On October 10, 2017, we arrived at our five-month winter house sit in Sicamous, British Columbia.
We had spoken several times on the phone with the homeowner about his daily routine with his two cats and his habit of bringing in a housekeeper once a week.
I'm a bachelor," he said. "Housekeeping is not my favourite thing to do."
We assured him that we would maintain the house, and he could cancel his assistant.
As a professional house and pet sitting couple, I look after the chores inside the home and Frank does the outside tasks, including picking up after the animals.
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| Socks |
Our introduction to Socks and OC, short for Orange Cat, included a leg rub, loud purring and tails straight up. We responded with a head scratch and a slight tug on each tail. Our five-year caring for people's pets lifestyle has taught us that felines give signals on how they are feeling. We took their reaction to us to be friendly and content.
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| OC Orange Cat |
While the homeowner was in Florida, we immersed ourselves in the community.
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| Books to sort |
I took to the streets, walking around the town exploring the local shops. I met a very wonderful bookstore owner and soon found myself at her store several times a week. We became fast friends and I helped her stalking the shelves.
Frank stayed indoors for several weeks playing familiar tunes on his violin
Later that winter, we attended a church service and met another group of fabulous folks. We celebrated International Religion Day with a pancake breakfast courtesy of Frank along with other fun foods and drinks. We've learned over the years that immersing yourself into the community is a keen way to feel like a local.
While Frank was tending to the cat's two litter boxes and I was preparing their medication, the phone rang. It was the homeowner who announced that he was at the nearest big city hospital; that he'd been flown in by air ambulance and his stay in the infirmary could be three weeks or more.
"How can we help?" Frank asked.
"I'd like you to come and get me when I get out," the homeowner said.
Frank delivered the homeowner to his residence where he settled into a daily routine. The cats followed him from one room to another and sat patiently under the table waiting for food scraps.
I had taken to preparing his doctor-prescribed meals. Frank became the chauffer and delivered the homeowner to his doctor appointments, picked up medicine, and joined him on grocery errands. The homeowner trusted Frank enough to provide him with his debit card and pin number so that he could get him some cash.
House and pet sitting is a rewarding way to be of service and to meet new people, create dynamic memories and live life to the fullest.
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| Lots of trails to explore |
