Spending a few days with my new housemate, Sheldon. He is as quirky as his namesake (Big Bang Theory), but has a gentle and loving personality. Apparently he’s friendly with everyone, which is so enjoyable.
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Wow, he’s beautiful. Love the name. 
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Happy to be back on a short repeat sit with Sienna and Tigger. Sienna recently lost both her elderly Ridgeback pals to age related diseases and is still finding it hard to settle.
We are enjoying just hanging out with her, keeping her company, having lots of cuddles and just gazing across the beautiful vineyards of Burgundy !
Tigger lives in the pool house as he’s a little nervous of Sienna, so he gets special time throughout the day.
We’ve missed having pets around but love the arrangement we have on our long-term pet free sit, to be able to go off for the occasional pet fix!!
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Beautiful animals. How wonderful for all of you. Enjoy!
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Lovely pics @Vanessa_A thank you so much, they give me that aww moment. As much as I love my kitty sits I really need to get an in person doggy fix soon instead of living vicariously through friends and our members …
Have a wonderful time … wine on the verandah with Sienna at your feet, sounds heavenly, 
pawfect …
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I’m currently housesitting in beautiful Austria and looking after Nori🐶. She is an absolute sweetheart that follows me around all day and makes me laugh with her antics.
Yesterday I got the fright of my life though.
I was watering the plants in the garden and I looked around where Nori was, since she usually is right behind me. Nowhere to be seen. So I looked around the house, calling her name, nothing. I had closed the doors to the rooms I am not using during the housesit, so she did not have that many rooms to hide in. According to the home owner she never jumped the fence surrounding the garden, but she was nowhere to be found. With a heavy heart I went out on the streets calling her name, shaking her treats and asking people in my best German if they had seen a dog running around. Nothing. With my heart beating in my throat I felt I had to call the owner, to see if she had any advice and to let her know I had failed watching her beloved pet. She was not worried at all though. She said she never jumped the fence before, but if she did, she would find her way home if I let the gate open for her. I was not really reassured though. She also said I should check the laundry room, since she might have opened the door and locked herself in. It was one of the rooms I had not checked, since the door was closed.
With just a shimmer of hope I went back to the house to check the laundry room. And guess who was there wagging her tail at me: Nori 
My goodness, I was so relieved!
Of course I spoiled her the rest of the day with lots of hugs, a long walk and treats. I was so happy! The area is absolutely gorgeous, so going for walks is no punishment.
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Oh my goodness @Stefanie I felt your panic just reading the post, in fact I jumped to the last line where all was revealed!!
What a relief, pets do have a way of surprising us at times and getting the heart racing, well done Nori for choosing the laundry room instead of the fence … something for the Welcome Guide under Pets, “Nori’s habits: 1) if completely out of sight look in the laundry room” owners are so used to their pet’s habits that they often forget to mention them.
We sat three Kune Kune pigs and one of them, George used to take their old, deaf black lab for walks up the drive and off the property to a neighbors home, owner didn’t tell us this … he could open the driveway gate.
Two days into the sit they were both missing PANIC we did everything you did finally a neighbor brought them back, Lab in the jeep George trotting along behind … “Oh he does this all the time” the owner didn’t mention their off site adventures, heart stopping moments …
Lovely pics, thank you so much for sharing and enjoy your time with the adorable Nori …
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Oh my goodness, I can totally imagine your panic. Glad the neighbour found them. And you are right, houses and pets always have funny quirks you are so used to as an owner, that you seem to forget when you entrust them to someone else. Luckily things usually work themselves out thanks to neighbours or a quick call to the owner
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One of my first sits was in a castle in Somerset with lots of property - a pair of black labs, 16 and 2 years old. Both dogs had a big lawn to spend their days on and we walked the property several times a day - a couple of woods, an orchard, and a lake (too cold for the dogs to swim or whatever they didn’t go in).
A couple of times, the older dog would go walkabout, but never left the property. The young one was always in view.
I also sat a cat and a yellow lab on an island in Long Beach, CA. The cat was supposed to be in every night, but would visit the neighbor sometimes - and sometimes the neighbor’s cat would come in to visit. Everyone was friendly.
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I also had a couple of close calls that almost put me in a panic. One of the two dogs I was watching on a very large property failed to come in. The owner told me they were allowed to run free on the property. I worried and worried but thankfully she showed up. I am also nervous about electric fences. Then a cat who went in and out at will was nowhere to be found and it was getting dark. Eventually she came out from her hiding place IN the house, that imp.
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Haha, been there done that with a cat too more than once. They seem to find pleasure in worrying us by hiding inside the house somewhere while you are panicking outside 
That feeling of relief when you find them: priceless 
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Luckily I was able to communicate. My German might not have been grammatically correct (I haven’t used it since high school), but we did understand each other fine.
I think I would be able to manage with Google translate if I didn’t speak the language (especially with the voice recognition these days), but speaking the local language does help.
@Provence
There are great translation tools for phones. It’s not that complicated anymore. A picture of the animal on the phone also helps.
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I used to work within the Deaf community as a sign language communicator - It is widely accepted that over 90% of language is non-verbal.
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in the kitchen I hear this sad meowing. Now This cat is an acrobat and has locked her self in the loo and in the pantry so naturally I
Checked there first…
Then I see.
She wouldn’t let me help her down but finally got the courage to make the leap!
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Three week sit in Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands of Washington state. A pair of fairly small dogs.
Dotty is an 8 yo partially blind dachshund/JRT cross who sleeps with her head under the covers!
Hope is a year old terrier cross
Saturday was sunny and sort of warm - sunrise from the back deck - the snow covered mountain visible in the tree gap on the left is Mt Baker about 70 miles as the crow flies on the mainland
Its an easy walk into the town center.
Yesterday afternoon, a double rainbow over the harbor - definitely pictures to add!
tom
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We have made it out of the UK……at last.
Bordered the ferry to Brittany last Monday night, six weeks with two wonderful dogs and chickens. Loads of good walking, fantastic food and lots of historic sights to go and visit.
Loving it.
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Congratulations @ElsieDownie … what strange times when we say “congrats” for something that used to be so normal.
Enjoy, would love to see some pics of your pets and places, as many of us are living vicariously through our community members who have managed to make it “out” 
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We are nearing the end of our house sit in Chippenham in the south of England. If anyone remembers my post when I arrived describing ‘sparkles’ - a big semi-feral cat that hissed and swiped his paws whenever anyone tried to get close - honestly, I was quite scared of him.
After 5 weeks of patience, love, attention ( and dreamies! ) here he is this morning - another feline I can call my friend 
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The purrfect picture of what love, kindness, patience(and Dreamies) can achieve @Colin your friend will miss you and you him, thank you for being there.
As an aside I wonder what the human equivalent of Dreamies is? They do seem to work wonders.
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