RUNNING YOUR HOME (OR BOAT!): We will take care of the day to day running of your home in as many or as few ways as you prefer. If you regularly walk your dogs, we'll try to stick to the same schedule. (NOTE: If the sit is just by Jo alone, long walks will be difficult but short walks fine, due to knee and ankle joint issues.) If there are vet visits lined up, or plumbers scheduled, or a weekly char or gardener to pay ... and so on.

PRESENCE ON THE PROPERTY: Although we are not security guards, we know that one of the purposes of our presence in your home is to deter criminals. We will be on the premises every night, but during the day we may be out shopping or sight-seeing, or may be in the home, working or relaxing. It isn't possible to promise never to leave your home empty, but we will take care of your property as we would our own home.

BOATS: We have lived on our own (blue-water sailing) boat, and thus are experienced with the little nuances of boat care. Every skipper has his/her own preferences though, and we'll follow your list of instructions for your own boat.

ANIMALS: Dogs, cats, and other household pets, are no problem, and we're happy to do chickens and ducks and geese. One or two horses/ ponies/ donkeys in a field at the back would be also be lovely. We aren't farmers and don't have experience with pigs, sheep, or cattle. We love being on farms, and if you have farm hands taking care of all that, we're happy to house sit!

CARE OF YOUR HOME: We will keep the parts of you home that we use clean and tidy. We're non-smokers, and virtually non-drinkers; we lead quiet lives. We are committed, church-going Christians. We will not have parties in your home, and our visitors will be a select few - direct family and one or two close friends, whom we'll let you know about ahead of time. Usually we would go to them, rather than inviting them to your home. There will be no smoking or drinking on your premises by our guests, either.

GARDENING: We are not much good at gardening, I'm afraid, but are happy to do light gardening work such as watering and a little weeding, pond care, etc.

PAYMENT, BILLS, ETC: We don't charge for taking care of your home. It is normal for the house owner to continue to pay regular monthly bills that he would cover anyway, such as phone line, monthly internet, TV licenses, electricity, water, rates, and so on. We expect to buy our own foodstuffs and beverages, and pay for any phone calls we make, or other personal expenses.

VEHICLES
If you aren't too far away (eg in Europe) we will probably have our own car with us, but otherwise, if you live some way from transport we'd appreciate the loan of yours (Jo has driven a wide variety of vehicles in her time, from landrovers and tractors to sports cars, and have a motor cycle as well as car licence) - and if you live on a remote farm with appalling roads, we might appreciate the use of a 4x4 if you have one to lend, if only for the rough stretch!

AGREEMENT/CONTRACT
For a long-term house sit at least, we suggest, for both our sakes, a contract signed between us. The details will depend upon our mutual needs.

Web Site © 2009 Staithe Web Design