Heading into Summer

Well there is a lot to be a house owner. Very different than the condo, that is for sure. But part of being in this great community is belonging to different groups.

Right now I am watching the ferries come and go from the office while the sun dances on the water, but in a while I am heading off for a meeting. This community is working hard to grow more of its own food; to be sustainable.

We have a big back yard, and I am not much of gardener, but I can learn.

Settling Iinto the New House

The house is great, but there are 2 or 3000 jobs to do. We need a lawnmower, rake, welcome mat, vacuum, etc. the list goes on and on.

We also inherited a cat and all that this entails.

I do love our home. I love the washing on the line and all the room and the apple trees.

BUT

It was nice when someone else was paying

taxes
utilities
insurance
pet food and costs
and all the other lovely costs that other people took on while we lived in their house.

Do I regret buying. Not at all, but the housesitting for 15 months was fabulous too.

The List of Where We Went

1. Sechelt Cottage in the woods 1 dog
2. Powell River Geodesic dome on 5 acres 2 cats
3. Sechelt Small family home 1 dog
4. Vancouver Townhouse 2 cats
5. Cowichan Bay Cottage in the woods 1 cat
6. Metchosin Huge country house 3 dogs
7. Powell River Home with seaview 1 cat
8. Powell River Other home with seaview 2 cats
9. Cowichan Bay Cottage in the woods 1 cat
10. Metchosin Huge country house 3 dogs
11. Wildwood Acreage and Giant Garden 2 cats and 5 ducks
12. Comox Small Lovely Home in town 2 cats
13. Roberts Creek Artistic Home in the woods 2 cats
14. MetchosinHuge country house 3 dogs
15. Roberts Creek Family Home 2 dogs and 1 cat
16. Gibsons Family Home near the beach 1 dog
17. White Rock Gorgeous View Home 2 cats and 1 dog
    
18. Powell River Family Home near the woods 1 dog
19. Halfmoon Bay Family Home 1 dog and 2 cats

Now a few of these places have been repeats, but that is where we got to in our 15 months of house and petsitting. It was a blast.

We have a HOME!

Well we finally have a home.
This is it. A nice 1950's house with good bones and a fair bit of work to be done. It has a partial seaview as you can see and is about a 2 minute walk from the beach.


Housesitting was great. About 15 months in all, and we lived in more than 14 different homes. It was an adventure, that is for sure, but for now we have put down roots. I will tell you more about the changes to the house as we go, plus reflect on what we learned by "sleeping around" so much.

Mag My Pic

">


Now here's a lot of fun. This is a website that allows you to put your photo on a magazine cover. So here is Paul playing banjo. He looks like he is right out the Ozarks, right? Well he is playing behind a shed near Powell River.

Magmypic.com is really worth playing with.

" border="0" alt="" />

My Last House sit

Well here I am in Powell River. Paul is still down in White Rock, taking long walks on the beach with his little buddy Willy. But i hopped up here so I could be on the spot for when we buy our new home at the end of the month.

I am in a lovely home on a quiet cul de sac, backed by forest walks.
Every day I am reassured that this is the right town for us.

I went to a wonderful musical St. Paddy's day event at a wonderful local restaurant yesterday.
Tonight I am going dancing to learn a few salsa steps.
I have had coffee with 3 friends already and been on lots of ocean walks.
I enjoyed a wonderful church dinner last week and met some lovely locals.

Paul will be here on Thursday. Then we stay until the end of the month and take possession of our new home. I will post pictures when we get in there.

This has been an amazing journey, since December 1 of 2006. We have met so many good people and had wonderful adventures.

But maybe it isn't over yet.

Fries With That?

On our journey we have met the most interesting people. In the little town of Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast (the place where they filmed that old tv series, the Beachcomber) we ran across Johann. He is an amazing guy who not only works as an environmental educator and consultant, but lives it too.

The first day we noticed his car had letters on it saying something about vegetable oil and when we asked him what it was all about, he gave us a wonderful tour of how to run a car on mostly vegetable oil.

In this picture he is adding filtered vegetable oil that he got from a local restauant into his specially adapted car. It was really amazing that he can run his car on nearly nothing.


Johan tells me if people are curious about the system, you can connect with him via his "Waste Veggie Oil" link at

sunshinesvo@gmail.com

A Busy Day at the Pier

Signs of spring are definitely here. The crocussi have peeked their heads above ground, tree buds are popping out all over and people are flocking back to the beach. This is a typical day on White Rock Pier.

If you look at that road above the pier and go up a cardiac special hill, you might see our house perched on the edge of the hill. What a lovely place and what lovely weather. We have a few more weeks in this housesit and then on to our 14th or 15th place, I can no longer remember.

Trip to the Vet

Well it had to happen. After 14 months of housesitting in 14 homes, one of our little charges had to go see the big bad vet. Turns out everything was okay, but we were reminded of how much cats hate to be in carrying cages and how much they let you know.

As he huddled on the stainless steel table I was the glad the vet was such a take-charge kind of man, and treated our little cat with care and compassion. A quick shot later, a week to rest up and he is back to normal.

I am just so grateful that nowhere in our travels did we have to take any animal in for anything serious. Knowing the difficulty and the expenses involved we have been very lucky.

We continue to stay on in this beautiful house on the hill overlooking Semiamhoo Bay. Today we see sailboats dotting the bay and couples strolling hand in hand down the pier. Signs of spring are everywhere, crocus, small daffodils and young crows competing in acrobatic challenges in the trees below the property.

The Burning Buns Walk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=perk3nXtkUo

We are trying to walk down to the beach most days and back up again. But if you check out the video, you will see what we are up again.

On the other hand, we have a remarkable view from this house.

Bengali Beauties

Right now we are looking after two beautiful Bengali cats and one adorable dog. These cats are insanely amazing. They are fairly small, but move in that strong, lithe way that tigers do, as if they could sneak under a door, then turn and kill you.

The markings are incredible, they are a mix between a tiger, a leopard and an ocelot. But the strangest thing of all is their cry. They mew a bit like most cats and sort of snuffle when they want something, but tonight I heard the first plaintive cry and you are right in the jungle with them.

One is shyer than the other, but they are both bold and beautiful and independent. They have a loving side too, and seem to sleep for hours, reminding us that, after all, they are cats. I am fascinated by them.

We have had all kinds of wonderful animals on this trip, I think well over 15 cats and probably 7 or 8 dogs, I can't remember, I would have to count them all. Each of them has taught us something special. These two remind me that above all, animals still come from the wild.

White Rock, BC

We have moved from Gibsons to the gorgeous suburb of Vancouver called White Rock. We had no interest in living in Vancouver, cause we lived here for years, but when the opportunity came up for us to spend five weeks near the beach we grabbed it.

What a lovely place. It takes over an hour to get into Vancouver, but since that is not of a concern to us we will just hang out here. The Semiamhoo Bay where the beach is located is wonderful and has a huge boardwalk. In the distance you can see the US, nearly a short rowboat away.

We have lucked into a house on the hill with a large deck and a great view. I am sure this place rents for $2200 a month, so it is rather a nice place for us to hang our hats.

We have one adorable shnauzer and two amazing bengali cats (those are the ones that look like little tigers, or maybe more ocelots).

Paul and I have been so lucky to do this for already 14 months. We have met great people and really explored the hearts of so many communities.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Can you believe we have about 6 inches of snow here on the "Sunshine Coast"?

Problem for us is we don't have all our clothes with us al the time, we have what we can carry. So Paul grabbed a pair of work gloves to protect his hands, and lo and behold, they were pretty warm.

The snow really grinds the Pacific Coast to a complete halt. In the city the trains don't run properly and virutally noone knows how to drive in the snow.

The dog we are looking after seems to like the snow, though. She goes out to play in it and seems to sneeze her way around the yard.

Here's to warmer days coming in Gibsons. We are here another two weeks, then on to White Rock near Vancouver, then on to Powell River to claim our house.

We Bought A House

After exploring the coast for over a year and living in more than 12 different homes we bought a house.
It is in the town of Powell River.
See www.discoverpowellriver.com

We got a bit of a sea view and a 50 year old home. The price was good (or at least not bad) and the home really appealed to us.

So we move in April, but we have 3 more housesits before that time.

We are now in Gibsons on the coast, then down to a seaside suburb of Vancouver, White Rock, and then back up to a small coastal town.

We have had an amazing time.

Remember the Beachcombers?

It was a show on Canadian Television about people in a small coastal town in BC. Well that is where we are staying now. Gibsons is a small town just a 45 minute ferry ride away from Vancouver. It is set on the side of a hill and so there are many views to be had.

We are staying in a gorgeous home right near the water and have only one lively, happy dog to look after. We will be combing the beaches ourselves for walks and hikes and popping into town to have coffee and a view.

This housesitting thing is really nice.

Heat and Wood

Paul has pretty much mastered the art of fire-making by now. He has made fires in regular fireplaces, fireplace inserts and wood stoves. He spends quite a lot of time cutting kindling and wood and is content to do so.

We have also learned how to dress for the cold. Every morning before the woodstove warms up we now know how to stay toasty and warm.

What a change from a downtown apartment in Vancouver.