We offer you the Guest Suite to our two-story Craftsman-inspired home built in 2009. We have a 3 year-old female/neutered tabby cat and a puppy that will be 15 months old by the time of your stay.
Squeaky the cat (because she hardly has a meow), is very curious and loves to check out whatever you're doing. She gets wet food twice a day, has an automatic dry food dispenser for early morning and late night snacks, and a cat fountain which needs to be topped up every day or so. Squeaky would love to be outdoors but since we lost our last cat to a coyote, she only goes outside strictly supervised on a leash (and not necessarily every day). She appreciates a daily cleaning of the litter box.
Our puppy Ella sleeps at night in her crate and restricted house access if we leave at most a couple hours during the day. We expect her to be well behaved by the time our house sitter arrives, but we would prefer someone with puppy experience who realizes that she will need walks and potty breaks, and cannot be left alone all day. She might accompany our house sitter on excursions to parks, doggy beaches, city walks, homes of friends, etc. When going into a dog restricted place we have left her up to an hour in the car with a water bowl, and never on a hot day.
We have a 1/2 acre property within the city limits, and it's not uncommon to hear "You have a beautiful house". Besides the many activities offered in and around San Diego, at home you'll have access to our many books, Satellite TV, Netflix and Amazon Prime.
We prefer someone with enough garden experience so as to notice if something is wilting or otherwise seems amiss. The landscape of fruit trees and mostly native shrubs is on sprinklers or drip, so we just need one to check every so often that a line hasn’t been disconnected or chewed through by visiting wildlife. A neighbor can be called if repairs are needed that you can’t handle.
We are located within 5 to 10 miles of beaches, libraries, and museums. The area is hilly and a couple miles from public transportation, so a car is advised. If you are coming from some distance we could loan you one of our cars for the duration.
We have been in both a home exchange program and previously used housecarers , and everyone seemed thrilled with the house. We have an adjacent rental (separate entrance), so we are seeking housesitters that are respectful of paying tenants. Whenever there is a change of guests our cohost will need to come over for cleaning.
We would hope to get personally acquainted prior to our departure, so if you're coming from farther away you're welcome to stay a day or more prior.
Looking forward to meeting our new sitter!
Karen and Don