We have been incredibly fortunate with the house sits we have lined up in British Columbia, and by that I mean, Karen has done an amazing job of finding some wonderful sits.
We had the perfect house sit in Priddis, Alberta while I recovered from my hernia surgery and we finalized plans for the next 10 weeks in British Columbia.Karen had new animals to befriend and we both truly enjoyed the peace and quiet. But once we were done here we were ready to head off.
Once we were travel ready, we set off to our first BC sit north of New Denver in the Kootenays. Such a beautiful area, the photo at the top of the this post was our morning view when we went for a walk. In addition to looking after chickens, cats, and two dogs, one of the dogs is deaf. It lends a new perspective to life when you are caring for animals with sensory deficiencies. We also had the opportunity to encounter black bears on our daily walks around the property.
We are currently enjoying our second sit in Summerland in the Okanagan. Absolutely glorious.
Here we are fortunate to be looking after this beautiful pup. She is totally blind and handles it with such calmness that it leaves me in awe.Every house sit has some type of challenge to keep it interesting. Here it is deer that have developed a taste for delicate plants in our yard. This one was outside our back door sampling the bedding out plants.This one clearly overstepped its bounds when it invaded the sanctity of our pool area. Had to be careful not to startle it and cause it to run into the pool. Ahh, first world problems.We are very much enjoying having the pool at this house sit. With daily temperatures hitting 30°C it is wonderful to be able to go for a dip. Pup keeps a watchful eye on us but knows not to go near the pool.With the warm temperatures comes creatures who thrive in this environment. Not at all dangerous, but it does keep you on your toes when you are weeding the garden, as they do seem to appear out of nowhere.We were out for a walk on one of the rail trails in the area when some of the smoke from Alberta forest fires started to make an appearance. By the afternoon we could not see across the lake. It was nothing compared to what the people in Alberta were suffering, but it was a vivid reminder.Of course, one of the joys of being in the Okanagan is the vineyards and wineries. The different designs of the traditional fruit orchards are amazing to see as well. Apparently up to 3 times the yield with these new orchards,.
As we have alway said, one of the greatest advantages of house sitting is getting a glimpse of how the people in a region actually live and what constitutes a big event. We were fortunate enough through our sit to be invited to a grand opening of a winery a 5 minute walk from our place. Being able to celebrate with the neighbours and owners of Haywire Winery was a wonderful experience.
The traditional sabering of a bottle.
We are certainly looking forward to our upcoming couple of weeks here.
Beautiful pictures! Wonderful to see where you are and what you doing! xo
You’ve got a good life my friend!