirrel or rabbit. Then they are off like lightning!

We had previously fallen for this, back in April 2022.

We were in Beaconsfield looking after another cocker spaniel, ‘Pip’. He was a lovely dog but gave us the fright of our lives when during an off-leash walk he disappeared into the woods chasing a squirrel.

He was only gone for five minutes but it was probably the longest five minutes of our lives. We vowed then to be extra careful letting dogs off the leash, especially on short sits.

Having to tell an owner that you have lost their beloved pet is every petsitter’s nightmare!

London House sit Number Two – Kentish Town

For our second London sit we took the very convenient one hour, two changes, train journey from Gerrards Cross to the North-West region of London, Kentish Town.

This is another of the long list of areas of London that we have heard of but never visited before. We loved it here, The high street is thriving and full of trendy pubs, cafes and restaurants. I’m guessing it’s a very desirable location for those wanting to call London their home.

The Home

The beauty of house and pet sitting is the variation of accommodation that we get to stay in. This time, in total contrast to the huge house we had just left, we were in a one-bedroomed ‘garden’ flat. This is the term usually given to the lower ground floor of a house that has been converted into flats.

The downside to these flats is that, as they are often at the basement level, they can be quite dark inside. The upside is that they usually have the sole ownership of the garden. This is quite a bonus as outside space when living in London is rare.

It was the first time that we had stayed in one. Our verdict was that we enjoyed the stay but wouldn’t like to live in a garden flat permanently. The lack of light, for us, would be too much of a compromise to make.

The Pet

The ‘novelty’ about this sit was that, for the first time, we agreed to care for a puppy.

Penny was an eight-month-old Norfolk Terrier. She was as cute as a button but VERY needy!

Most dogs we have looked after in the past spend much of the day asleep but not Penny. She just wanted to play all the time.

Her cuteness saved the day and is what we remember most about our week with Penny but after seven days in her company, I have to admit, we were exhausted!

*Note to self* – Steer well clear of puppies, they may be cute but they are really hard work!!

Manchester

After a week with Penny, our next stop was Manchester. We had no house sits booked here as we were looking forward to spending a couple of weeks in our own apartment.

However, at the last minute, that plan was well and truly scuppered!

Our tenants, who were due to be leaving, and were the only reason we were heading to Manchester contacted us out of the blue to say that their plans had changed and they now wanted to stay another year!

This was good news for us in we now didn’t have to find new tenants. The bad news though, was that we had already bought two train tickets from London to Manchester and also had booked a flight out of Manchester airport at the end of the month but now had nowhere to stay for the two weeks we were there!

A little Help from our Friends

I mentioned our predicament to Michael and Simon, two good friends of ours who live in Manchester. Luckily for us, they were due to go on holiday themselves and so very kindly offered to let us stay at their house.

It was really kind of them, however, as they were due home for our second week, and we didn’t want to outstay our welcome, we gratefully accepted their offer for the first week and said we would find alternative accommodation for the second week.

At this late stage, we planned to book an Airbnb for the second week but I kept an eye on the house-sitting opportunities being advertised ‘just in case’, and by a stroke of luck, spotted a last-minute listing that suited us perfectly!

October House Sit Number Three

Levenshulme

For our final housesit during October we had to travel just one stop on the train from Manchester city centre to a South Manchester suburb called Levenshulme.

The House Sit

One Cat, Plus an Unexpected Puppy!

This housesit was advertised as having only one cat, ‘Peggy’ to care for. However, we ended up with more than we bargained for – another puppy!

On the day before the house sit was due to start the home hosts contacted us to say they had a problem.

Previously unknown to us, They also had a puppy, ‘Juki’.

As Juki was young and boisterous they thought it may be too much to ask a sitter to care for him, so instead, had asked for two separate friends to share having him at their homes whilst they were on holiday.

Unfortunately, at the very last minute, the first of the two friends had a family issue which meant that they could no longer have Juki so the home hosts contacted us to ask if we would mind having him stay with us for the first few days.

I have to admit, after our recent experience in Kentish Town with Penny, the idea of caring for another puppy didn’t fill us with joy.

However, as our extra ‘unexpected guest’ was only for three days and this house sit really suited our schedule, with some trepidation, we agreed.

Peggy the Cat

Peggy was a delight to care for. She was allowed outside anytime she wanted but didn’t have a cat flap so had to ask. This involved her sitting at the door meowing loudly, and the same again outside the door to be let back in.

Probably because the weather was not particularly pleasant during our stay, Peggy definitely seemed to prefer to be inside rather than outside. After meowing at the top of her voice to be let out, invariably, within 5 minutes she was sitting outside, asking to come back into the warmth again!

When inside she was a bit of a loner. Spending much of her time on the landing ‘protecting’ the stairway. Anyone passing too closely risked getting a cat swipe as they passed – I got caught out on more than one occasion!

She did have a soft side too though and, especially when Juki was not around, was happy to come closer to us. Usually when she was curious to see what we were doing, or just when she fancied a cuddle.

Juki the Puppy

Juki was our surprise last-minute addition to the house sit.

He was a ten-month-old Cavapoochon and took cuteness to a new level!

I have to admit, our initial concern regarding taking on another puppy soon dispersed. Juki was so friendly and well-behaved. He walked well on his lead, hardly barked and slept all night!

Honestly, it suited our situation that Juki was only with us for the start of the house sit. When we left here, we would be heading straight to the airport. This meant that we were not in a position to be able to hang around if the owners were delayed getting home which we would normally do with dogs in our care.

However, our three days with him flew by. We had fallen in love with this perfect puppy and were really sad to have to wave him off when the owner’s friends came to collect him.

The Fallowfield Loop

One of the best things about the location of this house sit was its close proximity to The Fallowfield Loop.

Often, when doing inner city house sits a problem we face is finding a good place to walk the dogs.

There was no such problem here as The Fallowfield Loop was right on our doorstep. A lovely country walk and the perfect place to walk Juki.

The 13 Km loop, follows a disused railway line. It starts in the trendy suburb of Chorlton-cum-Hardy before passing through Levenshulme, then carries on past Debdale Park and Gorton reservoirs before ending up at Fairfield railway station.

Meeting Other Sitters – Old & New!

We didn’t have a long time in Manchester but were able to squeeze in a Sunday Lunch meet-up with other sitters who were living or house-sitting in and around the area.

Some of these sitters we have met before. Rita and her husband Phil who we met in Gran Canaria in January 2022 and also Lynne, who we met in Sheffield in May 2022.

This time Sue who lives in Sheffield and an American husband and wife team, Anna & Ryan who were halfway through a European house-sitting adventure joined our motley crew making up our table for eight.

We had a lovely Sunday Lunch getting to know each other and sharing house-sitting tales at ‘Albert’s Shed‘, a canal-side restaurant in an area of Manchester called Castlefield.

With Great service, food, and value, Albert’s Shed proved to be an excellent choice of restaurant for us to meet. We highly recommend it should you find yourselves in this neck of the woods anytime soon.

Where next?

With four, one-week stays, October was a busy month so we were now really looking forward to November when we had one house sit booked for the whole month, in my favourite city in the world – Amsterdam!

More on that next time.

Until then, as always, I am behind schedule in writing our blog.

🎄 In real-time Christmas is already here! 🎄

We wish you all and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and Very Happy New Year