We live in a three-bedroom home 1 block Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, CA. Piedmont Avenue is a street with numerous stores (including a good supermarket), cafes, a library and restaurants.
The two main tasks for a housesitter here would be orchid care (we have a greenhouse) and bird care (we have a 10+ year old albino, ring-neck dove). There are some orchids that require being watered around late morning every 2 or 3 days, and a much larger number that will require care every 10 to 21 days (depending on rain, etc).
Our dove's mate recently died so he is dependent on humans for his company. He prefers the company of women and does not tolerate children. For the most part he is given the full run of a kitchen area and is out all the time, save when he needs to be in the cage for his own safety (house cleaning, doors open because of lots of activity). He's reasonably restricted in the places he goes, but we do a fair amount of clean-up after him. He is very affectionate to women, taking pets from them and asking for attention.
There would also be indoor plant care (not very onerous at this time of year) and a bit of outdoor care (mostly watering potted plants should it not rain for awhile -- if it rains enough, nothing will need to be done outside.)
No children. A single, non-working older woman is preferred; non-working because orchid care needs to take place during selected daylight hours and to provide a bit of company for the bird during daylight hours.
Note: At this time there may be some flexibility in starting the house sit earlier than .