Water_n_surf Subscriber

Responsible professional couple (Canada/Sweden) with excellent references

We are professionals from Canada who travel for extended work assignments. Aly is a PhD-trained aquaculture researcher employed at a Swedish university, and Karen is a retired teacher, and now a part-time lab technician in the same research group. We love pets, but our busy travel schedule keeps us from having any of our own, so housesitting fulfills our desire to share our lives with pets and animals. We also love to meet new people, forming international friendships that go far beyond housesitting.

As homeowners ourselves, we understand what it is to keep up a property and leave it in wonderful condition. We have owned and lived in both urban and rural homes and even a remote off-the-grid acreage (we still own this, near Whistler, Canada). Recently in Australia, we maintained an 1876 historic home and period furnishings. We've done all the upkeep, renovations and repairs. We have taken care of homes and pets in Canada, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Alaska, Australia and New Zealand, so we're comfortable in just about any setting and we're familiar with many of the maintenance and repair issues that may arise.

We love finding a home-away-from-home where we can relax and explore locally while caretaking. Aly is often working on academic writing so she can often work from anywhere. We prefer a quiet evening, cooking a nice meal and sharing the peace of your home with your pets.

We love gardening (Karen, especially, has a green thumb) and will take care of your plants. We can also take care of maintenance problems as they arise. We have experience and expertise in caretaking of all kinds of pets, farm animal care, flower and veggie gardening, carpentry and building maintenance. Our motto is to 'treat it like our own,' so you know you will come home to a clean, well-cared for house and pets that have been lovingly cared for (and in the case of dogs, well-exercised as well because we are keen walkers and joggers).

One year in Norway while housesitting, we finished off a bathroom renovation, landscaped the property and repaired the bicycles and outbuildings. In Sweden, we planted the garden in spring for the returning owners who were pleasantly surprised to come home to a blooming veggie patch. We've harvested, canned and dried fruit for the owners while housesitting in New Zealand and Australia. We've maintained swimming pools and driven tractors. We've raised/cared for chickens, ducks, horses, a donkey, cows, goats, sheep, cats, dogs, fish, birds, and other animals such as toads, frogs, snakes, and hamsters.

We are both energetic, non-smoking, outdoor-loving women who enjoy experiencing new places, not as tourists, but as contributors to a local community. We enjoy local culture and making new friends. We have excellent references, so please just ask for our long list of references.