A Week in the Life

Here is what Paul and I will typically do in a week:

Every day feed, water, cuddle the cats and walk the dogs. We welcome the cats on to the bed and spend rather a lot of time playing with the animals. We give them our own nicknames and baby them all a fair bit.

Water the plants as they need it. In the summer this is lots, in the winter just a little bit.

Pick up the mail daily and sort it out.

Email the owners if anything needs to be attended to. Last week I mailed something out to a homeowner because she had forgotten it.

Check all the taps and pipes to make sure nothing has frozen.

Deal with the garbage, compost and recycling as it comes up.

Pick up anything that is delivered. This week we went into town to pickup something that was ordered at the hardware store.

Keep the homefires burning. Run the furnace every day as directed and keep the house from getting too cold.

Other duties as required.

In the summer we do a bit on the lawns and the garden, in winter cut wood and keep the firebox stocked. All in all it is not too hard, more a case of being onhand if something comes up.

Our number 1 priority is usuallly to make sure that the pets are happy and healthy. It is a great life really.

Driving Standard

The homeowners here in Roberts Creek have asked me to drive their car down to Vancouver when I leave so that they can pick it up when they return. This works out really well because I have to go to Vancouver in November to work. Except, that the car is a standard transmission.

Now I had a standard for probably 20 years and certainly knew how to drive it. But the last few years I had switched to an automatic, and all of a sudden, my skills have gone out the window.

So I am taking this little beauty out for a short run to the grocery store to get used to it before I take it to Vancouver with all its traffic and highways and scary drivers.

On the subject of cars. We have been left a few cars to use. Mostly we don't need other people's cars because we have our own, but one very nice lady leaves us her "Dogmobile". This is a van specially set up with padding in the back for her three dogs. They love going for long drives, their heads up against the windows and ears flapping in the breeze. But there is no way we could go anywhere in our car with 3 dogs, so it works out well.

In this whole adventure we have never had a problem with our automobile. Sometimes we hardly drive it. In Powell River we lived in the town centre and walked everywhere. Sometimes we need it on a daily basis. In Sooke we were miles out on an acreage in the country.

So, back to my driving lessons and hoping I don't grind the gears.

Where Haven't We Been?

332 days on the road

In our exploration of small towns where we might settle we were talking about which towns haven't we spent time in. It comes down really to Nanaimo and Victoria.

I am from Victoria and know it fairly well, anyhow we couldn't afford to buy anything there. But Nanaimo I don't know very well. So if we see a gap coming up in the schedule we might put out a call for Nanaimo.

Here is how it usually works:

If there is a hole in the schedule and we need somewhere to stay I often put a call out to all the people we have house and pet sat for in the past. Sometimes one of them will jump at the dates just so they can get away.

But in this case, we might explore Nanaimo, so I would let people know if they have friends near Nanaimo to tell them we are available. Then if no response I would pop something onto craigslist. We have been lucky twice with this method and ended up in really nice homes.

So, you see, the planning is always on the cooker. The only problem we have is that we DO intend to buy, but we don't know when. That is why we are not taking long term housesits (not that we have been offered one). So right now, we live month to month and it is a very good life.

Where Are You?

http://www.britishcolumbia.com/Maps/?id=32

For those of you who don't know the area we are in, have a look. Vancouver, BC is just south of Sechelt and Vancouver Island is a ferry ride away.

Is This Life For You??

A lot of people wonder whether they could do a bit of this touring around nomadic lifestyle, so I made up a list of characteristics that might be you:

Are thinking of downsizing

Want to retire early

Don’t want to pay rent

Like rambling and roaming

Like animals cats, dogs other

Want to explore new communities

Enjoy change

Want a little adventure in your life

Appreciate learning about other people’s lifestyles

Are free to travel

Want to try living in a new community, city town, country.

Looking for a job outside your home town

Need more time for your hobbies write that first novel

Long to sleep in

Enjoy meeting new people

water sports, skiing?

Aren’t tied to your routines

Looking for work in a new town, province

Checking out a new community for possible relocation

These are the reason we came up with.

I’m sure you have many more of your own.

These Boots Are Made For Walking

Nearly every day we get out for a walk. Today it was Davis Bay near Sechelt. The water had that slick sheen as it glistened in the sun. It was a marvellous day for a walk and as we walked along the beach we ran into some people recently moved here. They had just retired to the Sunshine Coast as have so many others. They have a couple of pets, and you never know, down the line, they might need a petsitter.

It is a great trade, our services for your home for a month or so. We have met the nicest people and had the most wonderful pets come into our lives. Days like this make me happy to be alive!

Where We Have Stayed So Far

All of our housesits have been on the Sunshine Coast of BC, just a ferry ride away from Vancouver, or over on Vancouver Island, a longer ferry ride away from Vancouver.

We started in December of 06 and ended this journey on ???????

Sechelt Cottage in the woods 1 dog

Powell River Geodesic dome on 5 acres 2 cats

Sechelt Small family home 1 dog

Vancouver Townhouse 2 cats

Cowichan Bay Cottage in the woods 1 cat

Metchosin Huge country house 3 dogs

Powell River Home with seaview 1 cat

Powell River Other home with seaview 2 cats

Cowichan Bay Cottage in the woods 1 cat

Metchosin Huge country house 3 dogs

Wildwood Acreage 2 cats and 5 ducks

Comox Small home in town 2 cats

Roberts Creek House in the woods 2 cats

We are booked for:

Metchosin Huge country house 3 dogs

Roberts Creek Family Home 2 dogs and 1 cat

Gibsons Family Home 1 dog

White Rock Family Home 2 cats

As you can see we had some people have us back more than once. What a treat to reconnect with our pets and visit with friends.