Reading through the responsibilities sections I see a full range of short and sweet lists which outline the main tasks, or extremely detailed essays (and probably better suited to the Welcome Guide). I’m a Newbie (horses, dogs, cats, small animals) with 5 sits arranged locally in South East England for this summer and hoping to find a sit in Perth Australia for January 2025.
However I’m collecting the more ‘interesting’ ones as I go along….here’s the best one I’ve seen so far.
“4 ice cubes to the Orchid plant every 3 days….”
A sit in Boston
Ah well I’m not questioning the validity of any of the more curious responsibilities just simply collecting the more interesting ones… that made me personally smile or raise an eyebrow.
I really wish all owners with houseplants provided this kind of information and especially for orchids … I have stressed more about keeping the orchids alive and healthy than the pets ( which I am more familiar with looking after )
I have also seen some requests which made me smile - good topic @BonnyinBrighton
I saw one where a bearded dragon had to be walked around the neighbourhood on a leash and fed strawberries . Another one for a tortoise that had to be bathed every evening. These maybe perfectly normal requests but since I haven’t cared for any of these pets before they seemed amusing to me .
Having said that I would like to do a sit with a tortoise.
What I’ve done in some instances when they’ve not left details: Look up the the plant via Google image search and then search for how to care for it. Kinda a pain, but I want to keep the plants alive and I’m actually curious.
One time, a host said this about a plant: If it feels light, then water it. Odd, because what reference would a sitter have for whether a plant feels light?
Yes I do similar and that’s where I first learned the orchid ice cube tip …
I have also bought a book on orchids in a charity shop.
One issue I have had with with house plant owner’s instructions such as “water orchids once a week” … but no indication of what day they were last watered !
One of our regular house sits ( not THS ) says that their house plants are always better looked after when they are away and we house sit than when they are at home .
At one of my sits, the house was next to a canyon. Instead of bagging dog poo, the hosts kept a shovel and I was told to fling the poo over the fence and down the canyon.
I would always prefer the detailed essay in the listing. The problem with the guide is that it is only accessable once the sit is offered and accepted. When there is something more than just basic food from a can or pouch, look after the house and entertain the cat it would be nice to know up front.
I would not like to be responsible for the life of an orchid beyond a week
On my current sit, there are various squirrels and birds to feed, but I have to toss the nuts and seeds close to the balcony overhangs, so that nearby eagles don’t pick off the critters.
I did a (lovely) sit with a beautiful garden room filled with orchids and strict watering instructions. On the same sit, there was a pig that liked to be hand-fed custard cream biscuits, have her straw bed fluffed up at bed-time, and the radio turned on so that she could listen to The Archers. The dogs also needed to be wrapped up in little blue blankets with stars on last thing at night, so that they knew it was time for bed. In retrospect, I wonder whether the HOs were just pulling my leg, but at the time I religiously carried out their instructions!
I really wish all owners with houseplants provided this kind of information and especially for orchids … I have stressed more about keeping the orchids alive and healthy than the pets ( which I am more familiar with looking after )
