Greetings homeowners! We are Canadian citizens living part of the year in Sweden and part of the year in Australia (and sometimes home to Canada). Our Covid year has taken us on housesits in the US, Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica as well!
One of us is a university professor (science) and the other is a retired teacher. We travel a great deal for Aly's work, mostly for extended periods while conducting research in different laboratories around the world or working remotely on manuscripts. We discovered housesitting as a way to connect with people and furry friends while we're away from home. Work related travel makes it impractical to have pets of our own, but we both love dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, and really, just about any living creature. We're so much happier having a dog to walk or cat to cuddle. It gives us a sense of place, a chance to explore locally and a way to be of service.
As homeowners ourselves, we understand what it is to keep up a property and leave it in wonderful condition. We have owned and lived in suburban homes, rural houses and urban flats, and we've done all the upkeep, renovations and repairs on these. In addition, we have off-grid acreage in Canada with a house and cabins that we have maintained for over twenty years, so we are very familiar with generators and mechanical systems, as well as plumbing, electrical, woodstoves, etc. We have been housesitting now for more than a dozen years (50 sits, many of them repeat sits) and have taken care of many beautiful homes and pets in Australia, Canada, US, Norway, Sweden, Aruba, Indonesia, France, Spain, Austria, Ecuador, Costa Rica , Mexico, Panama, and New Zealand, so we're comfortable in just about any setting. We're familiar with many of maintenance and repair issues that may arise, and we have the skills to deal with these (swimming pool pump failures, broken appliances, floods, veterinary emergencies: we've dealt with lots of different problems and have always been able to resolve them). In addition to cats and dogs, we have cared for goats, sheep, horses, pigs, donkeys, llamas, various lizards, hamsters, guinea pigs, fish and birds of all kinds. We both love gardening and will happily take care of your plants and grounds.
We do not smoke or drink, and prefer a quiet evening sharing the peace of your home with your pets. We are very security conscious and will always ensure that your property is protected. Our motto is to 'treat it like our own,' so you know you will come home to a clean, well-cared for house.
Mostly when we are housesitting, we like quiet time for writing and working on manuscripts, so our only requirement is good internet. We are generally home most of the day, and Karen is retired but very physically active, so very happy to undertake projects and gardening as well as pet care, including long dog walks, farm tasks etc.
We are both energetic, outdoor-loving people, who daily run, walk, swim, or cycle, and enjoy exploring new places.
Please check out our profile here; we're happy to provide you with many references from previous sits. Hope to hear from you!